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Strategies & Market Trends : Can you beat 50% per month? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Smiling Bob who wrote (12756)	1/9/2008 4:37:16 PM
From: Smiling Bob	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 19256

DJ Morton's Restaurant Grp Cuts 4Q EPS Guidance To 36c-39c DOW JONES NEWSWIRES Morton's Restaurant Group Inc. (MRT) expects to report fourth-quarter per-share net income of 36 cents to 39 cents, below its previous forecast of 46 cents to 48 cents a share. Morton's said it now expects revenue of $100.4 million, down from the previous forecast of $101 million to $104 million. On average, analysts polled by Thomson Financial expect earnings of 46 cents per share and revenue of $101 million. The Chicago-based company expects a 0.7% drop in comparable restaurant revenue, compared with earlier guidance of a 2% to 3% increase. Morton's Bertolini's restaurants are facing a 10% decline in comparable-restaurant revenue. Morton's cited weak guest traffic, a result of the U.S.'s "uncertain macroeconomic environment." Full-year figures were also affected by delayed restaurant openings. -Melissa Korn; 201-938-5400; AskNewswires@dowjones.com (END) Dow Jones Newswires January 09, 2008 16:35 ET (21:35 GMT) Copyright (c) 2008 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.- - 04 35 PM EST 01-09-08 Brought to you by Scottrader, a product of Scottrade Inc

To: Smiling Bob who wrote (12756)	5/20/2009 4:33:24 PM
From: Smiling Bob	Respond to of 19256

=DJ Hot Topic Swings To 1Q Profit; Shares Fall On 2Q View . DOW JONES NEWSWIRES Hot Topic Inc. (HOTT) swung to a fiscal first-quarter profit as sales continued to climb, but the teen retailer expects same-store sales to reverse this current quarter. Shares tumbled 8% in late trading to $8.05 as Hot Topic also projected a loss for the current quarter. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had been expecting a profit. Thanks to Hot Topic's merchandise related to the popular teen vampire movie "Twilight," the teen retailer has largely bucked the downward trends of most peers, which have been hurt by slumping mall traffic. But investors had begun worrying that the momentum of the "Twilight" merchandise seems to be dwindling, as Hot Topic's same-store sales gain for April was half the size analysts had expected. Shares have fallen 29% so far this month amid the concerns. For the quarter ended May 2, Hot Topic posted earnings of $1.2 million, or 3 cents a share, compared with a prior-year loss of $1.4 million, or 3 cents a share. Excluding expenses for its online music site, the company posted a 5-cent profit. In April, the company raised its outlook to earnings of 1 cent to 2 cents a share. Earlier this month, Hot Topic reported net sales climbed 10% to $175.1 million, beating its March guidance, as same-store sales rose 7.1%. Gross margin edged up to 34.3% from 32.5%. For the current quarter, Hot Topic is expecting a loss, excluding expenses for the online music site, of 2 cents to 4 cents on a same-store sales drop in the mid-single digits. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters were looking for a 1-cent profit.

To: Smiling Bob who wrote (12756)	4/8/2010 6:57:53 AM
From: Smiling Bob	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 19256

HOTT- Great short off of this pop They're so excited their rock and roll faddish merchandise sales weren't off as much as notoriously wrong analysts expected that they're giving away half their savings in hopes of buying some shareholders for a day. --- UPDATE 3-Hot Topic's dividend, same-store beat drive shares Wed Apr 7, 2010 6:37pm EDT Stocks Hot Topic, Inc HOTT.O $7.06 -0.04-0.56% 12:00am EDT * Announces special cash div of $1/shr * Initiates regular dividend of 7 cents/shr * March same-store sales down 7.5 vs est -11.2 pct * Shares jump 18 pct after mkt (Recasts; adds details, analyst comments) By Nivedita Bhattacharjee BANGALORE, April 7 (Reuters) - Hot Topic Inc (HOTT.O) set a $1 special dividend and also initiated a regular quarterly dividend as it looked to return some of its $100 million cash pile to shareholders, sending its shares up 18 percent after market. Also on Wednesday, March same-store sales at the retailer came in ahead of estimates, partly helped by an early Easter and good performance at its Torrid division. Hot Topic, which sells rock 'n' roll-inspired clothing as well as music and accessories to teenagers, said it will pay a $1-per-share special one-time cash dividend and a 7 cents-per-share regular quarterly dividend to shareholders as of April 19. "Given Hot Topic's cash on the balance sheet (plus $100 million entering the first quarter) and desire to limit new store openings, the dividend seems like a logical way to return cash to shareholders," Wall Street Strategies analyst Brian Sozzi said. "Additionally, it could very well signal a confidence in the outlook for the business that has been lacking for some time," he added. Same-store sales, or sales at stores open for at least a year, was down 7.5 percent, while analysts on average were expecting a drop of 11.2 percent, according to Thomson Reuters data. While the numbers may back expectations that March same-store sales will be the best that retailers will have posted in the recent past, Hot Topic is still the only teen retailer expected to post negative same-store sales, according to Thomson Reuters data. [ID:nSGE6220JX] Unlike most others, the company -- coming off the popularity of its "Twilight" merchandise last year -- is up against tougher year-on-year comparisons. The Thomson Reuters Same Store Sales Index is expected to post a 6.3 percent comparable for March when most retailers report on Thursday -- the best showing since last year's 7.6 percent rise. "While Hot Topic will have trailed its peers this March, signs of progress at the core merchandise level ... coupled with an under-the-radar story at Torrid (three months of positive comps) are warranting of an increase in our EPS assumption for the full year," analyst Sozzi said. The analyst raised his full-year earnings estimates for the company to 40 cents a share from 36 cents a share. Excluding Twilight Saga merchandise from both this year and last, comp store sales were up about 4 percent, Chief Financial Officer Jim McGinty said on a pre-recorded call. Same-store sales at its namesake division fell 11.2 percent, while the Torrid, which caters to plus-size women and girls, grew 7.5 percent. Shares of the company shot up 18 percent to $8.34 after the bell. They closed at $7.06 Wednesday on Nasdaq. (Reporting by Nivedita Bhattacharjee; Editing by Unnikrish