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Larger Loss at Hot Topic

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Hot Topic Inc. late Wednesday reported that its second-quarter loss had nearly doubled as its teen and young adult customers spent less at its stores amid the weak economic recovery.

After the markets closed, the trendy City of Industry retailer reported a net loss of $6.3 million (-14 cents a share) for the quarter ended July 31, compared with a loss of $3.2 million (-7 cents) a year earlier. About 2 cents of that loss is related to the company’s struggling ShockHound online music site. Total revenue fell 5 percent to $150 million.

Same-store sales were down 6.5 percent at its flagship Hot Topic stores and down 6 percent at its plus-size Torrid stores. Analysts have noted that in addition to the economy, the company now longer had the exclusive right to sell apparel and accessories from the “Twilight” movie franchise has expired. Other retailers are now also able to sell Twilight items too.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters on average had expected Hot Topic to report a per-share loss of 13 cents on revenue of more than $150 million.

In guidance for the current quarter, Hot Topic said it expects to report third quarter net income between 5 cents per share and 8 cents per share. The Wall Street average forecast is 11 cents per share.

Prior to the report, shares closed up 3 cents, or less than a percent, to $4.91 on the Nasdaq. They were down nearly 4 percent in after-market trading.

Deborah Crowe Author