Shares of Francesca's Holdings Corp. FRAN, -34.47% plummeted 24% toward a record low in premarket trade Tuesday, after the specialty retailer of apparel, jewelry and accessories reported fiscal second-quarter earnings and sales that missed expectations, and provided a downbeat outlook, citing "weak traffic trends." Net income for the quarter to Aug. 4 fell to $454,000, or 1 cent a share, from $7.3 million, or 20 cents a share, in the same period a year ago. The FactSet consensus for earnings per share was 5 cents. Sales declined 6% to $113.0 million, missing the FactSet consensus of $120.8 million, as the same-store sales drop of 13% compared with expectations of a 6.8% decline. For the current third quarter, the company expects net sales of $105 million to $110 million, below the FactSet consensus of $116.5 million, and same-store sales to decline 3% to 8%, compared with expectations of a 4.3% rise. The stock has shed 19.4% year to date through Monday, while the SPDR S&P Retail ETF XRT, +0.69% has rallied 14.8% and the S&P 500 SPX, +0.37% has gained 7.6%.
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