Why Zumiez Inc. Stock Plunged Today

Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

What:Shares of Zumiez were down 19% as of 10:30 a.m. Friday after the specialty clothing retailer announced weaker-than-expected fiscal-first-quarter 2015 results.

So what:Quarterly revenue rose 9% year over year to $177.6 million, helped by new locations and a 3% comparable-store sales increase. That translated to net income of $2.8 million, or $0.09 per diluted share. Analysts, on average, were anticipating earnings of $0.12 per share on sales of $179.3 million.

"We delivered first quarter results that were in-line with our expectations," explained Zumiez CEO Rick Brooks. "While the pace of our domestic business slowed more than anticipated in April, this was offset by strong sales gains inEuropewhere growth momentum continues."

Now what: Brooks went on to express confidence that the company's long-term strategy and "strong competitive advantages" can drive increased profits and create shareholder value.

But in the meantime, sales for the four-week period ended May 30, 2015 -- the first month of the company's Q2 -- increased just 4.1% year over year, hurt by a 2.2% decline in comparable-store sales. As a result, Zumiez anticipates same-store sales declines of 5% to 3% in the current quarter, which should result in revenue of $179 million to $183 million. Second-quarter net income per diluted share should be in the range of $0.12 to $0.15. Wall Street, for its part, was modeling second-quarter earnings of $0.30 per share on significantly higher revenue of $193.9 million.

All things considered, Zumiez might well continue to create long-term shareholder value given its strong growth in Europe, but it's hard to blame the market for bidding shares down today given the company's disappointing quarter and light guidance. As the market resets its expectations for the company and until Zumiez can show sustained positive comps, I'm content watching the stock from the sidelines.

The article Why Zumiez Inc. Stock Plunged Today originally appeared on Fool.com.

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