Tilly’s says inflation is hurting its younger customers; shares slide after hours

Shares of Tilly’s Inc.
TLYS,
-5.38%
sank 14.5% after hours on Thursday after the West-Coast-themed clothing and accessories retailer forecast a steeper second-quarter loss than expected, saying that rising prices continued “to have a detrimental impact on our pre-teen, teen, and young adult customer demographic.” Tilly’s forecast second-quarter sales of $148 million to $158 million, below FactSet forecasts for $159.8 million, with a per-share loss of 13 cents to 27 cents, worse than estimates for a loss of 3 cents a share. “While we believe our product assortments are trend right, the impact of inflation and potential recessionary concerns remain a risk to our business over the near term,” Chief Executive Ed Thomas said in a statement. Tilly’s first-quarter sales and profit also missed expectations. The company reported a per-share loss of 40 cents, worse than FactSet estimates for 34 cents and down from a 3-cent per-share profit in the same quarter last year. Sales of $123.6 million fell from $145.8 million in the prior-year quarter, and were shy of FactSet’s estimates for $125 million.