AnnTaylor Stores (ANN) options active after earnings

Posted May 20th 2009 2:30PM by Beth Gaston Moon

Women's apparel retailer AnnTaylor Stores (NYSE: ANN) was the latest retailing name to announce its quarterly earnings results. This morning, the company reported a first-quarter loss of $2.31 million, or four cents per share, as sales slumped 28% during the reporting period. This compares to net income of $25.90 million (43 cents per share) ANN earned in the year-earlier quarter.

On the plus side, the four-cent loss easily topped Wall Street estimates; analysts were expecting a loss of 13 cents per share. Sales, on the other hand, fell 28% to $426.75 million, falling shy of the consensus view of $454.66 million. Same-store sales at the namesake chain were down 42.7% while LOFT sales were off 24.2%. Personally, I prefer LOFT as a cheaper, slightly less conservative option, and evidently my fellow shoppers feel the same way.

After a slight rally shortly after the open, ANN shares have now turned sharply south to give back nearly 6%. Options players are focused on put strikes - the front-month 7.5 put (out-of-the-money) has seen nearly 3,000 contracts change hands already today, as has the September 5 put (out-of-the-money by about 40%). Currently, things look pretty green on ANN's put side and definitely red on the call side.

Beth works for The Options News Network (www.ONN.tv), a media outlet focused on providing daily options commentary. The above comments are not intended as trading or investment advice.

Tags: anntaylor, earnings reports, EarningsReports, inthenew, options, put trading, PutTrading, retailers