How Hot Is Hot Topic? (HOTT)

Hot Topic Inc. (NASDAQ: HOTT) is worth a visit now that the dust has settled from its better-than-expected sales numbers.  This stock has been holding its own when you consider the market over the last two weeks.  The company sells apparel and accessories in stores  We featured Hot Topic in this weekend’s weekly "10 Stocks Under $10" subscriber letter and below is a brief synopsis of what we covered:

Same store sales for October came in at +8.3%.  It also raisedguidance.  How dare they, and who do they think they are?  Isn’t therea recession?  Aren’t people pinched on the low-end all the way up to the high-end?

…Some of the jump was for Halloween where adults were maybe going for a cheap way of looking oh-so 1980’s…. it had been a rather dead stock for longer than we’d care to think about. 

We saw two research reports which were cautious as believing it was ablip and believing that the trends were not sustainable.  What if theyare wrong? 

This was a $30.00 stock less than five years ago.  If analysts arewrong, we won’t be able to cover Hot Topic in our "Under$10" category anymore.  The stock will have rallied beyond that $10.00level.

Jon C. Ogg
November 17, 2008