By Andria Cheng

Retail stocks rose Tuesday as women's clothing retailer Talbots Inc. posted a smaller-than-expected first-quarter loss and men's clothing company Men's Wearhouse Inc. reported an unexpected quarterly profit. Surf-inspired teen apparel company Quiksilver Inc. stock tumbled after its fiscal second-quarter profit missed analysts' average estimate.

Talbots (TLB) shares rose 1.8% to $5.10. The retailer swung to a first-quarter loss of $23.6 million, or 44 cents a share, from a profit of $1.6 million, or 3 cents a share, a year earlier. Sales in the quarter ended May 2 fell to $306.2 million from $414.8 million with comparable-store sales declining by 27%. Excluding restructuring charges of 12 cents a share and a 9-cent loss from discontinued operations, the company said it would have lost 23 cents a share.

Talbots said Monday it agreed to sell J. Jill to private equity firm Golden Gate Capital for $75 million.

The company said it's taking additional steps to reduce its corporate headcount across all locations by 20% as part of its plan to reduce $150 million in expenses. It forecast a second-quarter loss of 50 cents to 58 cents a share. Analysts, on average, estimated Talbots to lose 49 cents a share in the first quarter and 68 cents in the second quarter, according to FactSet.

Men's Wearhouse Inc. (MW) shares rose 11% to $19.78 after the men's clothing retailer posted an unexpected first-quarter profit of 10 cents a share. That compared with analysts' average loss estimate of 1 cent a share, according to FactSet.

The S&P Retail Index (RLX) rose 0.8% to 338.65.

Quiksilver (ZQK) shares plunged 19% to $2.93 after its adjusted profit came a penny shy of the average analysts' estimate surveyed by FactSet. The company said the environment remains "extremely challenging" and that it has yet to see an improvement in overall business trends. Quiksilver forecast third-quarter revenue to be down in the mid-teens on a percentage basis and per-share profit in the low-single-digit range.

-Andria Cheng; 415-439-6400; AskNewswires@dowjones.com