Ralph Lauren takes the lead on corporate releases

Ralph Lauren Corp. was down more than 4 percent after releasing

weak fiscal fourth quarter results and in sharp contrast with the stock's trade in the past 12 months, when it gained 33 percent.

Ralph Lauren’s shares were trading down on Thursday after the preppy fashion retailer posted adjusted diluted earnings per share (EPS) of 1.41 dollars on revenues of 1.64 billion dollars, compared to last year's same quarter's EPS of 0.99 dollars on revenues of 1.62 billion dollars. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected EPS to come at 1.30 on 1.7 billion dollars in revenues.

Higher profits and higher trading for Fred Pellis, despite the company saw weaker sales. The clothing label earned 11.3 million dollars on revenue of 262.3 million dollars in the first quarter, fairly above the 9.7 million dollars in net income it reported during the same period last year. Shares of Perry Ellis (NASDAQ: PERY) were down 44 cents, or 2.23 percent, in Thursday morning trading.

Meanwhile, The Cato Corporation (CATO) said its sales for the period ended on May 4 decreased 2 percent to 267.2 million dollars and that comparable store sales declined to 5 percent. Net income in the quarter was also down, dropping 3 percent to 30.8 million dollars or 1.05 dollars a diluted share compared to 31.7 million dollars or 1.09 dollars.

On the back of its first quarter results, for the second quarter, Cato expects same store sales at down, shredding about 3 percent to flat and diluted earnings per diluted share in the range of 42 cents to 48 cents. For the year, CATO now expects diluted earnings per diluted share between 1.66 dollars and 1.84 dollars, substantially below last year's 2.11 dollars.

Closing the corporate releases on Thursday, The Children's Place Retail Stores, Inc (PLCE), reported net sales in the first quarter down by 3.5 percent to 423.2 million dollars. Net income hiked 14 percent to 19.8 million dollars compared to 24.7 million dollars. For the year, the company expects adjusted earnings per diluted share between 3.05 and 3.20 dollars.