Egghead.com beats Street in first quarter

Egghead.com Inc. (Nasdaq: EGGS) reported a smaller-than-expected loss in its first quarter Tuesday, losing $10.5 million, or 34 cents a share, on sales of $40.6 million.

First Call consensus expected the online software retailer to lose 42 cents a share in the quarter.

Ahead of the earnings report, Egghead.com shares closed up 1/16 to 9 7/32.

The $40.6 million in sales represents a 37 percent improvement versus the year-ago period when it lost $12.8 million, or 50 cents a share, on sales of $29.5 million.

"Egghead is firmly positioned as one of the leading online brand names," said CEO George Orban in a prepared release. "Our growth in year-over-year sales during the first fiscal quarter, historically Egghead's weakest selling season, demonstrates growing consumer awareness of Egghead as a great place to shop online."

Earlier this quarter, Egghead.com announced it would merge with Onsale Inc. (Nasdaq: ONSL) in a stock swap valued at $400 million.

In the quarter, Egghead.com said logged more than 1 million customer accounts.

The stock, which is rated a "buy" by four of the six analysts covering it, peaked at 40 1/4 in November. In October, it was trading at a paltry 4 5/16.

First Call consensus expects it to lose $1.66 a share in the fiscal year.