Buckle, Aeropostale Lead Specialty Earnings Pack

Teen retailing’s two top performers Thursday continued to outpace their specialty store competitors with double-digit increases in second-quarter sales and profits.

In reporting stellar quarterly results, The Buckle Inc. and Aéropostale Inc. pulled well ahead of the pack — and marginally above analysts’ consensus expectations — at a time when, confronted by weak mall traffic and indifferent consumers, most youth-focused chains would be content to simply tread water.