Conn’s Inc. (Nasdaq: CONN) shares leapt 33.6% to $7.27 after the electronics and furniture seller projected 2012 earnings above estimates. Volume for the stock topped 926,000 shares, more than triple its daily average.

A news release dated September 7 revealed that the company’s total revenues were $184.4 million, down 13.5% from the same period in the prior fiscal year, on a same store sales decline of 12.8%; However, retail segment retail gross margin increased 320 basis points to 28.9%.

What’s more, adjusted diluted earnings per share were $0.17 for the second quarter of fiscal 2012, excluding the impact of the term loan payoff and store closings, as compared to adjusted diluted earnings per share of $0.06 for the same period in the prior fiscal year, on a higher number of shares outstanding in the current year period.

The Company initiated earnings guidance, for the fiscal year ending January 31, 2012, of adjusted diluted earnings per share of $0.65 to $0.75.

The release quoted Conn’s chairman Theodore Wright as saying, “We are pleased with our progress on improving margins and reducing our cost of capital. While softer industry conditions resulted in sales slightly below our expectations, the changes made to date position us to drive improved profitability.”

The Company is a specialty retailer currently operating 71 retail locations in Texas, Louisiana and Oklahoma: with 23 stores in the Houston area, 18 in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex, eight in San Antonio, three in Austin, five in Southeast Texas, one in Corpus Christi, four in South Texas, six in Louisiana and three in Oklahoma.