OVERVIEW: Scholastic, which is the U.S. publisher of J.K. Rowling's popular Harry Potter books, typically posts a loss for the fiscal first quarter because of minimal revenue from school book fairs and book clubs as schools are not in session.

The latest quarter was dominated by sales of the seventh and final installment in the Potter series, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," released on July 21.

New York-based Scholastic said the $34.99 book sold 8.3 million copies in its first 24 hours on sale in the United States. In August Scholastic announced "Deathly Hallows" sold 11.5 million copies in its first 10 days and that an original printing of 12 million had been increased to 14 million.

BY THE NUMBERS: Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial predict a first-quarter loss of 47 cents per share.

ANALYST TAKE: Stifel Nicolaus & Co. analyst Drew Crum said in a Sept. 7 client note that he expects the latest quarter's performance to be lifted a bit by sales of the last Harry Potter book.

Crum estimates a first-quarter loss of 52 cents per share, with strength from "Deathly Hallows" impacted by a lower share count. He predicts revenue of $562 million, including $220 million in sales from the final Harry Potter book.

STOCK PERFORMANCE: Shares of Scholastic gained 5 percent in the quarter and are off 4 percent for the year to date.