Investors were hoping for some relief on Wall Street on Thursday morning as the stock market tried to recover from losses earlier in the week. The Nasdaq Composite (NASDAQINDEX: ^IXIC) opened slightly higher when the regular trading session began, although those gains weren't enough to get the index back to where it started the week.

One area weighing on investor sentiment is the retail sector, where companies have been giving mixed signals on how the holiday season is likely to go. Sportsman's Warehouse Holdings (NASDAQ: SPWH) and Liquidity Services (NASDAQ: LQDT) aren't exactly household names for many investors, but what they had to say in their latest financial reports shed some light on the broader retail industry and its prospects for the rest of the year and beyond.

Shares of Sportsman's Warehouse Holdings moved lower by 5% early Thursday. The specialty outdoor goods and equipment retailer reported fiscal third-quarter financial results for the period ending Oct. 29, and shareholders weren't entirely comfortable with the declines they saw in key business metrics.

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Source Fool.com