UPDATE 3-Calif. Pizza Kitchen shares fall on forecasts

* Sees 2010 and Q1 EPS below Street estimates

* Q4 EPS ex items 17 cents vs Street view 17 cents

* Shares fall 4.4 percent after-hours

(Adds analyst comment; updates share price)

By Lisa Baertlein

LOS ANGELES, Feb 18 (Reuters) - California Pizza Kitchen Inc CPKI.O forecast first-quarter and 2010 earnings below Wall Street's views, and shares fell 4.4 percent.

For 2010, the company forecast earnings of 68 cents to 73 cents per share, below analysts' average estimate of 77 cents, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

The Los Angeles-based purveyor of Thai Chicken, Barbecue Chicken and other off-beat pizzas, expects 2010 same-store sales to be flat to down 2 percent.

For the current first quarter, it forecast a 3 percent to 4 percent drop in same-store sales and earnings of 5 cents to 7 cents per share, below analysts' expectation for a profit of 11 cents per share.

When asked why the company's profit outlook was so far below Wall Street's estimates despite its stronger-than-expected forecast for same-store sales, executives said it appeared that analysts miscalculated the impact of the having a 53rd week in the fourth quarter.

Buckingham Research analyst Mitch Speiser said it appeared that that could be the main culprit behind the difference between company and Street estimates.

The extra week in the fourth quarter, which included the New Year's holiday, represented about 65 percent of earnings for the period, Speiser said.

"The first quarter of 2010 doesn't have the New Year's week, as it did last year. It's a very important week that represents a big proportion of sales," Speiser said.

Sterne Agee analyst Lynne Collier said bad weather took the company's first-quarter profit forecast down by two cents. She said miscalculating certain line items probably accounted for the rest of the difference.

"We were just all off," Collier said.

Still, there were some areas of concern.

In particular, Speiser said revenue growth from California Pizza Kitchen's high-margin frozen pizza grocery store partnership with Kraft Foods (KFT.N) had softened.

The company reported a fourth-quarter net loss of $9.9 million, or 41 cents per share, on Thursday.

Excluding various charges, it earned 17 cents a share, which matched analysts' lowered view.

In January, the company lowered its per-share profit forecast to a range of 15 cents to 17 cents from its previous call for a profit of 16 cents to 18 cents a share. [ID:nWNAB4031]

Revenue rose 3.8 percent to $167.8 million, but closely watched sales at full-service restaurants open at least 18 months fell 5.8 percent.

Shares, which closed up 3.2 percent at $14.26, fell to $13.63 in extended trade.

(Reporting by Lisa Baertlein; Editing by Matthew Lewis, Bernard Orr, Phil Berlowitz)