Dick’s Sporting Goods’ Q4 profit tops Street; revenue, comp-sales fall short

3/13/2018
The nation’s largest sporting goods retailer beat fourth-quarter profit expectations but missed on sales and provided a downbeat outlook for its current fiscal year.

Dick’s Sporting Goods’ net income rose to $116.0 million, or $1.11 a share, in the quarter ended Feb. 3, which included a $6 million charge related to the recent tax legislation, from $90.2 million, or 81 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Excluding non-recurring items, adjusted earnings per share came to $1.22, topping analysts’ estimates.

Revenue rose 7.3% to $2.66 billion from $2.48 billion. Analysts had expected revenue of $2.74 billion. Same-store sales fell 2.0%, a bigger drop than expected.

E-commerce sales increased approximately 9% on a 13-week to 13-week comparative basis as the retailer completed its first holiday season on its new Web platform. Online penetration for the fourth quarter was 19.0% of total net sales, up from 17.9% last year.

Dick’s plans to open approximately 19 namesake stores, and relocate approximately four stores, in 2018. It doesn’t expect to open any new Field & Stream or Golf Galaxy stores in 2018.

For 2018, the retailer expects same-store sale to be flat to down in the low single-digit percentage range. The Street had been looking for a 0.2% rise.

Dick's said it will no longer provide a quarterly outlook "to more closely align with industry practices."

"Looking ahead, we see considerable opportunity to deliver a stronger performance as we make improvements to our business," said Lauren R. Hobart, president, Dick's Sporting Goods. "Across the organization, we are focused on executional excellence and enhancing our omnichannel capabilities as we continue to transform to meet our customer's ever-changing needs. Our priorities include elevating the customer experience across our stores and our website, and leveraging the strength of our brand to deepen customer engagement and drive omnichannel traffic."

For the full year, net income totaled $323.4 million, or $3.01 per share, up from $287.4 million, or $2.56 per diluted share in the previous year.

As of February 3, 2018, the company operated 716 Dick’s Sporting Goods stores in 47 states, 94 Golf Galaxy stores in 32 states, and 35 Field & Stream stores in 16 states.
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