Academy Sports details 2025 store opening plans
Academy Sports + Outdoors reported third-quarter earnings and sales that missed Street estimates as it continues to grow its brick-and-mortar footprint.
The sporting goods and outdoor retailer opened eight new stores during the quarter and another five new stores early in the fourth quarter. To date in fiscal 2024, Academy has opened a total of 16 new locations.
The company plans to open 20 to 25 stores in 2025, representing approximately 7.5% annual unit growth at the midpoint. Academy said it will continue to be “measured in its approach and timing given the recent consumer backdrop.” (In March, Academy said it saw the runway potential long-term to have 800-plus stores nationwide.)
“We are excited that the 16 new stores that we have opened this year are exceeding our expectations and that our prior year vintages continue to grow,” said CEO Steve Lawrence. “The team has made tremendous progress refining our new store opening process and pipeline, as well as improving our website experience, expanding our targeted marketing capabilities with our new loyalty program and streamlining our supply chain.”
Academy reported income of $65.8 million, with earnings per share of $0.92 for the quarter ended Nov. 2, compared to income of $100 million and earnings per share of $1.31 for the year-ago period. Adjusted earnings per share came in at $0.98, missing estimates of $1.30.
Revenue fell 3.9% to $1.34 billion, missing estimates. Same-store sales fell 4.9%.
"We delivered third quarter sales in line with expectations and were encouraged to see an improvement in comp sales trends versus the first half of the year,” said Lawrence. “In our outdoor division, the team drove a sales increase in the quarter of 7% compared to fiscal third quarter last year. The fundamentals of our business continue to strengthen, and we look forward to building on this momentum throughout the fourth quarter and beyond."
Subsequent to the end of the third quarter, on Dec. 4, Academy's board declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.11 per share of its outstanding common stock. In conjunction with its approval of the dividend, the board approved a new share repurchase program authorizing the company to repurchase up to $700 million of its outstanding common stock.
“Our new share repurchase program reflects our strong sustainable cash flow generation, continuing confidence in our business model and growth strategy, and continued commitment to driving value for our shareholders,” said Lawrence. “We view returning capital directly to shareholders through repurchases and our dividend as integral to our capital allocation strategy, along with ongoing investments in the business.”
At the end of the quarter, Academy operated a total of 298 stores across 19 states.
