Dick’s lowers outlook citing ‘challenging’ footwear and apparel marketplaces
Dick’s Sporting Goods lowered its full-year sales outlook amid a challenging athletic market that had a “significant” impact on its Foot Locker business.
The sporting goods giant noted it increased promotions during its second quarter to protect its leadership position as it dealt with excess inventory and weaker demand for some legacy footwear silhouettes.
“As demand continued to shift during the quarter, inventory built up in parts of the industry, particularly within certain legacy footwear silhouettes and apparel franchises that simply are not resonating the way they once did,” Dick's chairman Ed Stack said on the company’s earnings call.
Expansion
Dick’s continued to expand its experiential House of Sport store concept during the quarter, opening five new locations. It also opened eight Field House stores. For the year, it expects to open approximately 14 total House of Sport locations and 20 Field House locations.
“These stores are giving us access to some of the best real estate in the country, including Cerritos, Tysons Corner and Palm Beach Gardens, and we believe they represent the future of sports retail,” CEO Lauren Hobart said on the earnings call.
Dick’s net income totaled $315 million, or $3.50 per share, for the quarter ended Aug. 1, down from $381 million, or $4.71 per share, the year-ago period prior. Adjusted for one-time items, including the company’s acquisition of Foot Locker, earnings were $3.53 per share. Analysts had expected earnings per share $3.76.
Total second-quarter sales rose to $5.59 billion from $3.65 billion, below expectations of $5.64 billion. Total same-store sales rose 2.1%.
The company’s core Dick’s business — which includes Dick’s Sporting Goods, Golf Galaxy, Going Going Gone! and Public Lands banners — posted solid results for the quarter. Sales rose to $3.85 billion, up from $3.65 billion. Comp sales rose 4.9%, driven by broad-based growth across categories, including strong results from the 2026 FIFA World Cup, and growth in average ticket and transactions
Sales at the Foot Locker business — which includes the Foot Locker, Kids Foot Locker, Champs Sports, WSS and Atmos banners — totaled $1.74 billion. Comp sales at fell 3.6% amid challenging conditions in the athletic footwear marketplace, according to the company.
"The Dick’s Business delivered a strong second quarter with broad-based growth across categories,” stated Stack. “As the quarter progressed, conditions across portions of the athletic footwear and apparel marketplace became increasingly promotional, and we took action to remain competitively priced to protect and grow our leadership position. This environment had a more significant impact on the Foot Locker Business given its greater exposure to legacy footwear silhouettes and greater dependence on footwear launch and retro product."
Stack added that there fewer launches in the second quarter, and that the launches performed below both industry and our expectations. As a result, the company is taking a more cautious view of the balance of the year.
"While these near-term dynamics have led us to revise our expectations for 2026, our confidence in the long-term opportunities ahead for both Dick’s and Foot Locker remains unchanged,” Stack said.
Guidance
Dick's now expects fiscal 2026 net sales to be between $21.9 billion and $22.1 billion, down from its previous guidance of between $22.1 billion and $22.4 billion. Earnings per share are expected to range between $10.94 and $11.94, down from its previous outlook of between $13.27 and $14.27.
By business, the company expects net sales for its Dick’s segment to range between $14.5 billion and $14.7 billion, unchanged from its earlier estimate. Sales at its Foot Locker business are expected to be between $7.4 billion and $7.5 billion, down from its previous guidance of between $7.6 billion and $7.7 billion for the year.
As of Aug. 1, the company operated 3,104 store locations across the Dick’s and Foot Locker businesses.
