Dick’s posts record sales; execs detail Foot Locker store pilot initiative
Dick’s Sporting Goods reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter results and record full-year sales even as its $2.4 billion acquisition of Foot Locker put a big dent in profits.
Since its acquisition of Foot Locker closed some six months ago, Dick’s has been doing what it calls “cleaning out the garage,” which includes reviewing Foot Locker's global store fleet and clearing out unproductive inventory. To date, it has closed approximately 55 poor-performing stores globally across the Foot Locker, Champs, Kids Foot Locker and WSS banners.
In addition, the company launched a Foot Locker store pilot initiative, called “Fast Break,” that includes improved presentations and a more streamlined merchandise assortment with approximately 30% less SKUs. The company expects those efforts and other expenses to result in costs between $500 million and $750 million.
“We're very encouraged by what we're seeing with our Fast Break initiative, the evolution of our 11-store Foot Locker pilot, which we plan to rapidly scale in 2026,” Dick’s executive chairman Ed Stack said in the earnings statement. “In addition, our 'clean out of the garage' efforts have set up Foot Locker to play offense and deliver the inflection point we expect beginning with back-to-school.”
On the earnings call, Stack said the Fast Break store concept will reach roughly 250 Foot Locker locations across the U.S. and Europe by the back-to-school time frame.
“During Q4, our Fast Break stores drove very strong positive comps, actually meaningfully exceeding the Dick’s business, while also delivering strong gross margin improvement,” he told analysts.
Stacks added that the company remains very confident that Dick’s and Foot Locker are stronger together.
Expansion
Dick’s opened 16 House of Sport locations in 2025, for a total of 35 nationwide. It plans to open approximately 14 House of Sport locations in 2026, and begin construction of some 18 House of Sport locations slated to open in 2027. It also plans to open approximately 22 Field House stores in 2026.
“We are really excited to see the impact of scaling these powerful concepts,” CEO Lauren Hobart said on the earnings call. “Looking ahead, landlord interest remains extremely strong, giving us access to some of the best retail locations in the country.”
Fourth Quarter
The sporting goods giant posted net income of $128.3 million, or $1.41 per share, for the quarter ended Jan. 31, down 57% from $299.97 million, or $3.62 per share, in the year-ago period. Excluding one time items related to its acquisition of Foot Locker, adjusted earnings were $3.45 per share compared to analysts estimates of $2.87 per share.
Sales rose to $6.226 billion, up from $3.894 billion a year earlier and topping estimates of $6.07 billion. (Last year’s total was prior to the acquisition of Foot Locker.). Comparable sales rose 3.1%.
For the full year 2025, Dick’s net sales increased 28.1% to $17.215 billion. Comparable sales increased 4.5%. Net income was down 27.1% to $849 million, or $9.97 per share.
“We're very proud of our company's Q4 results,” Hobart stated in the earnings statement. “In the Dick’s business, our strong execution powered a great holiday season and another strong quarter with comp growth over 3% and double-digit non-GAAP EPS growth. It was a terrific year overall with comps of 4.5%, gross margin expansion, and non-GAAP operating margin of over 11%.”
With regard to 2026, Hobart said the company expects to drive continued comp growth, strategic expansion of its square footage, and strong profitability for the Dick’s business.
“We also look forward to returning the Foot Locker business to both top-line and bottom-line growth in 2026,” she said. “We have deep conviction in the tremendous opportunity ahead for our entire company."
For fiscal 2026, the sporting goods giant expects adjusted earnings per share to range between $13.50 and $14.50, weaker than analysts had expected. It expects comparable sales growth in the range of 2.0% to 4.0% for the Dick’s business, along with full year pro forma comparable sale growth between 1.0% to 3.0% for the Foot Locker business.
As of Jan. 31, the company operated 3,195 store locations across the Dick’s and Foot Locker businesses.
