Dick’s Sporting Goods Q1 tops estimates; raises outlook amid ‘robust’ demand
Dick’s Sporting Goods reported a strong first quarter as transactions increased and the average ticket value rose.
The nation's largest sporting goods retailer also continues to expand its House of Sport experiential store concept. It opened two new locations during the quarter, including one in Boston, and plans to open six more by the end of the year.
On the company's earnings call, president and CEO Lauren Hobart told analysts that the company experienced growth across the different areas of our business, including footwear, apparel and hard lines.
Dick’s net income fell to $275.3 million, or $3.30 a share, for the quarter ended May 4, from $304.6 million, for $3.40 a share, in the year-ago period. Analyst had expected earnings per share of $2.96.
Net sales rose 6.2% to $3.02 billion, topping estimates of $2.94 billion. Comparable-store sales rose 5.3%, beating expectations of 2.4%. Dick’s said the growth was driven by increased transactions and higher average ticket.
“We are incredibly proud of our first quarter results,” Holt said in the earnngs release. “With our comps increasing 5.3% and double-digit EBT margin of over 11%, we drove continued momentum in our business. Because of our strong Q1 performance, our expectations for continued robust demand from athletes and the confidence we have in our business, we are raising our full year outlook."
In a statement, executive chairman Ed Stack noted that Dick’s product pipeline from its key brand partners and vertical brand portfolio “has never been better.” He cited Nike's recent Paris innovation summit, which highlighted a number of breakthrough products across apparel and footwear “that we look forward to bringing to our athletes.”
The retailer raised its guidance for earnings per share to a range of $13.35 to $13.75, up from its previous estimate of $12.85 to $13.25. It now expects same-store sales growth of 2% to 3%, up from 1% to 2%.
As of May 4, Dick’s operated 723 namesake stores (includes 14 Dick’s House of Sport stores) and 131 “specialty concept’ stores, which includes 106 Golf Galaxy stores, seven Public Lands stores, 18 Going Going Gone! stores, and other specialty concept stores.