Hunters hurt Dick’s Q3, golfers did more damage

A lack of golfers and hunters didn’t prevent Dick’s Sporting Goods from realizing third quarter profit expectations and increasing e-commerce penetration to a new high.

The company’s total sales increased 9% to $1.5 billion and sames-store sales increased 1.1%, toward the low end of the company’s guidance, which envisioned a 1% to 3% increase.

The company’s namesake Dick’s Sporting Goods stores grew comps by 1.7% while Golf Galaxy stores declined by 8.9%. The tepid comp growth and major drag caused by weakness at Golf Galaxy caused Dick's to report third quarter profits of $49.2 million, or 41 cents a share, compared to $50 million, or 40 cents a share, the prior year.The company had forecast earnings in the range of 38 cents to 42 cents.

"Our third quarter earnings were at the higher end of our guidance, but continued pressures in golf and hunting kept our comp sales at the lower end of our expectations," said Ed Stack, Dick’s chairman and CEO. "The balance of our business, excluding golf and hunting, continued to deliver strong results, posting a 4.6% comp increase for the quarter. The performance in these other categories, such as women's and youth apparel, are good indicators that our recent actions to reallocate space and payroll within our stores are paying off."

Another noteworthy development related to the company’s omnichannel efforts: Dick’s said continued growth of e-commerce has caused the online sales penetration rate to reach 7.3% of total sales compared to 6.5% in the third quarter the prior year.

Looking ahead to the fourth quarter, Dick's said it expects same-store sales to increase between 1% and 3% on top of a challenging 7.3% increase the prior year. Dick's maintained an aggressive pace of expansion during the third quarter, opening 24 Dick’s stores, one Golf Galaxy store and seven Field & Stream stores. The company currently operates 597 Dick’s stores and 80 Golf Galaxy stores.