Dick's Sporting Goods Q3 Profit Declines, Lifts FY14 View - Update

(RTTNews) - Dick's Sporting Goods, Inc. (DKS) Tuesday reported a marginal decline in the third-quarter profit, amid weakness in golf and hunting segments. Net sales grew 9 percent from last year. Earnings per share and revenues matched analysts' estimates. The company lifted its earnings outlook for fiscal 2014.

"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 Edward Stack, chairman and CEO.

The company noted that excluding golf and hunting, other business continued to deliver strong results, with a 4.6 percent increase in comps.

For the third quarter ended November 1, the company's net income declined slightly to $49.21 million from $49.98 million in the previous year. Meanwhile earnings per share improved to $0.41 from $0.40 per share in the prior-year period.

On average, 27 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $0.41 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Net sales for the quarter grew 9 percent to $1.53 billion from $1.40 billion a year earlier, and met 22 analysts' expected revenues of $1.53 billion.

Consolidated same store sales were up 1.1 percent. For the year-ago quarter, consolidated same store sales increased 3.3 percent, adjusted for the shifted retail calendar due to the 53rd week in 2012.

Same store sales for Dick's Sporting Goods increased 1.7 percent, while Golf Galaxy was down 8.9 percent.

eCommerce penetration for the recent quarter was 7.3 percent of total sales, compared to 6.5 percent in the preceding year.

Looking ahead, for the fourth quarter, the firm currently expects consolidated earnings per share of about $1.18 to $1.28. Consolidated same store sales are expected to increase about 1 to 3 percent. Analysts project fourth-quarter earnings of $1.21 per share.

For fiscal 2014, the company now expects adjusted earnings per share of around $2.75 to 2.85, excluding a gain on the sale of an asset and golf restructuring charges. Consolidated same store sales are now expected to increase about 1 to 2 percent. Analysts estimate annual earnings per share of $2.79.

Earlier, the company expected full-year 2014 adjusted earnings of about $2.70 to $2.85 per share.

On November 13, the board declared an unchanged quarterly cash dividend of $0.125 per share, to stockholders of record on December 5, 2014, payable on December 26, 2014.

During the quarter, the company opened 24 new Dick's Sporting Goods stores, one new Golf Galaxy store and seven new Field & Stream stores. As of November 1, 2014, the firm operated 597 Dick's Sporting Goods stores in 46 states.

DKS closed Monday's trading at $47.51. In the pre-market activity on Tuesday, the shares are down 2.10 percent.