Dick's Sporting Goods raises guidance after record Q2 sales

(Sharecast News) - Dick's Sporting Goods delivered record second-quarter sales and raised its full-year guidance on Thursday, as strong demand across its store network and online channels drove higher revenue and earnings. For the quarter ended 2 August, sales rose 5% year-on-year to $3.65bn, while comparable sales increased by the same margin, ahead of analyst expectations of 3.2%, according to LSEG data.

Net income climbed to $381m, or $4.71 per share, up from $362m, or $4.37 per share, a year earlier.

Excluding one-time items, earnings per share were $4.38, beating consensus forecasts of $4.32.

"Our performance shows how well our long-term strategies are working, the strength and resilience of our operating model and the impact of our team's consistent execution," said chief executive Lauren Hobart.

"Our Q2 comps increased 5.0%, with growth in average ticket and transactions, and we drove second quarter gross margin expansion."

The retailer said it now expected full-year comparable sales growth of 2% to 3.5%, up from its prior forecast of 1% to 3%, and earnings per share of $13.90 to $14.50, compared with $13.80 to $14.40 previously.

The outlook included the impact of tariffs but excluded any costs or results from its planned $2.4bn acquisition of Foot Locker, which was expected to close on 8 September.

Dick's, which operates 889 stores across the US, including its premium House of Sport and Field House formats, said store expansion, higher-margin vertical brands, and its growing e-commerce platform would continue to drive growth.

The company returned $299m to shareholders through buybacks in the first half and paid $196m in dividends, declaring a new quarterly payout of $1.2125 per share.

At 0833 EDT (1333 BST), shares in Dick's Sporting Goods were down 0.04% in premarket trading in New York, at $225.90.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.