Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc (DKS) delivered a strong performance in the second quarter, exceeding analyst expectations on both earnings and revenue. The company reported adjusted earnings per share of $4.37, beating the street view of $3.83. Quarterly sales reached $3.474 billion, up 7.8% from the previous year and exceeding the analyst consensus of $3.437 billion. Comparable sales rose by 4.5%, marking an improvement from the 2% growth observed a year ago.
The company attributed its strong performance to growth in average ticket and transaction values. Gross profit margin also expanded to 36.73% from 34.42% year over year. This, combined with growth in sales and SG&A leverage, resulted in an EBT margin of nearly 14%.
Dick’s Sporting Goods ended the quarter with $1.69 billion in cash and equivalents and net inventories worth $3.178 billion. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $1.10 per share, payable on October 4 to stockholders of record as of September 20.
Despite the positive second-quarter results, Dick’s Sporting Goods, like other retailers, acknowledged potential economic headwinds in the latter half of the year. These concerns stem from the upcoming presidential election in November, which could lead to a slowdown in consumer spending. The company recently disclosed that it was targeted by a cyberattack, resulting in the breach of confidential information, although it has confirmed that business operations were not disrupted.
Looking ahead, Dick’s Sporting Goods has raised its full-year 2024 EPS guidance to between $13.55 and $13.90, up from the previous range of $13.35 to $13.75. This revised guidance is slightly below the consensus estimate of $13.79. The company anticipates net sales of $13.1 billion to $13.2 billion, aligning with the consensus estimate of $13.23 billion. Dick’s Sporting Goods expects comparable sales growth of 2.5% to 3.5%, a slight increase from its prior outlook of 2.0% to 3.0%.
