Dick's Projected First Quarter Earnings Lower Than Expected
Dick's Sporting Goods "warned yesterday that earnings in the first quarter could come in between 16 and 19 cents per share, which would miss the 23 cent average goal set by analysts," according to Teresa Lindeman of the PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE. Dick's is projecting full-year earnings per share in the range of $1.49 to $1.54, which would "make possible analysts' $1.54 target as reported by Thomson Financial Network." Dick's net income at the end of Q4 '07 was up 8% to $73.2M, or 62 cents per share, from $67.7M, or 60 cents per share in the year-ago period. Because of "calendar shifts," Q4 this year had one less week than last year's. Net sales for the company rose 18% to $1.213B. Dick's Chair & CEO Edward Stack said that "sales were strong in athletic apparel and outerwear but that [NFL] merchandise dipped." Lindeman notes overall results for the year and Q4 were "boosted by the acquisitions last year" of Golf Galaxy and Chick's Sporting Goods. For FY '07, Dick's profits rose 38% and net sales rose 25% to $3.888B. Dick's net income was $155M, or $1.33 per share, compared with $112.6M, or $1.02 per share in '06 (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 3/12).
GIANTS IMPACT: The Giants' Super Bowl XLII victory "cost Dick's about a penny" in Q1 earnings. While Dick's stores in Pittsburgh and Indianapolis sold "plenty of T-shirts and other team merchandise after" Super Bowl victories by the Steelers in '06 and Colts in '07, Stack said, "We just don't have many stores in the core [N.Y.] market." Stack said that "about 46 Dick's and 10 Golf Galaxy locations will open this year, and Dick's will continue adding private brand merchandise through partnerships" with Nike ACG and adidas baseball (Pittsburgh TRIBUNE-REVIEW, 3/12). At presstime, shares of Dick's were trading at $26.04, up 2.68% from yesterday's close of $25.36 (THE DAILY).
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