Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc (NYSE: DKS)
Dick’s Sporting Goods said Tuesday that it is going to stop selling ammunition and hunting rifles in 125 of its stores. The move comes a year after the sporting goods retailer removed guns in 10 stores following the Parkland, Florida, school shooting that left 17 people dead.
Edward Stack, CEO of Dick’s Sporting Goods said in a conference call with analysts that the company intends to replace the guns with “merchandise categories that can drive growth, each based on the needs of that particular market.” Stack said that sales Q4 2018 at locations that removed weapons jumped, and the stores delivered better foot traffic and margins than when they had weapons.
Dick’s will remove weapons beginning around August from the stores where they are not performing well. The change is expected to affect about 17% of the retailer’s chain. The decision, coupled with continuing drops in comparable store sales, irked shareholders.
Shares of the retailer lost more than 11% during on Tuesday, the biggest drop since August 2017. On Wednesday, however, the stock had recovered 3.12% to $35.69 as of 12:35 p.m. in the New York.
Separately, the Coraopolis, Pa.-based sporting goods seller reported fourth quarter earnings of $102.6 million, or $1.07 per share, down 11.5% from $116.0 million, or $1.11 per share, in the prior-year period. Excluding one-time items, earnings for the three months to February 3, 2018. came to $1.22 per share, beating Wall Street expectations of $1.06 per share.
Revenue was pegged at $2.49 billion, ahead of forecasts of $2.48 billion but were down 6.5% on year-over-year basis. Comparable store sales dipped 2.2% but beat expectations for a 3.3% decline.
Dick’s Sporting Goods, Inc. Profile
Dick’s Sporting Goods, Inc. operates as a sporting goods retailer primarily in the eastern United States. It provides hardlines, including sporting goods equipment, fitness equipment, golf equipment, and hunting and fishing gear products; apparel; and footwear and accessories.
The company also owns and operates Golf Galaxy, Field & Stream, and other specialty concept stores; and e-commerce Websites, as well as Dick’s Team Sports HQ, a youth sports digital platform that offers free league management services, mobile apps for scheduling, communications and live scorekeeping, custom uniforms and fan wear, and access to donations and sponsorships.
As of October 8, 2018, it operated approximately 729 stores in 47 states. The company was formerly known as Dick’s Clothing and Sporting Goods, Inc. and changed its name to Dick’s Sporting Goods, Inc. in April 1999. Dick’s Sporting Goods, Inc. was founded in 1948 and is headquartered in Coraopolis, Pennsylvania. – Yahoo Finance
