Academy Sports Struggles In Q3 With Lower Sales And Profit, Cuts Outlook For 2024

Benzinga12-10

Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc (NASDAQ:ASO) stock tanked Tuesday after its third-quarter print.

The company reported adjusted earnings per share of 98 cents, missing the analyst consensus estimate of $1.30. Quarterly sales of $1.34 billion (down 3.9%) missed the street view of $1.39 billion.

Academy Sports registered a comparable sales decline of 4.9%, comparatively narrower than the decline of 8.0% year over year.

Also Read: Signet Jewelers Stock Tanks After Dismal Q3 Print, Guidance Cut

Academy Sports concluded the quarter with cash and equivalents totaling $296 million, net merchandise inventories amounting to $1.53 billion, and net long-term debt of $483.1 million.

The gross margin declined 50 bps to 34.0%.

Academy opened eight new stores during the third quarter and another five new stores early in the fourth quarter, bringing the total store count to 298. To date, in fiscal 2024, the company has opened 16 new stores and plans to open 20-25 stores in 2025.

Dividend: Academy Sports has declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.11 per share of common stock.

CEO Steve Lawrence said the team drove a 7% sales increase in the outdoor division in the quarter. He flagged progress in refining its new store opening process and pipeline, improving its website experience, expanding its targeted marketing capabilities with its new loyalty program, and streamlining its supply chain.

Outlook: Academy Sports projects fiscal year 2024 net sales of $5.895 billion—$5.940 billion (prior $5.895 billion—$6.075 billion), compared to the $6.02 billion estimate.

The company expects adjusted EPS of $5.80-$6.10 (prior $5.75-$6.50) versus the $6.21 estimate.

The updated outlook for comparable sales is a decrease of 6% to a decline of 5% (from a prior decrease of 6% to a reduction of 3%).

Academy Sports and Outdoors stock plunged over 25% year-to-date. Investors can gain exposure to the stock through Alpha Architect U.S. Quantitative Value ETF (NASDAQ:QVAL) and SPDR S&P Retail ETF (NYSE:XRT).

Price Action: ASO stock is down 3.79% to $48.50 premarket at last check Tuesday.

Also Read:

  • Science Applications Approves $1.2 Billion Stock Buyback, Raises Annual Outlook After Q3 Beat
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