Dick's Sporting Goods Misses 4Q Earnings

Dick’s Sporting Goods (NYSE:DKS) reported a 15% improvement in fourth-quarter earnings amid stronger sales, especially online, while same-store sales at the namesake chain declined.

The sporting-goods retailer, which also owns Golf Galaxy, said on Monday its profit for the period was $129.7 million versus $111.1 million a year earlier. Per-share earnings checked in at $1.03, up from 88 cents.

Revenue climbed 12% to $1.81 billion, below Wall Street’s projection of $1.86 billion.

Consolidated same-store sales edged up 1.2%, missing the company’s expectation for 4% growth. Dick’s Sporting Goods saw a 2.2% decline, while Golf Galaxy registered a 1.3% rise. Online sales overall soared 54%.

This year’s fourth quarter had an extra week compared to the year-earlier period.

Shares of Dick’s were down 7.59% to $46.76 a share in early morning trading, as investors reacted to the earnings miss and a downbeat forecast.

“As a result of the unusually warm weather conditions, including during peak selling periods in December, we significantly reduced our inventory levels of cold weather merchandise to align with lower consumer demand and avoid carrying over excess inventory after a second year in a row of warm weather,” CEO Edward W. Stack said in a statement, adding that the move helped the company manage inventory but prevented Dick’s from capturing sales in January when snowfall increased.

For fiscal 2014, Dick’s anticipates per-share earnings of $2.84 to $2.86 and comparable-store sales growth of 2% to 3%. Analysts estimated a profit of $2.92 a share.

The company also said it expects earnings of 47 cents to 49 cents a share during the current quarter, slightly below analysts’ estimate of 50 cents a share. Dick’s projected same-store sales that will decline between 1% and 2%.

The company’s board authorized a share-repurchase program of up to $1 billion over the next five years.