Dick’s Sporting Goods posts 5% rise in revenue, announces removal of guns from 440 stores

By

Robin Driver

Published
Mar 11, 2020

Pittsburgh-based sports equipment retailer Dick’s Sporting Goods reported a 4.7% increase in its fourth-quarter revenues on Tuesday and also announced that it will be pulling guns from even more of its locations this year.

 
In the fourth quarter ended February 1, 2020, the company achieved net sales of $2.61 billion, up from $2.49 billion in the prior-year period, reflecting a 5.3% rise in same-store sales.
 
Quarterly net income was $69.8 million, or $0.81 per diluted share, compared to $102.6 million, or $1.07 per diluted share, in the same period in the previous year. This decline was led primarily by an increase in the company’s selling, general and administrative expenses, which totaled $633.7 million, up from $552.2 million in Q4 2018.

“We are very pleased with our strong fourth quarter results,” commented Dick’s Sporting Goods chairman and CEO Edward W. Stack in a release. “During 2019, we made meaningful changes across our business, which fueled our strongest annual comp sales gain since 2012.”
 
For the full fiscal year 2019, Dick’s Sporting Goods reported net sales of 8.75 billion, up 3.7% from $8.44 million in the previous year, while consolidated same-store sales also rose 3.7%.
 
Annual net income at the company was $297.5 million, or $3.34 per diluted share, falling from $319.9 million, or $3.24 per diluted share, in fiscal 2018.
 
Dick’s Sporting Goods began removing guns from its stores in the wake of the school shooting in Parkland, Florida in 2018 and has continued to build on these efforts since then. On Tuesday, the retailer announced that it will stop selling guns in a further 440 of its locations over the course of 2020.
 
Looking forward, the company currently projects earnings per diluted share to be between $3.60 and 4.00 in fiscal 2020, with same-store sales expected to remain flat or rise up to 2%.
 
This guidance reflects a balance of “enthusiasm with a degree of caution over the coronavirus” at the company.
 
Having already announced four new store openings for this month, the retailer revealed that it intends to open a total of nine new Dick's Sporting Goods stores and six new Golf Galaxy stores in 2020.
 
As of February 1, 2020, the company operated 726 Dick’s Sporting Goods locations and 94 Golf Galaxy stores, as well as 27 Field & Stream locations.