Sales Fall at Academy Sports + Outdoors as It Faces ‘Tough’ Environment

Academy Sports + Outdoors (ASO) shares advanced in intraday trading Tuesday after the sporting goods and recreational products retailer beat second-quarter adjusted profit expectations, even though it posted a sales drop and cut its guidance amid difficult economic conditions.

The company reported quarterly revenue fell 2.2% year-over-year to $1.55 billion, below the $1.58 billion consensus expectation of analysts surveyed by Visible Alpha, and same-store sales dropped 6.9%, also below estimates. However, adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $2.03 came in ahead of forecasts.

CEO Highlights Increasing Store Count

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Steve Lawrence was upbeat, noting that Academy Sports + Outdoors is increasing its store count by nine this quarter, offering new omni-channel enhancements, and expanding its new loyalty program.

Still, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Carl Ford said second-quarter sales were “more challenging than expected.” He explained the results were hurt by “a tough economy, a temporary distribution center backlog related to going live with a new warehouse management system and by a very active storm season across key portions of our footprint.”

Ford added that based on the company’s first-half performance and expectations for the rest of 2024, it was revising its full-year outlook. Academy Sports + Outdoors now sees revenue in a range of $5.895 billion to $6.075 billion versus the previous $6.07 billion to $6.35 billion. It expects same-store sales to decline by as much as 6.0%, down from the earlier slide of up to 4.0%. 

Academy Sports + Outdoors shares rose more than 2.5% to $54.00 in late-morning trading Tuesday but have lost about 18% of their value this year.