Staying Neutral Ahead Of Earnings, Canaccord Uncertain Hibbett Sports Sales Trends Have Improved

As Hibbett Sports, Inc. HIBB is getting ready to announce its second-quarter results on August 19, Canaccord Genuity is not sure whether the company's sales trends have improved. The brokerage maintains its Hold rating and price target of $36.

In the last four quarters, the company's EPS came in line with or topped the Street estimates between 1.7 percent and 16.2 percent.

Analysts Camilo Lyon and Pallav Saini observed that there was not much material improvement in the sales trend after the first quarter's 1.1 percent comps. They believe that the strength witnessed in adidas AG (ADR) ADDYY and Under Armour Inc UA footwear, could not compensate the softness witnessed in Nike Inc NKE, citing the size of purchases, which is about 56 percent.

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The lead analyst said, "We believe apparel trends were choppy for HIBB as well. On the positive, we believe the moves to bring in more premium brands in the casual/lifestyle segment continue to be well received, particularly in women's."

As far as the second half of the current year, Canaccord expects modest improvement in overall comps citing the incremental allocation of gains of adidas and Under Armour. The brokerage expects additional gains from women's apparel, but stated, "These positives are likely to be offset by a lack of compelling newness in NKE's assortment and weakness in the licensing and equipment businesses."

At time of writing, Hibbett Sports was up 1.29 percent on the day, trading at $37.82.

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