Academy Sports Struggles With Lower Sales In Q2; Cuts FY24 Outlook Amid Distribution Challenges

Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc. ASO shares are trading lower on Tuesday.

The company reported second-quarter adjusted earnings per share of $2.03, which is in line with the analyst consensus estimate. Quarterly sales of $1.549 billion (down 2.2%) missed the street view of $1.574 billion.

“Sales for the second quarter were more challenging than expected, impacted 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,” said Carl Ford, Chief Financial Officer.

Academy Sports registered a comparable sales decline of 6.9%, comparatively narrower than the decline of 7.5% year over year.

Academy Sports is advancing its strategic goals by and implementing new omni-channel features like DoorDash.

Also Read: How To Earn $500 A Month From Academy Sports And Outdoors Stock Ahead Of Q2 Earnings Report

Academy Sports concluded the quarter with cash and equivalents totaling $324.6 million, net merchandise inventories amounting to $1.366 billion, and net long-term debt of $483.6 million.

The company is also capitalizing on customer enthusiasm for its new loyalty program. Additionally, inventory management improvements have led to a 50 basis point increase in gross margin and a 5% reduction in units per store.

Academy opened one new store during the second quarter. So far, in the first two fiscal quarters, the company has opened three stores and plans to open between 15 and 17 stores in 2024.

Dividend: Academy Sports has declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.11 per share of common stock. It will pay this dividend on October 17, 2024, to shareholders who are on record as of the close of business on September 19, 2024.

Outlook: Academy Sports projects fiscal year 2024 net sales between $5.895 billion and $6.075 billion, compared to the $6.124 billion estimate. This is a revision from the previous forecast of $6.070 billion to $6.350 billion.

The company expects adjusted EPS to be between $5.75 and $6.50 versus the $6.48 estimate.

The updated outlook for comparable sales is a decrease of 6% to a decrease of 3%, a revision from the previous forecast that ranged from a decline of 4% to an increase of 1%.

Price Action: ASO shares are trading lower by 1.33% to $51.94 at last check Tuesday.

Photo via Shutterstock

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