Hibbett Sports Earnings Preview: Double-Digit EPS Growth Expected

Hibbett Sports HIBB is on tap to report fiscal first-quarter 2012 results tomorrow morning, May 20. Analysts are looking for the retailer to report that earnings grew 11.9% from a year ago to $0.67 per share. That consensus earnings estimate is unchanged from 60 days ago. Note that earnings have only fallen short of expectations once in the past six quarters, and that by only 2 cents per share. Birmingham, Alabama-based Hibbett Sports operates more than 750 sporting goods stores in small to mid-sized markets in the southeast, southwest, Mid-Atlantic, and Midwest regions of the United States. The company also provides its products for school, athletic and youth programs directly to educational institutions and youth associations. Hibbett Sports said in its fourth-quarter earnings release that it plans to open 50 to 55 new stores this year. The revenue forecast for the first quarter calls for $201.0 million. That is an increase of 9.0% from the same period of last year. Looking ahead to the full year, analysts so far expect to see per-share earnings up 13.5% and revenue up 8.1% from a year ago. Hibbett Sports has had a consensus Buy rating for more than 90 days; the mean price target is currently $38.33 per share. The share price was $31.09 at today's opening bell, a couple of bucks lower than the 52-week high, and is now about 18% higher than three months ago. Over that period, the stock has outperformed the broader markets, as well as Walmart WMT.