May 27 (Reuters) - Dick's Sporting Goods lowered its full-year profit forecast on Wednesday as margin pressure tied to its Foot Locker acquisition weighed on earnings, even as strong demand for sneakers and apparel lifted quarterly sales.
The company has launched a sweeping overhaul of Foot Locker, including store closures and inventory clean-ups, as it seeks to streamline operations and revive sales.
• Dick's Sporting Goods now expects 2026 consolidated earnings in the range of $13.27 to 14.27 per
diluted share, compared with its prior forecast of $13.70 to 14.70.
• The footwear retailer maintained its overall annual net sales forecast between $22.1 billion and $22.4 billion.
• Shares of the company were down about 3% in premarket trading.
• For the quarter ended May 2, net sales surged 62.7% to $5.17 billion, driven by steady demand for footwear and apparel, along with increases in both average ticket and transaction size.
• Executive Chairman Ed Stack said the company saw encouraging early signs in the first quarter from Foot Locker, including a return to positive comparable sales and profitability.
• The company is on track to reach about 250 remodeled Foot Locker stores by back to school after opening 100 stores globally during the reported quarter, which saw a double-digit comparable sales and merchandise margin improvement, Dick's Sporting said.
• Meanwhile, annual same-store sales are now forecast to rise between 2.5% and 4%, compared with the previous range of 2% to 4%, while the Foot Locker business is expected to grow 1.5% to 3%, up from the prior forecast of 1% to 3%.
(Reporting by Savyata Mishra in Bengaluru; Editing by Diti Pujara)
