Post Earnings Coverage as Hibbett Earnings per Share Dropped 16%; Lowers Earnings Guidance

Upcoming AWS Coverage on Acushnet Holdings Post-Earnings Results

LONDON, UK / ACCESSWIRE / November 30, 2016 / Active Wall St. announces its post-earnings coverage on Hibbett Sports, Inc. (NASDAQ: HIBB). The company released its third quarter fiscal 2017 financial results on November 18, 2016. The sporting goods retailer’s top- and bottom-line numbers came in below Wall Street’s expectations. Register with us now for your free membership at: http://www.activewallst.com/register/.

One of Hibbett Sports’ competitors within the Sporting Goods Stores space, Acushnet Holdings Corp. (NYSE: GOLF), will publish its Q3 2016 financial results on December 8, 2016, at approximately 7:00 a.m. ET. The company will also release an advisory news release on the same day to announcing availability of the results via its Investor Relations and the US SEC websites.. AWS will be initiating a research report on Acushnet Holdings in the coming days.

Today, AWS is promoting its earnings coverage on HIBB; touching on GOLF. Get our free coverage by signing up to:

http://www.activewallst.com/registration-3/?symbol=HIBB

http://www.activewallst.com/registration-3/?symbol=GOLF

Earnings Reviewed

Earnings Numbers

For the period ended on October 29th, 2016, Hibbett reported that net sales increased 3.8% to $237.0 million compared to $228.3 million for Q3 FY16. The company’s revenue came in below market expectations of $237.8 million. Comparable store sales increased 0.7%.

The company’s gross profit was 35.4% of net sales for the reported quarter compared to 36.1% for the year ago period. The decrease in gross profit was attributed to markdowns taken to reduce inventory, a negative effect of product mix resulting from soft sales in seasonal apparel, and de-leverage of logistics, and store occupancy expenses associated with lower comparable store sales. Hibbett’s store operating, selling, and administrative expenses were 23.6% of net sales for Q3 FY17 compared to 21.1% of net sales for Q3 FY16. These expenses were higher as a percentage of net sales partially due to a low comparable store sales increase. Additionally, the Company incurred increased expenses related to investments in its Omni-channel initiative and higher expenses related to employee benefit costs, credit card fees, and store maintenance.

During Q3 FY17, Hibbett reported net income of $14.6 million compared to $18.7 million Q3 FY16. Earnings per diluted share for the reported period were $0.66 compared to $0.79 for the year ago comparable quarter. Earnings per share also missed analysts’ forecasts of $0.74 per share.

Balance Sheet

Hibbett ended Q3 FY17 with $41.2 million of available cash and cash equivalents on the unaudited consolidated balance sheet, no bank debt outstanding, and full availability under its $80.0 million unsecured credit facilities. During the reported quarter, the Company repurchased 53,519 shares of its common stock for a total expenditure of $1.9 million. Approximately $269.3 million of the total authorization remained for future stock repurchases as of October 29, 2016. During Q3 FY17, inventories increased 5.6% over last year, and were 2% higher on a per-store basis. The company spent $6.9 million in Capex for Q3 FY17.

Store Update

During Q3 FY17, Hibbett opened 13 new stores, expanded two high-performing stores, and closed five underperforming stores, bringing the store base to 1,067 in 34 states as of October 29, 2016. The company opened its first store in California during Q3 FY17 and another one so far in Q4 FY17.

Fiscal 2017 Outlook

Hibbett updated its Q4 FY17 guidance to earnings per diluted share in the range of $2.82 to $2.88 from a previously reported range of $2.93 to $3.02. Additionally, merchandise margin is expected to be relatively flat compared with a previously reported expectation of flat to slightly positive versus the prior year.

Stock Performance

On Tuesday, the stock closed the trading session at $39.80, declining 1.49% from its previous closing price of $40.40. A total volume of 349.14 thousand shares have exchanged hands. Hibbett Sports’ stock price advanced 1.14% in the last month, 3.67% in the past three months, and 15.53% in the previous six months. Furthermore, on a year to date basis, the stock surged 31.61%. Shares of the company have a PE ratio of 13.61.

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