Hibbett slips after quarterly sales fall short of Wall Street view

Hibbett shares moved lower in premarket trading Wednesday after the athletic footwear and apparel retailer reported quarterly sales that missed Wall Street’s estimate. For everyday investors, the mixed report shows why earnings season is about more than one headline number: profit came in ahead of expectations, while demand metrics looked softer than analysts had modeled.

The Alabama-based sporting goods retailer said net income for the first quarter of fiscal 2025 was $32.5 million, or $2.67 a share. That was down from $35.9 million, or $2.74 a share, in the same quarter a year earlier.

Analysts surveyed by FactSet had expected earnings of $2.58 a share, so Hibbett cleared the profit bar. Earnings per share, or EPS, divides a company’s profit by its share count and is one of the main numbers investors use to compare actual results with analyst expectations.

Revenue told a different story. Hibbett reported sales of $447.2 million, down from $455.5 million a year earlier. FactSet’s analyst survey had pointed to $452.9 million, meaning the company fell short on the top line.

That sales miss weighed on the stock. Hibbett shares were down 0.6% in premarket trading, according to MarketWatch.

Comparable sales were also weaker than expected. Hibbett said same-store sales fell 5.8% in the quarter. Same-store sales compare revenue at locations that have been open long enough to give investors a cleaner read on ongoing customer demand, rather than growth from new stores. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had expected a 4.3% decline.

Chief Executive Mike Longo said in prepared remarks that Hibbett’s sales and diluted EPS for the quarter matched the company’s own expectations, while describing the athletic footwear and apparel retail market as very challenging.

Hibbett did not revise the financial guidance it had previously issued. The company cited its pending transaction with JD Sports Fashion as the reason. JD Sports announced in April that it had agreed to buy Hibbett in a deal valued at $1.1 billion.

The pending sale changes how investors may read the quarter. In a typical earnings report, guidance can matter as much as the latest numbers because it tells investors how management sees sales and profit developing. In this case, Hibbett left that outlook unchanged while the JD Sports deal remains pending.

Even with Wednesday’s premarket dip, Hibbett has outperformed the broader market this year. MarketWatch reported that Hibbett shares were up 19.8% in 2024, compared with a 10.9% gain for the S&P 500 index.

This story draws on original reporting from MarketWatch Market Pulse.