Foot Locker shares rise as retailer posts earnings beat, gives more upbeat sales outlook

Shares of Foot Locker rose on Wednesday after the company posted surprise earnings and sales beats and said it saw strong results over Thanksgiving weekend.

The sneaker and sportswear retailer narrowed its full-year forecast, reflecting slightly better sales trends. It said it now expects sales to drop by 8% to 8.5% for the year, compared with a previously issued forecast of an 8% to 9% decrease. It projects a same-store sales decline of 8.5% to 9%, compared with its previous guidance of a 9% to 10% drop.

Yet Foot Locker lowered the high end of its adjusted earnings guidance, dropping the range to $1.30 to $1.40 per share, down from the previous $1.30 to $1.50 per share.

In a news release, CEO Mary Dillon said the company has made progress with its turnaround initiatives. She pointed to a new marketing deal with the NBA.

She said Foot Locker updated its outlook to reflect that momentum and capture “strong results over the Thanksgiving week period, against the backdrop of ongoing consumer uncertainty.”

Here’s how Foot Locker did in the three-month period that ended Oct. 28 compared with what Wall Street was anticipating, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG, formerly known as Refinitiv:

• Earnings per share: 30 cents adjusted vs. 21 cents expected
• Revenue: $1.99 billion vs. $1.96 billion expected

In the fiscal third quarter, Foot Locker reported net income of $28 million, or 30 cents per share, compared with $96 million, or $1.01 in the year-ago period.

Foot Locker’s same-store sales fell 8% year over year, which the company said reflected “ongoing consumer softness,” a change in its mix of vendors and a 3% negative impact as it closes some Champs stores. Even so, that was slightly better than the 9.7% drop that analysts expected, according to FactSet.

Like many retailers, Foot Locker has gotten hurt by shoppers cutting back on discretionary spending as inflation forces them to spend more on food, housing and everyday needs and as experiences, rather than goods, become a priority. Foot Locker has also faced company-specific troubles, such as having some stores in struggling malls and leaning heavily on merchandise from Nike, a brand that’s making a bigger push to sell directly through its own stores and website.

Too much inventory has also been a problem for Foot Locker, particularly as shoppers watch their spending. At the end of the third quarter, the retailer’s inventory was 10.5% higher than at the end of the year-ago period. Yet Foot Locker said about 6% of that was strategic, as the company stocked up on merchandise to sell during the holiday season.

Dillon said in a news release that the company remains on track to end the fiscal year with inventory levels flat or down slightly compared with the prior year.

As of Tuesday’s close, shares of Foot Locker had tumbled by about 37% this year. That compares to the approximately 19% gains of the S&P 500 during the same period. Foot Locker’s stock closed at $23.84 on Tuesday, bringing its market value to $2.25 billion.

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