NEW YORK — Dick’s Sporting Goods delivered a strong third quarter, driven by golf merchandise, athletic footwear and apparel.
Earnings for the three months ended Oct. 29 were $4.2 million, or 8 cents a share, up from a loss of $2 million in the year-ago period, which included merger integration and store closing costs from the company’s acquisition last year of Galyan’s Trading Corp. Results were one cent ahead of analysts’ expectations.
Sales at the athletic retailer gained 7.7 percent to $582.7 million from $541 million, and same-store sales were up 2.9 percent.
“We’re very pleased with the growth that we’re having in the apparel and footwear side,” Edward W. Stack, chairman and chief executive officer, said during a call with analysts Tuesday. “Technical apparel, which has been led by Under Armour, continues to do very well.”
The company also has been increasing its private label offerings, he said.
Dick’s said it opened 16 stores, relocated three units and remodeled one store in the quarter. The company operates 255 stores.
“Same-store sales came in ahead of our estimate and above company plan,” Merrill Lynch analyst Michael Keara said in a research report. “Importantly, we calculate meaningful sales improvement at the converted Galyan’s stores.”
The company reaffirmed that it plans to report earnings of $1.27 to $1.32 a share for the year.
For the nine months, earnings fell 28.6 percent to $18.9 million, or 35 cents, from $26.6 million, or 50 cents, because of integration and merger costs this year. Sales grew 34.4 percent to $1.78 billion, and were up 2.1 percent on a same-store basis.