Dick's Sporting Goods provides strong holiday sales forecast.

• Dick's Sporting Goods exceeded expectations with its sales and earnings, prompting it to increase its full-year forecast.
• The 2024 presidential election guidance from the sporting goods giant was previously cautious.
• Dick's touted a better-than-expected back-to-school shopping season.

On Tuesday, the company raised its full-year guidance due to an "excellent" back-to-school shopping season and better-than-expected comparable sales for its third quarter, as stated by CEO Lauren Hobart.

The sporting goods giant has revised its forecast for fiscal 2024 same-store sales growth to be between 3.6% and 4.2%, exceeding the 3.4% growth predicted by Wall Street analysts.

Dick exceeded expectations on both the top and bottom lines, and its optimistic outlook suggests it is preparing for a successful holiday shopping season despite earlier cautious guidance related to the 2024 election.

Based on a survey of analysts by LSEG, how did the retailer perform in its third fiscal quarter compared to Wall Street's expectations for that period?

• Earnings per share: $2.75 adjusted vs. $2.68 expected
• Revenue: $3.06 billion vs. $3.03 billion expected

Dick's net income for the three-month period ending November 2 was $228 million, or $2.75 per share, which is higher than the $201 million, or $2.39 per share, reported for the same period a year ago.

Sales increased to $3.06 billion, slightly higher than the previous year's $3.04 billion.

"Hobart expressed pride in their Q3 results and year-to-date performance, with a 4.2% increase in comp sales driven by strategic pillars and team execution. As a result, they are raising their full year outlook due to strong quarterly performance and confidence in their business. They believe their differentiated product, quality service, and powerful omni-channel experience will appeal to athletes during the holiday season."

Despite unseasonably warm weather and storms in the Southeast, Dick's Sporting Goods experienced comparable sales growth of 4.2% during the quarter, surpassing the 2.7% growth predicted by StreetAccount.

Dick stated that the company's strong quarter resulted in an increase in its full-year sales and earnings forecast.

LSEG reports that the company's fiscal 2024 sales are now expected to be between $13.2 billion and $13.3 billion, which is in line with estimates of $13.26 billion and higher than the previous range of between $13.1 billion and $13.2 billion.

The company's full-year earnings per share are now expected to fall between $13.65 and $13.95, surpassing the previous guidance of $13.55 to $13.90. However, it is unclear if this guidance is comparable to analyst estimates.