What happened
Shares of sporting-goods retailer Hibbett Sports, Inc. (HIBB 0.42%) fell as much as 30.8% in trading Friday after the company reported fiscal second-quarter 2019 results. At 3:30 p.m. EDT, shares were still down 29.4% on the day and showed no signs of a quick recovery.
So what
Net sales for the quarter were up 12.3% to $211.1 million, on the back of a 4.1% increase in comparable-store sales. However, net loss was $1.2 million, or $0.06 per share. Analysts were expecting sales of $215.6 million and positive earnings of $0.07 per share, so the company missed expectations by a wide margin despite the growth.
Image source: Getty Images.
What really disappointed investors was a reduction in comparable-store sales for fiscal 2019 to between negative 1% and positive 1%, which reduced the top end of guidance by 100 basis points. Guidance for earnings per share was also reduced from a range of $1.65 to $1.95 to a range of $1.57 to $1.75.
Now what
Hibbett was trying to sell investors on the idea that it could grow in-store and online sales this year, and these results undercut that thesis. In particular, the bottom-line reduction in guidance doesn't give investors any confidence the stock deserves the nearly 200% gain it had recently over its 52-week low. Hibbett isn't in dire straits yet, but the flat comparable-store sales and falling guidance have me worried enough to stay away from the stock.
