Why Finish Line Earnings Are Not Enough for Investors

By Chris Lange Updated Jan 12, 1:39PM EST · Published Mar 24, 10:40AM EDT

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Why Finish Line Earnings Are Not Enough for Investors — © Thinkstock

[cnxvideo id=”655415″ placement=”ros”]Finish Line Inc. (NASDAQ: FINL) reported its fiscal fourth-quarter financial results before the markets opened on Friday. The company said that it had $0.50 in earnings per share (EPS) and $557.5 million in revenue. Thomson Reuters had consensus estimates of $0.71 in EPS and revenue of $550.46 million. The same period of last year reportedly had EPS of $0.83 and $580.25 million in revenue.

During this quarter, comparable sales decreased by 4.5%. Also Finish Line’s sales with Macy’s increased by 35%. On an annual basis, comparable sales increased by 0.3% and Macy’s sales increased nearly 30%.

In terms of the outlook for the coming fiscal year, the company expects comparable sales to increase low-single-digits and EPS to be in the range of $1.12 to $1.23. The consensus estimates call for $1.46 in EPS and $1.89 billion in revenue.

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On the books, Finish Line cash and cash equivalents totaled $90.9 million at the end of the quarter, up from $79.5 million in the same period of last year.

Sam Sato, CEO of Finish Line, commented:

Our fourth quarter earnings performance represented a disappointing finish to a challenging year financially for our company. As elements of our footwear offering did not resonate with our customers as we expected and the overall retail environment in February became increasingly difficult, we made the decision to get more aggressive on pricing to be competitive and clear slow moving product. While this allowed us to end fiscal 2017 with clean inventory levels, it put significant pressure on fourth quarter product margins. We know we must improve the execution of our merchandise strategies to drive increased full price selling and fuel sustained comparable sales growth. At the same time, we are confident that the numerous operational improvements we made throughout the past year have created a more efficient company with a stronger foundation to support enhanced profitability and increased shareholder value over the long-term.

Shares of Finish Line were last seen down 16% at $12.91 on Friday, with a consensus analyst price target of $19.64 and a 52-week trading range of $12.63 to $24.52.

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About the Author Chris Lange →

Chris Lange is a writer for 24/7 Wall St., based in Houston. He has covered financial markets over the past decade with an emphasis on healthcare, tech, and IPOs. During this time, he has published thousands of articles with insightful analysis across these complex fields. Currently, Lange's focus is on military and geopolitical topics.

Lange's work has been quoted or mentioned in Forbes, The New York Times, Business Insider, USA Today, MSN, Yahoo, The Verge, Vice, The Intelligencer, Quartz, Nasdaq, The Motley Fool, Fox Business, International Business Times, The Street, Seeking Alpha, Barron’s, Benzinga, and many other major publications.

A graduate of Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, Lange majored in business with a particular focus on investments. He has previous experience in the banking industry and startups.