Foot Locker Earnings Slump Pushes Shares to Multiyear Low

August 18, 2017 by Chris Lange

Foot Locker Inc. (NYSE: FL) reported its fiscal second-quarter financial results before the markets opened on Friday. The stock hit a multiyear low in early trading indications, following a huge whiff on this earnings report.

The shoe retailer said that it had $0.62 in earnings per share (EPS) and $1.7 billion in revenue, compared with consensus estimates from Thomson Reuters that called for $0.90 in EPS and revenue of $1.8 billion. The same period of last year reportedly had EPS of $0.94 and $1.78 billion in revenue.

Total sales decreased by 4.4% in the second quarter, while comparable-store sales fell by 6.0%. At the same time, the gross margin rate decreased to 29.6% of sales from 33.0%.

During the second quarter, the company opened 24 new stores, remodeled or relocated 38 stores and closed 19 stores. By the end of the quarter, Foot Locker operated 3,359 stores worldwide.

The company did not offer any guidance in the earnings report, but consensus estimates are $1.21 in EPS and $1.95 billion in revenue for the current quarter.

On the books, Foot Locker cash and cash equivalents totaled $1.04 billion at the end of the quarter, up from $945 million at the end of the same period last year.

Richard Johnson, board chair and chief executive of Foot Locker, commented:

While we believe our position in the market for premium sneakers remains very strong and our customers continue to look to us for compelling new athletic footwear and apparel styles. sales of some recent top styles fell well short of our expectations and impacted this quarter’s results. At the same time, we were affected by the limited availability of innovative new products in the market.  We believe these industry dynamics will persist through 2017, and we expect comparable sales to be down three to four percent over the remainder of the year.

Shares of Foot Locker closed Thursday at $47.70, with a consensus analyst price target of $65.05 and a 52-week range of $44.59 to $79.43. Following the release of the earnings report, the stock was down about 20% at $38.40 in early trading indications Friday.

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