Dick’s Sporting Goods boosts outlook after strong quarter

​Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc. raised its profit forecast as strong demand for sports gear overcame concerns of a slowdown in spending ahead of the holiday season.

The retailer now sees profit excluding some items as high as $12.60 a share this year, up from $12.30 previously, according to a statement Tuesday. The new forecast is still much lower than the company’s projections earlier this year before theft decimated results in the second quarter.

In the third quarter ended Oct. 28, both profit and sales exceeded analyst estimates. Dick’s “delivered a rare beat and raise” among retailers this earnings season and seems to have momentum heading into the holidays, Wells Fargo analyst Will Gaertner wrote in a research report.

The shares rose as much as 12% in New York, their biggest intraday gain in a year and a half. The stock has had a rocky year but it’s still up about 500% since the end of March 2020.

Cost-cutting has been a bigger focus for Chief Executive Officer Lauren Hobart in recent months, a shift from her previous strategy of adding stores and square footage during the company’s pandemic-era boom. Dick’s expects to open 10 new locations next year.

“We’ve done extensive work to optimize our business,” Hobart said on a conference call with analysts on Tuesday. Management is still conducting a review of operations, which the company expects to complete by the end of this fiscal year.

Problems with “inventory shrink,” an industry term that refers to issues like shoplifting and employee theft, persisted after executives cited it as an obstacle last quarter. Chief Financial Officer Navdeep Gupta said “combating that remains a top priority.”