Hibbett Sports posts 20% sales rise, beats earnings expectations

By

Robin Driver

Published
Mar 6, 2021

Birmingham, Alabama-based sportswear and equipment retailer Hibbett Sports, Inc. reported a solid fourth quarter on Friday, with improvements in sales driving stronger than expected gains in the company’s bottom line.

 
In the fourth quarter ended January 30, 2021, Hibbett’s net sales totaled $376.8 million, increasing 20.4% from $313.0 million in the same period in the previous year. Comparable sales rose 2.9%.
 
The company’s e-commerce sales saw particularly strong growth, achieving a 44.8% increase and representing 17.1% of Hibbett’s total sales in Q4, compared to 14.2% in the prior-year period. Brick-and-mortar comparable sales grew 17.7%.

According to the retailer, its sales were positively impacted by strength in omni-channel adoption and improved new customer retention, as well as by the availability of in-demand products and incremental stimulus payments.
 
Hibbett’s quarterly net income was $23.9 million, or $1.39 per diluted share, coming in ahead of the FactSet consensus of $1.37 cited by MarketWatch. In the prior-year period, the company’s net income was $6.0 million, or $0.34 per diluted share.
 
“The strong momentum that we experienced in our business in the second and third quarters continued in the fourth quarter,” said Hibbett president and CEO Mike Longo in a release.
 
“Our ongoing ability to deliver a compelling assortment of merchandise through superior customer service and a best-in-class omni-channel platform generated outstanding fourth quarter performance in both sales and profitability and provided a strong conclusion to a record-setting fiscal 2021,” he added.
 
Hibbett’s full-year sales increased 19.9% to $1.42 billion, up from $1.18 billion in the previous year, while comparable sales rose 22.2%. Brick-and-mortar comparable sales grew 13.3%, but it was e-commerce revenues which made the most progress, posting an 89.3% rise.
 
Annual net income totaled $74.3 million, or $4.36 per diluted share, compared to the $27.3 million, or $1.52 per diluted share, reported by the company the year before.
 
Over the course of the year, Hibbett opened 16 new stores and permanently closed 42. The company also rebranded 12 Hibbett locations as City Gear stores. Currently, the retailer operates 1,067 stores under the Hibbett and City Gear banners.
 
Looking to the future, Hibbett expects to report comparable sales ranging from negative low-single digits to positive low-single digits in fiscal 2022. Diluted earnings per share are expected to be between $5.00 and $5.50.