Dick’s Sporting Goods Sees Modest Growth, Less Foot Traffic

Dick’s Sporting Goods showed modest growth in the latest fiscal quarter — but amid signs that the pandemic boom is tapering off.

The retailer brought in $2.8 billion in net sales for the 13 weeks ending April 29, a 5.3% uptick over the same period last year. The company banked $305 million in net income compared to $261 million in Q1 2022.

The quarter also brought a significant tie-up: In March, Dick’s became the official retailer of the NCAA, giving it exclusive access to certain branded products.

The company’s retail footprint has held steady with 728 Dick’s stores at the end of the quarter, two less than it had at the start of 2022. It counted an additional 135 specialty concept stores after acquiring 12 and closing two over Q1 2023.

But foot traffic dipped compared to last year, according to Placer.ai, which found that visits to Dick’s stores dropped 3% year-over-year in January, 8% in February, and 11.4% in March. That trend continued into April, with four of the five weeks from April 3 showing year-over-year drops of at least 14.1%.

The company’s stock fell slightly on Tuesday following the earnings release after dropping 6.8% on Friday.