ASO - Academy Sports + Outdoors Reports Second Quarter 2023 Results | Benzinga

Second Quarter GAAP Diluted EPS of $2.01, or $2.09 Adjusted Diluted EPS

Net Sales Decline (6.2)%; Comparable Sales Decline (7.5)%

Gross Margin Rate Improves 30 Basis Points to 35.6%

Returned $114 Million to Shareholders Through Repurchases & Dividends

KATY, Texas, Aug. 31, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASO) ("Academy" or the "Company") today announced its financial results for the second quarter ended July 29, 2023.

"As we continue to move through a challenging economic environment, our priority remains to deliver great value to our customers with our broad and complete assortment and our engaging shopping experience. While sales in the second quarter were down versus last year, they steadily improved each month during the quarter, while also delivering a solid earnings performance," said Chief Executive Officer, Steve Lawrence. "The team is working hard on thoughtfully managing through our short-term challenges and remains focused on delivering against our long range plan objectives. Moving forward, we believe that Academy is well positioned to continue to capture market share as a leader in the sports and outdoors space. We are planting the seeds for future growth by opening 11-12 new stores this Fall, building out our omnichannel capabilities and expanding our portfolio of new and exciting brands that resonate with our core customer."

_{(1) Adjusted net income and Adjusted earnings per common share, diluted, are non-GAAP measures. See "Non-GAAP Measures" and "Reconciliations of GAAP to Non-GAAP Financial Measures" below for reconciliations of non-GAAP financial measures to their most directly comparable GAAP financial measures.}

Subsequent to the end of the second quarter, on August 30, 2023, Academy announced that its Board of Directors ("Board") declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.09 per share of common stock. The dividend is payable on October 11, 2023, to stockholders of record as of the close of business on September 13, 2023.

Michael Mullican, President, said, "In the second quarter we made significant progress in aligning our expenses with our current sales trends. Our operating margin improved 420 basis points from the first quarter, driven by higher gross margin, sequential improvement in shrink as a rate to sales and disciplined expense management. We also continued to execute our capital allocation plan in the quarter, while self-funding our long-term growth initiatives."

New Store Openings
During the second quarter, Academy opened one new store, bringing the total quarter-end number of stores to 270 stores. The Company expects to open six stores in the third quarter and five to six in the fourth quarter and a total of 120 to 140 stores over the five fiscal year period ending with fiscal 2027.

2023 Outlook
Academy is reiterating its previous sales and net income guidance for fiscal 2023, while updating its EPS forecast to reflect the share repurchase activity completed in the second quarter.

_{(1) Adjusted earnings per common share, diluted, and adjusted free cash flow are non-GAAP measures. See "Non-GAAP Measures" and "Reconciliations of GAAP to Non-GAAP Financial Measures" below for reconciliations of non-GAAP financial measures to their most directly comparable GAAP financial measures.}

The earnings per common share guidance reflects a tax rate of approximately 23.0% and does not include any potential future share repurchases.

Conference Call Info
Academy will host a conference call today at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time to discuss its financial results. Listeners may access the call by dialing 1-877-407-3982 (U.S.) or 1-201-493-6780 (International). The passcode is 13740446. A webcast of the call can be accessed at investors.academy.com. A telephonic replay of the conference call will be available for approximately 30 days, by dialing 1-844-512-2921 (U.S.) or 1-412-317-6671 (International) and entering passcode 13738834. An archive of the webcast will be available at investors.academy.com for 30 days.

About Academy Sports + Outdoors
Academy is a leading full-line sporting goods and outdoor recreation retailer in the United States. Originally founded in 1938 as a family business in Texas, Academy has grown to 270 stores across 18 states as of quarter end. Academy's mission is to provide "Fun for All" and Academy fulfills this mission with a localized merchandising strategy and value proposition that strongly connects with a broad range of consumers. Academy's product assortment focuses on key categories of outdoor, apparel, footwear and sports & recreation through both leading national brands and a portfolio of private label brands.

Non-GAAP Measures
Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBIT, Adjusted Net Income, Adjusted Earnings per Common Share, and Adjusted Free Cash Flow have been presented in this press release as supplemental measures of financial performance that are not required by, or presented in accordance with, generally accepted accounting principles ("GAAP"). The Company believes that the presentation of these non-GAAP measures is useful to investors as it provides additional information on comparisons between periods by excluding certain items that affect overall comparability. The Company uses these non-GAAP financial measures for business planning purposes, to consider underlying trends of its business, and in measuring its performance relative to others in the market, and believes presenting these measures also provides information to investors and others for understanding and evaluating trends in the Company's operating results or measuring performance in the same manner as the Company's management. Non-GAAP financial measures should be considered in addition to, and not as an alternative for, the Company's reported results prepared in accordance with GAAP. The calculation of these non-GAAP financial measures may differ from similar measures reported by other companies and may not be comparable to other similarly titled measures. For additional information on these non-GAAP financial measures, please see our Annual Report for the fiscal year ended January 28, 2023 (the "Annual Report"), which may be updated from time to time in our periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), which are accessible on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov.

See "Reconciliations of GAAP to Non-GAAP Financial Measures" below for reconciliations of non-GAAP financial measures used in this press release to their most directly comparable GAAP financial measures.

Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These forward-looking statements are based on Academy's current expectations and are not guarantees of future performance. forward-looking statements may incorporate words such as "believe," "expect," "forward," "ahead," "opportunities," "plans," "priorities," "goals," "future," "short/long term," "will," "should," or the negative version of these words or other comparable words. The forward-looking statements include, among other things, statements regarding the Company's fiscal 2023 outlook, the Company's strategic plans and financial objectives, growth of the Company's business and operations, the Company's payment of dividends and declaration of future dividends, including the timing and amount thereof, share repurchases by the Company, the Company's expectations regarding its future performance, and future financial condition, and other such matters, and are subject to various risks, uncertainties, assumptions, or changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict or quantify. Actual results may differ materially from these expectations due to changes in global, regional, or local economic, business, competitive, market, regulatory and other factors that could affect overall consumer spending or our industry, including the possible effects of ongoing macroeconomic challenges, inflation and increases in interest rates, or changes to the financial health of our customers, many of which are beyond Academy's control. These and other important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements are set forth in Academy's filings with the SEC, including the Annual Report and the Company's Quarterly Report for the thirteen and twenty-six weeks ended July 29, 2023, under the caption "Risk Factors," as may be updated from time to time in our periodic filings with the SEC. Any forward-looking statement in this press release speaks only as of the date of this release. Academy undertakes no obligation to publicly update or review any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as may be required by any applicable securities laws.

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