Hibbett stock sinks after profit and sales warning

Hibbett Inc. /zigman2/quotes/201173500/composite HIBB +2.56% shares sank 11.4% in Friday premarket trading after the athletic retailer gave a fourth-quarter update that warned of a sales and profit miss. Sales for the quarter ending Jan. 29 are expected to be $383.3 million, up from $376.8 million. Comparable sales fell 1%. And net income is expected to be in a range of $1.18 to $1.25 against previous guidance for $1.85 to $2.05. The FactSet consensus is for sales of $414.7 million, comparable sales growth of 8.8% and EPS of $1.99. "Ongoing supply chain challenges, inflation concerns for the consumer and increased COVID-19 cases resulted in lower traffic and transaction counts in the back half of the quarter," said Mike Longo, chief executive of the company, in a statement. For the year, sales are expected to be up to $1.69 billion from $1.42 billion the previous year, comparable sales are expected to be up 17.4% and EPS is expected to be in the range of $11.15 to $11.20. The FactSet consensus is for $1.723 billion, comparable sales growth of 19.6% and EPS of $11.83. Hibbett is scheduled to report fourth-quarter earnings on March 11, according to the FactSet calendar. For 2022, the company is guiding for flat sales; a comparable sales decline in the low-single digits; a gross margin decline of 130 basis points to 160 basis points due to e-commerce, promotions, inflation and supply chain challenges; and EPS in the range of $9.75 to $10.50 per share. The FactSet consensus is for sales of $1.785 billion, a comparable sales decline of 0.3% and EPS of $10.53. Hibbett stock is down 20.2% over the past year while the S&P 500 index /zigman2/quotes/210599714/realtime SPX +1.06% has gained 11.9%.