Dick's Numbers Way Down, Golf Must Be Doomed

I guess they would have to look a bit more closely at their way of viewing life, so Wall Street analysts all over the map can be expected to declare their "sell" view on golf based on Dick's Sporting Goods announcing weak numbers due in large part to weaker-than-expected golf sales. (It couldn't be the absurd Wall Street expectations of annual or the absurdity of expecting bi-annual club replacement!)

Forbes' Samantha Sharf with the breakdown of Dick's weak first quarter numbers on weak golf and hunting equipment sales numbers.

Dick’s also sharply cut its full year profit and same store sales outlooks. The stock is set to open near $45 which would be a new 52-week low.

Dick’s reported $1.4 billion in revenue for the quarter, up 7.9% from the same period last year but short of Wall Street analysts’ consensus estimate.

And we know the analysts always get it right!

“Our difficulties this quarter were isolated to two categories: golf and hunting,” said CEO Edward Stack in a statement on the results. “After a very challenging first quarter in golf last year, we expected some further headwinds and only modest improvement, but instead we saw a continued significant decline. In the case of hunting, we planned the business down based on last year’s catalysts, but it was even weaker than expected.”

Just think of all the harmless animals minding their own business who were spared!

While the company expects hunting sales to stabilize, it has no such hopes for its golf division. Given this anticipated weakness, Dick’s lowered its full year outlook. The company now expects non-GAAP earnings per share to come in between $2.70 and $2.85, this is down from a previous forecast of $3.03 to $3.08 and could mean virtually no growth over last year’s non-GAAP earnings per share of $2.69.

The game is doomed!