Author: Thomas J. Ryan

Nike Inc. crushed Wall Street’s earnings targets in the second quarter. Revenues were led by currency-neutral gains of 23 percent in China and 14 percent in the EMEA region. Digital sales vaulted 38 percent and the Jordan brand logged its first-ever billion-dollar quarter. The North America region came in lower than analysts’ expected but still accelerated from the first quarter.

“In 2019, as in the previous two years, we describe our industry market dynamics as ‘okay, not great,” sums up Tom Cove, president and CEO of Sports & Fitness Industry Association (SFIA), in his organization’s recently-released 2019 State Of The Industry Report. Profitability has stabilized, inventories have rationalized and R&D spending has recovered. But sports participation remains a concern.

While the threats of online competition and vendors’ DTC (direct-to-consumer) efforts aren’t going away, another successful TRE (The Running Event) provides more evidence that the run specialty channel has regained its stride.

Shares of Designer Brands, the parent of DSW, fell $2.80, or 16.4 percent, to $14.23 Tuesday after the company said warm weather and tariff-mitigation efforts drove the company to overreact to a potential slowdown. Roger Rawlins, CEO, said, “We of course now know that the feared consumer pullback did not materialize. But we, unfortunately, were not able to make up the impact of these actions within the quarter.”

Dick’s Sporting Goods reported its strongest quarterly same-store sales gain since 2013 in the third quarter with a 6 percent gain. At Morgan Stanley’s Global Consumer & Retail Conference, Dick’s officials expressed optimism that the healthy growth will continue, particularly due to the revival in growth at its physical locations.

Boosted by continued strength of Journeys coupled with significant improvement at Schuh, Genesco Inc.’s third-quarter earnings came in well above Wall Street estimates and the company significantly lifted its EPS outlook for the year.

Helped by a hardgoods cycle that continues to boost comps and expense-control efforts, Zumiez Inc. reported net earnings jumped 39.1 percent in the third quarter to easily surpass guidance.

Tilly’s Inc. reported earnings and same-store sales landed at the top end of guidance in the third quarter and provided an upbeat comp outlook for the fourth quarter.  Said Ed Thomas, CEO, “Despite a slow start to the fourth quarter as a result of a later Thanksgiving this year, Black Friday weekend met our expectations, leaving us optimistic about our opportunity to deliver positive comps in the fourth quarter.”

After undergoing a rough patch a few years ago, the specialty run channel has stabilized and is seeing some growth, proving that the package of strong customer service and community involvement still pays off, according to two panels held Tuesday at The Running Event (TRE) in Austin. That’s not to say some reinvention isn’t required.

Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc. last week reported third-quarter earnings handily surpassed Wall Street targets and lifted its guidance for the third time this year. A few analysts saw the progress as another sign that the sporting goods chain is well-positioned to drive healthy comps in the years ahead, but a few were still worried about margins and the payoff from ongoing investments.

Shares of Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc. skyrocketed on Tuesday after the retailer reported Q3 earnings significantly eclipsed Wall Street targets on its strongest quarterly same-store sales gain since 2013. Same-store sales and earnings guidance were raised for the third time this year.

Foot Locker Inc. on Friday reported third-quarter earnings that topped analysts’ estimates on a 5.7 percent same-store gain and improving gross margin and SG&A rates. But shares of the sneaker juggernaut declined Friday as it gave a disappointing outlook for the holiday season due to the timing of launches and struggles in apparel.

With a fresh round of tariffs arriving on September 1 and another scheduled to land on December 15, tariff-mitigation strategies were again widely discussed by vendors on recent quarterly conference calls. So far, the impact has been minimal with more concerns expressed about 2020. Tariff insights from VF Corp, Under Armour, Nike, Columbia Sportswear, Vista Outdoor, Clarus and more.

Nike’s decision to pull distribution from Amazon is expected to be a positive catalyst for any other retailer of Nike merchandise, but particularly sellers of moderate-priced footwear. But analysts also believe the move reveals deeper insights into Nike’s evolving distribution strategy.