Dick’s Sporting Goods Reports Home-Run Quarter as Earnings Jump 34%

Dick’s Sporting Goods (NYSE:DKS) reported first-quarter earnings that topped Wall Street's view and lifted its fiscal-year forecast.

The largest publicly-held U.S. sporting goods store said it earned $57.2 million, or 45 cents a share, compared with a year-earlier $37.5 million, or 30 cents. Sales were up 15% to $1.3 billion, with same-store sales, or those open longer than a year, growing 8.4%.

Analysts in a Thomson Reuters poll were expecting earnings of just 38 cents on sales of $1.23 billion.

Sales were led by a 7.3% improvement in Dick’s Sporting Goods and 12.6% gain at Golf Galaxy. Its e-commerce business jumped 33.4%.

“We had an exceptionally strong first quarter as we generated record earnings with a 50% increase in earnings per share on 15% sales growth,” Dick’s CEO Edward Stack said in a statement. “We also maintained a healthy balance sheet while returning capital to stockholders through our dividend and share repurchase programs."

The Coraopolis, Pa.-based retailer lifted its full-year earnings view to a range of $2.45 to $2.48 a share from $2.38 to $2.41. That is slightly ahead of the $2.43 currently forecasted on average by analysts.

The company expects consolidated same-store sales to rise by 3% to 4% for the fiscal year, compared with a 2% increase in 2011.

In the second quarter, it anticipates earnings of 62 cents to 63 cents on comparable sales growth of 2% to 3%. Analysts are expecting earnings of 63 cents.