Foot Locker Shares Rally on 3Q Sales Growth

Foot Locker (NYSE:FL) beat Wall Street’s view on the top and bottom lines in the third quarter, although its profit still slipped 1.9% amid higher expenses.

Investors cheered the earnings beat and sales growth, sending shares up 4.7% to $48.50 early Friday morning.

The New York-based athletic apparel retailer reported a profit of $104 million, below the year-ago period’s $106 million. Per-share earnings rose a penny to 70 cents due to fewer shares outstanding.

Excluding tax benefits and other items, earnings checked in at 68 cents versus the 63 cents in the same quarter last year. Analysts were looking for 66 cents a share.

Sales climbed 6.4% to $1.62 billion, exceeding Wall Street’s expectations for $1.57 billion.

Increases in product costs contributed to a 6.8% jump in total expenses.

Foot Locker said comparable stores continued to improve with a 4.1% increase in the latest period. Along with smaller rival Finish Line (NASDAQ:FINL), Foot Locker has seen its sales tick higher in recent years, thanks to new products from Nike (NYSE:NKE) and other apparel makers.

In July, Foot Locker announced a $254 million acquisition of Runners Point Group, a specialty athletic store and online retailer based in Germany.