Dick's Sporting Goods Downgraded On Concerns About E-commerce Shift

Dick's Sporting Goods Inc. was downgraded to peer perform at Wolfe Research on Tuesday based on concerns about the shift to e-commerce from bricks-and-mortar retail. "Given the challenging reads through the first half of 2017, we believe any share gain potential will largely be eroded away by current oversupply, with too many goods chasing too little demand," analysts led by Adrienne Yih wrote. There's also "limited evidence" that Dick's is snapping up market share from competitors that are leaving the sector, the note said. "We believe Dick's is susceptible to severe deleverage and leaves us skeptical of further store openings beyond the current outlined plans," the note said, with Yih adding that Dick's is "sacrificing gross margin for comp" in an effort to price competitively. Dick's shares are up 1.6% in Tuesday trading, but down nearly 33% for the year so far. The S&P 500 index is up 10.7% for 2017 to date.