Foot Locker's Stock Surges After Profit And Sales Rose Above Expectations

Shares of Foot Locker Inc. surged 4.1% in premarket trade Friday, after the athletic shoes and apparel seller reported fiscal second-quarter profit and sales that beat expectations. For the quarter ended July 30, earnings rose to $127 million, or 94 cents a share, from $119 million, or 84 cents a share, in the same period a year ago. The FactSet earnings-per-share consensus was 90 cents. Revenue rose to $1.78 billion from $1.70 billion, above the FactSet consensus of $1.76 billion, with same-store sales growth of 4.7% beating expectations of a 3.8% rise. Merchandise inventories increased 1.7% to $1.34 billion. "Within the second quarter, we drove comparable sales gains across basketball, running, and classic footwear, as well as apparel," said Chief Executive Richard Johnson. The stock had dropped 5.2% year to date through Thursday, while the S&P 500 had gained 7%.