Unseasonably warm weather in the fourth quarter of 2015 depressed performance at Dick's Sporting Goods Inc (NYSE:DKS).
Earnings per share (EPS) came in a shade below expectations at $1.13, down from $1.30 a year earlier and less than the $1.15 the Street had been expecting. Company guidance had been for EPS of between $1.10 and $1.25.
Fourth quarter revenue of $2.24bn was up from $2.16bn the year before, but less than the $2.28bn the market had been expecting.
Like-for-like sales were down 2.5% year-on-year, as the unpredictable weather meant the company did not always have the sportswear customers wanted, but the company had some cheer for shareholders as it said like-for-like sales in the current quarter should be anywhere from flat year-on-year to up 1%. The company said it expects EPS in the first quarter of the current year will be somewhere between 48 cents and 50 cents.
For the whole of 2016, the company is guiding towards EPS of $2.85 to $3.
"Given the challenging conditions we faced with the unseasonably warm weather, we operated quite well in the fourth quarter, generating earnings within our guided range and driving results in important growth categories," said Edward Stack, chairman and chief executive officer.
"In 2015, we grew our omni-channel platform by maintaining strong new store productivity and driving our eCommerce business. We ended the year with a strong balance sheet and returned over $420 million to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases," he added.
Shares fell sharply in pre-market trading but were down just 1.3% at $43.75 half an hour after the market opened.