After two consecutive quarterly misses, Foot Locker Inc. today posted third-quarter profits that topped Wall Street’s expectations.
For the three months ending Nov. 2, the specialty athletic retailer logged adjusted earnings per share of $1.13, a penny down from last year but six cents ahead of predictions. Net profits totaled $125 million, compared with the previous year’s $130 million.
Although revenues rose 3.9% to $1.93 billion, they were just shy of the $1.94 billion analysts predicted. Same-store sales, meanwhile, increased 5.7%, besting consensus bets.
As of 8:45 a.m. ET, Foot Locker’s stock was up 3% to $42.72.
“The strong results we delivered in the quarter reflect our work to drive the top line,” said EVP and CFO Lauren Peters. “As we enter the all-important holiday selling season, we will remain focused on execution to continue to position us to achieve our long-term financial objectives.”
During its investor day in March, Chairman and CEO Dick Johnson said that Foot Locker had recalibrated its previous five-year strategic objectives and is now focused on four imperatives: elevating customer experience; investing in long-term growth; driving productivity; and leveraging the power of its talent pool, consisting of 40,000 employees in 27 countries.
At the time, the firm revealed expectations to see sales per square foot in the range of $525 to $575 from 2019 to 2023, with high-single-digit net income margin rates and earnings before interest reaches the low double digits.
In today’s statement, Johnson added, “We are making great strides in implementing our four strategic imperatives, which are designed to ensure we are best positioned to compete in the retail marketplace by inspiring and empowering youth culture while also strengthening our bottom line and driving value for our shareholders.”
The Q3 results follow a heavy investment period for the company, which announced in late September a $3 million strategic investment in Commerce Media Holdings LLC, which does business as Ntwrk, an e-commerce and content video-based platform that works with big-name brands and influencers to sell limited-edition products.
That same month, it also launched its innovation and incubation initiative dubbed Greenhouse to help fuel emerging brands, a concept that followed its streak of investments in apparel and footwear startups including Rockets of Awesome and the minority-focused design school, Pensole Footwear Design Academy.
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