Foot Locker’s total sales were 3.6% higher than in the first quarter of 2019.
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Foot Locker’s first-quarter results blew past analysts’ estimates, capping a week of impressive financial results from American retailers.
For its fiscal first quarter ended May 1, Foot Locker (ticker: FL) posted profits of $202 million, or $1.93 per share, on revenue of $2.15 billion. After adjusting for one-time events, Foot Locker earned $1.96, while analysts surveyed by FactSet had expected earnings of $1.12 per share and $1.9 billion in sales. In last year’s fiscal first quarter, Foot Locker lost $110 million.
Foot Locker’s results were helped by an 80.3% jump in same-store sales relative to the year-earlier period, when stores were closed due to the pandemic. But Foot Locker’s results weren’t just better than the dismal first quarter of 2020. It also noted that total sales were 3.6% higher than the first quarter of 2019.
“I am extremely pleased with the strength of our performance in the first quarter, compared not only to last year’s heavily COVID impacted first quarter, but also relative to the first quarter of 2019,” said Foot Locker chief executive Richard Johnson. Still, citing continued uncertainty due to Covid-19, Foot Locker declined to provide full-year financial forecasts.
Foot Locker’s results come after retailers including Target (TGT), Walmart (WMT), Macy’s (M), and Ralph Lauren (RL) also posted strong numbers, showing the eagerness of shoppers to revamp their wardrobes after a year of lockdowns. Nordstrom (JWN), Urban Outfitters (URBN), and American Eagle Outfitters (AEO) report results next week.
Foot Locker shares climbed 0.8% premarket.
Write to Carleton English at [email protected]
