Stimulus money and pent-up consumer demand helped Hibbett Sports, which sells athletic-inspired fashion, achieve a 74.9% year-over-year revenue increase in the second quarter ended Aug. 1.
Net sales increased to $441.6 million. E-commerce was also a big driver of growth, with online sales jumping by 212.2%. E-commerce represented 15.7% of total net sales for the second quarter, compared with 8.6% in the prior-year second quarter.
Meanwhile, comparable sales increased 79.2%. Brick-and-mortar comparable sales increased 65.2%.
“Our nearly 80% comparable-sales results were driven by multiple factors, including pent-up consumer demand, temporary and permanent competitor store closures, and government stimulus money,” said Mike Longo, president and CEO of Brimingham, Alabama-based Hibbett. “We believe that these circumstances yielded increased traffic to our stores and website and provided new customers the opportunity to experience our trademark service.”
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Hibbett also said that gross margin was 37% of net sales for the 13-week period ended Aug. 1, compared with 30.3% of net sales for the 13-week period ended Aug. 3, 2019. The approximate 670 basis-point increase was driven by higher sell-through, a reduction in inventory valuation reserves and leverage of store occupancy expenses. These impacts were slightly offset by a higher mix of e-commerce sales, which carried a lower margin due to incremental shipping costs. Net income for the 13-week period ended Aug. 1 was $40.4 million, or $2.38 per diluted share, compared with a net loss of $8.8 million, or 49 cents per share, for the 13-week period for the same period last year.
Net sales so far this year have increased 19.4% to $711.4 million for Hibbett. Comparable sales have increased 22.2%. Brick-and-mortar comparable sales were up 8.9%, and e-commerce sales increased 150.9%, representing 18.2% of total sales in the current year, compared with 8.4% of total sales in the comparable period last year.
Earlier this month, Dick’s Sporting Goods reported similar trends and gains as part of its Q2 financial report.
Source: Retail Leader