Dick's stock jumps 18% as anti-gun moves may have boosted sales
Dick's is crushing it?... That's the shocking takeaway after Dick's Sporting Goods' sales jumped 6% last quarter. Looks like the CEO's actions following the 2018 school shooting in Parkland, Florida, boosted support for the big box chain.
- Immediate changes: Increase the gun-buying age to 21. Stop selling assault rifles.
- Experimental changes: Maybe we should remove the hunting section completely? Dick's tested that out this spring in 125 stores.
Biking shorts, a soccer ball, and a rifle... Casual browsers of Dick's stores could be surprised to find guns and ammo in aisle 6. At first, removing guns wasn't a clear winner or loser for Dick's bottom line:
- It could've hurt sales: Lost gun sales, plus potential boycotts from 2nd Amendment lovers.
- Or it could've boosted sales: Fill the hunting section with better-selling products, plus win love from gun control fans.
- The result: Customer love > Customer hate. The CEO said that sales at the 125 stores without guns or ammo of any kind "comped positively" with the rest of the chain's stores. Translation: unarmed stores did better than armed ones.
Dick's Sporting Goods is growing?... Just like that, this earnings report helped re-write Dick's narrative for investors. Like Target, Dick's stock has totally outperformed the rest of the stock market, rising 50% so far this year. Despite online shopping and subscription boxes, Dick's is hanging around, and you're going in for sweat-wicking gear.