Net Sales Decline (3.9)%; Comparable Sales of (4.9)%

GAAP Diluted EPS of $0.92, or $0.98 Adjusted Diluted EPS¹

Year-to-Date GAAP Operating Cash Flow +29%; Year-to-Date Adjusted Free Cash Flow¹ +67% vs LY

Authorizes New $700 Million Share Repurchase Program

Plans to Open 20 to 25 New Stores in Fiscal 2025

KATY, Texas, Dec. 10, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc. (Nasdaq: ASO) ("Academy" or the "Company") today announced its results for the third quarter ended November 2, 2024. Financial and operational highlights include:

• Opened 16 stores in fiscal 2024, consistent with plan, including further expansion into Ohio
• Narrowed fiscal 2024 guidance to Net Sales of $5.89B to $5.94B

"We delivered third quarter sales in line with expectations and were encouraged to see an improvement in comp sales trends versus the first half of the year,” said Steve Lawrence, Chief Executive Officer. “In our Outdoor division, the team drove a sales increase in the quarter of 7% compared to fiscal third quarter last year. We are excited that the 16 new stores that we have opened this year are exceeding our expectations and that our prior year vintages continue to grow. The team has made tremendous progress refining our new store opening process and pipeline, as well as improving our website experience, expanding our targeted marketing capabilities with our new loyalty program and streamlining our supply chain. The fundamentals of our business continue to strengthen, and we look forward to building on this momentum throughout the fourth quarter and beyond."

Inventory and Cash Flow Management
Academy generated $97 million and $388 million in GAAP operating cash flow and $34 million and $252 million in adjusted free cash flow¹ during the third quarter and year to date in fiscal 2024, respectively, which is an increase of 126% and 67% versus the third quarter and year to date in fiscal 2023, respectively.

“Inventories remain well managed, with units per store down 7% and dollars per store down 4%, and we have a thoughtful promotional cadence planned to help drive traffic through the Holiday season. We plan to support these promotions with increased marketing investment to highlight Academy’s compelling assortment and market leading value proposition. We are positioned to deliver strong operating cash flow for the full year, which we are continuing to reinvest into the business through our strategic initiatives while also returning capital directly to shareholders,” said Carl Ford, Chief Financial Officer.

Shareholder Returns
During the quarter, Academy repurchased approximately one million shares of its outstanding common stock at a weighted average purchase price of $51.19 per common share for a total cost of $53 million. To date, Academy has repurchased 5.4 million shares of its outstanding common stock under its previous share repurchase programs for approximately $300 million, inclusive of $27 million of share repurchases in November 2024.

Subsequent to the end of the third quarter, on December 4, 2024, Academy's Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.11 per share of its outstanding common stock. The dividend is payable on January 15, 2025, to stockholders of record as of the close of business on December 18, 2024.

New $700 Million Share-Repurchase Program
In conjunction with its approval of the dividend, Academy’s Board of Directors approved a new share repurchase program authorizing the Company to repurchase up to $700 million of its outstanding common stock.

The new share repurchase program replaces the preceding share repurchase program, of which $423 million remained as of the end of the third quarter, and is effective as of December 4, 2024, for a period of three years. Accordingly, as of today, the Company has $700 million of capacity available under the new share repurchase program.

Mr. Lawrence added, “Our new share repurchase program reflects our strong sustainable cash flow generation, continuing confidence in our business model and growth strategy, and continued commitment to driving value for our shareholders. We view returning capital directly to shareholders through repurchases and our dividend as integral to our capital allocation strategy, along with ongoing investments in the business.”

New Store Openings
Academy opened eight new stores during the third quarter and another five new stores early in the fourth quarter, bringing the Company's total store count to 298. To date in fiscal 2024, the Company has opened a total of 16 new stores, equating to approximately 6% annual unit growth, in line with its stated plans for the year.

The Company plans to open 20 to 25 stores in 2025, representing approximately 7.5% annual unit growth at the midpoint. The Company will continue to be measured in its approach and timing given the recent consumer backdrop.

2024 Outlook
"We are looking forward to a strong fourth quarter and holiday season, as our team continues to focus on execution and serving our customers,” said Mr. Ford. “Based on our third quarter performance and expectations for the remainder of fiscal 2024, we are narrowing our full year sales and earnings guidance.”

Academy is updating its previous guidance for fiscal 2024² as follows:

The earnings per common share guidance reflects a tax rate of approximately 23% and includes the impact from the $27 million of share repurchases in November 2024.

Notes:

Conference Call Info
Academy will host a conference call today at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time to discuss its results. The call will be webcast at investors.academy.com. The following information is provided for those who would like to participate in the conference call:

A replay of the conference call will be available for approximately 30 days on the Company's website.

About Academy Sports + Outdoors
Academy is a leading full-line sporting goods and outdoor recreation retailer in the United States. Originally founded in 1938 as a family business in Texas, Academy has grown to 298 stores across 19 states as of the date of this press release. Academy’s mission is to provide “Fun for All” and Academy fulfills this mission with a localized merchandising strategy and value proposition that strongly connects with a broad range of consumers. Academy’s product assortment focuses on key categories of outdoor, apparel, footwear and sports & recreation through both leading national brands and a portfolio of private label brands.

Non-GAAP Measures
Adjusted EBITDA, adjusted EBIT, adjusted net income, adjusted earnings per common share, and adjusted free cash flow have been presented in this press release as supplemental measures of financial performance that are not required by, or presented in accordance with, generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”). The Company believes that the presentation of these non-GAAP measures is useful to investors as it provides additional information on comparisons between periods by excluding certain items that affect overall comparability. The Company uses these non-GAAP financial measures for business planning purposes, to consider underlying trends of its business, and in measuring its performance relative to others in the market, and believes presenting these measures also provides information to investors and others for understanding and evaluating trends in the Company’s operating results or measuring performance in the same manner as the Company’s management. Non-GAAP financial measures should be considered in addition to, and not as an alternative for, the Company’s reported results prepared in accordance with GAAP. The calculation of these non-GAAP financial measures may differ from similar measures reported by other companies and may not be comparable to other similarly titled measures. For additional information on these non-GAAP financial measures, please see our Annual Report for the fiscal year ended February 3, 2024 (the "Annual Report"), and our most recent Quarterly Report, which may be updated from time to time in our periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), which are accessible on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov.

See “Reconciliations of GAAP to Non-GAAP Financial Measures” below for reconciliations of non-GAAP financial measures used in this press release to their most directly comparable GAAP financial measures.

Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These forward-looking statements are based on Academy’s current expectations and are not guarantees of future performance. Forward-looking statements may incorporate words such as “believe,” “expect,” “forward,” “ahead,” “opportunities,” “plans,” “priorities,” “goals,” “future,” “short/long term,” “will,” “should,” or the negative version of these words or other comparable words. The forward-looking statements include, among other things, statements regarding the Company’s fiscal 2024 outlook, the Company’s strategic plans and financial objectives, including the implementation of such plans, the growth of the Company’s business and operations, including the opening of new stores and the expansion into new markets, the rollout of new warehouse management and other systems, the Company’s payment of dividends and declaration of future dividends, including the timing and amount thereof, share repurchases by the Company, the Company's expectations regarding its future performance and future financial condition, to support future dividend and share repurchase program growth, and other such matters, and are subject to various risks, uncertainties, assumptions, or changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict or quantify. Actual results may differ materially from these expectations due to changes in global, regional, or local economic, business, competitive, market, regulatory, environmental, and other factors that could affect overall consumer spending or our industry, including the possible effects of ongoing macroeconomic challenges, inflation and increases in interest rates, trade policy changes or additional tariffs, or changes to the financial health of our customers, many of which are beyond Academy's control. These and other important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements are set forth in Academy's filings with the SEC, including the Annual Report and the Quarterly Report, under the caption "Risk Factors," as may be updated from time to time in our periodic filings with the SEC. Any forward-looking statement in this press release speaks only as of the date of this release. Academy undertakes no obligation to publicly update or review any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as may be required by any applicable securities laws.

⁽¹⁾ Column may not add due to rounding

⁽¹⁾ Column may not add due to rounding

Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBIT

We define “Adjusted EBITDA” as net income (loss) before interest expense, net, income tax expense and depreciation, amortization, and impairment, and other adjustments included in the table below. We define “Adjusted EBIT” as Adjusted EBITDA less depreciation and amortization. We describe these adjustments reconciling net income (loss) to Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBIT in the following table (amounts in thousands):

Adjusted Net Income and Adjusted Earnings Per Common Share

We define “Adjusted Net Income” as net income (loss) plus other adjustments included in the table below, less the tax effect of these adjustments. We define “Adjusted Earnings per Common Share, Basic” as Adjusted Net Income divided by the basic weighted average common shares outstanding during the period and “Adjusted Earnings per Common Share, Diluted” as Adjusted Net Income divided by the diluted weighted average common shares outstanding during the period. We describe these adjustments reconciling net income (loss) to Adjusted Net Income, and Adjusted Earnings Per Common Share in the following table (amounts in thousands, except per share data):

Adjusted Net Income and Adjusted Earnings Per Common Share, Diluted, Guidance Reconciliation (amounts in millions, except per share data)

Adjusted Free Cash Flow

We define “Adjusted Free Cash Flow” as net cash provided by (used in) operating activities less net cash used in investing activities. We describe these adjustments reconciling net cash provided by operating activities to adjusted free cash flow in the following table (amounts in thousands):