Footwear is having a bit of a hangover if you ask Dick’s Sporting Goods executive chairman Ed Stack.
Indeed, on the company’s second quarter earnings call on Tuesday, Stack noted that the footwear lifecycle among sports brands is experiencing a “hangover right now” — especially when it comes to legacy lifestyle models. “We’re going through that [hangover] with these legacy silhouettes,” he said. “There are several suppliers that have got some inventory that have been promoted on their sites, and it’s spilled over into the marketplace. I think the market is going to continue to be promotional through the balance of the year.”
These promotions took a bite out of the company’s comps in the second quarter as Dick’s fought to maintain its full-price strategy. And with the expectation that these promotions will continue throughout the end of the year, Dick’s cut its guidance from its previous outlook issued in May.
Looking ahead, the company now expects net sales in fiscal 2026 to be between $21.9 billion and $22.1 billion, with earnings per share between $10.94 and $11.94. This is down from the company’s previous guidance of net sales for the year between $22.1 billion and $22.4 billion, with earnings per share between $13.27 and $14.27.
The revised guidance sparked a big selloff on Wall Street. At the end of trading day on Tuesday, shares for Dick’s Sporting Goods were down nearly 30.8 percent to $124.31, a $55.20 drop from Monday’s closing price.
But it’s not all bad news, according to Stack. He cited new styles from Nike, like its Mind shoe range as well as its latest running offering like the Vomero and Pegasus models, as “doing extremely well.” The product pipeline for Nike basketball is also promising, he noted.
“The other brands that we talk about, whether it be On, Adidas and Hoka, there’s some innovation coming down that we’re pretty excited about,” Stack said. “This is why I think we’re experiencing the hangover right now in some of these new silhouettes that are coming to the market are doing well.”
And on the more casual side the executive said the company is winning with Ugg and Birkenstock. “We couldn’t be happier with what’s going on with those styles of shoes,” Stack noted. “And we’ve gotten greater access to those and a greater allocation. We’ve developed a terrific partnership. They’re great to work with. And we’re pretty excited about this.”
The executive further noted that business for Ugg and Birkenstock at the company is “really on fire,” and are trading “significantly up.”
“We’ve got a couple of other brands that we’re looking at to bring in also that will help offset the athletic business as it goes through this transition period,” he added.