Fourth Quarter Comparable Sales Declined (3.0)%: a +190 Basis Point Improvement vs.Third Quarter 2024

Company Announces Launch of Jordan Brand in 145 Stores and Online Beginning in Late April

KATY, TEXAS (Globe Newswire — March 20, 2025) – Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc. (Nasdaq: ASO) ("Academy" or the "Company") today announced its financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended February 1, 2025. Fourth quarter and fiscal year 2024 included 13 and 52 weeks, respectively, compared to 14 and 53 weeks in fourth quarter and fiscal year 2023, respectively.

“Looking back on 2024, our team made significant strides toward achieving our long-term goals, all while thoughtfully navigating a challenging macroeconomic environment. As we head into 2025, we’re energized by the opportunities that lie ahead. The foundation for growth that we’ve built over the past year should yield meaningful results this year and into the future.” said Steve Lawrence, Chief Executive Officer. “This year, we are introducing an exciting slate of new brands, including the launch of the Jordan brand with a focus on sport, with shops in men's, women's and kids. We're also bolstering our targeted marketing capabilities, and rolling out new technology across our stores, all designed to elevate our ability to serve our core customers. These innovations, combined with our unwavering commitment to value leadership, position us for a pivotal year in which we anticipate a return to topline sales growth.”

(1) Net income for the fiscal year ended February 1, 2025, includes a $15.0 million gain pertaining to a credit card fee litigation settlement and a $7.1 million gain on a sale-leaseback transaction, both of which occurred in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024. Net income for the fiscal year ended February 3, 2024, includes a $15.9 million net gain from a credit card fee litigation settlement which occurred in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2023.

(2) Adjusted net income and adjusted earnings per common share (EPS), diluted are non-GAAP measures. See "Non-GAAP Measures" and "Reconciliations of GAAP to Non-GAAP Financial Measures" below for reconciliations of non-GAAP financial measures to their most directly comparable GAAP financial measures.

Note: Fourth quarter and full year 2024 included 13 and 52 weeks, compared to 14 and 53 weeks in fourth quarter and fiscal year 2023, respectively. The extra week in 2023 added $73.3 million to net sales and $0.08 to GAAP EPS. We define comparable sales as the percentage of period-over-period net sales increase or decrease, in the aggregate, for stores open after thirteen full fiscal months, as well as for all e-commerce sales.

Subsequent to the end of fiscal year 2024, on March 6, 2025, Academy announced its Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend with respect to the quarter ended February 1, 2025, of $0.13 per share of common stock. This is a 18% increase from the previous quarterly dividend payment. The dividend is payable on April 17, 2025, to stockholders of record as of the close of business on March 25, 2025.

Academy opened five new stores during the fourth quarter for a total of 16 new stores in 2024. In 2025, the Company plans on opening 20-25 new stores.

“The fourth quarter played out in-line with guidance, with customers relying on Academy to deliver value when it mattered most. Our profitability and cash flow from operations as a rate to sales is top quartile in retail. Our capital allocation mindset is unchanged, focusing on financial stability, investing into straight-forward growth strategies and returning value to shareholders through share buybacks and a modest dividend," stated Carl Ford, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. "We have seen sequential improvements in comp sales since the second quarter and we anticipate that will continue into 2025. We are focused on our long-range strategy of growing the Company by opening new stores, improving the omnichannel experience, investing in new brands while remaining committed to value, utilizing customer data more effectively and leveraging our supply chain. We will leverage our strong balance sheet and use our cash flows to invest into these strategies, because we expect them to drive our long-term success.”

The company expects the first quarter to be the most challenging from a sales and earnings per share prospective as they plan to open five stores and transition to the new Jordan floor set. They further expect their internal initiatives to start to positively impact results beginning in the second quarter.

Additionally, they expect the back half of the year to be stronger than the first half as their internal initiatives take hold.

Academy is providing the following initial guidance for fiscal 2025 (year ending January 31, 2026). This guidance takes into account various factors, both internal and external, such as the expected benefits of the Company's growth initiatives, current consumer demand, the competitive environment, as well as the potential impacts from inflation and other economic risks. The earnings per share estimates do not include any potential future share repurchases and assume a tax rate of 22.0% to 23.0%.

(1) Adjusted net income, adjusted earnings per common share (EPS), diluted, and adjusted free cash flow are non-GAAP measures. See "Non-GAAP Measures" and "Reconciliations of GAAP to Non-GAAP Financial Measures" below for reconciliations of non-GAAP financial measures to their most directly comparable GAAP financial measures.

(2) We define comparable sales as the percentage of period-over-period net sales increase or decrease, in the aggregate, for stores open after thirteen full fiscal months, as well as for all e-commerce sales.

(3) We have not reconciled guidance for adjusted free cash flow to the most comparable GAAP measure because it is not possible to do so without unreasonable efforts given the uncertainty and potential variability of reconciling items, which are dependent on future events and often outside of management's control and could be significant; therefore, we are unable to provide an estimate of the most closely comparable GAAP measure at this time.

Academy will host a conference call today at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time to discuss its financial 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:

              

    U.S. callers          1-877-407-3982

    International callers     1-201-493-6780

    Passcode          13751956

              

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

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 302 stores across 21 states. 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.

Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBIT, Adjusted EBIT margin, 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 they provide 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 1, 2025 (the "Annual Report"), to be filed on March 20, 2025, 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.

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,", "anticipate," “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 in this press release include, among other things, statements regarding the Company’s fiscal 2025 outlook under the caption "2025 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 company's payment of dividends, including the timing and the amount thereof, share repurchases by the company, and the Company's expectations regarding its future performance and future financial condition are subject to various risks, uncertainties, assumptions, or changes in circumstances that are all 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 in higher interest rates, trade policy changes or additional tariffs, geopolitical tensions, 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, under the caption "Part 1A. 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

We define “Adjusted EBITDA” as net income (loss) before interest expense, net, income tax expense and depreciation, and 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.

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):

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):