Academy Sports (ASO) Q1 2026 Earnings Transcript

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Date

Tuesday, June 9, 2026 at 10:00 a.m. ET

Call participants

• Chief Executive Officer — Steven Paul Lawrence
• Chief Financial Officer — Earl Carlton Ford

Takeaways

• Net sales -- $1.44 billion, representing a 6.7% increase; comparable sales rose 2.9%.
• E-commerce sales -- Up 17% with 100 basis points of penetration growth; cited as an ongoing tailwind.
• Gross margin -- 33.2%, down 71 basis points year over year, with a 110-basis-point tariff headwind partially offset by 20 basis points in shrink, and 10 basis points in shipping favorability.
• SG&A expense -- 28.1% of sales, improved by 77 basis points, primarily due to a 2.9% comp sales increase and lapping $7.5 million in prior year Nike and Jordan rollout expenses, partially offset by a $3.6 million increase in stock compensation.
• Operating income -- $74.7 million reported for the quarter.
• Diluted EPS -- $0.80, an increase of 17.6%.
• Adjusted EPS -- $0.93, up 22.4% (excluding stock compensation).
• Free cash flow -- $121.6 million, up 14.2% year over year.
• Cash and liquidity -- $338 million cash balance, and a $1 billion untapped revolver at quarter-end.
• Inventory -- Total inventory dollars per store declined 0.8%, with units per store down 6.8%.
• Share repurchases -- 1.7 million shares repurchased (about 2.5% of shares outstanding); $338 million remains on existing authorization.
• Dividend payments -- $9.6 million paid during the quarter.
• Debt refinancing -- Outstanding long-term debt refinanced at 5.875% with maturity in 2031; $2.5 million in annual interest savings planned for five years.
• Omnichannel strategy -- 17% .com comp growth; expanding same-day delivery to Uber Eats and Instacart alongside DoorDash.
• Loyalty program relaunch -- myAcademy Rewards enrollment rose double digits; targeting an additional two million new members for a total over 15 million in 2026.
• Category performance -- Outdoor grew 12% (fishing and shooting sports strongest), sports and recreation up 6%, apparel up 5%, and footwear up 3%.
• Suppressors category -- Launched in 30–35 stores; rollout to over 100 by year-end expected to be "100% accretive," and to drive shooting sports sales.
• New store openings -- Two opened in Q1 (Canton, Ohio; Muskogee, Oklahoma), three planned in Q2, and 15–20 scheduled for the back half of the year, with a heavier focus on legacy markets.
• Annual guidance raised -- Net sales forecast increased to $6.23–$6.35 billion (3%–5%) with comp sales flat to 2%; EPS range raised to $5.95–$6.35, adjusted EPS $6.40–$6.80.
• Gross margin rate guidance -- Maintained at 34.5% to 35% for the year.
• Credit card relaunch -- Immediate 5% off with private label card, 2% back rewards on Mastercard spend outside Academy, driving "double-digit" year-over-year application growth.
• Market share -- Gained share in all businesses for both the quarter and rolling 12 months, with positive comps maintained over the same period.

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Risks

• Steven Paul Lawrence stated, "gas prices definitely are a headwind for the American consumer," noting consumer slowdown entering Q2 and tracking of sales as "roughly flat comp" through Memorial Day.
• Earl Carlton Ford said, "high gas prices largely offset the benefit of tax refunds in the first quarter, particularly for lower income households, which continues to weigh on discretionary spending."
• Gross margin declined 71 basis points, mainly due to tariffs, which management expects to persist as a "modest gross margin pressure in the first half" before moderating later in the year.
• Ongoing "bifurcated" consumer confidence, with lower income households showing "less optimism about their future financial prospects," cited as continued pressure on discretionary spending.

Summary

The first quarter marked a strategic inflection for Academy Sports and Outdoors (NASDAQ:ASO) as the company reestablished comparable sales growth and delivered top-line results at the high end of its pre-announced range. Management increased full-year sales and profit guidance, citing strong omnichannel expansion, double-digit online growth, and robust adoption of the relaunched myAcademy Rewards program. Ongoing challenges remain as gross margin contracted mainly from tariff impacts and high gas prices dampened discretionary spend, but operational levers like active inventory management, targeted category expansions, and disciplined cost control supported healthy cash flow and shareholder returns.

• Leadership emphasized the rollout of new store formats and expanded store count as the primary driver of forward momentum, supported by continuing market share gains across all segments.
• Tariff impacts weighed significantly on gross margins in the period, but are expected to lessen as the year progresses, while shrink and freight delivered cost benefits.
• Executives highlighted a surge in higher-income consumer transactions, with households above $100,000 growing mid-single digits, helping offset pressures in lower-income cohorts.
• New product launches—notably the suppressors category and Jordan/Nike brand expansions—are viewed as tailwinds for sequential quarters, particularly in outdoor and team sports categories.
• Free cash flow generation and liquidity supported ongoing share repurchases, dividends, tech investments, and refinancing initiatives that will reduce annual interest expense by $2.5 million through 2031.
• Guidance incorporates tariff refund recognition and assumes continued volatility in consumer demand, with company strategies expected to drive comps toward the higher end of the stated range if trends in loyalty program engagement and omnichannel adoption persist.

Industry glossary

• AUR: Average unit retail — the average selling price per unit of product sold, a key retail profitability metric.
• Shrink: Retail industry term for inventory loss due to theft, damage, or administrative error.
• Comp sales: Comparable sales — sales from stores (or direct channels) open for a specified time frame, usually at least 12 months, providing a measure of organic growth.
• RFID: Radio-frequency identification — technology used to improve inventory tracking and accuracy.
• IEPA tariffs: Refers to import duties imposed under specific regulatory frameworks, affecting cost of goods and gross margin; contextually, this denotes tariffs with notable weighted average cost impacts recognized in the period.
• Co-branded Mastercard: Credit card issued by Academy in partnership with Mastercard, offering points on purchases both at Academy and elsewhere, redeemable for Academy merchandise.
• ABL: Asset-based loan — a type of credit facility secured by company assets, offering liquidity support.
• Shrink improvement: Reduction in reported inventory loss (shrink), leading to cost recovery or margin improvement.

Full Conference Call Transcript

Dan A. Aldridge: Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining the Academy Sports and Outdoors First Quarter Fiscal 26 Financial Results Call. Participating on today's call are Steven Paul Lawrence, Chief Executive Officer and Earl Carlton Ford, Chief Financial Officer. As a reminder, today's earnings release and the comments made by management during this call include forward looking statements. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ materially from our expectations and projections. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the factors identified in today's earnings release and in our most recent Form 10-Ks and Form 10 Q filings. The company undertakes no obligation to revise any forward looking statements.

Today's remarks also refer to certain non GAAP financial measures, Reconciliations to the most directly comparable GAAP measures are included in today's earnings release which is available on our website at investors.academy.com. This morning, we will review our financial results for the first quarter of fiscal 26 and provide an update on our strategic initiatives, discuss our outlook for the year. After we conclude our prepared remarks, there will be time for questions. With that, I will turn the call over to Steven.

Steven Paul Lawrence: Good morning, everyone, and welcome to our first quarter 2020 earnings call. Our plan this morning is to discuss our Q1 results, while also updating you on the progress we are making against our long term growth initiatives. Turning to our first quarter results. We were pleased to move back to comp store growth in Q1, with sales coming in at $1.44 billion which was up 6.7% in total sales and translated into a 2.9% comp increase. Both the comp and total sales were on the high side of the range we communicated in our press release issued on 04/07/2026 in advance of our Analyst Day, where we gave an update to our long range plan and goals.

These results were driven by a combination of a low single digit positive traffic coupled with a high single digit AUR increase. Units per transaction were down slightly, which we would attribute to the increased AUR. Positive results were broad based with our .com business comping up 17% and all 4 of our divisions running increases for the quarter. Outdoor was our best performing category and up 12% driven by strength in fishing and shooting sports categories At the surface, our ammo business, which was a headwind for us most of last year, turned positive in February and accelerated after the conflict in The Middle East began. Our firearms business also continues to be a bright spot.

And utilizing mixed checks data as a proxy we have grown market share in this category for 8 consecutive quarters. To help build on the momentum in the shooting sports business, we launched the suppressors category into a limited door count during the first quarter with a goal to roll amount to over 100 stores by the end of the year. This is a rapidly growing category in the industry, with a strong attachment rate to firearms and high AURs. Since suppressors are totally new to our assortment, this business should be 100% accretive and provide an additional tailwind the shooting sports category throughout the remainder of this year and next.

Sports and recreation was our second best business at plus 6% with the increase driven by solid gains in baseball, which fueled our team sports business during the first quarter. We also saw a double digit growth in our front end business, Normally, do not call out front end, but we are seeing rapid growth in this area driven by the collectible trading card business, which has benefited from our increased investment in this category. In addition, we continue to see solid improvements in our outdoor speakers business driven by the leadership position we have taken in Turtlebox. Apparel sales were also positive, plus 5%, with particular strength in our outdoor and work businesses.

Supported by expanded assortments from Carhartt, Berlevo, Levi's, and our own Magellan Outdoors brand. We will continue to lean into the work western lifestyle trend with the addition of roughly 100 Marriott shops in the back half of the year. On the athletic side of the business, gains were driven by continued momentum in the Nike and Jordan brand coupled with double digit increases in our better private brands of freely and roll. In the second quarter, we plan to add 55 Jordan Brand shops on our apparel pads will take our Jordan Brand shop count to 200 stores and continue to fuel the growth in this business. Footwear sales were up 3% for the quarter.

Key drivers of growth in Q1 were our cleated business, driven by baseball, along with our summer seasonal businesses driven by Crocs and Birkenstock. We also remain encouraged by the momentum we are seeing in the performance running fueled by key platforms such as the Nike Vomero, the Adidas EVO SL, the New Balance Ellipse, and the Brooks Glycerin. Our plan is to continue to build out our assortment and space devoted to this category as we progress throughout the remainder of the year. Based on the solid start to the year, we saw growth in market share across all of our businesses, both for the quarter and on a rolling 12-month basis.

We have also driven a positive comp over that same 12-month period. We would attribute the momentum we are building in the business and the market share gains to the continued progress we are making against our 3 core growth strategies. I will now give you a brief update on them. New store expansion remains our number 1 growth lever. We are starting to build critical mass behind this strategy. We began the year with 39 stores from our 24 vintages in our comp base. This tranche of stores continues to perform well, with sales comping in the high single digits.

We anticipate this tailwind should accelerate as the 24 stores from our 25 venues start to flow into the comp base as we progress through the year. During the first quarter, we opened up 2 new stores in Canton, Ohio and Muskogee, Oklahoma. Both of which support our strategy of growing in mid-sized markets. These are underserved communities and tend to over index with our core customer, the AlwaysGain family. During the second quarter, we will open up 3 more stores with locations in Altoona, Pennsylvania, North Knoxville, Tennessee and Morristown, Tennessee. The remaining 15 to 20 stores are expected to open in the back half of the year with a heavy focus in legacy and existing markets.

As we head into 2027 and beyond, we would expect to have a more balanced mix of openings between the first half and the second half of each year. Our second growth strategy is to improve the productivity of our existing businesses. There are multiple initiatives focused on driving comps in our legacy stores and improving the core business during the second quarter. Initiatives that will have the biggest impact on our comp sales through the remainder of the year is the relaunch of our My Academy Rewards program which is being integrated into our loyalty ecosystem. The newly integrated program features a 3-tiered structure.

The base tier is myAcademy Rewards and does not require a credit card to access savings. The key element of the value proposition at this level include both a $15 welcome offer and birthday reward, a $25 off reward at a $500 spend threshold, and free shipping on all dot com orders over $25.

Mid-tier of My Academy Rewards requires an Academy private label credit card which gives you access to 5% off your purchases at Academy. it is important to note that the customer gets these savings instantaneously at point of sale versus having to wait for a reward certificate that they can redeem against future purchases. as is the case with most of the competitive offers in the marketplace. This tier also qualifies for free shipping on all.com purchases with no minimum purchase requirement. The top tier is unlocked by our new co branded myAcademy Rewards Mastercard, which we call the official card of fun.

Customers in this tier get all the benefits from the other tiers, while also getting a higher credit limit coupled with a best in market 2% back on all spend outside of academy in the form of rewards that can only be redeemed at Academy. We are in the process of reissuing new cards to all of our current cardholders and plan to be complete by the end of June. We are already seeing an uplift in sales from this initiative, driven by increased enrollment and card utilization. We believe customers are leveraging our best in market value proposition as a way to offset the rising costs they are dealing with in their everyday lives.

Enrollment in myAcademy Rewards is up double digits year over year. With our goal being to add an additional 2 million new members this year which will grow our total loyalty program to over 15 million members. As we have shared before, summer is 1 of our prime selling seasons, and we are well positioned this year to help fuel the fun for our customers. Our in stocks continue to run up over 200 basis points versus last year, driven by our expanded utilization of RFID. In addition, we have several non comp tailwinds this year, including the World Cup being played in venues across our footprint. Coupled with America's 250th birthday.

We are well stocked at World Cup gear, summer essentials, and all things red, white, and blue, we can maximize the opportunities ahead of us in the second quarter. Shifting gears to our omnichannel business, We continue to make solid progress, which is evidenced by the 17% growth in sales the 100 basis point expansion in penetration we experienced in Q1. We have 2 key focuses during second quarter. First, we are expanding our same day delivery platforms. To include Uber Eats and Instacart as a complement to our existing partnership with DoorDash Our research shows there is minimal overlap between the customer bases for each of these services.

Expanding our online presence to include these additional same day delivery platforms should be mostly accretive expose our branded product categories to a broader audience. In addition, we plan to migrate the search platform from our site to be powered by Google's AI commerce search and Gemini Enterprise customer experience as we turn the corner into back-to-school. We believe customers are increasingly utilizing AI agents to aid them as they shop online. So moving our search to be powered by AI is a natural evolution and will be intuitive for them.

As we continuously evolve our online capabilities, we expect the sales momentum we have built over the past year in this business will continue to provide a strong comp tailwind for overall sales. In summary, our belief is high gas prices and other inflationary pressures will persist and continue to negatively impact discretionary spending for the American consumer throughout the remainder of the year. In the face of this pressure, we are committed to remaining a steward of value for our customers while we methodically execute against our long range plans and objectives. As our strategies mature and we build critical mass across each of them.

We believe this will provide a strong tailwind which will allow us to sustain positive momentum we have built in the first quarter. Based on the solid start to the year, we are raising our annual sales guidance to be +3% to +5% which would translate into a flat to +2% comp sales increase for fiscal 26. Now I will turn it over to Earl who will give you a deeper dive into the Q1 financial results, along with the additional information on our updated 2026 guidance. Earl?

Earl Carlton Ford: Thanks, Steven. Net sales for the first quarter were 1.44 billion an increase of 6.7% with comparable sales up 2.9%. E commerce remained a strength in the quarter. With over 17% growth which accelerated versus fiscal 25 levels. We expect e commerce to remain a tailwind throughout the year as we continue to expand our endless aisle enhance search functionality, and expand same day delivery. As expected, gross margin for the quarter was 33.2%, down 71 basis points year over year. The decline was driven by tariffs. And was partially offset by favorability in freight and shrink.

We expect the first quarter to be the largest tariff impact for the year and for the pressure to subside as we move through 2026. SG&A was 28.1% of sales. An improvement of 77 basis points primarily driven by the 2.9% comp. Additionally, we are lapping $7.5 million related to the Nike expansion and Jordan brand rollout from the prior year. The improvement was partially offset by a $3.6 million increase in stock compensation expense year over year. Operating income for the quarter was $74.7 million. Diluted earnings per share was 80 cents an increase of 17.6% and adjusted earnings per share, which excludes stock compensation, was 93 cents. An increase of 22.4%.

From a balance sheet and cash flow standpoint, we remain in a position of strength. Our inventory has continued to improve versus last year. With total inventory dollars per store down 0.8% and units per store down 6.8%. We ended the quarter with strong liquidity and generated healthy free cash flow of $121.6 million representing a 14.2% increase year over year. This allows us to continue investing in the business while returning capital to shareholders. Our cash balance was $338 million at the end of the quarter, and we have an untapped $1 billion revolver. Our capital allocation philosophy has not changed.

Approximately 50% of cash flow from operations is reinvested back into the business and we expect to return the remainder to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases. During the first quarter, we repurchased approximately 1.7 million of our shares representing about 2.5% of our shares outstanding. Paid $9.6 million in dividends, and continued to fund strategic investments including new stores, omnichannel capabilities, and technology initiatives. At the end of the first quarter, we had $338 million remaining on our share repurchase authorization. In May, we refinanced our outstanding long term debt at a 5.875% rate and amended and extended our ABL. Which will generate approximately $2.5 million in annual interest savings for the next 5 years.

The maturity date on each is 2031, and additional details were provided in our May 14 press release which can be found on our Investor Relations site. Before getting into guidance, I wanted to share a few thoughts on the consumer and how ongoing trends played into how we think about the shape of the year. The consumer environment remains pressured as high gas prices largely offset the benefit of tax refunds in the first quarter particularly for lower income households which continues to weigh on discretionary spending. At the same time, we continue to see higher income consumers, which are our largest and fastest growing cohort, trade into Academy in search of value.

During the first quarter, trips from consumers who make over $100 thousand grew by mid single digits. Consumer confidence remains bifurcated. With materially higher confidence levels among upper income households versus lower income cohorts. Where there is less optimism about their future financial prospects. This dynamic continues the derisking of our consumer base that began at the end of 24 and reinforces confidence in Academy's value driven positioning. Turning to guidance. We are updating select elements of our full year outlook to reflect the first quarter sales performance, while also planning for higher gas and freight prices tariff dynamics, and the timing of new store openings.

We now expect sales to be in the range of $6.23 billion to $6.35 billion or growth of 3% to 5% and comp sales of flat to up 2%. We are maintaining our gross margin rate guidance of 34.5% to 35% for the year. We are raising the midpoint of our net income guidance and now expect a range of $390 million to $415 million We expect earnings per share of $5.95 to $6.35 and adjusted earnings per share to be in the range of $6.40 to $6.80. At the midpoint, we expect comp sales to be approximately 1% gross margin to be roughly flat, and modest SG&A leverage for the full year.

Resulting in EPS growth of over 10% when compared to fiscal year 25. This EPS guidance does not include any impact from future share repurchases. Looking at the shape of the year, we expect our strategic initiatives to drive positive sales. As a reminder, we had no IEPA tariff impact to gross margin in the first quarter of 25. And costs attributable to tariffs increased throughout the year as we use the weighted average method of inventory accounting with their full impact hitting average unit cost in the fourth quarter of 25. We continue to expect modest gross margin pressure in the first half of 26 followed by modest expansion in the back half.

Resulting in approximately flat gross margin at the midpoint of our full year guidance. On SG and A, we continue to expect leverage in the first half with potential deleverage in the back half as new store openings accelerate. Ultimately arriving at modest leverage for the full year at the midpoint of our outlook. To close, we continue to operate in a bifurcated, consumer environment. Higher income consumers are increasingly trading into a Academy in search of value, while lower income consumers remain under pressure. Against this backdrop, we are executing a rock solid plan with clear growth tactics. Supported by our strong balance sheet, disciplined expense management, and relentless focus on value.

Together, these position us well to navigate the current environment and drive long term value for our shareholders. With that, we are ready for Q and A. Operator, Thank you.

Operator: At this time, we will be conducting a question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question, please press 1 on your telephone keypad. A confirmation tone will indicate your line is in the question queue. You may press 2 if you like to remove your question from the queue. As a reminder, we ask that you please limit to 1 question and 1 follow-up. 1 moment, please, while we poll for questions. Our first question comes from Jeff Licht with Stephens. Your line is now live.

Analyst: Good morning. Thanks for taking my question. Congrats on a nice quarter. I guess I would throw this out to anyone. I am just curious, since the Analyst Day, maybe you could just comment on what has surprised you or in either direction, what is been incremental And are you and how are you seeing the gas prices manifest itself in consumption patterns? And guess my follow-up would be given the World Cup and America 250 is in 2Q, I think you have mentioned previously that you were expecting 2Q to be the weakest quarter in terms of comp. Is that still going be the case?

Steven Paul Lawrence: Yes, I will start. Thanks for the question. So yes, gas prices definitely are a headwind for the American consumer. I saw an article, I think, a week or so ago that said on a monthly basis, it is pulling out about $17.5 billion of consumer discretionary spending each month. So that definitely is impacting the consumer. I would say as we have gotten into Q2, we have seen a little bit of a slowdown from the consumer, which we would attribute to gas prices. That being said, we kind of look at the quarter as 3 legs of a race. The first leg is getting through Memorial Day, which is our first big event.

Total sales through Memorial Day are tracking up low single digits, roughly flat comp. And while we would like to be playing with the lead, what we are excited about is we still have a lot of the initiatives that we are counting on to drive business out of this. We got we got the World Cup, as you just said. Kicks off on Thursday. We got our credit card relaunch, which is taking place right now. And we are issuing new plastic to consumers, and that should be in people's hands. And that has a react reactivation award associated with it. So we think that will help drive business for the next leg of the race with Father's Dan.

And then, of course, we have got America 250 ahead of us. So definitely seeing an impact, a little bit of a slowdown from what we saw in Q1 with the consumer. Tracking flat through Memorial Day, but optimistic about the opportunities still ahead of this with a lot of initiatives still to play out. Probably, you asked about what surprised us from our April 7 analyst day. I would say this quarter generally came in as expected. We were at the high side of the guidance that we gave from a top line perspective.

We had indicated that we knew that there would be gross margin pressure associated with anniversarying last year's Q1 that did not have that IEFA tariff burden in it. And from an expense management standpoint, you know, we knew that we were not reanniversarying the Jordan launch cost. And the Nike expansion costs. That was $7.5 million. So I would generally say that the quarter played out, like we thought that it would, but it was towards the high side of the guidance that we put out there. Awesome. Thanks very much, and I will, let others jump in.

Operator: Thanks, Jeff. Our next question comes from Kate McShane with Goldman Sachs. Your line is now live.

Kate McShane: Hi, good morning. Thanks for taking our question. We wanted to focus on gross margins. With the strength in ammo just being a lower margin category, did that contribute at all to some of the pressure or the GPM short that we saw in the quarter? And just how should we think about the cadence of some of the tariff pressures that we have saw in the first quarter for the rest of the year?

Earl Carlton Ford: Yeah. I am gonna answer this very directly. So if you look at the 71 basis points of gross margin degradation to Q1 of last year. 110 basis points was driven by tariffs essentially having the full burden of that IEPA impact in Q1 of this year versus really nothing last year. And that 110 basis points of tariff headwind was offset by 20 basis points. Of good news in shrink and 10 basis points, as it relates to shipping. So think of transportation, e com, shipping, things of that nature. that is how you kinda arrive at the at the big components of it. From an ammo perspective, you know, total field was up 12% during the quarter.

And so field carries a, a lower margin profile. Ammo is certainly in the in the overall outdoor category. And so it was a headwind as it related to, but I would say, it was offset by other puts and takes in the mix Thank you.

Steven Paul Lawrence: Thanks, Kate.

Operator: Our next question comes from Christopher Horvers with JPMorgan. Your line is now live.

Christopher Horvers: Thanks. Good morning, guys. So my first question is on Deckers latest earnings call that they talked about planning to continue to selectively ban wholesale distribution. With a few thoughtfully chosen tests with new partners this fall. Just curious if you can comment if you are a part of that planned test.

Steven Paul Lawrence: Yeah. I will give you the same answer I give every time I get asked this question. If and when we are ready to announce something, you guys are not gonna have to ask us. We will tell you. Nothing new to announce at this moment in time.

Christopher Horvers: Got it. Thank you. And then guess, just stepping back as you think about how you think about the balance of the balance of the year, I guess, what is changed versus what you initially thought Is ammo expected to be a continued tailwind for the balance of the year more than you originally thought? You know, what is your read on Memorial Day weekend? And what that says about, Father's Day and July 4 and the 250th anniversary as well as World Cup. So you maybe take us through the puts and takes of maybe how you are more optimistic versus something that is more balanced because you basically kept the balance of the year on the comp side.

Thank you.

Steven Paul Lawrence: Yes. I would say what we saw happen as we progressed through the quarters, I think it is pretty widely documented that increased tax returns were out there feeling consumer spending. And I think that helped kind of mute the impact of gas prices as we got through Q1. I think we are kind of past that now. And as we have seen kind of the exit rate coming out of the quarter, move from a up 3-ish comp to more of a flat. I think that is kind of what we have seen happen with the health of the consumer. What gives us confidence about the remainder of the year is a lot of the initiatives that we have.

We have talked about our credit card relaunch and of integrating that with our loyalty program. We think that is a big deal for us. Probably gonna have the most impact on our business moving forward. We think it is well timed, particularly in an environment where consumers looking for value. You know, the fact that we are going to give them 5% off every day with the Academy credit card, which we have had before, but now 2% back on outside spend. I think, is a big deal.

I think we have got other things that we have created, self created kind of tailwinds like leaning into that work western work category, rolling out Ariat shops, leaning into newness with brands like Hoka and Brunt coming into the assortment. The .com growth we are seeing. I think all those things kinda provide a little bit of a tailwind for us that helps us overcome some of the headwinds. But I think it is going to be a cautious consumer out there. They are clearly being very cautious about when they shop. And choiceful about buying more on promotion or in clearance. And so that is something we are gonna have to think about.

Ammo specifically, I think, was a tailwind for us before the conflict with Iran happened. Accelerated a little bit in Q2. That sort of died or Q1, I am sorry, that sort of died off as we have gotten into the conflict. I think it will move from, you know, being pretty good tailwind to still being a tailwind throughout the remainder of the year. We are lapping a pretty tough ammo business. What we believe in is that the initiatives we put in place, the self help initiatives, are gonna be the things that are gonna help us continue to drive the business throughout the remainder of the year. Thanks, and best of luck with peak season. Thanks.

Appreciate it.

Operator: Our next question comes from Jonathan Richard Matuszewski, with Jefferies. Your line is now live.

Jonathan Richard Matuszewski: Greg. Good morning. Thanks for the time. My first question was on Nike and Jordan. I think last year, there were a couple of quarters where kind of that combined business was growing, you know, somewhere between high single and maybe low double digits. I think we are at maybe a point where we have, maybe lapped the initial kind of rollout of Converse and Jordan. So maybe just an update on the trends you are seeing in that combined business and what type of growth is embedded for the remainder of the year and the up updated guide? Thank you.

Steven Paul Lawrence: Yeah. So if we are still in a place. We launched Jordan, if you remember, last year in April. That being said, we did have product on the floor in March. If you look at the combined Nike Jordan business for us, that was up mid single digits. We lapped the launch and ran an increase that week, which we are excited about. So it is still healthy for us. And we consider or expect the trend that we are seeing through first quarter to continue throughout the remainder of the year. We think Nike is a growth engine for us.

We are really excited about some of the expansion we are gonna have and some of performance running categories like the Vomero, we are gonna have that. Roughly 150 doors going into back to school, which is about double the door count we had last year. Feels like they are just starting to get their innovation pipeline really moving. Greg.

Jonathan Richard Matuszewski: that is helpful. And then just a follow-up. I guess just regional trends, NBA championships, Spurs, maybe if you could give some commentary on kind of related fan wear implications for demand and maybe kinda dispersion you are seeing in Texas versus other markets would be great. Thank you.

Steven Paul Lawrence: Yeah. I would say the licensed team business for us has been a tailwind for us and will probably be a tailwind throughout the summer. that is where a lot of the World Cup product lives, and we expect that obviously to continue into July as the World Cup plays out. The Spurs is certainly a little bit of a tailwind for us. You got to remember, though, also up against last year the Thunder winning the championship. And so that is in our geography. And while we have fewer stores in Oklahoma City, it is kind of a whole state act of 08/21. So it is pretty similar to what we are seeing with the Spurs.

So Certainly, we hope that the, Spurs win. We do not have any stores in New York area, so the next winning would be a good thing for us. But we are pretty happy so far with the license business and expect to be a tailwind primarily driven by the World Cup throughout the remainder of the quarter. Thanks and best of luck. Thanks.

Operator: Our next question comes from Joseph Savella with Truist Securities. Your line is now live.

Analyst: Hey, guys. Thanks so much for taking my question. Wanted to see if you could provide any color on early June post Memorial Day and if anything in recent trends like you mentioned with the gas prices has impacted your view on what the World Cup might deliver?

Steven Paul Lawrence: Yeah. So the World Cup is still early. We just set that. At the start of our or at the front of our stores in the markets where the World Cup matches are being played. it is saying it is roughly 40 doors. And we have seen an acceleration in product once we set it. We set it right after Memorial Day weekend. So I think it is still early, but initial signs are pretty good. Terms of trends, I will stick with what I told you. We kind of are looking at Q2 as kind of a 3 legged race, right? First leg is Memorial Day. We came out of that running flat comps, up low single digits.

Next 1 is Father's Day. Father's Day is a week later on the calendar, so we are still kind of in the middle of that. And then from there, we move into fourth of July with kind of back to school tail end of the quarter. So far, so good. Lots still ahead of us. Yeah.

Earl Carlton Ford: From a fuel specific, standpoint, we think that fuel prices are at an elevated level are gonna be persistent? Throughout the majority of this year. We talked a little bit about the sensitization that we did at that on our last call. So I would I would now say that we have encapsulated that within our gross margin guidance. As it relates to weighing on the consumer, you know, $4 plus gas. Look.

We think being a steward of value is a really good thing in times like these, and we continue to see, customers, you know, those upper income levels, quintiles 4 and 5, transacting more with us year over year that trend has been consistent since the back part of 2024. And we saw a lessening of that somewhat in Q1, which we think could be a turning point. Got it. Thanks so much. And then, just to follow-up on the tariff assumptions that are in for the guidance. How should we think about rates and refunds and stuff like that through the rest of the year? what is baked in? Yeah.

From a tariff perspective, we have disclosed to you guys that we sold our right to a refund for a portion of the IEFA tariffs from last year. We disclosed it in the 10 k last year as well as in the third quarter. And so that, we monetized about $10.5 million Included in our guidance for this year is recognition of that $10.5 million there is also, for the portion that we did not sell the rights to, we have included that in our tariff guidance. And that is what is included. So the portion that you did not sell is also embedded? Got it. Okay. Thank you. Yes.

We I guess for clarity there, we did not receive any tariff refunds in the first quarter. There is nothing associated with refunds in the first quarter. We have started to see those flow in the second quarter so what is embedded in our guidance is what we monetize as well as what we expect to receive. Got it. Thanks so much.

Steven Paul Lawrence: Thanks.

Operator: Our next question comes from Paul Lejuez with Citi. Your line is now live.

Paul Lejuez: Hey, thanks. Just clarify on the last PowerPoint, did you guys record a receivable that is flowing through the P and L? And I guess does this represent a change versus what you had baked into guidance as of last quarter?

Earl Carlton Ford: No. In order to book a receivable from an accounting standpoint, we would have had to recognize that Last year, we did not. We put it on our balance sheet essentially as a contingent liability pending clarification from the associated with how refunds would play out. I think we are seeing some clarity in that. So the $10.5 million that was in our cash flow and our balance sheet and spoken to at year end, with our 10 ks. We are anticipating that being recognized this year versus recognizing it last year with the receivable, if that makes sense. Yeah. And which quarters are benefiting from that 10.5x running through the P and L? We do not give quarterly guidance.

I will tell you that there was no recognition in the first quarter. But it is in our annual guidance, that $10.5 million Got it.

Paul Lejuez: And then just relative to the updated comp guidance range that you gave today, can you just talk about where you expect each quarter to fall relative to that range? Specifically, interested in how you are thinking about 2Q. But would love to hear your thoughts on each quarter relative to the full year range.

Steven Paul Lawrence: Yes. We do not obviously, as Earl just said, do not give quarterly guidance As was noted earlier, I think, by somebody Q2 is our best quarter last year. We are up against a modest comp gain. I think it was up 0.2 last year. As we mentioned earlier, we are tracking flat through Memorial Day. We still got a lot ahead of us. We are optimistic that the remainder of the year, we are gonna be somewhere between that flat to up 2% comp. And that would be inclusive of what we think is gonna happen in Q2. Got it.

Paul Lejuez: And then just last 1. I am well Cup related product. Do you view those sales as incremental? Or you feel that is a substitute for something else in the in the store?

Steven Paul Lawrence: I think it is mainly incremental. Obviously, having the world's largest soccer tournament in The US soil and having people cheer for their team that they do once every 4 years come in and celebrate that. I think that is mostly incremental. I see that as a trade from, you know, a college or a pro football fan. I think it is incremental. Thank you. Good luck. Thanks.

Operator: Our next question comes from Ike Boruchow with Wells Fargo. Your line is now live.

Ike Boruchow: Hey. Good morning, guys. 2 from us. The gross margins inflecting in the back half, can you just comment on the drivers there? Is that just effectively the tariff headwinds kind of rolling off or getting less bad? Or is there something else within the model that is kinda shifting as you kinda move through the year?

Earl Carlton Ford: That is that is absolutely the main thing that you should be thinking about. We bore the full burden of that weighted average cost impact of the I. The tariffs towards the back part of last year, Q1 was you are up against something where there was none of that. You will see that tariff burden moderate throughout the year. And so I think, you know, know, my hope is that, the shrink improvement that we saw in the first quarter will continue. I think, fuel will be a headwind for, you know, the year is what is looking like.

But I think the main driver of that inflection will be the diminishment of the Q1 tariff headwind that we experienced in Q1 of 2026. Got it.

Ike Boruchow: On the store, just 2 more. The store count, the ramp through the year, I think it is 3 in the second quarter. Can you just give us 3Q versus 4Q? The plan for the 15 to 20?

Steven Paul Lawrence: We have not broken that down. We are a little more back weighted this year than we wanted to be. If you remember, when we were kind of looking at the class of 2026 stores, it is right when the whole tariff situation kinda changed. And we were not sure what the impact was gonna be in terms of steel construction costs, etcetera. So we are more back half weighted. Our goal is obviously to get all the new stores opened up prior to Thanksgiving. But it will be fairly balanced across both quarters, more back half weighted than we initially would like next year, expect it to be more balanced.

Ike Boruchow: Got it. And the last 1 from us. Just the commentary on the flat comp to Memorial Day, I understand that, but can you just comment the last 2 weeks? I assume they have slowed a little more. Considering your comment on the consumer, but can you just give us either the last 2 weeks or the quarter to date in totality? Sorry to harp on it, but feel like it is it is relevant.

Steven Paul Lawrence: Well, we are in a period right now where Father's Dan is a week later, so it is little murky. But we are happy with the trends we are seeing. And we are still optimistic about being somewhere between that flat to up 2 for the year. Got it. Thanks, guys.

Operator: Our next question comes from Simeon Gutman with Morgan Stanley. Your line is now live.

Simeon Gutman: Hi. Good morning. This is Pedro on for Simeon Thank you for taking our question. Nice quarter. Wanted to ask you about the comp guidance, for the rest of the year. And the shape of the quarters. Should we expect the second quarter to be sort of the strongest quarter in the year as you have World Cup and the 250th anniversary and the rollout of the, loyalty program. Or is it more of an even cadence, for the remaining 3 quarters in the year?

Earl Carlton Ford: Pedro, sitting where I am at today, I think that 2.9% comp that we experienced in the first quarter it is obviously outside the range of the 0 to 2. I think it is it is gonna be the strongest quarter I think we have got a difference in the year over year base related to Q1 versus Q2 of last year. We are excited about the credit card relaunch. We are excited about the World Cup and the 250th. And some of the new brand launches that we have. But think the rest of the quarters will be within those, those navigational beacons. Okay. that is helpful.

Simeon Gutman: And as a follow-up, I wanted to ask you about the work you are doing in supply chain. Can you give us an update on the efficiencies you are driving and how should we think about transportation costs for the rest of the year?

Earl Carlton Ford: Yeah. So we brought in a new chief supply chain officer, Rob Howell, who had a background with Sysco Foods. How long ago was that now? He seems like years ago. About 2 years ago. I he is doing Yeoman's work. I think he is balancing you know, capacity. If you look at our store count growing by 8% last year, you know, it will probably be in that 7% this year. he is gotta make a lot of room in the distribution center, and he is got a factor in the type of units that were flowing. We are continuing to see unit per hour productivity and cost per unit productivity as it relates to distribution center operations.

I do not expect that to change. Think as it relates to transportation, net transportation was a 10 basis point tailwind. Improvement year over year from Q1 of this year versus Q1 of last year. You know, that reflects, freight and sort of inbound supply chain, if you will, as well as ecommerce shipping. And so, I think that fuel will be a bigger headwind as it relates to Q2 and perhaps Q3 and beyond? But I think the team's doing great work, and they are increasing their year over year, and that is what we expect and that is what we are seeing. Okay. that is helpful. Thank you. Good luck.

Operator: Our next question comes from John Heinbockel with Guggenheim Partners. Your line is now live.

John Heinbockel: Hey. Hey, Steven. I wanna start with given what is what is going on with gas prices and just macro in general, do you think that amplifies the peaks and valleys around holidays? And the, you know, maybe deeper valleys. And is that, if you think that is true, is that sort of have you made tactical adjustments when you think about, you know, what how you wanna spend promotional dollars and communicate with the customer the rest of the year.

Steven Paul Lawrence: Yeah. I think your instincts are spot on. I mean, we definitely have seen that play out a little bit. As we progress through Q2, and I expect that is gonna happen. You know, customers are looking for value. Right? And I think they are looking for ways to offset higher gas prices, and I think we have seen them and this happened a little bit in Q1, and we have seen continue into Q2 where they are amplifying purchases during the promotional windows that we have on the calendar. We are pulling back a little bit in the walls, and we have definitely adjusted our forecasts and our plans moving forward to account for that.

John Heinbockel: Alright. And secondly, I think you want to add the-- when you look at the membership, and I think you said you wanna add 2 million members and I think you get to 15 by year-end. When we think about how that breaks down between rewards members proprietary credit card, Mastercard, relative sizes of that. And do you think all of-- will most of the growth come from the master the new Mastercard offering?

Steven Paul Lawrence: Yeah. We have not we have not broken it down, you know, between credit, loyalty, etcetera, like that. What I will tell you is that we are seeing a meaningful acceleration and take rate on the new credit card We rolled that out in advance of issuing new plastic. New customers applied for the credit card pretty much since the middle of March, I would say. Have been eligible for either the private level credit card or the co branded Mastercard. We have seen applications up, you know, double digits pretty much since we have done that. We expect that to continue.

And we think it is it is a great value proposition, and it is a great way for customers to stretch their spending power. And so I think the 2 million we set as a goal by the end of the year I am fairly confident we are gonna beat that number this year. Thank you.

Operator: Our next question comes from Anna Gluskin with B. Riley Securities.

Analyst: Hi, good morning. Thanks for taking my questions. I would like to follow-up on the Jordan and Nike performance. Nice to see that you are expanding into more stores I guess, could you comment on if there is any structural reason that it would not be able to be expanded through the whole fleet? And then a follow-up on, I think you said you expected mid single digit growth through the year following the Q1 performance. Was that on a comp store sales basis? Because given the expansion, just wanna understand better the terms assumed there. Thanks.

Steven Paul Lawrence: So I will start with we do have elements of Jordan in all stores. Now. We have expanded out things like slides and backpacks and sports equipment out to all stores. The shop concept is going out to an additional 55 stores, taking us to 200, which is about 2-thirds of the store base. Which is obviously a meaningful chunk of our volume. I think you will see us continue to expand that methodically over time. And I do not see any reason why ultimately we will not have all elements of Jordan in all stores at some point, but it is just more of a methodical rollout.

The growth we are seeing in terms of mid single digit comp with Jordan and Nike combined, we do expect that to continue forward. I believe that is a comp number that I am citing. I do not see any reason why we are going to see that slow in the back half if that is the trend we saw in the first half of the year based on how we plan the business.

Earl Carlton Ford: Anna, do wanna take the opportunity to you will recall in Q1 of last year, we expanded, Nike and then rolled that shop concept out to 135 doors. In Q1 of last year. it is 55 doors, but the timing obviously is not Q1. it is Q2. So there is some costs associated with that. But we saw enough, benefits in the shop concept versus just having the Jordan elements in you know, dispersed amongst the store. That we wanted to roll out those additional 55 doors this year. there is some cost that will hit in Q2 there. Greg.

Analyst: Thanks. that is super helpful. And then wanted to follow-up on the introduction of suppressors. I guess, why historically have you not had the category, and what signals were you seeing that gave you the confidence to expand as you know, a lot of competitors are exiting or diminishing the category? Thanks.

Steven Paul Lawrence: So I would say that suppressors has been a change in law and it is a little easier to procure than it used to be. it is still pretty arduous process, but the industry has seen an expansion in suppressors since the laws have changed really at the start of the new year. We have got it in roughly, I think, 30-35 stores right now. We are roll it out to over 100 stores throughout the remainder of this year. it is as we said on the call, it is really for hearing protection.

For the person who enjoys shooting sports, you know, going to the range, etcetera. it is a little quieter and a little safer for them to use. We see a high attachment rate. it is not just the suppressor. it is all the cleaning equipment and other things that you need to purchase when you buy a suppressor also has tailwinds into ammo because it requires a different type of ammo. That you shoot. So we think that this is a good tailwind for us that we are going to see expansion in fueling the shooting sports category for us. Us throughout the remainder of this year and the next as we expand it in the doors.

And we are excited about it. I think it is it is a growing part of the sports category, we are participating in it. Greg. Thanks.

Operator: Thank you. Our next question comes from Brian Nagel with Oppenheimer. Your line is now live.

Brian Nagel: Hi. This is Andrew Chastenoff on for Brian Nagel. Thanks for taking our questions. Just the first 1, Q1 comp was driven by both ticket and traffic, which is a sharp reversal from the Q4 transaction decline. And so just given your commentary about the $50k and under cohort remaining under pressure, I am trying to understand how dependent full year comp guidance is on the lower income cohort improving versus just continued outperformance by the higher income cohorts?

Earl Carlton Ford: Yeah. The so we going back to Q3 of 24, we saw, quintile 4 and 5, so households above $100 thousand inflect. But it was it was being offset by fewer transactions by $50 thousand and below. That trend continued in 2025, but what we saw in Q1 of 26 is those above $100 thousand customers up mid single digits. But the below $50 thousand were only down low single So I will say it was less bad. Some of that may have been, you know, rebates on taxes tax refunds. Excuse me.

But we do see that those were offset by higher fuel What I am interested to look at is how does that lower income cohort, does it go-- does it stay at low single digits? Does it go to zero? Does it go back to being a more, meaningful, pull down? Our highest and fastest growing customer cohort is at above $100 thousand. I think that is going to continue, and that is what is embedded within the Go forward guidance. I think some of the differentiation between the low and the high end is of our guidance range. Is how that lower income cohort.

We saw something less bad in Q1 of 26, TBD on whether that continues into Q3 and beyond or Q2 and beyond. that is really helpful.

Brian Nagel: I appreciate that. If I could just get a follow-up. Just how you are thinking about some of the halo effects around World Cup. I know you have talked a lot about stores where the games are gonna be in market. But I just wanted to get your thinking on potential traffic uplift for stores that are in markets where games are not necessarily being played.

Steven Paul Lawrence: Yeah. So we have World Cup products in all stores. Right? We have moved it to the front of our stores at the entrance in the markets where the are being played. But if you go into our any of our stores that are outside those markets, you will see a meaningful presentation of World Cup jerseys, USA, Mexico, couple other teams depending upon, you know, where which region those teams are playing in. On the licensed team pad. So we expect to see growth not just in those stores, but broadly across the chain. I think we would see that persist through the summer months.

I also think there is probably a red, white, and blue opportunity out there as people cheer for team USA. That maybe is a little less, you know, license driven. And then longer term, what we have seen in the past is kind of a halo effect of this. In terms of driving youth participation in youth soccer will pass the event itself. So we are expecting and believe we will see more youth soccer participation in the back half of this year and into the spring of 27. that is really helpful. Best of luck. Thanks.

Operator: Thank you. Our next question comes from Michael Lasser with UBS. Your line is now live.

Michael Lasser: Good morning. Thank you so much for taking my question. I am curious what do you think happened in the first quarter that may not necessarily repeat over the course of the year. So if we take your 2.9% same store sales increase And if we want to get to the midpoint of the guide, it would imply somewhere in the neighborhood of a 50 to 100 basis point comp for the rest of the year. Understanding that comparison's a little tougher in February. But you will have the benefit of the World Cup during this time.

So should we assume that the difference between a nearly 3% comp in Q1 and, call it, a 50 to 100 basis point comp for the rest of the year. Would simply be a function of, a, the tax refund and, b, the macro getting a little bit more difficult. Such that if it does not get more difficult, you could do better than what is embedded in your guidance. Thank you.

Steven Paul Lawrence: I think there is a lot wrapped up in that question. Simplistically, what we saw happen in the first quarter was increased tax returns blunting the impact of much higher gas prices. I think as we have gotten further away from that, we have seen the business move to more of a flattish comp up low single digits in total. So that is where we kind of feel the natural run rate of the business is sitting today. What gets us from that flattish to that up 1% or up 2% implied in our guidance for the remainder of the year. Are the impact of the initiatives and how well they are received and how well they impact consumer.

So that is really what we are seeing in the business, Michael. We have got a lot of initiatives that we think will play out. A lot of them are targeted at activating consumers who are under pressure with the new credit card rollout and the value delivery that we are giving there. that is that is the thing that is gonna take us somewhere between the flat to up 2%.

Earl Carlton Ford: Yeah. And you spoke to it, Michael, but I do I do wanna be specific. Last year's Q1 comp of -3.7% was the easiest compare. Q2 of last year was up 0.2%. Q3 was down 0.9%. Q4 was down 1.6%. So I would encourage you to look at, you know, 2-year stacks as you think through the modeling aspect of it. Agree with everything that Steven said, but the prior year compares do weigh in on how we guide for the current year. Those points are all very helpful. So it sounds like you know, in addition to the 2-year stacks, you are expecting about 200 basis points of same store sales contribution from your initiatives.

And to the extent that you would comp below that, over the next few quarters, that would simply be a function of either the compare or the macro getting a little tougher. So, a, is that fair? And just to clarify on your full year guidance, you took up the low end of the profit outlook, the profit dollar outlook. By about $5 million. What drove that change? Was it simply incorporating the updated expectation around tax tariff rebate. Into your guidance, or was there some is there something else that you are seeing that drove that change? Thank you so much. Yeah. So, would speak to initiatives they get us to the midpoint of the comp guidance.

So a +1% comp, halfway between 0% and 2% for the full year, is all initiatives. We think e comm is gonna be a tailwind I am very, pleasantly pleased associated with the new stores when they get in the comp base. I am I am I am liking that high single digit comp that is above how we model them. When we additionally when we did their pro form a. I think the credit card relaunch, we baked in, you know, growth associated with that. So our initiatives alone get us to the midpoint. I think the delineation between what drives us down to the low of a flat comp or the high of a 2%.

I think some of that relates to the magnitude of these external events. World Cup, 2 fiftieth, things of that nature, and the health of the overall consumer. Do we see that-- and I am really focused primarily on that below $50 thousand customer. Are we at an inflection point there? Is it is it moderating? Are we at a trough? I think those are delineations between the high and the low point of the guidance. But I do want you to come away thinking that our initiatives alone get us to the midpoint.

As it relates to the low end, I think the easiest way to think about why did we take the low end of the annual guidance up and why is the low end of the profit it is because Q1 came in towards the high side versus the low side. So we are taking that Q1 low side off the table and keeping Q2, '3, and fours ranges exactly how we had them contemplated it when we guided the full year. Thank you so much, and good luck. Thank you.

Operator: We have reached the end of the question and answer session. I would now like to turn the call back over to Steven Paul Lawrence for closing comments.

Steven Paul Lawrence: Thanks. We started to see momentum shift in the business last year, which continued to build into the first quarter and resulted in a positive comp. While inflationary pressures persist, we are confident in our ability to execute through a range of environments. We have a thoughtful straightforward strategy. Our goal is to continue to build momentum in the business by methodically executing against this strategy, while also providing our customers with compelling assortments at a strong value. We know that if we do this, our key stakeholders would be pleased with the results. I would like to close with a heartfelt thanks to our 22 thousand-plus Academy team members who delivered a solid start to the year.

I am confident our team will keep the momentum rolling as we head into the remainder of 2026. Thanks for joining our call today, and have a good rest of your day.

Operator: This concludes today's conference. You may disconnect your lines at this time. And we thank you for your participation.

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