Yahoo Finance Big 5 Sporting Goods Corporation (NASDAQ:BGFV) Q4 2023 Earnings Call Transcript
Big 5 Sporting Goods Corporation (NASDAQ:BGFV) Q4 2023 Earnings Call Transcript February 27, 2024
Big 5 Sporting Goods Corporation isn't one of the 30 most popular stocks among hedge funds at the end of the third quarter (see the details here).
Operator: Good day, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the Big 5 Sporting Goods Fourth Quarter 2023 Earnings Results Conference Call. Today's call is being recorded. With us today are Mr. Steve Miller, President and Chief Executive Officer; and Mr. Barry Emerson, Chief Final Officer of Big 5 Sporting Goods. At this time, for opening remarks and introductions, I would like to turn the conference over to Mr. Miller. Please go ahead, sir.
Steven Miller: Thank you, operator. Good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to our 2023 fourth quarter conference call. Today, we will review our financial results for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2023 as well as provide an outlook for the first quarter of fiscal 2024. I will now turn the call over to Barry to read our safe harbor statement.
Barry Emerson: Thanks, Steve. Except for statements of historical facts, any remarks that we may make about our future expectations, plans and prospects constitute forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause our actual results in current and future periods to differ materially from forecasted results. These risks and uncertainties include those more fully described in our annual reports on Form 10-K, our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and our other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We undertake no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statements that may be made from time to time by us or on our behalf.
Steven Miller: Thank you, Barry. Our fourth quarter results were disappointing, as our top line was impacted by ongoing macroeconomic challenges, pressuring consumer discretionary spending, coupled with extraordinarily unfavorable winter weather conditions across our Western footprint. Net sales for the fourth quarter were $196.3 million compared to $238.3 million in the prior year, reflecting a 17.7% decrease in same-store sales. Winter-related products are typically an important seasonal driver of our fourth quarter business. But this year's warm weather and lack of snow weighed heavily on the category's performance, which was down nearly 40% versus the prior year. Sales of non-winter products were down approximately 10%, consistent with the guidance that we provided at the beginning of the quarter.
The unfavorable winter weather impacted each of our major merchandise categories, but certainly the greatest impact was to our apparel category, which is heavily correlated to winter weather. That category was down approximately 30%. Our footwear category was down approximately 17% and our hardgoods category was down approximately 11%. Transactions for the quarter were down mid-teens and the average ticket was down low single digits. In the face of a challenging sales environment, we have continued to focus on the aspects of the business that we have more control over, such as merchandise margins, inventory levels and expense management. Our fourth quarter merchandise margins were down 43 basis points, which primarily reflected the year-over-year product mix shift away from higher-margin winter-related sales.
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