Stephen Murphy, CPA, MBA’s Post

"📈 JD Sports outperforms ‘volatile market’ with record sales and profit growth 💰 JD Sports has posted record revenues and solid profit growth, driven by its global, multi-brand strategy, outperforming a "challenging and volatile market". 💪 #JDSports #Retail #ProfitGrowth #MarketTrends. For more insights, see 👉 databoutique.com." by Retail Gazette about JD Sports Italia

JD Sports Fashion has made no secret of its ambition to win in the North American market and has, to-date, undertaken some impressive expansion activity. This includes the acquisitions of mall staples Finish Line and Shoe Palace, as well as via the expansion of its own JD Sports fascia. These initiatives have given the company a very firm toehold in the market. The addition of Hibbett to the JD family will provide a big boost to the US business and gives JD Sports a presence in a lot of markets where it is currently underrepresented. Although Hibbett has a very strong sneaker business, the acquisition will also allow JD to play to its strengths in the sports fashion and athletic wear arenas. While Hibbett has had nowhere near the growth of Dick’s, it has nevertheless been a solid performer over recent years and has carved out a clear point of difference in serving smaller and mid-sized towns — places where competition from other sporting retailers is relatively thin on the ground. With only around a quarter of stores within 10 miles of competitors, Hibbett is a destination for sporting goods in the markets it serves. Nevertheless, competition is heating up as more sales are made online and players like Academy Sports + Outdoors look to expand. In my view, this makes the timing of the acquisition by JD Sports favorable as the group will be able to use its superior buying power to drive up margins. Under JD Sports, there is also more likelihood of investment in Hibbett stores and the proposition. All in all, this gives Hibbett a more defensible future. While JD will immediately benefit from the bigger scale, it will have some work to do in integrating Hibbett if it is to get the full benefit from the acquisition. It will also have a balancing act in modernizing the operation while, at the same time, respecting Hibbett’s place in local communities. None of this represents a major challenge to Dick’s, which remains the preeminent retailer of sporting goods and has a much wider proposition that includes deep expertise in sports equipment. However, it does increase the competitive temperature in the sports and sneaker market. #retail #retailnews #sportinggoods #sports #mergers

JD making another bold move in N. America with the $1.1bn acquisition of Hibbett. There are some echoes of the original Finish Line aqn here, taking advantage of soft US demand, notably from Nike, to act as a consolidator. The difference this time being Hibbett is still pretty profitable with $186m of EBITDA on sales of $1.7bn. The challenge is going to be how to run 5 different formats in the US market but it certainly gives JD an increasingly dominant position in the distribution of sports lifestyle in N America.

Hibbett Sports (NASDAQ:HIBB) shareholders will be waking up to a nice surprise on Tuesday after it surged 19% on a takeover offer from JD Sports, the UK retailer. JD is offering US$1.11 billion to purchase the US sports retailer and said it entered into a binding agreement to purchase all Hibbet’s shares. Valued at US$87.50 per share, the FTSE 100 firm’s offer implies a value of US$1.08 billion when excluding debt. In pre-market trading Hibbett lifted to around US$86 per share, having closed on Monday at US$72.49. Hibbett boasts an estate of 1,169 stores spread across 36 US states all of which trade as either the core business or its lifestyle brand City Gear. Russ Mould at AJ Bell said: “UK retailers haven’t always fared too well in the States but JD’s 2018 acquisition of Finish Line (NASDAQ:FINL) has proved a rare success story.” This was then built upon when JD Sports Fashion PLC (LSE:JD.)... More at #Proactive #ProactiveInvestors http://ow.ly/nxCb105qqT8

What's New to TheStreet... 👟 JD Sports Fashion Sees Sales & Profit Surge from U.S. Expansion 💥 U.K. sneaker and fashion giant JD Sports is reaping the rewards of its U.S. expansion, posting impressive revenue of $6.7 billion for the period. With a boost in sales and adjusted profit, JD is making waves in the global fashion scene! 🌍📈 How do you feel about JD Sports’ growing presence in the U.S.? Share your thoughts below!👇🏻✨ 👉🏻Follow New To The Street for more! #jdsports #fashionretail #usexpansion #sneakerculture #globalfashion #businessgrowth #retailnews #businessupdate #innovation #businessnews #business #news #newtothestreet

Should be interesting

What's New to TheStreet... 👟 JD Sports Fashion Sees Sales & Profit Surge from U.S. Expansion 💥 U.K. sneaker and fashion giant JD Sports is reaping the rewards of its U.S. expansion, posting impressive revenue of $6.7 billion for the period. With a boost in sales and adjusted profit, JD is making waves in the global fashion scene! 🌍📈 How do you feel about JD Sports’ growing presence in the U.S.? Share your thoughts below!👇🏻✨ 👉🏻Follow New To The Street for more! #jdsports #fashionretail #usexpansion #sneakerculture #globalfashion #businessgrowth #retailnews #businessupdate #innovation #businessnews #business #news #newtothestreet

"JD Sports is on a fast track and acquiring an existing player like Hibbett is a good way to accelerate growth," says Mark Ryski, Author, CEO & Founder of HeadCount Corporation. "Given that Hibbett is especially strong in smaller, southeastern markets, this acquisition will provide JD Sports with market coverage in geographies that would be challenging to grow organically. Additionally, leveraging Hibbett’s e-commerce strengths more broadly is also part of the value in acquiring the chain. Based on these facts, the acquisition makes good sense. However, JD Sports recent results have been below expectations, and just adding more stores alone won’t satisfy shareholders unless same-store sales and profits also improve." Check out more insights from one of the retail industry’s leading experts - https://buff.ly/3qRfPx2. More great comments on this topic by RetailWire's BrainTrust experts including: Neil Saunders, Richard Hernandez, Jeff Sward, Brandon Rael, and Mohammad Ahsen (Socially Ahsen).

Gross margins for JD Sports Fashion Plc were likely negatively impacted in 4Q due to sequential deceleration in ASP growth rates at JD Sports UK and Finishline US, as well as higher discounting levels for the latter. Strong sell-through trends at Finishline likely point to continued robust sales growth for the company in the US.

JD Sports, Foot Locker and Dick's reported 2Q trading in recent weeks. All reported to LSD/MSD LFL's (JD +2.4%, FL +2.6%, Dick's +4.5%) on softer comps than 1Q, maintained FY guidance and inventory seems reasonable. The US premium market seems strong with JD N America +5.7%, Foot Locker US +5.9% (offset by lower tier Champs and WSS) and early comments on Back To School seem cautiously optimistic. There wasn't much help on brands with JD joining Dick's by not commenting (much) on individual brands, and FL somehow implying that just about all partner brands were great or about to improve, especially Nike, where everyone seems very on-message about new ranges. The one notable trend seems to be everyone pushing into premium Lifestyle, which seems to be Dick's new avenue for growth, and a key part of FL's Lace Up plan. Some food for thought for JD Sport as it starts to integrate Hibbett.