Big 5 Sporting sees Q4 EPS (77c)- (59c) vs (41c) last year

For the fiscal 2024 fourth quarter, the Company expects same store sales in the range of positive low single digits to negative low single digits compared to the fiscal 2023 fourth quarter. The Company’s same store sales guidance reflects an expectation that macroeconomic headwinds will continue to impact discretionary consumer spending over the balance of the fourth quarter. Guidance also anticipates that the Company will benefit from winter weather normalizing relative to last year when our winter product sales were down nearly 40% over the prior year period, as extraordinarily unfavorable winter weather conditions across the Company’s markets weighed heavily on the category’s performance. In connection with the Company’s establishment of a valuation allowance in the fiscal 2024 third quarter related to deferred tax assets, the Company does not anticipate realizing any income tax benefit in the fiscal 2024 fourth quarter, which will result in a tax provision of approximately zero for the quarter. On this basis, the Company expects fiscal 2024 fourth quarter net loss per basic share in the range of $0.80 to $1.05. For prior period comparison purposes, assuming an estimated effective tax rate of 26.3%, the Company expects fiscal 2024 fourth quarter adjusted net loss per basic share in the range of $0.59 to $0.77, which compares to fiscal 2023 fourth quarter net loss per basic share of $0.41, which was not impacted by the deferred tax asset valuation allowance.