Posted on 08/24/2023 5:19:59 AM PDT by Red Badger
Go woke, go broke. That's what conservatives say, and unfortunately, sometimes it's just rhetoric that doesn't materialize. Still, there are times when the adage proves true.
Enter Dick's Sporting Goods, the woke outdoor company that has prided itself on inserting itself into various cultural battles. As RedState reported, shareholders were greeted with bad news recently when it was revealed that Dick's saw a 23 percent drop in profit over the last quarter.
That sent the company into a freefall. On August 21st, the stock price was $141. Two days later, it was at $108 (for the up-to-the-minute price, click here). That's a dramatic drop for a well-known retail brand with so many years in the game.
The question is, what led us here? According to Dick's own admission, a sharp rise in retail theft has severely hampered profitability.
While we posted another double-digit EBT margin, our Q2 profitability was short of our expectations due in large part to the impact of elevated inventory shrink, an increasingly serious issue impacting many retailers.
That's more of a symptom than a root cause, though. The sudden onslaught of flash mob robberies and brazen shoplifters didn't just materialize for no reason, and I've got a pretty good idea of how we ended up here.
Dick's has long prided itself on being at the forefront of the push for "Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion," which is just a fancy phrase for when a company wastes money paying do-nothings to push far-left policies within the broader culture. It's all about showing that a company is fighting for "justice" and is "giving a voice" to the whinest, most entitled members of its workforce.
Unfortunately for corporations that went down that path, the bill for their activism is now coming due. Nothing is disconnected from the culture, and when Dick's decided to go all-in on being woke, that didn't happen in a vacuum. Rather, the company fed into a far-left behemoth that actively sought to change laws surrounding bail and shoplifting. The result has been anarchy, where criminals can walk into a store, clean out an entire section, and walk out with little fear they will be prosecuted.
This is what happens when corporations decide to insert themselves into the culture wars. For its part, Dick's was at the forefront of banning gun sales following the Parkland shooting, as if doing so would have any impact at all on mass shootings. By 2019, the company had fully invested in a DEI department and made it a centerpiece of its corporate strategy.
The consequences of that have been a 23 percent drop in profitability due to the abuse of policies the company either directly or indirectly supported. So do I feel sorry for Dick's? Not in the least. I think they should continue to enjoy the fruits of their labor to the fullest.
The moral of the story: Don’t put your Dick’s where they shouldn’t go, or you’ll take it up the a**.
There is one slight positive with the stock drop....it’s now in the range of a 3.6-percent dividend...which typically isn’t that bad.
Now, if you asked me if it will slide further down...about a year ago, it was around $105 (where it stands today at $111). I wouldn’t buy into the stock until it gets to the $80 range, and I’d only buy it for dividend purposes.
But all of this begs the question...in a recession, are people spending money that much on sports?
There’s a Dick’s down the street from us. Back when they virtue signaled out of the gun business they were selling off all their ammo at a loss. I was getting cases of 12 gauge trap loads for $30. Wish I’d bought a pallet or two.
L
Did you even read this? They went woke, now they are broke. Get it?
Far more interesting than the hero-worship on other threads.
They recently opened a new store in Destin and we went there just to check it out, since we had never been in one before.
We expected a store similar to Bass Pro Shop, or Academy Sports.
It looked like a overpriced clothing store............
Well said, my compliments. 😂
Our local store in Destin is just another overpriced clothing store aimed at touristas........
It is an over priced clothing store.
L
Glad I could help.
L
That’s exactly what it is, overpriced clothing.
I am a Pittsburgh guy through and through and have given Dick’s a lot more rope then they deserve.
My final line of no more had nothing to do with their corporate stupidity which I was aware of in spades. I had to get cleats for 2 kids and not only was it self-serve the section was a complete disaster of single shoe boxes, no styles kept together etc. We got to the register and my total was $250-300 for kids soccer cleats.
It was the worst retail experience I ever had and then kicked in the groin over the price, no doubt to support sections of basketball shoes being liberated.
Now we’ll get our sizes and buy online. I want Dick’s to die a horrible death by robbery and slow rot.
Yeah, I read it.
Three quarters prior...they met earning expectations (even the prior quarter, Apr 2023, met expectations by 6-percent). They failed on the summer quarter (nice failure...26-percent). Almost all of this is theft-related, which apparently wasn’t a big deal the previous three quarters.
They can’t produce better EPS numbers unless they resolve the theft problem. That might be the more interesting thing to watch. Will they hire guards at the door?
I began to hate and avoided shopping in that store years ago. Overpriced merchandise flogged by rude staff. Have to admit, though, it does bear the perfect name. Prefer Cabela’s.
Been boycotting them for several years now.
U R a woke denier....
I used to shop there once in a while. I have a knockoff sodastream and used paintball bottles for my CO2 that I’d get refilled there. When they shut down their gun shop they took their paintball refiller with it, and I haven’t set foot in there since. Now I’m left with a bunch of useless paintball bottles since they were the only place near me who could refill them.
We call it Dickless Women’s Sportswear and have nothing to do with the place. Look at its board of directors. Dicks is a far left, woman operated business that seems to think virtue signaling is more important than profitability. I hope they go bankrupt for their anti-gun stance alone.
Chalk it up to jogflation.
Summary: Dick’s is still being run by dicks.
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