Foot Locker Inc (NYSE:FL) stock rose 1.81% (As on March 7, 11:28:27 AM UTC-4, Source: Google Finance) after the company pushed back the date it planned to meet a key financial target and gave weak profit guidance. Foot Locker believes it will reach the goal of its Lace Up plan launched in March 2023, that will be delayed two years. He said the company now sees that earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) margin target of 8.5% to 9% coming by 2028. Baughn added the change was made “given our lower starting point exiting 2023. Foot Locker also predicted full-year adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $1.50 to $1.70, well below analysts’ estimates. Sales are anticipated to be in a range of down 1% to up 1%. The New York-based specialty athletic retailer’s net loss was $389 million in Q4 2023, versus $19 million in net income during the prior-year period. Foot Locker plans to reduce store count by 4% and open 35 new stores in 2024.

FL in the fourth quarter of FY 23 has reported the adjusted earnings per share of 38 cents, beating the analysts’ estimates for the adjusted earnings per share of 13 cents. The company had reported the adjusted revenue growth of 2 percent to $2.38 billion in the fourth quarter of FY 23, beating the analysts’ estimates for revenue of $2.47 billion. Comparable sales were nearly flat, dipping 0.7%. However, combined comparable sales increased 5.2% for the Foot Locker and Kids Foot Locker brands in North America. Foot Locker Q4 digital sales penetration was 19.5%, Dillon said. That excludes the now-shuttered Eastbay website. In Q4, Foot Locker digital sales grew 8.9%. Including Eastbay, that growth shrinks to 5%. Dillon did not specify a correlating dollar amount. Dillon said Foot Locker has outperformed goals for its digital platforms in Q4, including higher conversion levels and making double-digit gains in online customer acquisition. The Foot Locker brand’s sales grew to $961 million in Q4 2023, up 7.5% from $893 in Q4 2022. Kids Foot Locker Q4 sales grew 11.5% year over year, to $214 million from $192 million.

Moreover, North American sales grew to $1.73 billion. That’s up 2.8% from $1.68 billion in the prior-year period. The Foot Locker brand’s Q4 sales grew to $961 million in North America. That’s 7.5% year-over-year growth over $893 million in Q4 2022. Consolidated global sales increased to $2.38 billion. That’s up 1.5% from $2.33 billion in 2022.