Topping Wall Street predictions, The Finish Line Inc. (FINL) said this morning that is expects fiscal 2013 earnings to rise by 6 percent to 9 percent over 2012 totals of $1.53 per share. Helping to fuel this growth will be a freshly disclosed sales agreement with Macy’s (M) to become its exclusive athletic footwear partner. The Indianapolis-based sports apparel retailer anticipates the new partnership to add $250 million to $350 million to sales in the long term.
In today’s earnings report, Finish Line cruised past analyst’s estimates with second quarter profit increasing to $24.97 million, or 49 cents per share, from $20.9 million, or 39 cents per share in the second quarter last year. Sales blossomed to $385 million in the latest quarter as compared to $332 million the year prior. Analysts were calling for earnings of 44 cents per share on sales of $358 million.
Same store sales advanced by 12.3 percent during the quarter.
At the end of the quarter, The Finish Line, which sells famous brands such as Nike (NKE) and Adidas (ADDYY), operated 638 U.S. stores and 19 specialty-running stores. The new pact with Macy’s will open Finish Line-branded footwear shops in more than 450 Macy’s stores across the country as well as online at Macys.com.
On August 8, Macy’s topped analyst predictions of 64 cent per share with second quarter earnings of 67 per share, compared to 55 cents a share the year earlier. Gross profit, total sales and operating margins also rose during the quarter. At that time, Macy’s raised its fiscal 2012 earnings projections to between $3.30 and $3.35, up from the earlier range of $3.25 to $3.30.
