Academy Sports’ top line weakness more than priced in, says Loop Capital

Loop Capital keeps a Buy rating and $65 price target on Academy Sports (ASO) following a store tour in the Houston area. The analyst states the tour left the firm “impressed” by Academy’s “latest and greatest” store format and gave a “better appreciation” of how the company is differentiated from other sporting goods retailers, most notably, DICK’S Sporting Goods (DKS). Loop further notes that while Academy will need a more favorable U.S. macroeconomic backdrop to reaccelerate comparable sales growth, with the stock now trading at a meager less than 6-times its expected FY24 EPS estimate, the top-line weakness is “more than priced in” at current levels.