11:51 AM EDT, 03/17/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Academy Sports and Outdoors ( ASO ) on Tuesday guided for 2026 revenue and earnings below Wall Street's expectations as pressure on discretionary spending is expected to persist this year.

For the current fiscal year, the sporting goods retailer expects net sales of $6.18 billion to $6.36 billion, below the FactSet-polled consensus of $6.47 billion. Comparable sales are projected to be down 1% to up 2%, while analysts are modeling for a 1.4% increase.

Full-year adjusted per-share earnings are pegged at $6.10 to $6.60, with the midpoint below analysts' $6.46 estimate.

Academy Sports and Outdoors ( ASO ) expects tailwinds from factors including new store growth and increased tax refunds, Chief Financial Officer Carl Ford said in a statement. "We are also mindful that the American consumer is still under financial pressure that we expect to persist throughout 2026."

During a conference call with analysts, Chief Executive Steve Lawrence flagged a challenging macroeconomic backdrop for the lower and middle income consumer.

"In particular, inflationary pressures on goods sourced outside of the US should continue through the first half of the year," Lawrence told analysts, according to a FactSet transcript. "Assuming no additional dramatic changes in trade policy, we believe that as we lap the increased tariff cost in the back half of the year, prices should settle in at their new levels."

The company's shares tumbled 9.4% in Tuesday trade.

For the three-month period ended Jan. 31, net sales grew 2.5% year over year to $1.72 billion, below the Street's $1.76 billion estimate. Comparable sales dropped 1.6%, more than a 0.1% decline projected by analysts. Adjusted EPS for the quarter rose to $1.97 from $1.96 a year earlier, but fell short of the $2.05 consensus.

Gross margins remained strong in the fourth quarter, but elevated expenses continued to pressure the bottom line, Truist Securities said in a note. "While we remain encouraged by (management's) execution on key growth initiatives, we are awaiting greater visibility into the company's ability to generate comp growth and (selling, general, and administrative) leverage," Truist said.

Net sales for fiscal 2025 increased 2% to $6.05 billion, compared with the Street's $6.09 billion view. Comparable sales dipped 1.5%, exceeding the 1% decline modeled by analysts. Adjusted EPS fell to $5.78 from the previous year's $6.02, weaker than the consensus of $5.88.

"This past year marked an inflection point for Academy as we continued to gain market share and moved back to top-line growth," Lawrence said in a statement. "While we believe many of the macroeconomic pressures that the customer faced in the back half of the year will continue into 2026, we are optimistic the strategies we have in place should enable us to return to consistent comp sales growth."

Price: 51.73, Change: -4.79, Percent Change: -8.47