First Quarter GAAP Diluted EPS of $1.19, or $1.30 Adjusted Diluted EPS

Net Sales Decline 5.7%; Comparable Sales Decline 7.3%

Company Opens One New Store During Q1; Plans to Open 13 to 15 in 2023

KATY, Texas, June 06, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc. (Nasdaq: ASO) ("Academy" or the "Company") today announced its financial results for the first quarter ended April 29, 2023.

Executive Chairman, Ken Hicks commented, "Our first quarter results were below our expectations for sales and profit as they were impacted by the ongoing macro-economic pressures on customers, unfavorable weather as well as strong comparisons in our hunting business last year. However, Academy is a strong retailer with a solid financial and business foundation and a proven ability to operate effectively and deliver strong results through challenging environments. We are focused on driving sustainable sales and earnings growth over the long term by executing our new long-range plan we recently shared."

Chief Executive Officer, Steve Lawrence added, "Looking ahead, we are confident that our well-established business model, coupled with our strong balance sheet and our new long-range plan, will drive long-term success. In the near term, we are taking actions to help drive the business in this economic environment. These actions include increasing our focus on products that offer value, newness and innovation to drive sales; closely managing inventory levels; maintaining our financial health by controlling expenses; and supporting our growth initiatives."

President and acting Chief Financial Officer, Michael Mullican stated, "Although our first quarter sales and earnings did not meet our expectations and we have macroeconomic challenges to manage through, our revised guidance reflects our anticipation that sales will improve in the back half of the year. This will be primarily driven by the contribution of new stores, the introduction of new brands, a strengthening Outdoor business and the impact of enhanced customer data mining. For the rest of the year, we will remain focused on controlling expenses and managing our inventory, while utilizing our strong balance sheet to invest in the business for our long-term growth. We continue to be bullish about the long-term growth prospects for Academy, as our new store opening plans are progressing well, and the underlying fundamentals of our business and industry remain strong."

New Store Openings
During the first quarter, Academy opened one new store, bringing the total number of stores to 269 stores. The Company expects to open 13 to 15 in 2023 and 120 to 140 stores over the next five years.

2023 Outlook
Based on year-to-date results, current business trends, and continued macroeconomic challenges, Academy is revising its fiscal 2023 guidance as follows:

The earnings per common share guidance reflects a tax rate of approximately 23.0% and does not include any potential future share repurchases. Fiscal 2023 guidance includes a 53rd week in the fourth quarter. The Company estimates this week's sales contribution to be approximately $85 million.

Conference Call Info
Academy will host a conference call today at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time to discuss its financial results. Listeners may access the call by dialing 1-877-407-3982 (U.S.) or 1-201-493-6780 (International). The passcode is 13738834.
A webcast of the call can be accessed at investors.academy.com.

A telephonic replay of the conference call will be available for approximately 30 days, by dialing 1-844-512-2921 (U.S.) or 1-412-317-6671 (International) and entering passcode 13738834. An archive of the webcast will be available at investors.academy.com for 30 days.

About Academy Sports + Outdoors
Academy is a leading full-line sporting goods and outdoor recreation retailer in the United States. Originally founded in 1938 as a family business in Texas, Academy has grown to 269 stores across 18 states. Academy’s mission is to provide “Fun for All” and Academy fulfills this mission with a localized merchandising strategy and value proposition that strongly connects with a broad range of consumers. Academy’s product assortment focuses on key categories of outdoor, apparel, footwear and sports & recreation through both leading national brands and a portfolio of private label brands.

Non-GAAP Measures
Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBIT, Adjusted Net Income, Adjusted Earnings per Common Share, and Adjusted Free Cash Flow have been presented in this press release as supplemental measures of financial performance that are not required by, or presented in accordance with, generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”). The Company believes that the presentation of these non-GAAP measures is useful to investors as it provides additional information on comparisons between periods by excluding certain items that affect overall comparability. The Company uses these non-GAAP financial measures for business planning purposes, to consider underlying trends of its business, and in measuring its performance relative to others in the market, and believes presenting these measures also provides information to investors and others for understanding and evaluating trends in the Company’s operating results or measuring performance in the same manner as the Company’s management. Non-GAAP financial measures should be considered in addition to, and not as an alternative for, the Company’s reported results prepared in accordance with GAAP. The calculation of these non-GAAP financial measures may differ from similar measures reported by other companies and may not be comparable to other similarly titled measures. For additional information on these non-GAAP financial measures, please see our Annual Report for the fiscal year ended January 28, 2023 (the "Annual Report"), which may be updated from time to time in our periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), which are accessible on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov.

See “Reconciliations of Non-GAAP to GAAP Financial Measures” below for reconciliations of non-GAAP financial measures used in this press release to their most directly comparable GAAP financial measures.

Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These forward-looking statements are based on Academy’s current expectations and are not guarantees of future performance. forward-looking statements may incorporate words such as “believe,” “expect,” “forward,” “ahead,” “opportunities,” “plans,” “priorities,” “goals,” “future,” “short/long term,” “will,” “should,” or the negative version of these words or other comparable words. The forward-looking statements include, among other things, statements regarding the Company’s fiscal 2023 outlook, the Company’s strategic plans and financial objectives, growth of the Company’s business and operations, the Company’s payment of dividends and declaration of future dividends, including the timing and amount thereof, share repurchases by the Company, the Company's expectations regarding its future performance, and future financial condition, and other such matters, and are subject to various risks, uncertainties, assumptions, or changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict or quantify. Actual results may differ materially from these expectations due to changes in global, regional, or local economic, business, competitive, market, regulatory and other factors that could affect overall consumer spending or our industry, including the possible effects of ongoing macroeconomic challenges, inflation and increases in interest rates, or changes to the financial health of our customers, many of which are beyond Academy's control. These and other important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements are set forth in Academy's filings with the SEC, including the Annual Report and the Company’s Quarterly Report for the quarter ended April 29, 2023, under the caption "Risk Factors," as may be updated from time to time in our periodic filings with the SEC. Any forward-looking statement in this press release speaks only as of the date of this release. Academy undertakes no obligation to publicly update or review any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as may be required by any applicable securities laws

ACADEMY SPORTS AND OUTDOORS, INC.
RECONCILIATIONS OF NON-GAAP TO GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES
(Unaudited)

Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBIT
We define “Adjusted EBITDA” as net income (loss) before interest expense, net, income tax expense and depreciation, amortization, and impairment, further adjusted to exclude costs such as equity compensation expense, (gain) loss on early retirement of debt, net, payroll taxes associated with a vesting event, as a result of a secondary offering, of certain time and performance-based equity awards, which occurred in May 2021 (the “2021 Vesting Event”) and other adjustments. We define “Adjusted EBIT” as net income (loss) before interest expense, net, and income tax expense, further adjusted to exclude costs such as equity compensation expense, (gain) loss on early retirement of debt, net, payroll taxes associated with the 2021 Vesting Event and other adjustments. We describe these adjustments reconciling net income (loss) to Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBIT in the following table (amounts in thousands):

Adjusted Net Income and Adjusted Earnings Per Common Share

We define “Adjusted Net Income (Loss)” as net income (loss), plus costs such as equity compensation expense, (gain) loss on early retirement of debt, net, payroll taxes associated with the 2021 Vesting Event and other adjustments, less the tax effect of these adjustments. We define “Adjusted Earnings per Common Share, Basic” as Adjusted Net Income divided by the basic weighted average common shares outstanding during the period and “Adjusted Earnings per Common Share, Diluted” as Adjusted Net Income divided by the diluted weighted average common shares outstanding during the period. We describe these adjustments reconciling net income (loss) to Adjusted Net Income, and Adjusted Earnings Per Common Share in the following table (amounts in thousands, except per share data):

GAAP to Adjusted Earnings Per Common Share, Diluted, Guidance Reconciliation (amounts in millions, except per share data)

Adjusted Free Cash Flow

We define “Adjusted Free Cash Flow” as net cash provided by (used in) operating activities less net cash used in investing activities. We describe these adjustments reconciling net cash provided by operating activities to Adjusted Free Cash Flow in the following table (amounts in thousands):

Adjusted Free Cash Flow, Guidance Reconciliation (amounts in millions)