Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc. ASO has opened five new stores across the United States. This brings the fiscal 2024 new location count to 16, which is within its expected range of 15-17 new store openings.

The newly opened store locations include Bradenton and Yulee, FL; Searcy, AR; Meridian, MS and Corsicana, TX. These five openings concluded the company’s fiscal 2024 footprint expansion. During the year, it started expanding from Ohio leading across 10 different states in the country.

Every newly opened store will feature a variety of apparel, footwear, sports and camping equipment, hunting and fishing gear, and more from top national as well as private label brands at an everyday value. ASO also offers free services like grill and bike assembly, scope mounting, bore sighting, line winding/spooling and propane exchange.

Growth Initiatives of Academy Sports

Academy Sports focuses on investment for various growth initiatives, which comprise new store expansion, omnichannel advancements, digital marketing projects and existing store improvements. Also, product portfolio expansion strategies bode well. To ensure its business initiatives are taken care of along with financial stability and increasing shareholder return through share repurchases and dividends, the company engages in an effective capital allocation strategy.

Among the mentioned growth efforts, store expansion is the company’s one of the prime growth strategies. As of August 2024, it operated 285 stores across 19 states in the United States. The company expects to open about 160-180 new stores in the next five years. For fiscal 2024, the company expects capital expenditure to be in the range of $175-$225 million.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Shares of ASO have lost 8.9% in the past year against the Zacks Leisure and Recreation Products industry’s 14.4% growth. The company intends to focus on omnichannel improvements and digital enhancements along with strengthening its inventory position (with seasonally appropriate products) to ensure its growth momentum in the upcoming period.

ASO’s Zacks Rank & Key Picks

Academy Sports currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).

Here are some better-ranked stocks from the Consumer Discretionary sector.

Choice Hotels International, Inc. CHH currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

CHH has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 8.3%, on average. The stock has gained 35.1% in the past year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CHH’s 2025 sales and earnings per share (EPS) indicates growth of 3.1% and 4.7%, respectively, from the year-ago levels.

Interface, Inc. TILE presently sports a Zacks Rank of 1. TILE has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 73.3%, on average. The stock has surged 145.7% in the past year.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for TILE’s 2025 sales and EPS indicates an increase of 3% and 13.1%, respectively, from the year-ago levels.

Flexsteel Industries, Inc. FLXS currently sports a Zacks Rank of 1. FLXS has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 12.7%, on average. The stock has soared 233.4% in the past year.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for FLXS’ fiscal 2025 sales and EPS indicates an increase of 4.9% and 54%, respectively, from the year-ago levels.

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report

Choice Hotels International, Inc. (CHH) : Free Stock Analysis Report

Flexsteel Industries, Inc. (FLXS) : Free Stock Analysis Report

Interface, Inc. (TILE) : Free Stock Analysis Report

Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc. (ASO) : Free Stock Analysis Report

To read this article on Zacks.com click here.

Zacks Investment Research