Athletic footwear and apparel maker Foot Locker, Inc. (FL) on Friday posted a 59% jump in second quarter earnings, beating Wall Street estimates and sending its shares higher in premarket trading.

The New York-based company reported second quarter net income of $59 million, or 39 cents per share, compared with $37 million, or 24 cents per share, in the year-ago period. Excluding special items, adjusted profit was 38 cents per share.

Revenue rose 7.8% from last year to $1.38 billion.

On average, Wall Street analysts expected a smaller profit of 33 cents per share, on lower revenue of $1.35 billion.

On further positive notes, FL said that gross margin rose to 31.3% from 30.4% last year, while same-store sales jumped 9.8%. Same-store sales are an important metric used to measure a retailer’s performance, since they only consider sales at locations open at least one year.

Foot Locker shares rose $1.73, or +5%, in premarket trading Friday.

The Bottom Line
Shares of Foot Locker (FL) have a 2.09% dividend yield, based on last night’s closing stock price of $34.49. The stock has technical support in the $30-$32 price area. The shares are trading near all-time highs.

Foot Locker, Inc. (FL) is not recommended at this time, holding a Dividend.com DARS™ Rating of 3.4 out of 5 stars.

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