Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc. will benefit from two near-term same-store sales drivers, according to the latest note from J.P Morgan: the Eagles Super Bowl win and new Little League bat regulations. “From a similarities perspective, both the Cubs and Eagles have rabid fans that have been starved for a championship for decades,” analysts wrote. About 4% of Dick’s stores are in Illinois, and about 5% are in the eastern part of Pennsylvania, Delaware and South Jersey. NFL jerseys are popular items and are more expensive than baseball t-shirts, analysts say. According to data provided by inMarket, a geo-location marketing firm, Dick’s traffic in Philadelphia was up 22% on Monday, February 5 versus the average Monday. J.P. Morgan expects about 100 basis-point same-store sales uplift from the big game. New Little League bat regulations could give the first quarter a 50-to-75 basis point lift as all participating teams replace their bats. The boost is similar to a previous regulation change that affected high school and college baseball in 2012. J.P. Morgan rates Dick’s shares overweight with a $43 price target. Dick’s shares are up nearly 26% for the last three months, but down 40.1% for the last 12 months. The S&P 500 index is up 17.5% for the past year.
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