Why did ASO's Q4 2025 earnings surprise fall short of forecasts?

Academy Sports and Outdoors (ASO) experienced a slight decline in Q4 2025 earnings, which fell short of market forecasts. The company's diluted EPS was $1.96, which beat the consensus estimate of $1.82, indicating an earnings surprise of 7.69%. However, this figure represented a decrease from the $2.21 EPS reported in the same quarter the previous year. The revenue for the quarter was approximately $1.68 billion, slightly above the estimated figures, despite a challenging macroeconomic environment. The company's strategic initiatives, such as launching the Jordan Brand and increasing the quarterly dividend by 18%, highlight confidence in financial stability and growth prospects. Despite these positive steps, the decline in earnings and revenue compared to the previous year suggests that the company faced specific challenges in Q4 2025 that impacted its financial performance. |code|Ticker|Name|Date|EPS Surprise|Diluted EPS|market_code| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |ASO|ASO.O|Academy|2025 Q1|-0.16|1.01|185| |ASO|ASO.O|Academy|2025 Q2|0|1.95|185| |ASO|ASO.O|Academy|2025 Q3|-0.32|0.92|185| |ASO|ASO.O|Academy|2025 Q4|0.14||185|