Mar 11, 2014 2 min read

PITTSBURGH – Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc. said Tuesday that its fourth-quarter net income rose 7 percent, benefiting from strong sales during the pivotal holiday selling period. Its revenue rose 8 percent, topping analysts’ expectations.

The stock rose in premarket trading Tuesday.

Findlay Township-based Dick’s – which runs Golf Galaxy and its namesake stores – earned $138.6 million, or $1.11 per share, for the period ended Feb. 1. That’s up from $129.7 million, or $1.03 per share, in the year-ago period.

Its earnings matched the expectations of analysts polled by FactSet.

Revenue increased 8 percent to $1.95 billion from $1.81 billion, beating Wall Street’s estimate of $1.94 billion.

Shares of Dick’s added 67 cents, or 1.2 percent, to $55 in premarket trading about an hour before the market opened.

Sales at stores open at least a year, a key gauge of a retailer’s health, rose 7.3 percent when adjusted for an extra week in the prior-year period. This metric excludes results from stores recently opened or closed.

For the year, Dick’s earned $337.6 million, or $2.69 per share, up from $290.7 million, or $2.31 per share, from a year ago. Revenue rose 6 percent to $6.21 billion from $5.84 billion mostly on new store openings and same-store sales growth.

Sales at stores open at least a year increased 1.9 percent.

Dick’s maintained its forecast for 2014 earnings in a range of $3.03 to $3.08 per share. Analysts predict $3.10 per share.

For the first quarter, the chain anticipates earnings between 51 cents and 53 cents per share. Wall Street expects 54 cents per share.

Dick’s had 558 of its namesake stores in 46 states at quarter’s end. It also had 79 Golf Galaxy stores in 29 states.