Foot Locker, Inc. (NYSE:FL) Q3 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

John Kernan : Congrats on the momentum. Andrew, back to you, Foot Locker is one of the few retailers and businesses that we look at that’s really still in line with their pre-COVID gross margin levels even with decline this year on the hard comparisons. When you look at gross margin, what do you see as the biggest opportunities long term? Obviously, the buying and occupancy leverage can come with better comps. Is there something in the merchandise margin that you see as a potential driver for upside in the coming years?

Andrew Page : Well, I mean, you mentioned one of the things. Obviously, included in our gross margin is occupancy. And we will continue — I believe as we continue to pivot off mall, in larger format, spaces will continue to pick up momentum in our total gross margin as it relates to occupancy. With regard to our private label and exclusivity, I see that as key opportunities for us to pick up points on the merch side given the fact that we can control kind of the cost and the pricing on that side and therefore, realize better margins. But in a retail space beyond that, a bit constrained because we go to market at MSRP. And so therefore, a little less control on some of the other pricing levers that you have outside of retail.

John Kernan : Got it. And then maybe just one follow-up, going from a down 10 to an up 1 is an impressive feat. And just curious if you could zero-in on the biggest drivers of the comp acceleration, particularly in the first two months of the quarter that got you to this result?

Andrew Page : Yes. I mean I think as we entered the quarter and we talked a little bit about this coming out of Q2. We started to see definite traffic pick up as we exited July and got into the early back-to-school seasons. But as you look at our biggest format, KFL and Foot Locker, as we moved through the quarter, we continue to see strong resiliency from our consumers in those large formats. Our conversions definitely help with shoppers coming into our stores with more intentionality in their shopping decisions. So much higher conversions definitely higher traffic that we saw. And so when you combine the increased traffic in our large formats, the higher conversion rate in those large formats. And then Mary talked about it, and Frank talked about it, the continued casualization and strong tailwinds in our sectors continue to give us confidence and momentum as we go into the fourth quarter.

Operator: The next question comes from Michael Binetti of Credit Suisse.

Michael Binetti : Just a quick one on the model, and then I have a bigger picture one for you, Mary. Fourth quarter earnings is usually pre-COVID, I think you said when we talked earlier that, you see some shopping patterns that look more like pre-COVID. Your earnings are always 40% to 60% higher in fourth quarter than third quarter. I know there’s a lot going on, but Andrew, maybe you can help us just reconcile that a little bit. And then did — were there other parts of SG&A that moved up in the fourth quarter, it looks like leverage point is a little different there. And then I guess bigger picture, Mary, can you just speak to the culture of this business of a high-profile sneaker launch events. It’s been something that drives a lot of energy with your customer, the chase, the winning, the prize. What does that part of the business look like after Nike reset and the BZX, some of the higher profile products that we saw you guys launching over the last few years?