Hibbett, Inc.

Good morning. Please note that we have prepared a slide deck that we will refer to during our prepared remarks. The slide deck is available on Hibbett.com, the investor relations link found at the bottom of the homepage, or at investors.hibbett.com and under the news and events section. These materials may help you follow along with our discussion this morning. Before we begin, I would like to remind everyone that some of management's comments during this conference call are forward-looking statements. These statements, which reflect the company's current views with respect to future events and financial performance, are made in reliance on the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and are subject to uncertainties and risks. It should be noted that the company's future results may differ materially from those anticipated and discussed in the forward-looking statements. Some of the factors that could cause or contribute to such differences have been described in the news release issued this morning. are noted on slide two of the earnings presentation and the company's annual report on form 10k and in other filings with the securities and exchange commission we refer you to those sources for more information also to the extent non-gap financial members are measures are discussed on this call you may find a reconciliation to the most directly comparable gap measures on our website lastly i would like to point out that management's remarks during the conference call are based on information and understandings believed accurate As of today's date, August 25th, 2022, because of the time-sensitive nature of this information, it is the policy of Hibbett to limit the archive replay of this conference call webcast to a 30-day period. The participants on this call are Mike Longo, President and Chief Executive Officer, Bob Volke, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Jared Briskin, Executive Vice President Merchandising, Bill Quinn, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Digital, and Ben Knighton, Senior Vice President of Operations. I will now turn the call over to Mike Longo.

Good morning. Our team delivered a solid second quarter. We are well positioned as we enter the second half of the year. We are increasing our full year total and comparable sales guidance and reaffirming our previously stated full year diluted earnings per share guidance. As discussed on the first quarter call, we improved our inventory position, and I'm pleased to report sell-through of this inventory was strong. We had a compelling selection of in-demand product that was supported by excellent execution in the stores and on our omnichannel platform. Overall, our team did an outstanding job executing this quarter. We successfully managed the aspects of the business that are under our control and adjusted as necessary to respond to external macroeconomic pressures. Moving on to slide four, I'd like to reiterate a handful of things. Our success in rebasing our sales and profits at higher levels versus pre-pandemic levels is to be noted. While the last two fiscal years were positively impacted by stimulus and changes in the competitive landscape, we've also improved the underlying business model, which positions us for growth over the long term. Looking at the back half of the year, we believe that we're well positioned to meet our full year goals. We ended the quarter with inventory of $366 million, which we believe is ample to meet back-to-school demand. In addition to the amount of inventory, we were very positive about the quality of our inventory. We're ready with fresh, in-demand products that will excite our customers. As mentioned in today's press release, we're seeing favorable sales trends for the back-to-school shopping season, and we're pretty excited about that. This includes a timing shift that favors Q3. We saw customers wait until closer to the start of school to begin their back-to-school shopping. Historically, customers have started their back-to-school shopping two to three weeks prior to the start of school. This year, we saw these purchases shift somewhat, and as a result, some sales shifted from Q2 into Q3, and we're seeing those trends take place now. As a result, we are increasing our second half comparable sales guidance to the positive low double digits from the positive high single digits and the full year comparable sales guidance to the positive low single digits from the negative low single digits. In addition to these positives for the top line, we expect some improvement from a supply chain perspective and look forward to easier comps in the second half. We expect higher year-over-year sales, which will result in a return to leveraging our fixed costs. As we move through the year, we remain committed to executing our proven business model to optimize our performance over the long run. Our best-in-class omnichannel business model, our superior customer service in the stores, and our compelling merchandise assortment creates differentiation in the marketplace. provides us with a competitive advantage in the eyes of the consumer and our vendor partners, and puts us in a position to deliver strong sales and profitability in the coming years. And finally, I'd like to thank our approximately 11,000 team members across the organization. Whether they're in the stores, the logistics facilities, or the store support center, it's their efforts that represent our brand and our values to our customers, vendors, and our communities. It's their daily commitment to excellence that will propel us forward, and I appreciate their efforts. I'll now turn the call over to Jerry. Thanks, Mike.

Good morning. If you turn to slide five, the merchandising slide. For the second quarter, our overall performance was in line with our expectations across the merchandising categories. We continue to believe that due to the impacts of COVID and stimulus during the last two fiscal years, the comparative fiscal 20, calendar 2019, is the most meaningful comparison. When compared to the second quarter of fiscal 2020, comp sales were up 54%. From a category standpoint, when compared to fiscal 22, calendar 2021, all categories declined as expected, going up against the stimulus impact of last year period. Footwear and team sports declined in the low single digits, while apparel declined in the high teens. When compared to fiscal 20, calendar 2019, Footwear was our standout category with growth in the high 60s, followed by apparel growing in the low 40s, and team sports growing in the low single-digit range. Specific to footwear and apparel, men's, women's, and kids' all showed significant growth when compared to fiscal 20, calendar 2019. Women's growth was in the upper 70s, kids grew in the low 60s, and men's grew in the high 50s. As Mike referenced earlier, we're confident in our inventory positions. The increased inventory levels are largely attributed to a better in-stock position of key franchises and footwear and are appropriate for the results we are seeing during back-to-school. As I referenced in my sales commentary, we also believe the most meaningful comparison regarding inventory is compared to fiscal 2020, calendar 2019. When compared to fiscal 2020, calendar 2019, inventory levels were up 35% at the end of the quarter, imbalanced with our 54% sales. This increase is largely due to positive impacts to our mix of footwear inventory, as well as price inflation. When compared to fiscal 2020 calendar 19, our unit inventory levels were up 10%. Our results in the second quarter, combined with our strong quarter end inventory position, continue to give us confidence that our tone-ahead merchandising strategy is working and elevating how we serve our consumers. I'll now hand it over to Bob to cover our financial results.