Poor Sportsmanship at Dick's

5/23 - "First-quarter net income at Dick's fell 4% to $20.8 million, or $0.18 per share. Net sales jumped 11% from last year to $912.1 million, although same-store sales dropped by 3.8%. Unfortunately, comps for its Golf Galaxy concept plunged by 7.4% on a pro forma basis...Dick's said to expect earnings of $1.22 per share to $1.36 per share in 2008 (compared to $1.33 per share in 2007). It also said it believes comps will decrease by 3% to 5% during the year."

"...it looks like Dick's is going to have a tough time this year, so I can't say I'm exactly ultra-bullish on this stock. After all, consumers are nervous and pulling back, and showing signs of nesting. Investors might be a little better served looking at stocks that provide home-centric entertainment -- after all, speaking of a different type of gamer, Activision (Nasdaq: ATVI) and GameStop (NYSE: GME) have been bucking the macro trends, so they seem to be in positions of strength at the moment (although I'm sure many might argue whether either looks exactly cheap right now).

For the time being, though, I'm not sure I believe Dick's stock is a good defensive play for investors' portfolios. "