MW Foot Locker's beaten-down stock jumps more than 60% on report of Dick's acquisition
By Bill Peters
Deal could be announced as soon as Thursday, according to the Wall Street Journal
Shares of Foot Locker Inc. rocketed 65% higher after hours on Wednesday after the Wall Street Journal reported that Dick's Sporting Goods Inc. was close to a deal to buy the struggling sneaker chain.
The two sneaker and athletic-gear retailers have reportedly been talking over a deal under which Foot Locker $(FL)$ would be sold at $24 a share. That deal could be announced as soon as Thursday, the Journal said.
Neither company immediately responded for comment. Shares of Dick's $(DKS)$ were down around 7% after hours.
As of Wednesday's close, Foot Locker's shares are down 41.9% over the past 12 months.
The Journal's report came after comfort-footwear maker Skechers USA Inc. $(SKX)$ inked a deal earlier this month to be taken private. That deal led lead one analyst to say similar ones could arise amid the current market uncertainty.
Much of that uncertainty has been a product of inflation, which has crimped sneaker demand, and of President Donald Trump's tariffs, particularly on China. However, negotiations over the weekend led both the U.S. and China to cut the steepest of their tariffs on each other for roughly three months.
Both Foot Locker and Dick's, in their most recent annual reports, said that a "significant" portion of the products they bring to shelves are made abroad. Both also sell a good deal of sneakers and other gear made by Nike Inc. $(NKE)$, which depends on factories in Vietnam, Indonesia and China to make the vast majority of its footwear.
Nike, meanwhile, has been rethinking its product assortment and dealing with competition from Adidas (ADDYY) and On Holding $(ONON)$ .
-Bill Peters
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May 14, 2025 18:28 ET (22:28 GMT)
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