What changed in this filing

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Item 1. Business

2026-03-17 compared with 2025-03-20 · 66 added, 77 removed, 197 unchanged (42% of the section changed)

The following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations should be read together with our financial statements and related notes included elsewhere in this Annual Report for the fiscal year ended February 1, 2025.

This discussion contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties.

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Academy Sports + Outdoors is a leading full-line sporting goods and outdoor recreation retailer in the United States.

Originally founded in 1938 as a family business in Texas, we now operate 298 stores across 19 contiguous states as of February 1, 2025.

Originally founded in 1938 as a family business in Texas, we now operate 322 stores across 21 contiguous states as of January 31, 2026.

Our mission is to provide “Fun for All” and we fulfill this mission with a localized merchandising strategy and value proposition that deeply connect with a broad range of consumers.

Our product assortment focuses on key categories of outdoor, apparel, sports & recreation and footwear (representing 30%, 27%, 23% and 20% of our 2024 net sales, respectively) through both leading national brands and a portfolio of 19 private label brands, which go well beyond traditional sporting goods and apparel offerings.

Our product assortment focuses on key categories of outdoor, sports & recreation, apparel, and footwear (representing 31%, 22%, 27% and 20% of our 2025 net sales, respectively) through both leading national brands and a portfolio of 19 private label brands, which go well beyond traditional sporting goods and apparel offerings.

We believe the following attributes differentiate us from our competitors:

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As such, we have a balanced, year-round business and a large customer base.

Our average customer visits our stores anywhere fr om two to three times per year.

The retail business is highly competitive based on many variables including price, product assortment, customer service, omnichannel experience and store locations.

The retail sporting goods and outdoor recreation retail industry comprises six principal categories of retailers:

• Mass general merchants and department stores (examples:

Walmart, Kohl’s, Target and Macy's) generally range in size from 50,000 to over 200,000 square feet and are typically located in shopping centers, free-standing sites or regional malls.

Sporting goods merchandise and apparel and outdoor recreation products may represent a small portion of the total merchandise in these stores.

• Large format sporting goods stores (examples:

Dick’s Sporting Goods and Scheels) generally range in size from 20,000 to over 100,000 square feet and offer a broad selection of sporting goods and outdoor recreation merchandise.

• Traditional sporting goods stores (examples:

Hibbett Sports and Big 5 Sporting Goods) generally range in size from 5,000 to 20,000 square feet and are frequently located in regional malls and shopping centers and typically carry a varied assortment of primarily sporting goods merchandise.

• Specialty outdoor retailers (examples:

Bass Pro Shop/Cabela’s and Sportsman’s Warehouse) generally range in size from 7,500 to over 100,000 square feet and typically focus on specific categories such as outdoor recreation.

• Specialty footwear retailers (examples:

Foot Locker, Boot Barn and The Finish Line) generally range in size from 2,000 to 20,000 square feet and typically focus on specific categories such as athletic footwear.

• Catalogue & Internet retailers (examples:

Amazon, eBay, and Fanatics) do not typically operate brick and mortar stores and primarily rely on delivery of goods.

Sporting goods merchandise and apparel and outdoor recreation products may represent a small portion of the total merchandise on their websites.

Our primary competitors are large format sporting goods stores and mass general merchants that offer sporting goods, outdoor recreation products and other lifestyle and recreational merchandise.

Our average customer visits our stores anywhere fr o m two to three times per year.

Merchandising

Our merchandise consists of a full range of industry-leading national brands and strong private brands providing our customers with diversified product categories of good, better, best price points.

Our merchandise consists of a full range of industry-leading national brands and strong private brands providing our customers with diversified product categories of good, better, and best price points.

We deliver Academy’s unique product assortment through our strong partnerships with our vendors.

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Our relationships with key brands, on-trend private brands, and exclusive product offerings differentiates our assortment from our peers.

We have preferred access to hundred s of well-recognized national brands, such as Nike, including its Jordan Brand which we expect to launch starting in April 2025, Under Armour, adidas, Win chester, Columbia Sportswear, The North Face, Brooks, Skechers, Yeti, Stanley and Carhartt, which are critical to our market penetration.

These and some of our other national brands rely on us to broaden their consumer reach, which fosters a mutually beneficial relationship when it comes to pricing and assortment, and we play a critical role in delivering customer volume for these brands.

Our national brand assortment spans across each brand’s price spectrum, which we complement with an assortment of our private label brands priced below the national brand price spectrum.

We have preferred access to hundred s of well-recognized national brands, such as Nike, including its Jordan Brand , Under Armour, adidas, Win chester, Columbia Sportswear, The North Face, Brooks, Skechers, Yeti, Stanley and Carhartt, which are critical to our market penetration.

These and some of our other national brands rely on us to broaden their consumer reach, which fosters a mutually beneficial relationship when it comes to pricing and assortment.

We play a critical role in delivering customer volume for these brands.

We complement our national brand assortment with our private label brand assortment, which is priced below the national brand price spectrum.

As such, we receive favorable product allocations from leading suppliers.

Our private label brand portfolio consists of 19 brands, including Magellan Outdoors, Academy Sports + Outdoors, BCG, O'rageous, Game Winner, Outdoor Gourmet, Freely and R.O.W.

Our private label brand portfolio consists of 19 brands, including Magellan Outdoors, Academy Sports + Outdoors, BCG, O'rageous, Game Winner, Outdoor Gourmet, Freely, Redfield, H2OX, and R.O.W.

Our private label brand strategy focuses on in-filling categories and price points that our national brand products may not satisfy.

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Approximately 53% of our customers purchased a private label brand from us in 2025 and approximately 22% of our 2025 merchandise sales was comprised of private brand products.

As of February 1, 2025, we generally organized our merchandise in four divisions made up of sixteen categories as follows:

As of January 31, 2026, we generally organized our merchandise in four divisions made up of sixteen categories as follows:

Division Category Primary product types

Outdoors Camping Coolers and drinkware, camping accessories and camping equipment

Outdoors Camping Coolers and drinkware, camping accessories, camping equipment, watersports and equipment

Fishing Marine equipment and fishing rods, reels, baits and equipment

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Team sports Team and specialty sports equipment, including baseball, football, basketball, soccer, golf, racket sports, volleyball, backpacks and sports bags

Recreation Patio furniture, outdoor cooking, wheeled goods (bicycles, skateboards and other ride-on toys), trampolines, play sets, watersports and pet equipment

Recreation Patio furniture, outdoor cooking, wheeled goods (bicycles, skateboards and other ride-on toys), trampolines and play sets

Front end Sunglasses and front-end (consumables, batteries, etc.), electronics and watches

Apparel Outdoor and seasonal apparel Outdoor apparel, seasonal apparel, denim, work apparel, graphic t-shirts and accessories

Youth apparel Boys and girls outdoor and athletic apparel

Apparel Outdoor and seasonal apparel Outdoor apparel, denim, work apparel, graphic t-shirts, accessories and outerwear

Youth apparel/Swim Boys and girls outdoor and athletic apparel and swimwear

Athletic apparel Sporting apparel and apparel for fitness

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Fiscal Year Ended

February 1, 2025 February 3, 2024 January 28, 2023

January 31, 2026 February 1, 2025 February 3, 2024

Merchandise sales (1)

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Net sales $ 6,053,414 $ 5,933,450 $ 6,159,291

(1) E-commerce sales consist of 10.5%, 10.7% and 10.7% of merchandise sales for 2024, 2023 and 2022, respectively.

(2) Other sales consist primarily of gift card breakage income, credit card bounties and royalties, shipping income, net hunting and fishing license income, sales return allowance and other items.

(1) Certain products and categories were recategorized in the current fiscal year amongst various categories and divisions, respectively, to better align with our current merchandising strategy and view of the business.

As a result, we have reclassified sales between divisions for 2024 and 2023 for comparability purposes.

This reclassification is in divisional presentation only and did not impact the overall net sales balances previously disclosed.

(2) E-commerce sales represented 11.7%, 10.5% and 10.7% of merchandise sales for 2025, 2024 and 2023, respectively.

(3) Other sales consisted primarily of gift card breakage income, credit card bounties and royalties, shipping income, sales return allowance and other items.

Our stores, all of which are based in the U.S., are designed to provide our customers with an easy-in, easy-out shopping experience.

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Additionally, our stores generally have consistent store layouts providing our customers familiarity across our entire store base.

We seek to offer our customers strong merchandise assortment and a localized customer experience, which is facilitated by various types of merchandise fixtures and our large selling floor.

We seek to offer our customers a strong merchandise assortment and a localized customer experience, which is facilitated by various types of merchandise fixtures and our large selling floor.

Our central “racetrack” aisle and adjacent end-cap merchandising space allows us to adjust our inventory presentations throughout our various selling seasons.

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At this time, no stores are connected to malls.

We seek to lease all of our stores in long-term lease agreements with third-party landlords, which typically range from 15 to 20 years.

Of the 298 stores operated as of February 1, 2025, 296 are leased from third parties and two stores are owned by the Company.

We are active members of the communities in which we operate, and our long-time customers have grown up with Academy and passed their passion for us on to the next generation, enabling us to benefit from strong customer loyalty and shopping frequency.

As of February 1, 2025, the number of stores that we operated, exclusively in the U.S., by state was as follows:

We seek to lease all of our stores in long-term lease agreements with third-party landlords, which typically range from 15 to 20 years with various renewal options and lease escalation structures.

Of the 322 stores operated as of January 31, 2026, 321 are leased from third parties and one store is owned by the Company.

We are active members of the communities in which we operate, and our long-time customers have grown up with Academy and have passed their passion for us on to the next generation, enabling us to benefit from strong customer loyalty and shopping frequency.

As of January 31, 2026, the number of stores that we operated, exclusively in the U.S., by state was as follows:

State Number of Stores

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West Virginia 3

Pennsylvania 2

We believe our real estate strategy has positioned us well for further expansion, and our track record has demonstrated that we can open and operate stores profitably.

We believe there is significant near-term opportunity for expansion in both new and existing markets.

Our marketing approach is anchored in helping active minded families have fun in their pursuit of sports and outdoors activities.

The strategy is designed to generate awareness and consideration for the Academy brand while improving intent to purchase across the broad selection of fun categories, top national and private brands at a compelling value within our sporting goods assortment.

We analyze first party data from across our customer data platform and data science environments, customer insights studies and retail industry market share data sources to develop annual and seasonal go to market strategies that lead to creation of engaging content and customer experiences that are communicated across a diverse range of owned and paid media channels.

Additionally, we utilize the customer data platform to generate first party data audiences for targeted customer lifecycle management campaigns designed to retain current customers and encourage omnichannel shopping behaviors.

First party data is also used to inform creation of third party data audiences across a mix of media channels to drive engagement and acquisition of new customers through the use of brand designed, influencer and customer created content.

These campaigns are executed across a blend of digital and traditional, including paid search, email, text message, mobile app, digital advertising networks, affiliates, and social media along with linear and digital video, audio, print, outdoor and direct mail.

Our marketing approach is anchored in helping Always Game Families have fun in their pursuit of sports and outdoors activities.

The strategy is designed to generate awareness and consideration for the Academy brand while improving intent to purchase across our broad selection of fun categories of top national and private brands at a compelling value within our assortment.

We analyze first-party data from across our customer data ecosystem, inclusive of our data lake for analysis/model-building and our Customer Data Platform for audience creation and activation.

We combine insights from our customer data ecosystem with customer research studies and retail industry market share data sources to develop annual and seasonal go-to-market strategies that lead to the creation of engaging content and customer experiences that are communicated across a diverse range of owned and paid media channels.

Furthermore, using data from our data lake, we leverage our Customer Data Platform to generate first-party data audiences for targeted customer lifecycle management campaigns designed to retain current customers and encourage omnichannel shopping behaviors.

First-party data is also used to inform creation of third-party data audiences across a mix of media channels to drive engagement and acquisition of new customers through the use of brand design, influencer and customer created content.

These campaigns are executed across a blend of digital and traditional media, including paid search, email, text message, mobile app, digital advertising networks, affiliates, and social media along with linear and digital video, audio, print, outdoor and direct mail.

We are focused on implementing and continually improving our customer centric marketing technologies, omnichannel services and experiences to save customers time and money while improving the long-term health of our customer portfolio.

In July 2024, we launched our myAcademy loyalty program, which provides us a powerful tool to build a deeper connection and understanding of our customers.

The Academy Credit Card program, myAcademy loyalty program, and Academy Sports + Outdoors app are foundational to build loyalty among customers while providing a seamless omnichannel shopping experience.

We are committed to making a positive impact on the communities we serve and partner with over 542 organizations, including youth sports leagues that reach approximately 600,000 participants.

We also partner with school districts, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), collegiate and professional sports properties, local parks, hunting and fishing organizations, military bases and local first responders.

In July 2024, we launched our loyalty platform, myAcademy Rewards, which provides us a powerful tool to build a deeper connection and understanding of our customers.

The Academy Credit Card program, myAcademy Rewards, and Academy Sports + Outdoors app are foundational to build loyalty among customers while providing a seamless omnichannel shopping experience.

We are committed to making a positive impact on the communities we serve and partner with over 523 organizations, including youth sports leagues that reach approximately 1.1 million participants.

We also partner with school districts, professional sports properties, local parks, hunting and fishing organizations, military bases and local first responders.

Distribution Centers

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and Cookeville, Tennessee.

The distribution centers receive and store products from vendors and use sophisticated sorting and logistical equipment to fill the product needs of the retail store locations they serve, as well as to fulfill e-commerce orders.

Our distribution centers are leased under long-term agreements.

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These distribution centers are strategically located throughout our footprint to efficiently serve our retail locations and have the capacity to service up to approximately 150 stores per distribution center.

The retail sporting goods and outdoor industry is highly competitive based on many variables including price, product assortment, customer service, omnichannel experience and store locations.

We compete with mass merchants, department stores, large format sporting goods and outdoor stores, traditional sporting goods and outdoor stores, specialty retailers, and online retailers.

We seek to attract a broad range of consumers by providing sporting goods and outdoor recreation products that appeal to customers of all experience levels, including families and casual participants.

We differentiate ourselves from our competitors by providing a value-based assortment through both leading national brands and our private label brands.

For additional information related to our competitors, see the risk factors herein in “Item 1A.

Risk Factors”.

Information Systems

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A significant portion of our net sales and profits is driven by summer holidays, such as Memorial Day, Father’s Day and Independence Day, during the second quarter.

Our net sales and profits are also impacted by the August/September back-to-school selling season during the third quarter and November/December holiday selling season, and in part by the sales of cold weather sporting goods and apparel during the fourth quarter.

Our net sales and profits are also impacted by the July/August back-to-school selling season during the second and third quarters, the November/December holiday selling season, and in part by the sales of cold weather sporting goods and apparel during the fourth quarter.

Our Team Members

Our missi on is to provide “Fun for All” and a critical component to our success is our people.

As of February 1, 2025, we employed approximately 22,000 team members in the U.S.

and eleven team members in Hong Kong.

As of January 31, 2026, we employed approximately 23,000 team members in the U.S.

and Hong Kong.

Of those team members, approximately 45% were full-time and 55% were part-time.

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Compensation and Benefits.

We offer a competitive compensation and benefits package.

Our benefits package is designed to allow team members the ability to pick and choose which benefits are the best for their and their family’s health and well-being.

Depending on the team member’s employment and work status, they may be eligible for:

In addition to offering competitive compensation, we offer comprehensive benefits to eligible team members.

Our benefits include, but are not limited to:

medical, dental, and vision insurance;

participation in the Company’s 401(k) Plan with a six percent dollar for dollar match up to the IRS deferral limit;

participation in the Company’s Employee Stock Purchase Plan which provides a 15 percent discount on the lower of the stock price at the beginning or the end of each offering period;

paid time off and paid vacations;

the ability for team members to get a portion of their earnings paid daily;

tuition reimbursement programs;

professional license/certification reimbursement;

participation in the Company’s 401(k) retirement savings plan with a Company match;

participation in the Company’s Employee Stock Purchase Plan;

paid time off;

professional and educational reimbursement programs;

medical, family, and bereavement leave;

additional voluntary short/long term, life, legal, pet, and accident insurance;

paid maternity and parental leave;

and a 20 percent team member discount on most all of our merchandise, to name a few.

We also provide, in all our distribution centers and our Katy corporate office, subsidized meals for all team members at our onsite café and an annual health and benefits fair.

Specific to our Katy corporate office, we engage our team members through the opportunity to participate in intramural sport teams, 5K fun walk/run events, subsidized membership in the company gym and exercise classes (this is also open to our Katy distribution team members);

onsite dental and car wash service;

and a company holiday party and other team member appreciation events.

life, legal, pet, and accident insurance;

paid parental leave;

and a team member discount.

Workplace, Health and Safety.

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Steven (Steve) P.

Lawrence has served as Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors since June 2023.

Lawrence has served as Chief Executive Officer and on the Board of Directors since June 2023.

Lawrence joined the Company in February 2019 as Executive Vice President and Chief Merchandising Officer.

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Intellectual Property

Our trademarks, service marks, copyrights, patents, processes, trade secrets, domain names and other intellectual property, including our Academy Sports + Outdoors brand, our private label brands, such as Academy Sports + Outdoors, Magellan Outdoors, BCG, O’rageous, Game Winner, Outdoor Gourmet and Freely, and our designs, names, slogans, images and trade dress associated with these brands, are valuable assets that are critical to our success.

We also enter into intellectual property agreements whereby the Company receives the right to use third-party owned trademarks typically in exchange for royalties on sales.

Our trademarks, service marks, copyrights, patents, processes, trade secrets, domain names and other intellectual property, including our Academy Sports + Outdoors brand, our private label brands, such as Academy Sports + Outdoors, Magellan Outdoors, BCG, O’rageous, Game Winner, Outdoor Gourmet, Freely, R.O.W., Redfield, and H2OX, and our designs, names, slogans, images and trade dress associated with these brands, are valuable assets that are critical to our success.

We also enter into intellectual property agreements whereby the Company receives the right to use third-party owned trademarks typically in exchange for royalties.

These agreements typically contain a one to three-year term and contractual payment amounts required to be paid by the Company.

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• website design and content regulations;

Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, or FCPA, the U.K.

Bribery Act, or UKBA, and other anti-corruption laws;

Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, or FCPA and other anti-corruption laws;

• securities and exchange laws and regulations.

We are a federally licensed firearms dealer, and we sell firearms, ammunition, and related accessories.

We are a federally licensed firearms dealer, and we sell firearms, ammunition, and related accessories, including suppressors.

Firearms represented approximately 6% of our net sales in 2025.

Numerous federal, state and local laws and regulations govern the procurement, transportation, storage, distribution and sale and marketing of firearms, ammunition, and related accessories, including the regulations governing the performance of federally and state mandated procedures for determining customer firearm purchase eligibility (such as age and residency verification, background checks and proper completion of required paperwork).

In June 2021, the United States Department of Justice announced a new policy to underscore zero tolerance for willful violations of the law by federally licensed firearms dealers that put public safety at risk.

In the future, there may be increased federal, state or local regulation and enforcement affecting the sale of firearms, ammunition, and related accessories, including taxation or restrictions on the type of firearms and ammunition available for retail sale, which could reduce our sales and profitability.

In June 2021, the United States Department of Justice announced a policy emphasizing “zero tolerance” for willful violations of the law by federally licensed firearms dealers;

in 2025 that policy was repealed.

Federal, state, and local agencies continue to regulate and enforce compliance requirements applicable to firearms dealers.

In the future, there may be increased federal, state or local regulation and enforcement affecting the sale of firearms, ammunition, and related accessories, including taxation or restrictions on the type of firearms, ammunition, and accessories available for retail sale, which could reduce our sales and profitability.

For additional information, see the risk factors herein in “Item 1A.

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Compared sentence by sentence after normalising whitespace, quotation marks, case and digits, so re-formatting and restated figures do not read as changed language. Wording changes appear as one removal and one addition. The current filing and the prior one are authoritative.

What changed 10-K

Item 1. Business