Dick's Sporting Goods Blames Shoplifting For Earnings Miss, Stock Tumbles

In a move that defines 2023, Dick's Sporting Goods cited shoplifting as the reason the company's second-quarter profits missed and sent its stock tumbling as much as 24% in early trading Tuesday.

According to Market Watch, it was the first time Dick's had missed earnings in three years and comes on the heels of Target missing earnings for the first time in six years, but in that case, Target blamed consumers for hating its Pride Collection.

Dick's is blaming scumbags for stealing products.

“While we posted another double-digit EBT margin, our Q2 profitability was short of our expectations due in large part to the impact of elevated inventory shrink, an increasingly serious issue impacting many retailers,” said CEO Lauren Hobart in a statement to investors.

How bad is retail theft, which isn't being policied in several large cities, in the United States? The National Retail Federation says "shrink" (industry term for stolen goods) was $94.5 billion in 2021, which was up from $90.8 billion in 2020.

“Organized retail crime and theft in general, is an increasingly serious issue impacting many retailers,” Hobart added.