Dick's Sporting Goods Shares Soar 18% On Strong Sales

(CNN) -- Shares of Dick's Sporting Goods soared 18% in early trading after the company reported strong earnings and raised its guidance for the third time this year.

The company has pulled back on gun sales recently, which generated some consumer backlash, but Dick's seems to have put that controversy behind it. Sales at stores open at least a year were up 6% in the quarter. Its operating earnings were up 33% in the period.

Dick's first said it would stop selling assault rifles and limit all gun sales to buyers age 21 and older in the wake of the Parkland, Florida, school shooting.

Next, Dick's pulled firearms and the rest of its hunting goods out of 135 of its 855 stores. And CEO Ed Stack said earlier this year that the stores that gave up the hunting business are actually posting stronger sales since they're using the extra space to sell products that are in higher demand.

The company said today it's continuing its strategic review of its hunting business. It added that it has closed eight of its Field & Stream branded stores that specialize in hunting and leased those stores to Sportsman's Warehouse, a Utah-based chain specializing in the hunting business.

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2019 Cable News Network, Inc., a WarnerMedia Company. All rights reserved.