DECK, DKS Stocks In Focus: BMO Warns Athletic Retailers Face A ‘Messy’ Road Ahead

• BMO assigned Underperform ratings to Deckers and Dick’s, with $70 and $110 price targets, respectively. 
• The firm expects weaker athletic demand, heavier promotions and tougher conditions to pressure earnings.
• The firm forecasts Foot Locker will remain unprofitable in fiscal 2027.

Deckers Brands (DECK) and Dick’s Sporting Goods (DKS) stocks are drawing attention after BMO Capital flagged growing pressure across the athletic retail market. The firm sees weaker demand, heavier promotions, and tougher category trends weighing on future earnings, prompting ‘Underperform’ ratings and cautious outlooks for both retailers. 

Both Deckers Brands stock and Dick’s Sporting Goods stock edged 0.1% higher overnight, ahead of Wednesday.

Deckers And Dick's Sporting Enter A More Difficult Phase

Deckers Brands received an Underperform rating with a $70 price target, while Dick's Sporting Goods also earned an Underperform rating, with BMO setting a $110 price target. The new price targets suggest a 15% and 16% downside, respectively, from Deckers Brands' and Dick's Sporting Goods’ last closing prices. 

BMO analyst Kelly Crago said the athletic market is showing signs of deterioration, with several companies describing increasingly aggressive promotions and reducing their financial forecasts. Those developments have prompted the firm to take a more defensive stance toward Deckers' earnings prospects for fiscal 2027 and 2028.

For Dick's, BMO sees the retailer entering a less favorable environment after years of successfully gaining market share. Crago described the company's path forward as a "messy turnaround" as category conditions become more challenging.

Athletic Footwear Faces Structural Pressure

BMO believes consumer preferences could be shifting away from athletic footwear over multiple years. That change could make it harder for retailers that benefited from strong demand in the category to maintain their previous growth rates.

BMO expects Dick's Sporting Goods-owned Foot Locker to remain at a loss in fiscal 2027. The firm also said Dick's core business is becoming more exposed to weaker category demand and is "no longer immune to a decelerating category."

Last month, Dick’s Sporting Goods’ Q2 revenue of $5.59 billion and adjusted earnings of $3.53 per share both missed analysts’ estimates. The company also lowered its 2026 sales forecast to $21.9 billion-$22.2 billion from $22.1 billion-$22.4 billion. 

DECK, DKS Stocks: Retail View 

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around Deckers Brands remained in ‘bullish’ territory, while sentiment around Dick's Sporting Goods was ‘bearish’. 

So far this year, DECK and DKS stocks have cratered 20% and 33%, respectively. 

Also See: LULU Stock Slips Overnight: BMO Capital Sees 32% Downside For Lululemon Even As It Begins New CEO-Led Reset

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