First Take: Weak Trading Update; Miss & Lower

Research evidence excerpt

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M

Update

August 20, 2026 06:57 AM GMT

Morgan Stanley & Co. International plc+

JD Sports | Europe

Grace Smalley, CFA

Equity Analyst

First Take: Weak Trading

Update; Miss & Lower

Cedric Norest

Research Associate

Natasha Bonnet

Equity Analyst

Edouard Aubin

AlphaSignals Earnings Reaction

Equity Analyst

Unchanged

Modest shortfall

Modest revision lower

Impact to our thesis

Financial results versus consensus

Direction of next 12-month

consensus EPS

Source: Company data, Morgan Stanley Research

Following recent weaker than expected updates from some sporting goods brands,

JD Sports provided a soft trading update this morning. Q2 27 LFL came in below

expectations at -3.1% (vs. cons -2%) driven by weaker than expected performance in

North America, and looking ahead, the company lowered FY27 PBT guidance to

£700-800m from the previously guided range of £750-850m range (vs. VA cons

£780m). The weaker Q2 performance and outlook was largely attributed to weak

JD Sports Fashion PLC (JD.L, JD/ LN)

Retailing - General | United Kingdom

Stock Rating

Industry View

Price target

Shr price, close (Aug 19, 2026)

52-Week Range

Mkt cap, curr (mn)

Net debt (01/27e) (mn)*

EV, curr (mn)*

Equal-weight

In-Line

85p

93p

106-64p

£4,821

£2,808

£8,115

* = GAAP or approximated based on GAAP

core consumer sentiment (incl. heightened cost of living pressures from higher fuel

prices), lack of high-heat footwear product, promotional market (that may persist

into H2) as well as some negative timing impact in Q2 with the company flagging

some back-to-school demand in the US shifting from Q2 to Q3 (July into August).

We expect consensus estimates to move down by c.MSD post this print, and expect

this release to further reinforce weak sentiment across sporting goods.

• Q2 LFL Miss; -3.1% vs. consensus -2%. This compares with Q1 LFL sales of 2.3%, representing a sequential deterioration of 80bps. Total group organic

sales growth came at -1.3%, a miss versus Q2 27 Visible Alpha consensus of

+0.5% and MSe of +0.2%.

° By regions. The miss was primarily driven by North America LFL -6.8%

(vs.…