There was the belief that when Dick's Sporting Goods (NYSE:DKS) abandoned the firearms market and then took positions that angered the gun community -- such as raising the minimum age to buy a firearm in its stores and pushing for more gun control laws -- it had permanently hurt itself. While it may have done so with hunters and other gun owners and enthusiasts, the retailer has used the opportunity to expand into sports where it was underrepresented and now is generating higher sales with better profit margins. Because Dick's sales are also heavily seasonal, with the fourth quarter generating a third of the total on average, it also has the chance now to spread its business out over more of the year to become more of an all-seasons retailer. It was the strongest comps performance it had seen since 2016 and helped the retailer raise full-year earnings guidance.