shares of hibbett inc hibb dropped 55 in premarket trading tuesday after the athletic fashion retailer reported fiscal thirdquarter results that rose less than forecast as apparel sales were pressured by competitive pricing and margins were hurt by high freight and fuel costs and wage inflation net income for the quarter to oct 29 rose to 256 million or 194 a share from 252 million or 168 a share in the yearago period the factset consensus for earnings per share was 252 sales grew 135 to 4332 million boosted by a strong backtoschool season but was below the factset consensus of 4455 million as samestore sales growth of 99 missed expectations for a 132 rise cost of goods sold rose more than sales up 170 to 2844 million as gross margin contracted to 343 from 363 inventories of 4048 million was up 564 from a year ago an improvement from the 689 growth in the sequential second quarter the company affirmed its fiscal 2023 guidance for eps of 975 to 1050 and for sales growth in the lowsingle digit percentage range the stock has rallied 119 over the past three months through monday while the sp 500 spx has slipped 17