** Big 5 Sporting Goods BGFV.O shares jump ~22% to $23.20,
level not seen in about 8 yrs, after hours
** Sporting goods retailer says Q1 same-store sales rose
31.8% vs guidance of 20% growth, reflecting broad-based demand
for apparel, footwear and hardgoods, including "very robust"
demand for winter-related products urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nGNX2H99qG
** For Q2, co expects SSS to increase 22%-27% and expects
adj EPS of $1.05-$1.25
** Co says in light of business strength, boosts qtrly cash
dividend by 20% to 18 cents/sh and declares special cash
dividend of $1/sh payable on June 1 to holders of record as of
May 17
** BGFV shares closed Tues regular session down 0.8% at
$19.07, trimming YTD gain to ~87%
(Lance Tupper is a Reuters market analyst. The views expressed
are his own)
((lance.tupper.tr.com@reuters.net
lance.tupper@tr.com 1-332-219-1430))