0952 ET - Canadian Tire's sporting good banner got a major boost from the World Cup. Stifel analyst Martin Landry notes in a report that comparable sales at SportChek were up 8% "primarily driven by higher spending related to the World Cup which represented half of the growth." This helped offset declines at its flagship banner, Canadian Tire Retail, with same-store sales down 0.8%. However, Landry says trends are improving. "Management noted that quarter-to-date, sell-through trends have improved in part due to more favorable weather," he says. At the same time, there may be new pastures of opportunity with Canadian Tire's new back-to-school strategy, which "is valued at $3.4 billion and CTC has a small share today."