Feb. 20--A fourth-quarter and year-end earnings report from Cabela's Incorporated was greeted Thursday by the financial industry as good news.

Despite a drastic downturn in the national economy, the company's total quarterly revenue dropped only 1 percent from $889.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2007 to $879.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2008. Total revenue for the year increased by 8.6 percent to a company-record $2.6 billion.

"A significant amount of our business is driven by a group of core customers who we have found to be very resilient during a recession," Cabela's President and CEO Dennis Highby said Thursday in a news release. "Just as we have seen in previous recessions, these customers are continuing to shop at Cabela's."

Another positive development in 2008 was the company's prepayment of $26 million worth of debt, which Highby said "gives us one of the strongest balance sheets in the retail industry."

Cabela's was praised by several analysts during the company's Thursday earnings conference call. Rick Nelson, an analyst for Stephens Inc., began his question to Cabela's officials by telling them "Congratulations on a good quarter in a tough environment."

Forbes.com published a Reuters story Thursday about the Cabela's earnings under the headline "Cabela's lower profit beats Street, shares up." The story noted that the price of Cabela's shares was up 10 percent in after-hours trading. Later in the afternoon, shares were nearly 26 percent higher.

Cabela's, which has a retail store in Mitchell, opened two new retail stores in 2008 in Rapid City and Scarborough, Maine. The openings brought the company's total number of retail stores to 29.

Highby announced Thursday that the company will move forward with its plan to open a store this year in Billings, Mont., but the planned opening of a store in East Rutherford, N.J., will be postponed until 2010.

The company said Thursday that fourth-quarter 2008 retail store revenue increased 6.9 percent to $429.5 million. Highby said the results came from a "particular emphasis on sales of firearms and related accessories, along with an aggressive merchandise strategy to take market share, increase inventory turns and improve cash flow."

"We are pleased to see these improved sales results continuing into 2009," he said in the release, "and expect first quarter same-store sales to be positive as well."

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