During the era of athleisure, Skechers remains optimistic as seen through its positive net sales for the fourth quarter, along with a successful start to 2017.
Despite reporting a third consecutive miss for earnings performance in the fourth quarter, the athletic footwear brand saw a record fourth quarter net sales increase of 5.8% to $764.3 million, and annual net sales of $3.56 billion, a 13.2% increase.
“Skechers achieved new fourth quarter and full-year net sales records, exceeding our fourth quarter guidance range of $710 million to $735 million,” said Skechers CFO and COO David Weinberg. He attributes the successful fourth quarter growth to a 17.1% increase in international wholesale business, led by China, which increased 48.5%. Domestic wholesale sales, however, didn’t fare as well.
Despite positive net sales for the fourth quarter, the brand saw earnings per share of $0.04, down almost 78.9% from $0.19 the same time last year, with an overall year diluted earnings per share of $1.57, slightly up compared to 2015’s Net earnings per diluted share of $1.50.
“We expect that 2017, Skechers’ 25th year of business, will be an even more remarkable in terms of product and sales. Our speed to market and ability to react and deliver as trends arise gives us the flexibility to pivot as necessary,” Skechers CEO Robert Greenberg said. “We are looking forward to delivering our new collections across all our divisions for men, women and kids—included lighted footwear, a new line from our Skechers Performance Division, and a new product line perfect for the Millennials and Post-Millennials—and believe that we will remain a leading global footwear company.”
Skechers has a positive outlook for 2017, with a projection for earnings per share between $0.5-$0.55 and net sales around $1.05 billion-$1.075 billion for the first quarter of 2017.