Shares of VF Corp. spiked 11.1 percent in mid-morning trading Friday after the company posted third-quarter results that beat Wall Street’s consensus estimates for both earnings per share and revenues.
Net income for the quarter ended Dec. 29 was $463.1 million, or $1.16 a diluted share, against a net loss of $90.3 million, or 18 cents, a year ago. Excluding discontinued businesses such as Nautica and expenses connected to the acquisitions of brands like Williamson-Dickie, as well as the the spinoff of its jeans business and costs connect to the move of company headquarters to Denver, adjusted EPS for the three months was $1.31. Net revenues rose 8 percent to $3.94 billion from $3.65 billion.
Wall Street analysts were expecting earnings per share of $1.10 on earnings of $3.87 billion.
Steve Rendle, VF’s chairman, president and chief executive officer, said, “Based on the strength of our third quarter performance and the growth trajectory we see for the remainder of fiscal 2019, we are again increasing our full year outlook, including an additional $45 million of growth-focused investments aimed at accelerating growth and value creation into fiscal year 2020.”
By category, the company said its active segment rose 16 percent, boosted by a 25 percent jump in Vans brand revenue. Revenue in the outdoor business rose 11 percent, helped by an 11 percent increase in The North Face brand revenue. The company said international revenues rose 5 percent for the quarter. It cited the contribution from its business in China, where revenue rose 18 percent for the period. On the direct-to-consumer front, revenues rose 10 percent, while digital revenue gained 24 percent in the three-month period. The company also noted that gross margin from continuing operations were 51.9 percent.
For full year fiscal 2019 ending on March 30, the company raised guidance for adjusted EPS to $3.73, on revenues projected to rise 12 percent to at least $13.8 billion. The prior estimate for revenues was $13.7 billion.
Shares of VF were at $81.39 at 10:16 a.m. in mid-morning trading on the New York Stock Exchange.