VF Corp. shares are climbing in premarket trading today — up more than 3 percent to $68.50 — on the heels of strong third-quarter performance.
The owner of Vans, Timberland, The North Face and other popular brands said its sales during the period gained 5 percent to $3.5 billion, besting market watchers’ estimates for sales of $3.4 billion.
Vans — which continues to reap rewards from booming street-culture trends as well as a larger shift, by teens and young adults, away from “mainstream” brands — was responsible for a significant share of that growth, according to the company.
VF said its Q3 gains were driven by broad-based strength across its international and direct-to-consumer platforms and Outdoor & Action Sports coalition — but most notably the Vans brand and workwear businesses.
VF’s reported profit fell 23 percent year-over-year to $386 million, or 97 cents per diluted share. However, on an adjusted basis, earnings per share increased 6 percent to $1.23, blowing past forecasts for EPS of $1.12.
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With a solid quarter in the books, president and CEO Steve Rendle seems bullish about the remainder of the fiscal year.
“Based on the strength of our third-quarter performance and the stronger growth trajectory we see for the remainder of 2017, we are again increasing our full-year outlook and making additional growth-focused investments aimed at accelerating growth and value creation into 2018 and beyond,” he said. “VF remains committed to returning cash to shareholders as evidenced by the increase in our dividend, which is supported by the strength of our balance sheet and the confidence we have in our strategic growth plan.”
The company now expects revenue to increase about 6 percent to $12.1 billion — compared with its previous expectation of a 3.5 percent gain to $11.85 billion. (The estimates include about a $200 million contribution from the company’s previously announced acquisition of Williamson-Dickie.) A significant portion of overall gains will come from the company’s Outdoor & Action Sports Division — which includes Vans, Timberland and The North Face — forecast to grow 7 percent during the year.
Reported EPS is expected to be $2.73, and adjusted EPS is now expected to be $3.01, compared with the previous expectation of $2.96.
