Crocs Inc. shares were up double digits in Tuesday premarket trading following the release of a blowout first-quarter report and raised guidance from the clog maker.
For the three months ended March 31, the Broomfield, Colo.-based company recorded adjusted earnings of $1.49 per share, versus the prior year period’s earnings of 16 cents per share. Wall Street had predicted earnings of 89 cents per share. Revenues spiked 63.6% to $460.1 million, compared with consensus bets of $415.3 million.
At 8:30 a.m. ET, CROX stock was up 10% to $93.32.
During the first quarter, the brand’s direct-to-consumer business improved 93.3% to $170.1 million, while its wholesale channel advanced 50.1% to $290 million. By geography, its Americas division grew 87.5% to $276.4 million, Asia-Pacific rose 20.1% to $82.6 million and the Europe-Middle East-Africa region increased 41% to $101.1 million.
Crocs also highlighted its digital sales, which saw a 75.3% hike and represented 32.3% of revenues in the three months versus 30.1% in the same period last year. What’s more, the sales of its sandals surged 17.1%.
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“Demand for the Crocs brand is stronger than ever,” CEO Andrew Rees said in a statement. “In the first quarter, we achieved record revenues and profitability, with growth in all regions and all channels. We have raised full-year guidance as we continue to see consumer demand for our product accelerate globally.”
For the 2021 fiscal year, Crocs anticipated revenue growth to be between 40% and 50% from 2020 revenues of $1.39 billion.
The company also forecasted revenue growth to be between 60% and 70% in the second quarter from the prior year period’s revenues of $331.5 million. Investors are expected to keep an eye on its business in North America, where Crocs opted to terminate select wholesale relationships — a strategy that it has employed to maintain brand positioning. (The shoemaker wrote in a letter sent to an unknown number of retailers early this month that it would cancel open purchase orders as part of the decision to end the sales agreement on April 30.)
Crocs shared that it had cash and equivalents totaling $255.9 million at the end of the first quarter, with capital expenditures of $8 million and inventories of $196.5 million. Its liquidity position remains strong with $499.7 million in available borrowing capacity.
