Wolverine World Wide Inc. today reported third quarter sales that missed expectations while earnings were stronger than expected.
The parent company of Sperry, Merrell, Saucony and other popular shoe brands said its Q3 reported sales slipped more than 11 percent year-over-year, to $603.7 million, missing Wall Street’s forecast for sales of $631.1 million.
Meanwhile, reported net income advanced 5 percent year-over-year, to $48.2 million, or 49 cents per diluted share, topping analysts’ estimates for flat year-over-year diluted EPS of 48 cents. Currency adjusted diluted EPS also topped forecasts, at 51 cents.
“We delivered strong earnings results on revenue in line with our expectations for the third quarter, despite the tepid retail environment,” Wolverine chairman, president and CEO Blake Krueger said in a release. “Importantly, we also continued to make excellent progress in strengthening our product innovation pipeline with an intense focus on our consumers. The company’s position — premised on a core portfolio of global, industry-leading brands — remains strong, and we believe the investments and initiatives we’re pursuing today will deliver greater value to shareholders in 2017 and beyond.”
Inventory at the end of the quarter was down 7.6 percent compared to the prior year.
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Wolverine maintained its outlook range for full-year reported revenue and adjusted EPS but said due to “tepid conditions,” it now expects full-year reported revenue at the lower end of the range and full-year adjusted diluted EPS near the midpoint of the range. The company’s guidance predicts consolidated reported revenue in the range of $2.475 billion to $2.575 billion, a decline of 8 percent to 4.3 percent. Adjusted diluted EPS is expected in the range of $1.30 to $1.40, or $1.48 to $1.58 on a constant-currency basis. Reported diluted EPS is expected in the range of $1.02 to $1.12.
