Crocs Posts Another Solid Quarter, but U.S. Growth Starts to Moderate…

Crocs, Inc. said it continued to see strong sell-through of their core products in the U.S. and international markets in the third quarter, but sales increases started to moderate a bit even as the company expanded its store count from the second quarter. The company looks to be making solid progress developing new products that should level out the bumps throughout the year and limit the impact of what was once a pretty seasonal business.

A new collegiate licensing hit the market in Q3 and the company is seeing strong sell-through of product at bookstores and game day venues. Company President and CEO Ron Snyder said they sold approximately 1,000 pairs at the Notre Dame/Penn State game alone. Crocs ended the quarter with 70 schools in the stable and expects to add 10 more by year-end and another 25 schools next year.

Sales in the U.S. market were up more than 106% to $69.8 million, while the international business was up more than 858% to $41.5 million from $4.3 million in Q3 last year. The company is adding both distribution and product line breadth, boasting over 9,000 doors in the U.S. at quarter-end and more than 20 styles of footwear. They are now selling through over 6,500 doors in the international markets.

Looking ahead, CROX sees diluted EPS in the 40 cents to 43 cents per share range on between $92 million and $95 million. For the year, diluted EPS is seen in the range of $1.50 to $1.53 per share on sales in the $334 million to $337 million range. For 2007, the company expects sales and earnings to grow more than 30% for the year.