Author: Thomas J. Ryan

Shares of Columbia Sportswear are trading up about 4 percent in mid-day trading Friday after the company reported third-quarter earnings that topped Wall Street targets, boosted by 29 percent growth at Sorel and 19 percent at the Columbia brand. The company reiterated revenue and earnings targets despite order cancellations due to delayed shipments as well as heightened promotions. 

Deckers Brands said Ugg saw a solid performance in the fiscal second quarter ending September 30, continuing to benefit from progress diversifying beyond classics. However, the star brand again was Hoka, which saw sales surge 58.3 percent to $333.0 million. Hoka’s six-month revenue growth was 57 percent versus last year, with the brand now representing […]

At SFIA’s 2022 Industry Leaders Summit in a session entitled, “The Secrets to Building a Disruptor Brand,” Wendy Yang, former president of Hoka One One, credited Hoka’s ability to break out in large part to the running brand’s hungry leadership team.

VF Corp. reported second-quarter results that were generally in line with Wall Street targets but reduced its full-year outlook for the second time in a month. Momentum at The North Face is being offset by underperformance by Vans as well as an overall consumer pullback amid a heightened promotional climate in North America.

Skechers USA Inc. reported sales in the third quarter jumped 20.5 percent, led by robust gains in the EMEA and Americas regions. However, earnings came in below plan and its full-year outlook was reduced as a sudden improvement in transit times and port throughput caused $50 million of incremental logistics costs.

Puma SE scored the best quarter in the company’s history both from a sales and operating earnings standpoint as inventory flow improved to support healthy demand. The company also reiterated its outlook for the year despite warning about a wide range of market volatility.

Garmin, Ltd. reported sales slid 4 percent in the third quarter, dragging down declines in its Fitness and Marine segments; however, lower freight costs led Q3 earnings to exceed plan, prompting Garmin to raise its EPS outlook for the year. Growth targets were maintained for its Fitness segment but slightly lowered for the Outdoor and Marine segments.

Xero Shoes was founded in 2009 in Boulder, CO just as minimalist footwear was taking off, and now ranks among the small group of survivors of the trend’s downturn. SGB Executive talked with the brand’s Co-founders, Steven Sashen, CEO, and Lena Phoenix, president, about the brand’s start, Shark Tank experience and the evolving minimalist movement.

According to Cowen’s Fifth Annual Proprietary Gen Z and Millennial survey, Nike, Lululemon and Dick’s Sporting Goods showed the strongest competitive positions and/or growth in preference among younger consumers within softlines retail. The survey, conducted in July 2022, had 2700 U.S. consumers participate.

Vimazi, a Portland, OR-based startup, has developed a range of running shoes tuned for the pace of runners with the promise of better cushioning and more efficiency. Scott Tucker, co-founder, president and CEO, formerly developed running footwear for Pearl Izumi and Scott Sports and was president of Montrail in the early days of the trail running brand. He spoke with SGB Executive about the inspiration for the brand, the technology behind the shoes and scheduled launch plans.

Oppenheimer raised its rating on Dick’s Sporting Goods to “Outperform” and reiterated “Outperform” recommendations on Nike, Lululemon, Academy Sports and Under Armour on healthy fundamentals for the overall industry. Analyst Brian Nagel wrote in a note that Nike’s discussions around using aggressive promotions to clear inventories “served to further unnerve already recession-wary investors. We believe that markets are too pessimistically interpreting trends at NKE.”

Winnebago’s fourth-quarter results exceeded Wall Street’s targets as pricing actions and growth in its Motorhome and Marine segments offset double-digit declines in Towables. Mike Happe, CEO, told analysts, “While recognizing the inevitable normalization of short-term outdoor demand, we continue to believe that growing interest in the outdoors by an increasingly diverse range of consumers are lasting in the long term.”

At an online webinar hosted by NSGA (National Sporting Goods Association), executives from CCM Hockey, Johnson-Lambe and Sports Specialists Limited (SSL) agreed ongoing supply chain disruption will likely linger through 2023 and reshape buying patterns and strategies well into the future.

At Columbia Sportswear’s Investor Day, Tim Sheerin, SVP, global wholesale, Columbia said the outdoor brand plans to ”double down” on wholesale growth even as numerous other active lifestyle brands emphasize DTC initiatives. He said, “Retail partners make great connections to a broad consumer base.”