Crocs, Inc. proved once again it's anything but soft, 
tripling its quarterly net income and boosting its guidance for annual earnings and sales for the second time this year. CROX hiked its sales forecast for this year to $810 million to $820 million from the previous range of $670 million to $680 million. The company now sees earnings per share of $1.89 to $1.93 for this year, eclipsing its forecast of $1.45 to $1.48 a share. In comparison, Crocs posted sales last year of $354.7 million and a net income of $64.4 million, or 80.5 cents per share after adjusting for a subsequent two-for-one stock split.
On a conference call wit analysts, CROX execs attributed the company's second-quarter surge to expanded distribution of its footwear, new styles and new licensing deals to adorn its shoes with the logos and characters of Major League Baseball, DC Comics and Marvel Comics, among others. Crocs added distribution in 1,500 U.S. stores and 1,500 stores abroad last quarter to bring its global total to 25,000.
Crocs ramped up sales this year of Ocean Minded beach sandals through an acquisition made earlier this year. Sales of Crocs' standard Beach and Cayman shoes, which once accounted for the majority of the company's sales, contributed only 30% of U.S. sales last quarter. Classics were less than 20% of sales in owned-retail stores.
Domestic sales were up 99% to $115.4 million, while the rest of North America saw revenues increase 106% to $20.2 million for the period. Europe posted growth of 920% to $49.9 million and Asia sales were up 211% to $37.2 million.
Regarding its recently announced plans to introduce a Crocs line of apparel made partially of croslite for men and children, Snyder cautioned that the apparel line will not produce significant sales this year.
“It's a small offering this year,” said company President and CEO Ron Snyder on the call. “Our apparel line for men and boys and girls has turned out very, very well. People we're selling it to are very excited about the first launch. Much of the line has croslite woven into the fabric. I wouldn't (forecast) it big this year, because it's not going to be a big event.”
