Wolverine Worldwide, Inc., the parent of the Bates, Merrell, Saucony, Sweaty Betty, and Wolverine brands, saw its WWW shares fall $5.36, or 24.2 percent, to $16.72 on Wednesday, November 5 after the company reported Q3 results that beat expectations but provided fourth-quarter guidance that was slightly below analyst targets.

During an analyst conference call later the same day, company President and CEO Chris Hufnagel remained bullish on the prospects for Saucony and Merrell, indicated that Sweaty Betty is starting to recover, and stated that footwear industry veteran Justin Cupps has been hired to turn around the Wolverine brand and work on the Work Group business.

In the quarter, revenue grew 6.8 percent (+5.5 percent in constant-currency (cc) terms) to $470.3 million, exceeding revenues estimates in the range of $450 million to $460 million and analysts’ consensus target of $462.97 million.

EPS on an adjusted basis grew 28.6 percent to 36 cents a share. Results adjusted topped company guidance in the range of 28 cents to 32 cents per share and analysts’ consensus estimate of 34 cents per sahre for the quarter.

Among the company’s core brands in the quarter:

  • Merrell sales increased by 5.1 percent (+3.5 percent cc) year-over-year (y/y) to $167.3 million.
  • Saucony sales increased 27.0 percent (+24.9 percent cc) y/y to $133.1 million.
  • Wolverine brand sales declined 8.2 percent (-8.2 percent cc) y/y to $49.4 million.
  • Sweaty Betty sales decreased 3.9 percent (-7.1 percent cc) y/y to $44.5 million.

During the analyst call, Hufnagel stated that the approximately 7 percent growth was in line with its long-term target of mid- to high single-digit growth and was again driven by its two largest brands, Merrell and Saucony. He also noted that EPS grew at more than triple the rate of top-line growth, reflecting efforts to drive profitability. He said, “Our strategy and disciplined execution continue to deliver solid results, and our team remains focused on executing our brand-building model with distinction, centered squarely on building awesome products, telling amazing stories and driving the business.”

He noted that the company’s four key brands are in “three different stages of development.”

Hufnagel said Merrell and Saucony “are moving at pace, taking market share and generating consistent revenue growth around the world. Our aim here is to continue to thoughtfully manage these brands to sustainably scale them to their fullest potential. We’ve made real progress in elevating design and innovation within their product pipelines as well as in strengthening their brand positioning through impactful marketing activations.”

For 2025, the two brands are expected to account for nearly two-thirds of the company’s total revenue and achieve mid-teens y/y growth combined.

Hufnagel said Sweaty Betty “has begun to turn the corner,” reflecting “a lot of hard work in developing a new strategy and beginning to execute it.”

He added, “Over the past six months, the brand has delivered on the milestones that we believe are critical at this point in its evolution, which started with margin expansion and has transitioned to sequential improvement of year-over-year revenue trends.”

On the downside, the Wolverine brand and its Work Group have “not made the progress we anticipated,” and Justin Cupps has been appointed to turn around the business. Cupps was most recently the SVP of NA Sport Performance Brands and the Sport & Defense Channel at Essilor Luxottica, the parent company of Oakley and Ray-Ban. Past roles include SVP, NA Wholesale Sales, Under Armour; president, Gant; CEO, Coolcore; and VP of Sales, NA, Adidas.

Hufnagel said, Justin is a veteran leader with deep experience across a host of great footwear, apparel and accessory brands. He’s a strong addition to our leadership team.”

He noted that the Wolverine brand and Work Group business represent less than a quarter of the company’s consolidated revenue and are now expected to finish the year down in the high single digits compared to 2024 in aggregate. He added, “While I’m disappointed in our performance here, I believe we have a firm handle on the work that’s necessary to get this business back on track.”

Saucony’s Q3 Revenues Jump 27 Percent
Elaborating on each brand’s performance, Hufnagel said Saucony’s 27 percent growth reflects strong double-digit gains globally in performance run styles, including market share gains in the critical U.S. run specialty channel. The gains were powered by strength across the brand’s core four franchises: Ride, Guide, Hurricane, and Triumph.

Saucony also continues its strong focus on its pinnacle Endorphin franchise for elite runners that includes the Endorphin Speed for serious training, the Endorphin Pro for race day, and the Endorphin Elite Super Shoe. He added, “In 2026, the brand plans to introduce the all-new Endorphin Azura, a premium non-plated trainer targeting a larger consumer segment and growing opportunity within the market. In addition to further elevating franchises within the core four, with innovation incubated within the Endorphin series.”

Saucony’s lifestyle offerings also drove “strong revenue growth globally and took significant market share here in the U.S.,” led by significant growth in the Pro Grid Omni 9 and Ride Millennium, two retro styles, with classic styles, the Jazz Original and Shadow 5000, “encouragingly beginning to spark interest for 2026 with influential Tier 0 and Tier 1 retailers.”

Collaborations continue to build brand heat for Saucony, including drops over the past few months from 316 Keith Haring, J Tips, and Engineered Garments. A successful collaboration with the designer Metagirl is helping support Saucony’s women’s push.

Overseas, APAC is expected to be Saucony’s “fastest growing region” this year, supported by a Key Cities strategy that includes prioritizing growth in Tokyo and the opening of a Saucony flagship store in Harajuku earlier this year. Saucony is on track to open new stores across China, working with its local partner.

The EMEA region is on track to deliver strong double-digit revenue growth for Saucony this year, with momentum expected to continue into 2026. Investments in England include serving as the title sponsor of the London 10K in July and the Shoreditch 10K in September. Looking ahead, Saucony plans to expand its Key City Strategy to Paris, sponsoring the Eiffel Tower 10K next month and opening a flagship store in Paris in 2026.

“Brand interest continues to ramp up globally and affinity for the brand continues to increase with runners and more specifically the younger consumer,” said Hufnagel. “While we continue to have success here in our home market, I’m equally excited about the global potential of the brand.”

Hufnagel concluded on the brand, “Saucony’s positioning within the fast-growing run lifestyle market is unique and a compelling combination of heritage and authenticity, coupled with best-in-class innovation and developing cultural relevance, and the brand is setting the pace. 2025 is proving to be a great year for Saucony, which is on track to deliver all-time record revenue and profit as a brand.”

Merrell Q3 Boosted by Market Share Gains in Hike
Merrell’s 3.3 percent gain on a cc basis was driven by low double-digit growth in wholesale. This was partially offset by declines in DTC sales as the brand continues to experience the impact of elevated promotional activity from the prior year. Merrell has been implementing targeted initiatives to strengthen its DTC foundation, including refining its promotional strategy, elevating marketing to reinforce premium positioning and enhancing digital capabilities to drive higher quality engagement and conversion. These efforts contributed to an improvement in the mix of full-price sales and gross margin expansion in the quarter.

The growth at wholesale was supported by another quarter of market share gains in the hike category and strong sell-through at key accounts.

“In the third quarter, the brand accelerated its long-running market share gains in its core hike category in the U.S., having taken share in 11 of the last 12 quarters, a category which, encouragingly, again improved sequentially to flat year over year,” said Hufnagel. The Moab Speed 2 and the Moab 3 both continue to drive growth at U.S. retail, while the Agility Peak 5 drove strong growth in the trail running side. Looking ahead to next spring, Merrell plans to introduce the new Agility Peak 6, which combines FloatPro foam cushioning with Vibram traction.

Merrell’s lifestyle business grew by double digits in the third quarter, driven by a ramp-up of its Disruptive Wrap collection, along with steady growth from the Jungle Moc at U.S. retail.

“In 2026, we anticipate the brand’s lifestyle product pipeline will take a meaningful step forward, introducing trend-right, low-profile silhouettes with the Relay, modern iterations on the Jungle Moc, lifestyle materializations of the Speedarc collection, and a consistent flow of energy-enhancing collaborations,” said Hufnagel. “While we’re further distancing ourselves from the competition hike, we know a significant global opportunity exists in outdoor-inspired footwear, apparel, and accessories.”

From a brand awareness standpoint, Merrell drove increases in brand interest, particularly among women, and the brand’s Key City strategy continues to fuel momentum for the brand globally, like Saucony. Hufnagel said, “Merrell’s Urban Hike Guide activation, which included media events, collabs, and influencers, drove brand heat in Paris and contributed to another quarter of solid growth in broader EMEA.”

Sweaty Betty Showing Signs of Recovery
Sweaty Betty was down 7.1 percent cc in the quarter, but outpaced expectations. Hufnagel said the Sweaty Betty “team is aligned around a clear strategy and is executing with a high level of conviction and increased confidence as we reinvigorate Sweaty Betty as one of the original activewear brands focused on empowering women through fitness and beyond.”

He said brand awareness and affinity continued to increase in the quarter, with notable gains among younger consumers and more premium buyers, which he attributed to a strong response to the female focused “Wear the Damn Shorts” and “Weather Whatever” campaigns. At the same time, gross margins expanded once again as the brand continues to strengthen both its product pipeline and positioning in the marketplace.

Sweaty Betty is making progress in delivering growth across its e-commerce and store operations in its home market of England. Pants and outerwear were both up “very strong double digits” across Sweaty Better’s DTC business in the quarter due to efforts to diversify offerings. The new Sweaty Betty app, launched in the quarter, has seen consumers convert at a higher rate and spend more per transaction in-store. Said Hufnagel, “We’ve taken action over the past few months to further optimize our retail footprint, relocating three stores, opening one new store and closing a store. The new locations are performing well, and before the year is done, we plan to open five more new stores.”

Sweaty Betty is also making early progress in expanding, launching a new partnership in China, opening a second store with its partner in New Zealand, and developing plans to open additional stores in Australia and India next year.

In the U.S., Sweaty Betty is resetting operations, focused on a full-price, more premium online DTC business. He said of the U.S. business for Sweaty Betty, “We anticipate this transition will take some time and put some pressure on the brand’s global growth numbers in the near term, but we believe it’s necessary. This pivot is in motion with the business mix already shifting to more full-price premium selling.”

Hufnagel concluded on Sweaty Betty, “We’re making progress in resetting the overall Sweaty Betty business, and we believe the brand product marketing team is strong. We’ve seen improvement in year-over-year top-line trends and expect this to continue in the brand’s critical final quarter of the year.”

Wolverine Brand Hurt by “Inconsistent” Results
Wolverine’s performance “remains inconsistent” with the Wolverine brand down 8.2 percent cc and the broader work group down 3 percent.

“Our return to running a better brand and business is taking longer than we initially anticipated,” said Hufnagel. “This said, we believe we have diagnosed the challenges and effectively using our proven playbook can return the brand to steady growth in the future. The addition of Justin Cupps to the team is a win for the company, and I anticipate they’ll accelerate the needed progress here.”

He added, “We’re already well on the way to strengthening Wolverine’s product pipeline, enabling more thoughtful segmentation in the marketplace and bolstering genuine products and premium price point offerings with collections like the Rancher Pro, the USA Built Workshop Wedge, and the all-new Infinity System.”

The Wolverine brand is partnering with country music star Jordan Davis on a variety of activations this year and has also signed on as the exclusive presenting partner for season two of the Paramount+ series, “Landman,” to help revive demand. Hufnagel added, “Both of these partnerships align well with the Wolverine brand and extend its reach significantly with consumers. As the product and marketing improvements begin to take root, we plan to focus on recalibrating the marketplace, better balancing inventories and aligning distribution with the brand’s category leadership role, more premium positioning and go-forward strategy.”

Outlook
For the fourth quarter, Wolverine guided revenue to be in the range of $498 to $513 million, a year-over-year increase of approximately 2.2 percent at the midpoint and 0.5 percent on a cc basis at the midpoint of the range. The guidance was short of analysts’ consensus target of $521.4 million.

On a constant currency basis, Wolverine anticipates the Active Group revenue to grow in the high single digits and Work Group revenue to decline by low double digits compared to the prior year.

Gross margin in the fourth quarter is expected to be approximately 46 percent, an increase of 270 basis points compared to last year. A portion of the improvement reflected timing benefit from its tariff mitigation efforts net of incremental tariff costs. Adjusted operating margin is expected to be approximately 10.5 percent, a 60-basis-point increase compared to last year. As a result, adjusted EPS for the fourth quarter is expected to be in the range of 39 cents to 44 cents compared to 40 cents in the prior year.  Analysts’ consensus target had been 47 cents.

For the full year, Wolverine expects adjusted EPS in the range of $1.29 to $1.34, or $1.31 at the midpoint, below analysts’ consensus target of $1.33. At the midpoint, Wolverine’s EPS on a cc basis is up 50 percent compared to last year. Sales for the full year are expected in the range of $1.855 billion to $1.87 billion, or $1.86 billion at the midpoint, compared to $1.75 billion a year ago and analysts’ consensus estimate of $1.87 billion.

Image courtesy Merrell