
Inside The Call: Deckers Brands Sees In-Transit Inventory Levels Double At Year-End
Deckers Brands management pointed to execution on their long-term strategy including driving Hoka growth, diversifying Ugg into a year-round brand, building DTC, and developing the international market, as drivers for a strong fiscal third-quarter performance that outpaced Wall Street expectations.

Inside The Call: Skechers Navigates Supply Chain Chaos To Deliver Record Q4
Skechers USA Inc. saw both sales and earnings easily surpass Wall Street targets as the company was able to navigate supply chain congestion to meet robust demand for its comfort footwear. On an analyst call, David Weinberg, COO, said the supply chain situation finally appears to be improving.

Inside the Call: Columbia Sees Mid-Teens Growth In 2022 After Solid Q4 Sales And Earnings Beat
Columbia Sportswear exceeded its own fourth-quarter outlook, primarily driven by its direct-to-consumer (DTC) brick & mortar and e-commerce businesses even as wholesale shipments fell short of expectations. Fourth-quarter EPS of $2.39 per share came in well ahead of Wall Street’s consensus estimate of $1.79 and sales for the quarter beat Wall Street’s consensus estimate of $1.07 billion.

Inside The Call: Champion’s Growth Targets Lifted Again
Hanesbrands Inc. lifted its sales targets for Champion, now expecting the brand to reach $3.2 billion by 2024, up from a previous goal of $3 billion. The higher expectations come as Champion delivered 10 percent global growth in the fourth quarter despite tough comparisons.

Inside The Call: Vista Outdoor’s Q3 Powered By Ammo Growth
Vista Outdoor delivered its sixth consecutive quarter of record-breaking financial results, elevated by a continuing surge in ammunition demand and healthy double-digit gains across its Outdoor Recreation and Action Sports brands. CamelBak, Giro, QuietKat, Bushnell Golf, Foresight Sports, Federal, and Remington all delivered outsized growth for Vista in the period.

Under Armour Scores Upgrade From Morgan Stanley
Morgan Stanley raised its rating on Under Armour to “Overweight” from “Equal Weight” due to the stock’s pullback in recent months and the company’s opportunity to “outperform peers” as a result of the combination of lower relative supply chain risk, stronger relative China performance, favorable channel checks, and the likely conservative 2022 guidance.

Glassdoor Announces Top 100 Best Places To Work; Lululemon Ranks #9
On Glassdoor’s 2022 Top 100 Best Places To Work in the U.S., Lululemon ranked number nine among the Top 25 employers. Other retailers in the Active Lifestye space to make this year’s Top 100 list included Vans at number 85, Scheels, #90 and REI at #95.

Inside the Call: Winchester Ammunition Demand Remains Strong
Olin Corporation reported sales in its Winchester ammunition segment grew 14.7 percent in the fourth quarter, and Olin officials expect an uptick in hunt participants over the last two years to continue to drive growth in the quarters ahead.

Wall Street Reacts: VF’s Q322
Shares of VF Corp. slid 6.5 percent on Friday after the company reported better-than-expected third-quarter results but lowered its sales outlook due to a deteriorating performance by Vans and weakness in China. A number of analysts lowered their price targets and downwardly adjusted estimates on VF while indicating the stock’s improvement is largely tied to Vans regaining top-line momentum.

Inside The Call: VF’s Struggles To Revive Vans Clouds Upbeat Q3
VF Corp.’s third-quarter earnings topped analyst targets, with The North Face accelerating momentum during the critical holiday quarter. However, shares were trading down in mid-day trading Friday as VF trimmed its sales outlook due to a deteriorating performance by Vans.

Kearney Finds Up To $17 Billion EBITDA At Risk Across North American Apparel/Footwear Industry
New analysis by Kearney shows that continued supply chain disruptions could cost the North American apparel and footwear industry between $9 billion and $17 billion in lost EBITDA (earnings before taxes, depreciation and amortization) in 2022.

Inside The Call: Levi Strauss Rides Accelerated Shift Toward Casualization
Levi Strauss & Co. reported its top-line momentum accelerated in the fourth quarter ended November 28 after seeing sales return to pre-COVID levels in the third quarter, helping the denim giant reach its highest annual revenue since 1998. Chip Bergh, president and CEO, sees “several multi-year tailwinds,” including the casualization trend, driving future growth.

Nike And Under Armour Earn Analyst Upgrades
Nike scored an upgrade from Wells Fargo due in part to signs of recovery in China while Under Armour upgrades from Citi Research as well as BMO Capital Markets due to confidence in the brand’s transformation efforts.

Inside The Call: Signa Sports Battles Supply Chain Hurdles To Deliver Upbeat Year
In its first report since going public, Signa Sports United (SSU), the Berlin-based sports e-commerce platform, reported sales climbed 10 percent in the fourth quarter and 24 percent in its fiscal year ended September 30. The better-than-expected performance came despite supply chain challenges that limited growth in the full-bike and e-bike category.

WFSGI/McKinsey Study Identifies Five Themes For Sporting Goods Industry In 2022
In its second-annual report on the sporting-goods industry, “Sporting Goods 2022: The new normal is here,” The World Federation of the Sporting Goods Industry (WFSGI) and McKinsey teamed up to find the sporting-goods industry experienced a broad recovery in 2021 and is expected to see above-average growth over the next several years. The report also called out five key trends set to shape the sporting-goods industry in 2022.