SGB Executive

Last week Nike, Inc. warned that it would have to aggressively promote in the coming months as inventories in its latest quarter ballooned 44 percent year-over-year due mainly due to pandemic-driven supply chain disruptions. Other retailers in the active lifestyle space likewise face inventory surges, although they are hopeful of avoiding excessive markdowns.

On Helen of Troy’s second-quarter conference call, Julien Mininberg, CEO, said Hydro Flask’s market share was “down slightly” in the year-to-date period as retailers are more cautious about replenishment and orders stemming from concerns over a slowdown in consumer spending.

In a meeting at Morgan Stanley’s Global Sporting Goods Day, ​John Vandemore, Skechers’ CFO, said the company is well-positioned to gain market share in the challenging economic climate and benefitted from major footwear brands reducing their wholesale distribution to emphasize direct-to-consumer growth.

Analysts reduced their price targets for Nike after the company warned that gross margins would remain under pressure over the next few quarters as promotions would be required to clear bloated inventories. Most still held positive ratings on the stock on faith in Nike’s long-term fundamentals.

Shares of Nike Inc. are down about 12 percent in mid-day trading Friday after the company reported better-than-expected results for the first quarter ending August 31 on healthy demand but warned that gross margins would remain under pressure through the year as promotions would be required to clear bloated inventories. Inventories ended the quarter ahead 44 percent year over year, including 65 percent in North America, its largest market.

Thor Industries reported record fourth-quarter results, but warned that towable order activity had softened due to successful dealer restocking combined with lower consumer confidence and macroeconomic uncertainty.

VF Corp.’s management team forecasted healthy growth under its new five-year plan announced during Investor Day, its first since 2019. However, it slashed its outlook for the current fiscal year primarily due to continued underperformance by Vans and an expected greater promotional environment than anticipated in North America in the back half of 2022.

At its Investor Day last week, Sportsman’s Warehouse announced plans to double the pace of new store openings over the next three years to grow sales on average by 10 percent annually through 2025.

Wall Street was impressed by the consumer- and product-led strategies laid by Columbia Sportwear’s top executives last week to drive growth at its first-ever Investor Day, but several felt near-term macroeconomic pressures will present challenges to meeting goals.

JD Sports reported earnings before tax and exceptional items declined 46.9 percent in the first half of its North America operations, which include Finish Line, Shoe Palace, DTLR, and JD locations. The company attributed the decrease to the lack of fiscal stimulus that boosted year-ago results and the supply shortage from major international brands.

In its first Investor Day in its 84-year history, Columbia Sportswear Co. outlined a broad strategy to increase sales by 9 percent to 11 percent and EPS by 12 percent to 15 percent on a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR ) from 2022 to 2025. The gains are expected to be led by footwear, international expansion and digital sales growth.

Barclays lowered its rating on Nike to “Equal-Weight” from “Overweight” due to concerns over inventory risks, a recovery in China and continued North American demand.

Outdoor participation has proven sticky as participation grew in 2021, according to the Outdoor Foundation’s recently released 2022 Outdoor Participation Trends Report, which showed that outdoor participants increased by 6.9 percent since the pandemic began in early 2020, with the number of new and returning (lapsed) outdoor participants up 26 percent.

In an interview with SGB Executive Steve Lawrence, EVP and chief merchandising officer, Academy Sports + Outdoors, talked about how the retailer updated its disciplines in inventory management to drive outperformance in the second quarter and position it for second-half growth.

Speaking at the Piper Sandler Growth Frontiers Conference, Crocs, Inc., CEO Andrew Rees said that despite the company’s recently reducing expectations for the current year due to macroeconomic conditions, it is still on the path to reaching revenue of $5 billion by 2026.