SGB Executive Sports & Fitness
Nautilus Seeing Healthy Response To Bowflex Treadmills
Nautilus Inc. said sales in its Retail segment were down in the fourth quarter due to timing issues but retail sell-throughs were strong for the Bowflex MaxTrainer as well as the recently-introduced Bowflex cardio line of treadmills and elliptical. Companywide, earnings were slightly down but in line with targets.
Shares Of Foot Locker Slump On Dismal Outlook
Shares of Foot Locker Inc. were down $5.84, or 12.7 percent, to $40.04 on Friday after the sneaker retailer reported weak fourth-quarter results and indicated the sales won’t likely rebound until the second half of 2018.
Aisle Talk, Week of February 26
Top headlines from the active lifestyle industry you may have missed this week.
Gap Seeing Strength In Active Well Beyond Athleta
On the retailer’s fourth-quarter conference call with analysts, Arthur Peck, CEO of Gap Inc., described Athleta’s performance in 2017 as “extraordinary,” but also indicated that the Gap chain and Old Navy are also seeing strength in active and performance lifestyle.
Brunswick Sets Life Fitness Spin Off
“FitnessCo will be positioned to continue to grow, innovate and provide customers with high-quality solutions while also ensuring that the Marine business is best positioned to continue creating value for our shareholders,” said Brunswick Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Mark D. Schwabero.
Active Brands Showing Growth For Sequential Brands Group
While the company wrapped up a fourth quarter in line with plans, Sequential Brands Group noted that all of its core Active brands – Gaiam, And1 and Avia – are all seeing momentum in the marketplace.
Big 5’s Q4 Blasted By Warm Winter Out West
Said CEO Steve Miller on a conference call with analysts. “While much of the country has endured often extreme winter weather conditions over the past few months our western U.S. markets have experienced significantly warmer than normal weather and one of the driest periods on record.”
Fitbit’s Shares Tumble On Dismal Outlook
Shares of Fitbit Inc. hit an all-time low after it failed to turn a profit in the fourth quarter, missing analyst earnings expectations. The wearable leader also gave a poor outlook for the current year, including first-quarter guidance well below Wall Street’s targets.
Hibbett’s Blows Past Guidance
Particularly benefitting from the quick ramp-up of e-commerce operations, Hibbett Sporting Goods reported preliminary fourth-quarter earnings that handily eclipsed Wall Street’s targets.
Gildan Q4 Saved By Printwear Strength, Looks To Merge Printwear/Branded Units
Gildan Activewear reported underlying earnings in the fourth quarter came in at the high end of guidance as robust Printwear sales helped offset rising input costs and weak socks sales in its Branded segment. The company also announced plans to consolidate the Printwear and Branded segments as part of a major realignment for 2018.
Aisle Talk, Week of February 19
Top headlines from the active lifestyle industry you may have missed this week.
The Fēnix Stars For Garmin
While the Fitness segment continued to struggle to overcome the maturity of the basic activity trackers space in Q4, Garmin’s Outdoor segment remainS on fire, led by the Fēnix line of adventure watches.
Finish Line Upgraded By Buckingham Research
Buckingham Research raised its rating on Finish Line to “Neutral” from “Underperform” in part because of its depressed stock price, healthy balance sheet and expectation that margins should start improving by its back-to-school quarter.
Wolverine Worldwide’s Q4 Boosted By Improved Margins
Boosted by fatter gross margins, Wolverine Worldwide reported adjusted earnings per share in the fourth quarter of 41 cents per share, a 20 percent increase over the last year. Underlying growth of 1.7 percent. Eighteen percent growth at Merrell and nearly 30 percent at Chaco helped offset declines in the low double digits at the flagship Wolverine brand, high single digits at Sperry and mid-single digits at Saucony.
VF’s Q4 Powered By Vans, North Face Misses Plan
VF Corp. reported sales at Vans vaulted 35 percent in the fourth quarter, led by a 38 percent climb in the Americas. North Face missed plan in part due to aggressive efforts to clear Amazon of unauthorized dealers and reduced off-price sales overall but is still expected to see high-single digit growth for 2018.
