Expenses outstripped revenues this quarter, pulling Quiksilver (NYSE: ZQK ) down like ski boots on a surfer.
Even though revenues grew at a healthy rate all across the board -- even in Europe, where the market had written off the year -- selling, general, and administrative (SG&A) expenses went up more, rising 21% while interest expense rose nearly 24% over last year. Add in a $1.5 million charge for currency fluctuations and Quiksilver had a loss of $4.8 million, or $0.04 per share.
Quiksilver said sales in the Americas, Europe, and Asia grew 17% to $603 million, well ahead of analyst estimates of just $574 million, as the trio of brands Quiksilver, Roxy, and DC continued to perform ahead of expectations.
The company admits it's dependent on a normal winter season, which we know didn't happen this year. That affected its Rossignol ski sales in the first quarter, and the hope for branding opportunities of the well-known name haven't materialized to any significant degree.
The Cleveland Golf segment has also been holding back the company as the golf industry in general has remained sluggish. Retailers like Ashworth (Nasdaq: ASHW ) and Cutter & Buck (Nasdaq: CBUK ) have both had sluggish sales while club makers Callaway Golf (NYSE: ELY ) and Aldila (Nasdaq: ALDA ) have struggled to stimulate sales.
Some might be concerned that as fast as Quiksilver's sales have grown this quarter, accounts receivable rose even faster. While the 25% increase might appear troublesome, leading some to envision channel stuffing or worse, the retailer's second quarter often exhibits such disparities. That doesn't bother me, and the recovery of its sales momentum in Europe is a positive trend. Even here in the Americas sales grew at a rate of 12%, which is on top of the 9% growth witnessed in the first quarter.
Contrast that with PacSun (Nasdaq: PSUN ) , which targets a similar demographic but has seen faltering sales and lower same-store sales (even though its most recent May numbers were up). They're much more in line with what sporting goods rival K2 (NYSE: KTO ) has been posting.
That strength led Quiksilver to reiterate its guidance for the year with revenues expected to come in at $2.5 billion, a 5.8% increase over last year. However, it changed its quarterly guidance for the rest of 2007 saying without elaborating that it would be moving $0.03 per share from the third quarter to the fourth. With the third quarter already one of its seasonally slowest periods we might expect worse-than-usual results.
That, however, could present investors with opportunities. After the first-quarter report, the stock sold off, only to recover some 30% from the lows. A poor third quarter might present similar opportunities, and should we have a typical winter this year, Quiksilver could be hitting powder again.
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Fool contributor Rich Duprey does not have a financial position in any of the stocks mentioned in this article. You can see his holdings here. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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