Good news on the Crocs (Nasdaq: CROX) front? Pinch me, I must be dreaming!
Magic pixie dust has fallen on the pummeled footwear maker. It announced a deal with Disney (NYSE: DIS) this morning to expand its line of licensed shoes. Glam-glittered Hannah Montana Crocs will debut next month, followed by summer launches for High School Musical and Wall-E shoe lines.
Beyond the shoes themselves, these themed rollouts will also feature character-specific Jibbitz, the small accessories kids attach to the holes in the colorful shoes.
Disney had been one of the earliest Crocs partners. Walk into a Disney retail store or through one of its theme parks, and you'll find kiosks featuring Crocs shoes with Mickey Mouse-shaped holes.
Crocs has plenty of licensing deals with companies like Marvel (NYSE: MVL), Viacom (NYSE: VIA), and Time Warner (NYSE: TWX) to put out Spider-Man, SpongeBob, and Batman lines, respectively. Its Disney deal is broader -- the original Mickey shoes now share shelf space with Cars, Pirates of the Caribbean, Winnie the Pooh, and Disney Princesses Crocs for kids.
The three new lines are compelling because Hannah Montana and High School Musical are huge Disney Channel hits. Wall-E is a lock to be box-office gold as this year's Pixar theatrical release.
The news also comes as Crocs is starving for positive developments. Its shares were hammered after the company talked down its guidance last week.
Crocs is still growing, aiming to earn between $1.70 and $1.80 a share (before a one-time charge) on 15% to 20% revenue growth this year. Unfortunately, that's well below what the company was projecting just two months ago.
Disney alone can't help a brand shake the "fad" tag. Disney has sponsored Heelys (Nasdaq: HLYS) kid racing events, and you can create Disney-licensed stuffed animals at Build-A-Bear Workshop (NYSE: BBW), but neither of those companies seem singlehandedly salvaged by the deals in question.
However, hog-tying some of Disney's hottest summer properties to new product lines will help Crocs buy some time as it tries to win back the market's confidence. For battered shareholders like me, it's a refreshingly sunny break in the storm clouds.
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