No Zzz's at Zumiez

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High-growth board sports retailer Zumiez (Nasdaq: ZUMZ) may not be invincible (let's not forget, its shares wiped out at one point last year when it couldn't keep up with investors' high expectations), but its fourth-quarter earnings release drove the shares to a new 52-week high.

The board sports retailer reported net profit up 66.7% and sales increasing 49%, with a 12% rise in same-store sales. (For the full rundown, see our Fool by Numbers feature, which digs deep into Zumiez's fourth-quarter numbers.)

Zumiez also gave its outlook for 2007, and it was better than analysts were expecting. It forecast earnings of $0.94 per share to $0.96 per share. Of course, the company's balance sheet reveals a positive attribute to keep in mind. Zumiez's cash and short-term investments increased 20.9% to $52 million. A big reason for the jump was that free cash flow increased by 56.3% to $12 million.

It's interesting to note that Volcom's (Nasdaq: VLCM) share price also spiked today, likely because it supplies merchandise to Zumiez and good news for Zumiez may very well turn into good news for Volcom. Of course, Volcom also supplies apparel to Motley Fool Stock Advisor pick Pacific Sunwear (Nasdaq: PSUN), which has been a significantly less exciting stock than Zumiez here lately.

Among the elements at work for Zumiez is its acquisition of Fast Forward stores last June. According to its conference call, all of the Fast Forward stores now have in-store Zumiez branding, and almost all have been refurbished to allow for greater capacity within the stores. It is still working on converting the outside signage on those stores to the Zumiez name, and expects to have that work complete by the end of this year.

Zumiez does expect impressive 30% growth, and of course, its 55% increase in earnings per share in fiscal 2006 is enough to turn one's head. These are the factors that explain the premium valuation attached to these shares, of course -- they're trading at 42 times next year's earnings. While I do like Zumiez as a company and a concept, and respect its strong growth, surely there will be a more appealing price further down the road.

For more on Zumiez, see the following Foolish articles:

• Here's a recap of Zumiez's third-quarter numbers.
• Zumiez isn't above having a wipe-out once in a while -- remember what happened in Zumiez's second quarter in 2006.

Zumiez and Volcom are Motley Fool Hidden Gems recommendations. Pacific Sunwear has been selected for Motley Fool Stock Advisor.

Alyce Lomax does not own shares of any of the companies mentioned.