Image source: The Motley Fool.
What: Shares of Skechers USA Inc. (SKX -0.79%) were slipping today, after the footwear maker posted a disappointing second-quarter earnings report. As of 12:37 p.m. EDT, the stock was down 20.8%.
So what: Skechers, the No. 2 footwear seller in the country, delivered earnings per share of $0.48, down from $0.52 a year ago and short of estimates at the same level.
Profits fell despite a 9.7% increase in revenue to $877.8 million as domestic shipments also slipped by 5.4% in the quarter with some business pulled from April to March. International growth, however, was strong. CEO Robert Greenberg noted economic and political uncertainty around the world and blamed a promotional sales environment in the U.S. for the weak earnings results. Foreign currency translation, additional VAT taxes in Brazil, and a fire at a Malaysia warehouse also weighed on earnings.
Now what: For the current quarter, the key back-to-school selling season, management is projecting $950 million to $975 million in revenue, and COO David Weinberg said he sees "upside potential" in the quarter. Analysts, though, had been expecting $1.02 billion in revenue, and the weak outlook also helped push the stock down. A wider shift in the sneaker industry may be taking place as Nike has also been seeing its sales growth slow, with Under Armour and Adidas appearing to be taking share from them.
Skechers had been a growth star at one point, but the stock is now down more than 50% from its peak last summer. The company is busy expanding internationally, but the slide in domestic sales could signal a shift in consumer tastes that may be hard to overcome.
