What happened
Shares of Skechers U.S.A. Inc. (SKX -1.01%) jumped 15.6% in the month of June, according to data provided by S&P Global Market Intelligence, on the heels of multiple analyst upgrades.
So what
More specifically, Skechers stock started the month strong on June 1, 2017, as Citigroup analyst Corinna Van der Ghinst upgraded the shoe maker to "buy" from "neutral," and assigned a $30-per-share price target to the stock (shares trade at around $29.30 as of this writing). To justify her bullishness, Van der Ghinst expressed confidence in Skechers' "improved U.S. wholesale trajectory, early stage new product cycle across multiple categories, strong [international] momentum, and athletic competition in mid-tier products."
IMAGE SOURCE: SKECHERS.
If that wasn't enough, only a few days later, Susquehanna Financial Group analysts offered a similar upgrade to "positive" from "neutral," increasing their per-share price target on Shechers stock to $32 from $25. The upgrade followed Susquehenna's own retail checks, as well as meetings with Skechers COO David Weinberg and with some of its retail accounts. Susquehenna also believes Skechers' domestic wholesale business could return to mid-single-digit growth by the third quarter of this year, then accelerate from there.
Now what
The upgrades came on the heels of Skechers' first-ever quarter with more than $1 billion in revenue, with growth led by international distribution and its company-owned retail business. If domestic wholesale follows suit later this year, as these analysts are predicting, and even with Skechers up nearly 20% so far in 2017, the stock could have more room to run with the wind at its back.
