What happened
Shares of Swiss running-shoe company On Holding (ONON 2.66%) sprinted higher on Tuesday after the company announced financial results for 2022 that showed impressive growth. As of 9:45 a.m. ET today, On stock was up about 28%.
So what
In 2022, On generated net sales of over $1.2 billion Swiss francs, or about $1.3 billion when converted to dollars. Not only was this 69% year-over-year top-line growth, it was also far ahead of management's guidance for about 1.1 billion Swiss francs. And for more context, it beat management's full-year guidance by 9% even after the outlook was raised in every quarter in 2022.
While management was raising top-line guidance throughout 2022, it was maintaining its margin guidance for adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) of 13.2%. In reality, On had an adjusted EBITDA margin of 16.8% in 2022, way up from 5.9% in 2021. And this outperformance included a better-than-expected margin of 13.5% in the fourth quarter.
On beat expectations on the top and bottom lines, and that's why this stock was up today and getting close to 52-week highs.
Now what
For 2023, management expects 39% year-over-year growth and to expand its gross-profit margin and adjusted EBITDA margin. All of that is exactly what investors want to see.
But I'd be remiss if I didn't point out that the stock now trades at almost 7 times its trailing sales, which is pretty high for a shoe stock -- even one with robust revenue growth. Therefore this is a company that will need to keep growing at a strong pace for several years, and staying in front of what can be fickle consumer style preferences, for this to pan out as a good investment today, in my opinion.
