Shares of stylin' shoe maker Steve Madden
Has Steve Madden lost its cool? Today's announcement certainly clears up why the shares are going south now. The company said 2003 sales are coming in flat with last year's number because a decline in wholesale revenues wasn't offset by retail gains.
Steve Madden had to liquidate inventory in the second half, hurting gross margins and profits as it worked to clear out excess stock. It's now looking at full-year earnings per share at or below year-ago levels as a result. What's interesting here, however, is that many makers of more rugged and/or casual footwear fared well in 2003. We've discussed this in recent articles aboutDeckers
Some of that may simply be a reflection of investor interest in profitable, growing small companies like Rocky Shoes & Boots
Interestingly, shares of competitor Kenneth Cole
Lace up a sensible pair and talk about the shoe business on our Steven Madden discussion board.
Dave Marino-Nachison can be reached at [email protected].