What's fashionable these days? Togs from the likes of Abercrombie & Fitch
Although this higher-end watchmaker is not seeing the same sort of explosive growth as some other high-end retailing concepts are, the company is still holding its own. Sales rose almost 12% in the past quarter, with wholesale sales rising 10% and retail sales expanding at a 22% clip. The company's boutiques also seem to be continuing their expansion, as comp-store sales rose 10.6%.
Gross margins were flat for the quarter, but operating margins ticked up slightly as the company controlled its sales, general, and administrative spending. Inventories and accounts receivable were both up, but by less than sales, and net income rose 18% excluding the net benefit from a property sale and hedging losses.
It seems as though the Concord brand (which retails from about $1,700 to $16,500) was weak this quarter, but the ESQ brand grew at double digits, and the Ebel turnaround seems to be on track. Elsewhere, the signature Movado brand grew at a high single-digit rate, while the Coach brand came in at the mid-single digits.
This stock seems a little more difficult than average to value. Fossil
While I'm no great fan of P/E-based methodologies, there isn't an abundance of alternatives here. By that standard, a P/E of 12 and a PEG of about 1 seem to be pretty respectable in an overall market that trades at more than 1.5 times its forecasted growth rate. True, the company's return on invested capital isn't great, but that could improve if brand-building initiatives work out.
When it's all said and done, I end up feeling the same way about Movado that I have for a little while now. The company is making good progress on the operational front, and the valuation is not too bad. Still, I find myself more a fan of the watches than of the stock right now.
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Fool contributor Stephen Simpson has no financial interest in any stocks mentioned (that means he's neither long nor short the shares).