Skechers 2017 sales hit $4.16bn for 'monumental year' of growth

By

Arati Menon

Published
Feb 9, 2018

When Skechers made its return to Super Bowl Sunday with an ad featuring NFL Hall of Fame player Howie Long, audiences wondered if the California-based footwear brand could afford to blow $2.5 million on 15 seconds of adtime.

However, the company’s fourth quarter results demonstrate that Skechers is more than holding its own. The shoe company posted revenue of $970.6 million in the period, surpassing Wall Street forecasts.
 
The Skechers store base grew to 2,570 locations at year-end and saw impressive growth across the globe. Company-owned global retail sales in Q4 increased 25.8 percent, with a comparable same store sales increase of 12 percent globally. International wholesale sales increased 40.2 percent.

For the full year 2017, the company reported profits of $179.2 million, or $1.14 per share. Record revenue was reported as $4.16 billion, an increase of over $600 million from the previous year’s sales. This was led primarily by a 23 percent increase in the company’s international wholesale business growth and a 21.9 percent increase in the company’s global retail business. Domestic wholesale grew by 4.1 percent. 
 
Gross margins for the year were up from 45.9 percent to 46.6 percent, although operating margins dropped a percentage point because of increased selling expenses primarily to support growth in Skecher’s international markets.
 
“2017 was a monumental year for Skechers as we achieved sales of more than $4 billion for the first time in our 25-year history,” said Robert Greenberg, Skechers chief executive officer. “This growth is due to our continued focus on efficiencies and infrastructure as well as innovation, comfort, and relevancy within our product design.”
 
Greenberg added that in the United States, Skechers remained the No. 1 casual lifestyle, and casual dress footwear brand, and the No. 2 casual athletic footwear brand.
 
It’s no wonder then that Company’s outlook for the first quarter of 2018 is enthusiastic. It believes it will achieve sales in the range of $1.175 billion to $1.200 billion, and diluted earnings per share of $0.70 to $0.75.