Steven Madden (NASDAQ:SHOO) shares hit their highest level in over a year after the company issued view-topping 2015 sales growth guidance.
The shoe designer expects net sales will increase 7% to 9% this year, helped by its acquisitions of the Dolce Vita, Brian Atwood and Blondo brands. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters calculated 6.6% sales growth for 2015.
Shares were up 7% on the stock market today after rallying as much as 13% earlier. Shares have been in a choppy area of consolidation for nearly 15 months.
Steven Madden sees full-year earnings of $1.85 to $1.95 per share, while analysts have projected $1.95.
In Q4, the company earned 34 cents a share, a 36% decline from last year that missed expectations by a penny. Revenue came in virtually flat at $343 million, above views for $341 million.
Gross margin for its wholesale business, which accounted for about 79% of total revenue in the quarter, decreased to 27% from 31.8% on markdown allowances and air-freight costs because of the West Coast port slowdown.
“Throughout 2014, we were impacted by a lack of significant fashion footwear trends on which to capitalize,” said Chairman and CEO Edward Rosenfeld. “In the fourth quarter, we faced additional challenges including production delays on goods from Mexico and slowdowns at the West Coast ports.”
But Rosenfeld added that the company’s brand acquisitions, the buyout of its Mexican licensee and the formation of a joint venture in South Africa “will significantly enhance the company’s long-term growth prospects.”
Steven Madden has a relatively low IBD Composite Rating of 51, meaning it outperforms just 51% of all stocks in the market as measured by fundamental and technical factors. Some of those factors are earnings and sales growth, return on equity and relative price performance.
The Apparel-Shoes & Related Manufacturing group is ranked No. 96 out of the 197 industry groups IBD tracks, led by Skechers (NYSE:SKX) with a 90 CR and Nike (NYSE:NKE) with an 88 CR.
Follow Alissa Williams on Twitter: @IBD_AWilliams.