Shares of Caleres rose almost 16 percent in trading Thursday after the footwear company saw sequential sales improvement in the second quarter.
On Thursday, the St. Louis-based company reported that net sales were $695.5 million in the second quarter of 2023, a decline of 5.8 percent from $738.3 million in the same time last year. Net earnings in Q2 were $33.9 million, or earnings per diluted share of 95 cents, compared to net earnings of $51.2 million, or earnings per diluted share of $1.38 in the same period last year.
By business segment, Famous Footwear saw sales decline 5.1 percent in the period, with comp store sales down 4.3 percent. Caleres’ brand portfolio reported a 7.2 percent decrease in net sales.
But despite these numbers, Caleres president and CEO Jay Schmidt said that the company “performed at a high level” during the second quarter, citing a strong consolidated operating margin and exceeding adjusted earnings per share expectations despite a choppy macro environment. He added that this underscores the structural changes to the organization’s normalized earnings profile that the team has executed in recent years.
“During the quarter, we achieved sequential sales improvement from first quarter in the year-over-year change in the brand portfolio and ; outperformance in the brand portfolio e-commerce business; record second quarter gross margin in the brand portfolio; and
year-over-year sales growth in kids at Famous Footwear and an improved year-over-year inventory position heading into the key back-to-school period,” Schmidt said in a statement.
The CEO added that he remains confident that Caleres can achieve its full year financial outlook and reaffirmed its 2023 sales and earnings guidance. The company expects net sales to fall between 3 percent and 5 percent in fiscal 2023.
“We are making progress on our clearly defined strategic initiatives,” Schmidt added. “We continue to leverage the power of our brands, the strength of our diversified structure, and the rigor of our expense management initiatives to position the company for long-term growth and drive even greater value for our shareholders.”