Posts for Ticker ‘Crocs’

Crocs Earnings Reaction Uglier Than Its Shoes (CROX)

Crocs, Inc. (NASDAQ: CROX) has posted its fourth Quarter revenues rose more than 99% to $224.8 Million while its diluted EPS rose more than 73% to $0.45.  First Call had estimates at $207.6 million and $0.44 EPS.

For fiscal December-2008, Crocs reiterated its previously issued growth targets of 50% for the first half, and it expects revenues of approximately $1.16 Billion and net income per diluted share of approximately $2.70.  We show First Call estimates at $1.18 Billion and $2.71 EPS.  That means that the bulls are going to have to hope the company is merely under-promising so it can over-deliver.

Ron Snyder, President and CEO: "…We experienced better than expected sell through of our fall line across men’s, women’s, and children’s in each of our markets. To meet the higher than anticipated orders over the holiday period we delivered a meaningful amount of Mammoths by air-freight, which impacted our gross margin."

If you think we are critical of Crocs shoes being an ugly fad, you should see what we said about OLD NAVY after its president left today. CROX shares closed down 4% today at $32.08 ahead of results, yet shares are down another 12% at $28.25 in after-hours trading.  Its 52-week trading range is $21.68 to $75.21.  That low is from a year or so ago, because over the last couple of months shares only traded as low as $25.28 during the sell-off.

The truth is that this reaction is the initial reaction in after-hours trading.  By the morning, we could even see a recovery if the value investors manage to show any force.  In a slower economy and after a more than 60% cut in the stock price you would expect that at some point even a fickle Wall Street will learn to factor in a lack of upside in apparel fads.  This now trades with a 10.46 forward P/E if its own estimates for 2008 come to fruition.  Even if we think the shoes are ugly, this one is starting to look cheap on valuations if that fad just stabilizes rather than disappears.

Jon C. Ogg
February 19, 2008

Posted on: February 19, 2008 – 4:38 pm in Apparel, Earnings, ,

Crocston & New Crocs City (CROX)

This morning Crocs, Inc. (NASDAQ:CROX) announced it will open retail stores in Boston and New York City on Friday, November 23rd, its first East Coast locations.

As an extra incentive to come buy at the stores, Crocs will give away a CD featuring up-and-coming artists to the first 3,000 customers who try on a pair of newly launched YOU by Crocs™ shoes at each location.  Crocs already has more than 25 company stores worldwide, but here are the new locations:

  • The new Boston Crocs retail store is located in the historic Haymarket area at Faneuil Hall.
  • The New York City Crocs retail store is opening at 270 Columbus Avenue.

Pure play stores like this can be phenomenal successes, and they can be the perfect tell for when a trend is at the end.  That may not be the case yet, but it’s days of massively beating and exceeding guidance have been deemed as behind it if you have watched the stock fall from $75.00 to under $40.00 after a meteoric rise.  For some reason I am not that impressed here, and with another 3% drop pre-market to $37.36 it doesn’t look like Wall Street is that impressed either.

Jon C. Ogg
November 21, 2007

Posted on: November 21, 2007 – 9:11 am in Apparel, Retail, ,

Crocs: New Clothing Line Equals New Highs For Its Stock

Crocs. Inc. (NASDAQ:CROX) is trading up at a new all-time high in pre-market activity as the shoe maker is unveiling new product lines today.  The company is using its Crocslite(TM) material for new garments.

The company is unveiling new short sleeve and long sleeve tees for $36 to $40 MSRP.  It is also rolling out new long sleeve and short sleeve woven shirts ith a $54 to $58 MSRP.  The new line for kids will be shorts, pants, and skirts that can all be accessorized and customized with the Jibbitz charms.

Crocs is debuting these new lines at MAGIC Marketplace in Las Vegas this week, and they will be on sale in late October for the holiday sales.  The company said it will also introduce a spring 2008 apparel line for a wider use of its Crocslite(TM) materials.

Shares are trading up 5% at $62.00 in pre-market trading.  The prior high was $61.35.

Jon C. Ogg
August 27, 2007

Jon Ogg can be reached at jonogg@247wallst.com; he does not own securities in the companies he covers.

Posted on: August 27, 2007 – 7:58 am in Apparel, ,

Cramer Calls Under Armour & Crocs (UA, CROX, NKE)

On today’s TheStreet.com video, Jim Cramer again pushed Under Armour (NYSE:UA).  The stock is up big after earnings from this morning.  He noted how he was critical at its last earnings report, but this quarter they overdelivered big on an under-promise.  It is one to own for back to school and for Christmas and isn’t one you can really worry about the actual stock price.  Cramer even noted, "Under Armour is the next Nike (NYSE:NKE)!". He thinke their clothing is now a required outfit for sport teams.  Under Armour shares are putting in new all-time highs up over 15% on the day.  For unbridled growth Cramer said you can go listen to the Crocs (NASDAQ:CROX) call.  It too is putting in another 52-week high today with its shares up over the $60.00 handle.  That’s up 300% over the last year.  When you look at the last earnings report, it’s just too hard to not give the company credit.

Jon C. Ogg
July 31, 2007

Jon Ogg can be reached at jonogg@247wallst.com; he does not own securities in the companies he covers.

Posted on: July 31, 2007 – 12:46 pm in Apparel, Cramer, Earnings, , , , , , , ,

Crocs Eats a Competitor; Buys Bite Footwear (CROX)

Everone knows Crocs, Inc. (NASDAQ:CROX) by now.  Its meteoric stock rise is nearly unprecedented in modern footwear stocks.  The company is acquiring a competitor this morning by the name of Bite Footwear.  Bite has probably bitten as far as being a real competitor though.  With the price tag you might even wonder if Crocs just wanted to fend off what is probably a fiscally troubled future threat that a stronger competitor could have done more with.

The size of the buyout is only a $1.75 million cash payout, with the potential for an earn-out of up to $1.75 million if certain earnings targets are acheived over a 3-year period.  Bite was founded in 1996 and makes sport sandals and shoes that look eerily similar if you visit the company website.  It sells shoes for golf, adventure, healthy lifestyle, and water sports.  It looks like Crocs wants to apply its own materials into the existing manufacturing lines already in place to instantly expand its product offerings.

Crocs acquired Jibbitz last year, and a buyout of this size will be tiny for the company to integrate.  It looks like it gets some instant new designs and also some instant R&D, so for the price it sounds like a lay-up for a fast-growth footwear company.  Even if this ends up being a ‘competition killer’ as the sole ambition, this is a small price tag that won’t ever be noticed by shareholders.  So far it is being well received as Crocs shares are trading up 2% pre-market.  This is also on the heels of last week’s major earnings beat and hiked guidance.

Jon C. Ogg
July 30, 2007

Jon Ogg can be reached at jonogg@247wallst.com; he does not own securities in the companies he covers.

Posted on: July 30, 2007 – 7:57 am in Apparel, Mergers and Buy Outs, , ,

Crocs Sues Its Way Out of Ugliness

Perhaps one of the more interesting ways of looking at companies is trying to garner the mindset of the company’s legal department and the "Legal Proceedings" section of annual reports.  Crocs (CROX-NASDAQ) filed its annual report last night and it appears to be in many different legal activities where it is suing companies for trying to sell similar shoes and the companies distributing them.  Patent, trademark, and copyright does have to be protected, but sometimes things go too far.  At least they didn’t sue The Netherlands Historical Society for making clogs long ago as the original work shoes, even if theirs were made of wood.  The suits won’t likely damage Crocs, but they may be delusional on what they really own and what others should be allowed to do.  Read their pending lawsuits and legal actions below:


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Posted on: April 3, 2007 – 4:26 am in Annual Report, Apparel, Law, Retail, Shareholder Issues, , ,