Skechers stock rocketed 15.2 percent higher on Friday after the shoemaker gave strong profit guidance for the quarter ahead while reporting better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings Thursday evening.
"2018 was a year of record sales—our first fourth quarter of over a billion dollars and, combined with three previous record quarters, a new annual sales record of $4.64 billion," David Weinberg, Skechers chief operating officer, said in a statement.
Skechers provided a first quarter 2019 earnings forecast of 70 cents a share to 75 cents a share, well above Wall Street's expectation of 63 cents a share according to FactSet. Additionally, Skechers reported fourth-quarter earnings of 31 cents a share, above analyst estimates of 23 cents a share.
"Impressive cost control leads to impressive incremental margin," Cowen said of Skechers results.
Skechers had record sales of $1.08 billion in the fourth quarter, driven in part by an 18.4 percent increase in international wholesale sales.
"While the 4Q EPS upside is definitely welcome, the real takeaway should be the company's efforts to prioritize profit enhancing measures in its planning process," Evercore ISI said in a note. "It appears to us that management is adopting a much more holistic planning process to better anticipate and react to shifting demands."
