Yahoo Finance Rocky Brands (RCKY) Q1 Earnings & Sales Beat Expectations
Rocky Brands, Inc. RCKY reported robust first-quarter 2024 results, wherein the top and bottom lines increased year over year and surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate.
The company’s success story hinges around the cost-saving measures implemented throughout 2023, which enabled it to allocate more funds toward advertising programs. The advertising programs facilitated stronger-than-expected growth in the quarter and resulted in expense leverage. Amid the macroeconomic instability, management is still optimistic about generating improved profitability and increasing shareholders’ value throughout 2024.
The stock has outperformed the industry in the past six months. Shares of the company have gained 76.3% as against the industry’s decline of 7.5%.
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Q1 Details
Rocky Brands, the leading footwear and apparel designer, delivered adjusted earnings of 41 cents per share, which significantly surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 2 cents. Additionally, the bottom line reflected a considerable improvement from an adjusted loss of 12 cents per share reported in the year-ago period.
Net sales of $112.9 million increased 2.2% from $110.4 million reported in the prior-year quarter. Net sales also beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $108.01 million. Net sales, excluding the Servus brand that was divested in March 2023, rose 7.6% from the prior-year quarter.
Adjusted gross profit of $44.1 million improved 0.7% year over year. Adjusted gross margin of 39.1% contracted 50 basis points (bps) from 39.6% reported in the year-ago quarter.
Operating expenses of $36.2 million declined 8.6% year over year. Adjusted operating expense, excluding $0.7 million of acquisition-related amortization, was $35.5 million, down 8.5% year over year. Adjusted operating expense, as a percentage of sales, declined 380 bps year over year to 31.4%.
The lower operating expense mainly resulted from progress on the company’s strategic restructuring initiatives implemented in 2023. These actions have led to significant cost-savings and operating efficiencies.
Operating income of $8 million almost doubled from $4.2 million reported in the prior-year quarter. Operating margin improved 330 bps year over year to 7.1%. Adjusted operating income of $8.7 million increased 3.2% year over year. Adjusted operating margin of 7.7% expanded 320 bps year over year
Rocky Brands, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Rocky Brands, Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Rocky Brands, Inc. Quote
Segmental Details
Wholesale sales of $79.8 million declined 0.4% year over year. Wholesale sales, excluding the Servus brand, improved 7% year over year.
Retail sales of $30.4 million increased 3% from $29.5 million reported in the prior-year quarter.
Contract Manufacturing Sales of $2.7 million significantly increased from $0.9 million reported in the year-ago quarter.
Other Financial Aspects
The company ended first-quarter 2024 with cash and cash equivalents of $3.1 million, long-term debt of $153.3 million and stockholders’ equity of $225.3 million.
3 Picks You Can’t Miss
We have highlighted three better-ranked stocks, namely American Eagle Outfitters Inc. AEO, Abercrombie & Fitch Co. ANF and Gildan Activewear Inc. GIL.
American Eagle Outfitters, a specialty retailer of casual apparel, accessories and footwear, sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for American Eagle Outfitters’ current fiscal-year earnings and sales indicates growth of 12.5% and 3.3% from the year-ago period’s reported figures. AEO has a trailing four-quarter average earnings surprise of 22.7%.
Abercrombie & Fitch, a specialty retailer of premium, high-quality casual apparel, currently flaunts a Zacks Rank of 1. ANF has a trailing four-quarter average earnings surprise of 715.6%.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Abercrombie & Fitch’s current fiscal-year earnings and sales indicates growth of 19.1% and 5.6% from the year-ago period’s reported figures.
Gildan Activewear, a distributer and manufacturer of activewear products, currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). GIL has a trailing four-quarter negative earnings surprise of 0.74%, on average.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Gildan Activewear current fiscal-year earnings and sales suggests growth of 14.4% and 2%, respectively, from the year-ago reported numbers.
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Abercrombie & Fitch Company (ANF) : Free Stock Analysis Report
American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (AEO) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Gildan Activewear, Inc. (GIL) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Rocky Brands, Inc. (RCKY) : Free Stock Analysis Report