“Skechers’ significant growth in the third quarter can be attributed to offering the right product at the right price and ensuring availability at locations where consumers want to shop – whether it’s in our own direct-to-consumer channels or with our network of key retailers… it is our commitment to deliver what consumers want that inspires us as we strive to bring innovation to people from all walks of life” commented Robert Greenberg, Chief Executive Officer at Skechers.

Third Quarter Results

Driven by strong international and domestic demand, Skechers’ third quarter sales increased by 15.9%, as compared to the same period in 2023. Both wholesale and direct-to-consumer channels contributed to this performance, with wholesale sales growing by 20.6% and direct-to-consumer sales growing by 9.6%.

In regional terms, third quarter wholesale sales showed significant gains, particularly in the Americas (21.6%) and EMEA (30.9%), while the APAC region grew by 5.1%, year-over-year. Direct-to-consumer sales followed a similar trend, with the EMEA region leading growth. The region grew by 28% over the previous year, followed by APAC with 10% and the Americas with 5%. Despite the robust volume growth, average selling prices declined slightly in wholesale and direct-to-consumer channels.

Gross margin for the third quarter stood at 52.1%, reflecting an 80-basis point decline, primarily due to reductions in average selling prices. In this period, operating expenses rose by 15.2% year-over-year to 130.9 million US dollars, driven by higher demand creation costs and general administrative expenses. Selling expenses increased by 18.4% on a comparable basis.

Earnings from operations grew by 9.5% to 233.4 million US over the third quarter of 2023. Reported net earnings were 193.2 million US dollars, and diluted earnings per share were 1.26 US dollars, an increase of 32.8% and 35.4%, respectively, as compared to the same period in the previous year.

John Vandemore, Chief Financial Officer at Skechers, commented about the record third quarter result: “We delivered impressive international sales growth coupled with continued momentum in our domestic wholesale business… as we move forward, we remain committed to investing in our brand, expanding our global presence and meeting the evolving needs of our consumers”.

Outlook

For the fourth quarter, Skechers anticipates achieving sales within the range of 2.165 to 2.215 billion US dollars. For the fiscal year 2024, the company expects sales to be in the range of 8.925 to 8.975 billion US dollars and diluted earnings per share to be approximately 4.25 US dollars.