Caleres’ strange behavior: the company reported losses greater than forecasted but the share price increased steeply. -41.4% for last quarter (on yearly base). But good news involving the entire US economy, along with statements made by the group’s management, and its share price increased.
Negative quarter
Caleres owns (among others) footwear brands such as Famous Footwear, Sam Edelman, Allen Edmonds, Naturalizer, Vionic and Vince. The group distributes goods via more than 1,100 stores, hundreds of malls and uses the online channel as well. Net sales for the first quarter of 2020, ending on May 2nd, were of 397.2 million USD: -41.4% compared to those of the same period the previous year. Which is a lot less than the 488.5 million forecasted by analysts, according to Footwear News. The St. Louis-based group recorded a loss of 50.4 million, compared to the 15 million profit of last year’s quarter, which was valued at 1.30 USD per share, compared of the forecasted loss of 34 cents.
Stock price takes off
Even with these “pitch dark” performance, the company’s stock price earned as much as 17% last Friday, though closing with a lower increase at day’s end. Why? The company’s management made a positive announcement regarding the future of the business. “Stores that have opened are experiencing sales volume above our expectations, while our wholesale partners have started reopening their locations and thus placing new orders”, said Diane Sullivan, the group’s CEO, who also spoke of the “online channel’s constant strength”. As pointed out by Footwear News, Caleres’ Famous Footwear brand’s online sales during the lockdown grew in the triple-digits during the lockdown.
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