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Shares for Wolverine Worldwide were up over 9 percent in pre-market trading on Thursday following continued signs that the company’s turnaround strategy is taking hold.
The Rockford, Mich.-based company said total revenue in the third quarter of 2024 was $440.2 million, down 16.6 percent from $527.7 million the same time last year. Ongoing total revenue in Q3 – which excludes the impact of sold assets like Keds, Sperry and the Wolverine leather business – was $440.1 million, a decrease of 7.0 percent from $473.3 million the prior year period.
While these results are still a marked decrease, Wolverine’s performance this quarter beat analysts’ predictions of sales between $418.6 million and $423.8 million in Q3, according to Yahoo Finance.
The company also beat its own expectations, Chris Hufnagel, president and chief executive officer of Wolverine, said.
“In the third quarter, we delivered better-than-expected revenue and earnings – led by Merrell and Saucony outpacing our forecast – as we continue to make progress on our plan to turnaround and transform the company for the future,” Hufnagel, said in a statement. “We drove another quarter of record gross margin and more than doubled earnings versus last year.”
The CEO added that the company is “moving forward with a stronger platform for growth,” which includes a “rationalized portfolio of authentic brands positioned in attractive categories, a much healthier balance sheet with our restructuring and stabilization efforts largely behind us, and finally, a talented, aligned, and motivated team driving the business each day.”
By brand, Merrell and Sweaty Betty led the way in Q3 in terms of growth. At Merrell, net sales in the period were $159.2 million, a 1.4 percent increase from $157.0 million the prior year. At Sweaty Betty, net sales were $46.3 million, a 3.0 percent increase from $45.0 million just a year ago.
Turning to Saucony, sales declined 10 percent to $104.8 million in the third quarter from $116.4 million the same time last year. And the company’s namesake Wolverine brand reported revenues down 12.3 percent in Q3 to $49.4 million from $56.3 million last year.
The company’s international revenue was down 6.6 percent to $213.8 million on a reported basis compared to the prior year, while its direct-to-consumer revenue was also down 17.7 percent on a reported basis to $112.4 million. Net debt at the end of the quarter was $563 million, down $373 million compared to the prior year and down $179 million from the prior year end.