A Warm Fall and Hurricanes Hurt Shoe Carnival Sales in Q3
Shoe Carnival cut its full-year sales outlook after warmer weather and two hurricanes contributed to a sales miss in the third quarter.
The Evansville, Ind.-based footwear retailer reported that net sales in the third quarter were $306.9 million, down from the $319.9 million from the same quarter last year and short of the company’s expectations. Excluding the impact from a shift in the retail calendar, net sales were up 2.2 percent, led by a strong back-to-school performance and sales from the $45 million February acquisition of Rogan Shoes. Comparable store sales declined declined 4.1 percent in the quarter, due to hurricanes that impacted sales in September and October and warmer weather that delayed demand for boots.
Net income for the third quarter was $19.2 million, or 70 cents per diluted share, which was in line with the company’s expectations.
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Shoe Carnival president and chief executive officer Mark Worden said that back-to-school helped drive sales throughout the season, despite weather challenges.
“Our flexible digital-first marketing campaign and great brand assortment drove demand during this peak shopping period and profitability in line with expectations for the third quarter,” the executive said. “I am very proud of our team for delivering the company’s profit results despite two significant hurricanes disrupting third quarter sales and a very warm October that delayed the start of our winter boot season.”
As of Nov. 21, the company operated 431 stores, with 361 Shoe Carnival stores, 42 Shoe Station stores and 28 Rogan’s locations. Last quarter, Shoe Carnival said that it plans to grow its fleet to more than 500 stores by 2028 via “organic growth and strategic M&A activity.”
Worden added that Shoe Carnival continued its store rebanner strategy and converted seven Shoe Carnival stores to Shoe Station banners in the quarter. The company expects to test rebanners at 25 more stores in the first half of 2025. Shoe Carnival also noted that sales from its Rogan Shoes acquisition have contributed net sales of over $80 million in fiscal 2024, $22.3 million of which was in the third quarter.
Shoe Carnival downgraded its sales outlook for fiscal year 2024 and now expects net sales in the range of $1.2 billion and $1.23 billion, which would represent growth between 2 percent and 4.5 percent year-over-year. Adjusted EPS is still expected to be between $2.60 and $2.75.
