Briefing.com on SKX (from yesterday afternoon):
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Market Report -- Story Stocks (SKX, NKE, Z)
August 19, 2002 12:59:00 PM ET
Skechers USA (SKX) 17.19 +0.47: Last Thursday, the stock of Nike (NKE) had a particularly volatile session following a report that its largest customer, Foot Locker (Z), significantly cut its holiday orders as part of an effort to focus on more moderately-priced offerings. In the wake of that revelation, several analysts have been handicapping the impact Foot Locker's decision would have on Nike's earnings prospects. Merrill Lynch, for one, cut its EPS estimates today for FY03 (May) and FY04 to $2.81 and $3.18 from $2.87 and $3.20, respectively. We would add that Merrill's earnings estimate reductions were based on a downward revision to U.S. footwear and apparel growth that it believes is a function of a cyclical-- not a secular-- slowdown in Nike's U.S. business. Be that as it may, Briefing.com thinks Skechers is a company that stands to benefit from Foot Locker's push to place more of an emphasis on moderately-priced footwear. In its Sport category, which encompasses shoes you might find at Foot Locker (i.e. jogging, trail running, hiking, cross-training, court, and street active sneakers), prices generally range from $40-80. Those affordable prices, combined with attractive styling and effective marketing, have enabled Skechers to make a splash in the footwear industry. Skechers, though, still doesn't have near the influence in the footwear business that Nike does. On a trailing twelve-month basis, Skechers's sales totaled just over $1.0 bln versus $9.89 bln for Nike. The disparity in the size of their market capitalization-- $647 mln for Skechers and $11.8 bln for Nike-- also underscores the fact that Skechers has yet to make as big a splash with investors as Nike has. Nevertheless, it is a company that Briefing.com believes investors will want to pay some attention to. Last month, Skechers reported a 26.4% increase in Q2 net earnings to $21.3 mln on an 11.2% increase in net sales to a record $256.7 mln. The company also boosted its FY02 EPS expectation to $1.73, which represents a 39.5% increase from FY01.-- Patrick J. O'Hare, Briefing.com
