Wholesale Traction and New Innovations Drive Strong Quarter for Adidas, Crocs and More

Earnings season has only just started, but early results are already pointing a footwear industry on the upswing.

In the last few weeks, Skechers, Adidas, Crocs, Steve Madden and Deckers posted overall positive results for the most recent quarter. All either reaffirmed or raised their financial outlooks for the remainder of 2024, reflecting optimism for recent momentum to persist through the rest of the fiscal year.

Across the board, footwear executives attributed their recent positive results to improvements in the U.S. wholesale channel and product innovations that are winning with consumers.

At Skechers, for example, U.S. wholesale sales grew 14 percent to $56 million in Q2 compared to the prior year. Skechers chief financial officer John Vandemore said this bump reflected “strong consumer demand for our product and robust order flow, a trend we see continuing in the second half of the year.”

In a note last week discussing the brand’s Q2, performance, Williams Trading analyst Sam Poser noted that Skechers’ wholesale order backlog has shown signs of improvement and that its “domestic wholesale customers pulled orders forward, and are stepping up orders for back-to-school and fall 2024.”

Similarly, strong full-price sales in the wholesale channel helped drive gains for both the Hoka and Ugg brands in Deckers Brands’ most recent quarter. Deckers chief commercial officer Stefano Caroti said in a call with analysts that Hoka’s wholesale growth “was particularly strong in the U.S. as the brand continues to see earlier demand from wholesale partners and benefited from favorable year-over-year comparisons.”

Looking ahead, Deckers CFO Steven Fasching said that fiscal year 2025 will be “a year of wholesale growth” for Hoka as the company expands the brand’s presence across the marketplace in a controlled manner.

At Steve Madden, while wholesale sales were up in Q2, chairman and CEO Edward Rosenfeld said the brand was impacted by a “challenging environment in the U.S. branded wholesale footwear channel” characterized by cautious retailers. Still, the brand reaffirmed its outlook for the year.

“What we are doing is just focusing on what we can control, and that’s delivering the right product that resonates with consumers,” Rosenfeld said, noting that wholesale customers have been excited about their new collections being shown during market weeks this summer. “We’re just going to keep delivering the right products. And history tells us that when we do that, eventually, we’ll see that in the numbers in the wholesale channel.”

New innovations

Some brands attributed their recent success to their assortment of innovative products. Skechers called out strong demand for its innovative comfort products, such its popular hands free slip-in line as well as its golf, walk and kids lines. And Deckers chief executive officer Dave Powers said new Hoka styles like the Skyward X, Cielo X1 and Skyflow “brought incremental volume and attention to the brand through segmentation and greater innovation.”

At Crocs, executives also touted new innovations that are driving brand heat. In a call with analysts this week discussing the company’s second quarter results, Crocs Inc. CEO Andrew Rees said that Crocs is experimenting with new sneaker styles after a successful launch of its first-ever sneaker — the Crocs Juniper — in May. The shoe was made in partnership with designer and Crocs creative director Salehe Bembury.

According to Rees, the Juniper sneaker, which retailed for $140, sold out within minutes of its release and subsequently appeared on secondary marketplace places for multiples of the original price.

Adidas raised its guidance for the year after a solid second quarter, and said new innovations in running and outdoor have given it a competitive edge. Adidas CEO described the Evo as “probably the most innovative” running shoe in the market and called out other styles like the Ultraboost 5, the Adizero Pro 4 and the Supernova.

“This is only part of what we have because our offer in running is very wide and deep,” Gulden said. “And you will see us growing there in the future.”