© Reuters.
By Sam Boughedda
Skechers USA (NYSE:) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform by Cowen analysts, who also raised the firm’s price target on the stock to $65 from $48.
The analysts said in a note to clients that its survey and channel work suggests a meaningful upside in the stock. Skechers shares have jumped more than 3% in Monday’s session.
“Skechers remains the #2 preferred casual sneaker brand in the United States at 19% preference share vs #1 Nike at 24%,” the analysts wrote.
He also stated that Skechers.com’s Similarweb Unique Visitors — web traffic — grew 38% year-over-year, suggesting significant gains over the holiday.
“We are modeling +6% y/y FY23 domestic wholesale, a deceleration from +26% y/y in FY22. H1:23 domestic DTC estimates could be conservative, given that we’re modeling domestic DTC sales up +2.3% y/y in the first half of next year relative to +15% y/y growth in the channel in Q3:22,” the analysts added.
“Consensus may be underestimating the durability of momentum, as we’re modeling FY23 sales growth of +12% compared to Consensus of +9%. We model upside to Consensus sales and EPS estimates in Q4 and believe management can issue guidance for FY23 that can satisfy growth expectations.”
