Steven Madden, Ltd. (SHOO) Q3 2026 Earnings Call Transcript

Good day, and welcome to the third quarter 2026 Steven Madden Limited Earnings Call and Webcast. All participants will be in listen-only mode. Should you need assistance, please signal a conference specialist by pressing the star key followed by zero. After today's presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. To ask a question, you may press star then 1 on your telephone keypad. To withdraw your question, please press star then 2. Please note this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Danielle McCoy, VP of Corporate Development and Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Thanks, Michael, and good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining our third quarter, 2026 earnings call and webcast. Before we begin, I'd like to remind you that our remarks that follow, including answers to your questions, contain statements that we believe to be forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act. These forward-looking statements are subject to risk that could cause actual results to materially differ from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These risks include, among others, matters that have been described in our press release, issued earlier today, and filings we make with the SEC. We disclaim any obligation to update these forward-looking statements, which may not be updated until our next quarterly earnings call, if at all. The financial results discussed on today's call are on an adjusted basis, unless otherwise noted. A reconciliation to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure and other associated disclosures are contained in our earnings release. Joining me on the call today are Ed Rosenfeld, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, and Dean Mizzouzi, Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President of Operations. With that, I'll turn the call over to Ed. Ed?

All right. Thank you, Danielle, and good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us to review Steve Madden's third quarter, 2026 results. We delivered an outstanding third quarter with revenue up 16 percent and diluted EPS up 85 percent compared to the third quarter last year. We saw strong growth across our brands and channels, reflecting our team's disciplined execution of our strategy. Creating outstanding product, amplifying it with effective marketing, and ensuring the right distribution and compelling consumer experiences across the channels where our customers shop. Our flagship brand, Steve Madden, led the way, with strong growth across footwear, accessories, and apparel, as well as in both wholesale and DTC channels. Steve and his design team continued to create trend-right product assortments that resonate with consumers. In footwear, exceptional growth in casuals, along with strong performance in booties and heels, more than offset a decline in tall-shaped boots. In handbags, we saw success across a range of shapes, including shoulder bags, hobos, and totes, and with trending treatments and materials like patchwork and faux suede. And in apparel, we had a successful launch of denim and drove strong sell-through across categories, including dresses, tops, bottoms, and jackets. Our marketing team amplified these assortments with an integrated, full-funnel approach that included our fall campaign, Ask Steve, featuring Delilah Bell and the 1997 Big Heads in a callback to one of the brand's most famous ads. Building on the momentum of Steve's recent viral social media moments, the campaign invited consumers to text or call Steve directly at an interactive, toll-free hotline for advice on their shoe emergencies. Together, the combination of compelling product and strong marketing execution continues to fuel an increase in brand heat. Global online search interest for Steve Madden rose 16% in the quarter, and we continue to expect Steve Madden brand revenue for the year to increase high single digits compared to 2025. In Kirk Geiger, the team continues to create the bold, expressive styles the brand is known for and to support them with creative marketing campaigns. Just last week, we launched a limited edition holiday collaboration with Paddington Bear. London is at the heart of the Kirk Geiger brand, and Paddington is one of London's most beloved and internationally recognized characters. The collaboration brings these two distinctly London worlds together, reimagining Paddington with Kirk Geiger's signature color, crystals, and jewel-encrusted detailing. The campaign features Georgia Mae Jagger, Vinnie Jones, and a cast of London personalities, and the collection spans handbags, footwear, accessories, and gifting. We also continue to thoughtfully expand distribution for the Kurt Geiger brand. In October, we opened a full-price store in the Soho neighborhood of New York City, a premium outlet in Desert Hills in California, and handbag and footwear shop-and-shops in Macy's Herald Square. In the third quarter, global DTC comp sales for Kurt Geiger rose 6%, on top of a 15% increase in last year's third quarter. While this remains healthy growth, it represents a moderation from the exceptionally strong trend we saw earlier in the year, and we have adjusted our forecast for the full year and now expect Kurt Geiger revenue to be up low double digits for the year on a pro forma basis. In Dolce Vita, we delivered a record third quarter, with robust growth across wholesale and direct-to-consumer channels, driven by a compelling product assortment. In footwear, valets, loafers, Mary Janes, and wedge mules were stand-downs. We also continued to build our handbag business, where highlights included shoulder bags and totes. And across both shoes and bags, Dolce Vita saw success with on-trend materials like suede and animal print, as well as seasonal colors like oxblood and chocolate brown. The team also continues to deliver innovative marketing campaigns and activations that deepen the brand's connection with its consumers. Dolce Vita's fall campaign, Designed to be Lived In, came to life through the Dolce Vita Flat, an immersive brand residency in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, inspired by the brand's best-selling flats category. Dolce Vita transformed the Williamsburg loft into a fully furnished home, and throughout the month-long residency, the space has hosted dinners, editorial appointments, styling sessions, and community gatherings. Based on the strong momentum we're seeing in the brand, we have increased our forecast for Dolce Vita revenue for the year and now expect low double-digit growth. Beyond our lead brands, we're pleased that we're also seeing strength across our broader brand portfolio and are on pace for strong gains for the year at Anne Klein, Betsy Johnson, and Carvela as well. Betsy Johnson has been a particular highlight. Over the past few years, the team has renewed the brand's cultural relevance by tapping into the Y2K fashion revival and building on that momentum with distinctive product, storytelling, collaborations, and activations. During the third quarter, we launched the Betsy Johnson by Paris Hilton collaboration. Sell-through was strong across the products in the collection, and dresses inspired by some of Betsy's most iconic archival prints and styles generated an online frenzy and sold out in two days. The collaboration generated nearly 800 million media impressions, further strengthening brand awareness and reinforcing the brand's relevance with a new generation of consumers. The Betsy Johnson brand is on track for low-teens revenue growth for the year. So overall, our brands are deepening their connection with consumers, gaining relevance in the marketplace, and driving meaningful growth. Based on our strong year-to-date results and the continued momentum we see in the business, we are raising both our revenue and earnings outlook for the year. And looking further ahead, the strength of our brands and the multiple growth opportunities across our diversified portfolio give us confidence in our ability to drive sustainable growth and create long-term value for our stockholders. And now I'll turn it over to Zine to review our third quarter financial results in more detail and provide our updated outlook for 2026.

Thanks, Ed, and good morning, everyone. In the third quarter, consolidated revenue was $772.6 million, a 15.7% increase compared to the third quarter of 2025. Wholesale revenue was $528.7 million, up 19.4% compared to the third quarter of 2025, driven by strong performance in the branded business. Wholesale revenue also benefited from a more normalized shipment timing compared with last year, when tariffs-related disruptions shifted certain shipments from the third quarter into the fourth quarter of 2025. Growth was strong across categories. Wholesale footwear revenue was $322.6 million, a 21% increase, and wholesale accessories and apparel revenue was $206.1 million, a 17% increase. In our direct-to-consumer segment, revenue was $239.2 million, an 8% increase compared to the third quarter of 2025. Globally, Steve Madden brand comp sales rose 7% in the quarter, driven by continued outstanding performance in the U.S., where comp sales for our flagship brand rose 16%. International comp sales decreased 2%. But increased 1%, excluding the GCC business, which was impacted by the conflict in the Middle East. Geico comp sales were up 6% in the quarter, and Dolce Vita comp sales increased 26%. We ended the quarter with 381 company-operated brick-and-mortar stores, including 92 outlets, as well as eight e-commerce websites. And 190 company-operated concessions in international markets. Our licensing royalty income was $4.7 million in the quarter, compared to $3.7 million in the third quarter of 2025. Consolidated gross margin was 44.6% in the quarter, up from 43.4% in the prior year. Driven by an increase in the wholesale channel, partially offset by a decrease in direct consumer. Wholesale gross margin was 36.8%, up from 33.6% in the third quarter of 2025, reflecting strong underlying improvement, as well as a small negative impact from tariffs, partially offset by higher freight expense. Direct-to-consumer gross margin was 60.7%, down from 61.9% in the third quarter of 2025, primarily due to higher freight expense, a shift in markdown cadence compared to the prior year, and deeper discounting on seasonal products. Operating expenses as a percentage of revenue were 34.3% in the quarter compared to 36.4% in the third quarter of 2025. Driven by expense leverage on a higher revenue base. Operating income for the quarter was $78.9 million, or 10.2% of revenue, compared to $46.3 million, or 6.9% of revenue, in the third quarter in the prior year. The effective tax rate for the quarter was 25.4%, compared to 23.4% in the third quarter of 2025. Finally, net income attributable to Steve Madden Limited for the quarter was $57.3 million, or $0.79 per diluted share, compared to $30.4 million, or $0.43 per diluted share in the prior year. Turning to the balance sheet, our financial foundation remains strong. And as of September 30, 2026, we had $120.2 million in debt and $71.3 million in cash and cash equivalents, for a net debt of $48.8 million. Inventory was $415.3 million, down 12.8% compared to $476 million in the prior year, driven by a 26% inventory reduction in the per-gagger business. Our capex in the quarter was $14.4 million, and we did not repurchase any shares in the open market. The company's board of directors approved a quarterly cash dividend of $0.21 per share. The dividend will be payable on December 24, 2026, to stockholders of record as of the close of business on December 11, 2026. Now, turning to our fiscal 2026 guidance. We are raising our revenue and diluted earnings per share outlook. We now expect revenue to increase 12% to 13%, up from our prior guidance of 11% to 13%. And we expect diluted earnings per share to be in the range of $2.15 to $2.20, up from our prior guidance of $2.05 to $2.15. Now I would like to turn the call over to the operator for questions. Michael?

Thank you. We will now begin the question and answer session. To ask a question, you may press star, then 1 on your telephone keypad. If you are using a speakerphone, please pick up your handset before pressing the keys. If at any time your question has been addressed and you would like to withdraw your question, please press star, then 2. At this time, we will pause momentarily to assemble our roster. And the first question today comes from Anna Andreeva with Piper Sandler. Please go ahead.

Great. Thank you for taking our question, and good morning, guys. We had a couple. On the core Madden business, surprised to see a miss to at least the street, considering the product looks really great. So did that come in in line with your expectations? We've noticed some stockouts in the core Madden, plus weather hasn't been seasonable quite yet, as we know. So are you leaving some sales on the table as a result? And then secondly, I'm not sure you mentioned what was the revenue contribution from KG. You talked about a slower comp in 3Q and revenue is now expected below double digits for the year. Can you just elaborate on that? Maybe talk about what didn't work well. Thanks so much.

Yeah, sure. The revenue overall was pretty close to our internal expectation, maybe a couple million dollars below, and that was related to wholesale shipments that moved out from Q3 to Q4, and that was related to the typhoons in Asia and some late deliveries. But basically, in Q3, we were pretty much in line with what we expected on the revenue and obviously exceeded the earnings line. In terms of Kirk Geiger, I think it's helpful to put the adjustment to the Kirk Geiger guidance into context. When we came into the year, our initial guidance was for Kirk Geiger brand revenue to be up low doubles for the year. Then we came out in Q1 and had an exceptionally strong quarter where comps were up 24% in that business. And at that time, based on that strength in Q1, we raised the guidance to mid-teens for the year. Since then, the growth has normalized somewhat. It's still quite healthy. We did a 7% positive comp in Q2, and then, as I mentioned, our comps were up 6% in Q3, so still solid growth, but obviously not at the same pace as what we saw in Q1, and based on that more normalized trend, you know, we're now looking at low doubles again for the year, which is essentially where we started.

Okay, understood. Super helpful. Ed, did you quantify the amount of those shipments from 3Q into 4Q?

Zine, do you want to? Yeah, so the actual orders that had shifted, I would say, were about between $12 million and $14 million, but we were also able to accelerate some from Q4 into Q3 to kind of offset it a little bit.

All right. I appreciate it. Thank you so much, guys.

The next question comes from Kelly Crago with BMO Capital Markets. Please go ahead.

Hi there. Great quarter. Thanks for taking our question. I guess could you dig into the 4Q implied sales guidance of flat to up to, I guess, what does that imply for the core speed mat in business versus KG?

So the core Steve Madden business or the business excluding Kirk Iger would be down modestly in Q4. And again, that has to do with the wholesale shipment timing. And, you know, last year was obviously a very unusual year because of all the tariff-related disruption. And so, you know, a lot of shipments last year moved from Q3 to Q4. And so, you know, we've tried to prepare people that we would have a strong wholesale growth in Q3 and then would be down in Q4. We're really looking at it as what's the, you know, what are we achieving for the back half in total. But if you're asking about the number excluding Kirk Geiger, I can just give you the wholesale number. We were, well, maybe since Kurt Geiger's anniversary, I'll give you the number in total. We did up 19.4% in wholesale growth in Q3. We'll be down 6% or 7% in Q4. So that gets us to, you know, roughly 6% or 7% increase for the second half. And just keep in mind, that's, you know, that includes a down high singles in private label. So the branded business for the second half is up, low double digits in wholesale.

Got it. I guess, what's sort of the, given that the, you know, you're talking about very strong trends, you know, it seems like, particularly in wholesale, I know there was a shift underlying that, what you're implying is that, you know, there's trends, you guys are chasing it. So I guess, what is the assumption on, you know, the reorder business in the fourth quarter on wholesale, given, you know, retailers seem to be wanting more of this product?

Look, we never quantify that, but obviously we've built a reorder assumption in here. We are getting reorders. We are seeing consumers, excuse me, wholesale customers chasing into products that are selling. But again, there's a meaningful headwind from the shift.

Got it. Okay. And then you mentioned what – another thing that was a little bit that stood out to us is that, you know, you're talking about very strong seed Madden core comps, especially in the U.S., but you spoke to some seasonal liquidations. I'm just curious what the dynamic is there, and on that same vein, you called out tall shafted boots. I was wondering if there's anything more to say there as it goes to the fourth quarter. Thanks.

Sure. So in terms of the seasonal liquidation, I guess what I would say is, you know, overall, I know many of you guys track our – We've had DTC promotions, and I think everybody's aware that we have pulled back on promotional activity overall, that we've had fewer days where we're on sale this year, and, you know, we have had – that's been a positive story. However, what we did see in Q3 is that when you have something that you do need to clear, we had to go pretty deep, and for us in spring, that category that was a bit of a laggard was sandals, and as we moved through the sandals in Q3, we did find that we had to, you know, to... Take some serious markdowns to get through those and get clean going into fall. And then, yeah, from a trend perspective, I would say tall shaft boots is the one thing that is not as strong as last year. If we look at our business by category, we're essentially up in every category but tall shaft boots. So, you know, obviously flats have been tremendous for us. All the casuals have been very strong. Dress shoes are performing very well, and booties are great, particularly dress booties, but tall chef boots have not been as strong as last year.

And you think that's sort of a weather thing or a trend thing?

No, I think it's a trend thing, but, you know, that's the nature of our business. You know, we should, based on the categories that are trending, and I can't remember any year where every category was up because that's, you know, the consumer moves based on fashion.

Yeah, gotcha.

Great. Thanks. That's awesome.

And the next question comes from Janine Stichter with U.S. Bancorp VTIG. Please go ahead.

Good morning. You've got Ethan Sagge on for Janine. Thanks for taking our questions. I was hoping you could just walk us through your assumptions for tariffs and freight costs in Q4, and as we move into 27, what you're embedding in there as well.

As far as tariffs, we have adjusted our assumptions from Q4 for any products received. We had, as you know, our previous guide had a 15% for Q4, and we have adjusted that to somewhere in the 12.5% range. So that's what's embedded in our Q4. And as far as Q8 is concerned, in Q4, we're assuming we'll still have an impact. From inbound freight, but we also, although we were able to manage it in Q3, we're expecting probably about a 20 basis points impact on outbound freight or freight from to our stores or to our consumers from our e-commerce.

Great. Thanks so much. And then just on SG&A, I know when Q3 came in a bit below your previous expectations, could you just walk us through the puts and takes of the lower growth there?

Yeah, so you look at it as a percentage to revenue. Obviously, we have the deleveraging or deleveraging from the higher revenue base. But if you look at it from a dollar-to-dollar perspective, Q2 was a partial year last year for Kurt Geiger. So Kurt Gagher being there for the full Q2 had a much bigger impact. I think we were up 25.3% in Q2, and in Q3, we're at 9%. And some of the other things that helped us in Q3 as well is we put a big focus on our warehouse management and put people on the ground there to ensure that everything runs smoothly. And we manage our operating expenses in our stores very well, given the nice comp increase that I spoke to earlier.

Great. Thanks so much. I'll pass it on.

Once again, if you would like to ask a question, please press star, then 1. Your next question comes from Sam Poser with Williams Trading. Please go ahead.

Thank you for taking my questions, everybody. I would like to just follow up on Anna's question about Kirk Geiger. How much revenue did Kirk Geiger do in the quarter? And if you could break it down by DTC and the wholesale components, that would be great.

Okay, Kurt Geiger. Yeah, go ahead. Yeah, so revenue for the quarter for Kurt Geiger in total was $142.9 million, and the DTC part of it was $101.8 million.

Thank you. And then on the – there's been some articles recently about the concessions part of that business. Can you talk a little bit about the concessions business and your thoughts there and how that's performing relative to the balance in business?

Well, yeah. No, obviously, we can't comment on any rumors or any of the press reports. And certainly, if and when there's anything material to report, we will get that information out quickly and through the official channels. But in terms of the business, look, it continues to perform. It's making money. I think we've been open about the fact that it's lower operating margin than the balance of the Kirk Geiger business. But it's performing well.

I mean, when you look at the overall per Geiger revenue of $142 million and its growth, I mean, was that additive as a percent growth metrics, or was that – or did, like, the Geiger brand grow better?

No, it's – it is – the brands are growing faster. The concessions business has basically been flattish.

And if I'm not mistaken, that's around a third of the overall Kirkegaard revenue. Is that more accurate on an annualized basis? Yeah, I think it's a little smaller than that now. The brands have grown faster. And then lastly, You left out a couple of your own brands in there. One is Madden Girl, which I'm not sure how big it is, and the other is Men's. Can you give us a little read there on both the performance and the appetite? I guess that's mostly of your wholesale partners there.

Yeah. Both are doing well. When we talk about the Steve Madden brand overall, we include men's, we include kids, we include Madden Girl, et cetera. So that's why we didn't address those separately. But both are showing strong growth this year versus last year. You know, men, similar to what we're seeing in women or men and girls, I think is benefiting from this. Fashion shift and more men who are deciding. That they're going to get out of their sneakers and wear maybe loafers. And so we're doing phenomenal with loafers. We're doing phenomenal with updated dress shoes. We do still have some sneakers that are good. So, and we've really, you know, we're investing more in marketing in men's. I think we've really upgraded the product, the quality. The AURs are up as well. And so that's a positive story and what we think can be a growth opportunity for us going forward.

Thanks very much.

And the next question comes from Dana Telsey with Telsey Advisory Group. Please go ahead.

Hi. Good morning, everyone. Nice to see the progress. As you think about the DTC business and retail, anything you've been seeing different in outlets versus full price? And then on the wholesale side, difference in terms of whether it's off-price, department stores, how are you thinking of order trends, and does it differ by brand? Thank you.

Yeah, well, as you know, You know, outlets were sort of a laggard for us at the beginning of the year, but they have really recovered. Our full price stores have been very strong all year. So, in Q3, for instance, if we're talking about the United States, our full price stores were up 23% in Q3. That's on a comp basis. And outlets comped up 17. So, haven't quite caught up to the full price stores, but very strong performance in outlets as well. In terms of the wholesale channel, I think there's no big change there. We continue to see strong performance. Really across all of our branded channels, so whether that's department stores or pure play e-commerce retailers or shoe chains, et cetera, off-price players, you know, obviously the more challenging business for us this year, as we've talked extensively about, is in the mass channel with our private label.

Got it. Thank you.

Thanks, Taylor.

And the next question is a follow-up from Sam Poser with Williams Trading. Please go ahead.

Thank you. Real quick, the private label business, you just brought it up. Can you talk about where you are and sort of, you know, what the future is looking like there into next year? Yeah, so we have actually

We brought our expectation for the year up for that business slightly. Still nothing to write home about, but I think we now expect it to be down mid-teens in 2026 versus our prior expectation of down mid-to-high teams. I will say, though, that most of that is just some orders that we were expecting to get for January that we now expect to go out in December. So I don't think it's a material change in the call. You know, in the trend. You know, and obviously we'll address 2027 on the next call. But look, it's a work in progress. I think it's, you know, it's still, we have not cracked the code and we're not prepared to call a big inflection here. And we need to keep at it to get this thing turned around.

And I mean, from its peak, how, like, from its peak, how, where is that business now? I mean, or do you think, I mean, as you see it today, do you expect it to continue to go down next year? Or is this sort of now, it'll be flat until you can stabilize it, until you can get it going again, excuse me.

Well, I think just compared to 24, we're going to be down, you know, north of $110 million, maybe $115 million, somewhere in there, from 24 to 26. Our goal will be to, I think, probably we're going to be looking to be flat next year. We want to stop the bleeding and then attempt to grow off that base.

All right. Thanks again.

And the next question is a follow-up from Anna Andreva with Piper Sandler. Please go ahead.

Great. Thank you so much for taking your question again. I just wanted to follow up on the KG Shop and Shops with Macy's. The one at Herald Square looks really great. Can you just remind us on the cadence? I think you talked about up to 40 better Macy's doors you're launching by spring. Any color how we should think about contribution from that? And just remind us how we should think about profitability for KG this year and is mid-teens or better still a goal for margins over time. Thank you so much.

Yeah, in terms of the Macy's launch, we're very pleased with that. In addition to Herald Square, we've got 14 other Shop and Shops open in other Macy's doors. I think there's one more that we're working on for this season. And then, to your point, I think we may get up to 40 or maybe even 42 for spring of 27. We never provide revenue by wholesale customers. I can't help you with any modification of that, but obviously it's a potential to be a meaningful relationship. In terms of the profitability of Kurt Geiger, if we're talking about the brand, it's – Slightly above company average right now. The business overall would be, I think, slightly below because the concessions business being lower. And, yeah, I don't think the target for operating margin changes, but we obviously, you know, we've been pretty clear that we're going to wait until we get through, you know, find out what happens with these remaining 301 investigations, wait until we understand the go-forward tariff regime, And then we'll try to give you some more color on timing around operating margin targets.

Alright, terrific. Thank you so much again.

Thank you. Once again, if you would like to ask a question, please press star, then 1. Seeing no additional questions, this concludes our question and answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Ed Rosenfeld for any closing remarks.

Great. Well, thanks so much for joining us today. Have a great day. We'll have Lauren speaking with you on the next call.

The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.