New COO for Crocs

Shoe manufacturer Crocs Inc. ( CROX - Snapshot Report ) recently promoted Scott Crutchfield to the position of the chief operating officer (COO). This position has been vacant since 2010, when Crocs’ earlier chief operating officer and executive vice president John McCarvel was promoted to the position of president and chief executive officer in March 2010.

In February, 2006, Crutchfield joined the organization as the Vice President for World Wide Operations. Later in May 2010, he was appointed as senior vice president of World Wide Operations.

In his new role, Crutchfield will be in charge of the company’s regular operations as well as all operational issues including worldwide manufacturing, distribution, logistics, supply chain management and information technology.

Crutchfield’s has donned many important roles in his career. He was the senior director of U.S and South America operations at Jabil Circuit, Inc. ( JBL - Analyst Report ) - a renowned electronic manufacturing services company, from 2004 to 2006. Prior to that, he held senior positions at Dovatron International, a subsidiary of DII Group, and Square D, a subsidiary of Schneider Electric.

During his six-year career at Crocs, Crutchfield has been able to set a standard for all the aspects of the company’s overall global operations. Thus, management believes that Crutchfield’s expertise would help boost business making him an ideal pick for the post of COO.

In the recent second quarter 2012, the Niwot, Colorado-based company posted an earnings of 68 cents per share, breezing past the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 63 cents and the year-ago quarter earnings of 61 cents per share.

Revenue also climbed 12.0% year over year to $330.9 million and marks the highest quarterly revenue level. The upside in revenue was driven by strong sales growth in Asia (up 20.5%) and America (up 10.9%), partially offset by soft business in Europe (down 5.2%) owing to the challenging macroeconomic conditions. Sales grew 7.3% at wholesale and 22.6% at Retail. Gross profit enhanced 15.2% to $196.1 million.

For the third quarter of 2012, the company expects earnings in the range of 42 to 44 cents per share and revenue to be $300 million. For 2012, the company which sells its footwear in more than 90 countries anticipates revenue growth of about 14% and earnings in the range of $1.50 to $1.54 per share.

Thus, in the current scenario, the company is on a high and we believe it will continue to flourish under the guidance of the new COO.

Crocs currently retains a Zacks #2 Rank, implying a short-term Strong Buy rating on the stock. Our long-term recommendation for the stock remains Neutral.