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What's in the Cards for Wolverine (WWW) This Earnings Season?

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Wolverine World Wide, Inc. (WWW - Free Report) is scheduled to report fourth-quarter 2020 numbers on Feb 25, before the opening bell. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the company’s fourth-quarter earnings is pegged at 17 cents, which suggests a decline of more than 71% from 59 cents earned in the year-ago quarter. Moreover, the consensus mark for quarterly revenues is pinned at $478.9 million, which indicates a decline of more than 21% from the year-ago quarter’s tally.

However, over the trailing four quarters, the Rockford, MI-based company delivered an earnings surprise of 59.5%, on average.

Key Factors

The adverse impacts of the coronavirus pandemic might show on Wolverine’s fourth-quarter 2020 performance. Soft store traffic has been weighing on the company’s top line. Management at its last earnings call on Nov 7 projected fourth-quarter revenue decline of about 25% year over year. The company also hinted at lower December sales to international distributors for spring 2021 products and a partial shift of deliveries to the first quarter of 2021. The company also informed that a planned timing shift in key franchise launches for Saucony from the impending quarter to the first quarter might have acted as a headwind.

Furthermore, management projected a sequential rise in SG&A costs to the tune of $15-$20 million for the fourth quarter. This raised projection is mainly related to elevated direct-to-consumer (DTC) mix and the extra week in the quarter. Also, the company anticipated fourth-quarter gross margin of nearly 41% to reflect a decrease in royalty income owing to fall in international distributor demand.

Nonetheless, Wolverine is progressing well with its Global Growth Agenda, which focuses on enhancing digitization, product newness and innovation. Additionally, the company focuses on boosting social presence, digital content and flow of information as well as better management of consumer database. The company has been investing in strengthening of distribution centers. Management had expected the robust online trend to continue in the fourth quarter. Strength in the Saucony brand, particularly in Europe and China, also bodes well.

What Our Zacks Model Says

Our proven model does not conclusively predict a beat for Wolverine this time around. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the odds of an earnings beat. But that’s not the case here. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Wolverine World Wide, Inc. Price and EPS Surprise

 

Wolverine World Wide, Inc. Price and EPS Surprise

Wolverine World Wide, Inc. price-eps-surprise | Wolverine World Wide, Inc. Quote

Wolverine carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell) and an Earnings ESP of 0.00%, both making surprise prediction inconclusive.

Stocks With Favorable Combinations

Here are a few companies you may want to consider as our model shows that these have the right combination to post an earnings beat:

Camping World (CWH - Free Report) has an Earnings ESP of +45.46% and a Zacks Rank #2. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Target (TGT - Free Report) has an Earnings ESP of +9.79% and a Zacks Rank #2.

American Outdoor Brands (AOUT - Free Report) has an Earnings ESP of +15.15% and a Zacks Rank #3.

5 Stocks Set to Double

Each was hand-picked by a Zacks expert as the #1 favorite stock to gain +100% or more in 2020. Each comes from a different sector and has unique qualities and catalysts that could fuel exceptional growth.

Most of the stocks in this report are flying under Wall Street radar, which provides a great opportunity to get in on the ground floor.

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