Dive Brief:
- Wolverine World Wide’s total revenue fell 27.8% year over year in its second quarter to $425 million, according to a Wednesday press release.
- The dip included declines at each of its largest brands, including Merrell, Saucony and Wolverine, which declined by 19.2%, 28% and 3.1%, respectively. The Sweaty Betty brand saw no change.
- The results were better than expected, CEO Chris Hufnagel said in the release, as the company continues implementation of its corporate restructuring plan. Announced last year, the plan is meant to lead the company to $215 million in annualized savings.
Dive Insight:
The transformation plan included workforce restructuring as well as the divestment of some of Wolverine’s assets. After the announcement of the plan, Wolverine sold the Sperry brand to Authentic Brands Group and shuttered a distribution center in Louisville, Kentucky.
The company has also dabbled in collaborations. Earlier this year, Wolverine-owned brands Merrell and Sweaty Betty collaborated on a women’s hiking collection of apparel and footwear.
It has additionally made recent executive changes. In its last quarterly earnings report in May, Wolverine announced the hire of Taryn Miller as CFO. Hufnagel is also relatively new. He became CEO in August 2023, following the firing of former CEO Brendan Hoffman.
“We are pleased with how we are performing at this stage in our strategic transformation, and our second quarter results reflect the progress and the actions we’ve taken to improve the financial position of the Company,” Miller said in the earnings release. “While there is more work to do as we advance Wolverine Worldwide's strategy, we believe the steps we are taking will position the business for long-term growth and value creation for shareholders.”
Hufnagel pointed to the company’s lowered debt and inventory levels. Wolverine ended Q2 with $666 million in debt, down $271 million year over year, and down $75 million from the end of the previous year. Inventory in Q2 was $297.1 million, down 54.1% year over year.
“A year ago, we began to take fast and bold actions to build a new and better Company — focused squarely on our consumer and our new global brand-building model,” Hufnagel said in Wednesday’s release. “Our team has executed with tremendous pace and urgency, driving substantial progress across the business.”
In Wednesday’s earnings report, Wolverine also slightly changed its revenue outlook for the fiscal year. It now expects revenue of between $1.71 billion and $1.73 billion, representing a 14.2% to 13.2% decrease year over year. It previously expected a revenue range of $1.68 billion to $1.73 billion.
