Skechers USA Inc (NYSE:SKX) is set to report earnings for its 3rd quarter of the year after the market closes on Wednesday, October 22. Shares of the casual footwear company went on an incredible run from the start of 2013 into September of this year before succumbing to market volatility. Despite showing a great financial performance, Skechers has garnered little attention from financial media.
The stock’s propulsion in 2014 was partially fueled by 3 large earnings beats in a row. On Wednesday investors expect another great quarter, but they are predicting that Skechers will beat the Wall Street consensus by a more subdued margin.
Since September 12 the price of Skechers stock has fallen from $64.69 to $54.24 (16%). Although the stock has pulled back fairly sharply, contributing analysts on Estimize are still providing a huge earnings forecast for the current quarter. The Estimize community has come to a mean earnings consensus of 95 cents per share and $628 million in revenue. Meanwhile Wall Street is only forecasting 91 cents in EPS and $618 million in sales. Although sales are doing well already, Skechers just made an odd decision about a huge new marketing campaign.
In Skechers’ latest move the company has made an outlandish choice for its next spokesmodel. The footwear brand has a rich history of choosing sporty ambassadors like football legends Joe Namath, Joe Montana, and Dallas Mavericks owner and Shark Tank star Mark Cuban. However, Skechers’ latest frontman is a British rockstar who first invaded America in 1964, Ringo Starr.
In a press release on Monday Skechers unveiled the former Beatles drummer as their new celebrity spokesperson. Beginning in Spring 2015 ads featuring Ringo will appear across a variety of media as part of a massive marketing campaign for Skechers’ “Relaxed Fit” products.
The deal with Ringo Starr marks a significant branding shift for Skechers which over the past 10 years has focused on cultivating a casual-athletic image ever since it ended an uninspiring campaign with Britney Spears in a settlement. With its latest signing Skechers will be looking to reconnect with the music industry and draw global attention with the introduction of an ex-global superstar. Although this seems like an usual choice, the company has been executing tremendously well lately and investors can only hope for more of the same going forward.