Crocs raises fiscal 2023 guidance
“2023 was a strong year for Crocs that culminated in a successful holiday season with market share gains for both brands. Fourth-quarter revenue is now expected to exceed our former guidance and we are raising our operating margin target for the year”, commented Andrew Rees, Chief Executive Officer of Crocs.
The footwear company anticipates its fourth quarter revenue to increase by over 1%, as compared to the same period in 2022, up from its previous guidance of a decline of between minus 4% and 1% year-over-year; over this period, the revenue of Crocs brand is expected to grow by almost 10% and Heydude’s revenue to decline by 19%.
In addition, Crocs full year revenue should increase by more than 11 to a record 3.95 billion US dollars (above the previous guidance of 10% to 11% growth), on a comparable basis to last fiscal year, with Crocs brand revenue up by over 12% year-on-year and Heydude’s revenue of 949 million US dollars. The company also expects its fiscal 2023 non-GAAP operating margin to be over 27% now.
“Our strong free-cash-flow generation enabled us to pay down 277 million US dollars in net debt in the quarter, bringing our full-year debt pay down to 665 million US dollars”, said Andrew Rees. Crocs is “coming into 2024 from a position of strength” – he continued – and is “making the decision to reinvest our best-in-class margins into focused strategic investments”.
Speaking at the ICR Conference on the 8th of January, Crocs’ CEO added that the company expects international markets to outperform its domestic business in the coming years, especially after a year marked by a strong performance in Asia, led by China and followed by Australia and South Korea (shoeintelligence.com).
Fiscal 2024 Outlook
For fiscal 2024, the US-based footwear company expects revenue growth of 3% to 5%, as compared to 2023, including a 4% to 6% increase for the Crocs brand and flat to up slightly for Heydude. Furthermore, it anticipates a 2024 non-GAAP operating margin of approximately 25%.
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