Shares of Wolverine World Wide Inc. jumped in pre-market trading after the company bested Wall Street expectations for the second quarter and raised its outlook for 2026.
Investors have a reason for optimism as the company, led by Merrell and Saucony, beat Wall Street expectations on key metrics for the quarter. Shares were up around 12 percent at 8:20 a.m.
Net income for the three-month period ended July 4 rose 7.6 percent to $31.2 million, or 37 cents a diluted share, from $26.8 million, or 32 cents, in the same year-ago period. On an adjusted basis, diluted earnings per share (EPS) came in at 40 cents. Revenue was up 6.8 percent to $506.4 million from $474.2 million.
Wall Street was expecting adjusted diluted EPS of 38 cents on revenue of $501.3 million.
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The company said that its active group posted a 9.3 percent gain in revenue to $388.4 million for the quarter, while its work group was down 1.6 percent to $105.8 percent.
By brand, Merrell led the quarter, with sales up 11.1 percent to $175.5 million, followed by Saucony at up 9.9 percent to $158.6 million. Wolverine revenues were up 6.6 percent to $39.6 million. Sweaty Betty, representing the company’s “other” category of revenue, was down 2.4 percent to $40.3 million.
By sales channel, revenue from international operations rose 10.9 percent to $277.2 million, while direct-to-consumer inched up 0.1 percent to $111.7 million.
For the six months, net income jumped 32.1 percent to $51.4 million on a revenue gain of 8.7 percent to $964.0 million.
The company said gross margin for the quarter was 46.5 percent, while operating margin was at 9.3 percent.
“Out team delivered another good quarter, ahead of our expectations — led by Merrell and Saucony — along with more progress in Sweaty Betty and Wolverine,” the company’s chief executive officer Chris Hufnagel said in a statement. “We’re executing our strategies, elevating our brands, and driving consistent, profitable growth. Based on our strong start to the year and the progress we’re seeing across the business, we’re raising our outlook for 2026.”
For fiscal year 2026, the company expects diluted EPS in the range of $1.48 to $1.58, versus the prior range of $1.39 to $1.54. Revenue was guided to between $1.980 billion and $2.000 billion, representing growth between 5.6 percent and 6.7 percent. The prior revenue outlook was projected at between $1.960 billion to $1.985 billion.
