Skechers Sales Ahead of Plan

Shoemaker Skechers(SKX - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) said Friday that its fourth-quarter results would come in ahead of expectations due, in part, to earlier domestic wholesale shipments of its spring line.

The shares were recently up $1.13, or 12.7%, to $10.02 on the New York Stock Exchange .

The Manhattan Beach, Calif.-based company expects total revenue for the quarter to be about 5% higher than its previously forecast range of $160 million to $170 million. Skechers also said increased revenue would result in a loss that is narrower than the 25 cents to 35 cents a share it previously projected for the fourth quarter. Wall Street analysts, on average, were expecting the company would lose 30 cents a share, according to a Thomson Financial/First Call survey. Total sales for 2002 exceeded $900 million for the second straight year, the company said.

"We protected our share of the global footwear market despite a weak retail environment, soft consumer spending, a West Coast port strike, and a reduction in revenue from the elimination of our mail order division," said David Weinberg, chairman and chief executive, in a prepared statement. "We now begin 2003 with a strong balance sheet and inventory that is clean and on plan."

Back in early December, Skechers lowered its fourth-quarter estimates from earnings of 3 cents to 8 cents to a net loss of 25 cents to 35 cents to reflect consumers' measured spending habits and the overall weakness in the economy.