Invest in Crocs—and Crocks—for Sure-Footed Gains

If you had told me decades ago when Crocs were born and Donald Trump was a game show host that the former, one of the most hideous pieces of footwear ever designed would become a mainstream fad and that the latter, one of the most reptilian of real estate moguls, would not only become president but would one day launch a public market venture with the world truth in the title, I would have had you quarantined before quarantining was a thing.

But that was then, and this is now. Today, they are both worth investing in if you are looking for a solid return.

Crocs

Let’s start with the ugly shoes first. Crocs, Inc. CROX, which owns the brand Crocs (a brand named by its founders because of the clogs’ resemblance—from the side—of a crocodile snout) had been on a run that just doesn’t seem to end.

At first, I dismissed the ubiquity of the footwear as a passing fad, like the nearly equally hideous Birkenstock fad (with white socks of course!) of the 90s. But, while fashion is cyclical and nothing last forever (still waiting on the return of platform shoes for men), both the shoes—and the stock—do not seem to be letting up in popularity any time soon. To wit, this summer I was astonished to see consumers of all shapes and sizes and colors and genders lined up this summer outside of a midtown store to buy them as if awaiting the release of a new I-Phone or see U2 in concert.

On Thursday, the stock jumped around 10% and was trading at $143.84 at the time of writing this article, still up over 4.7% on the day. The footwear giant had beat estimates in its  fiscal third-quarter earnings and revenue reporting and raised  outlook for the full year. Demand for the shoes isn’t letting up apparently, and the company says that it has successfully worked to minimize the impact from the global supply chain disruption.

So buy CROX? Down from its high less than one month ago of $163 per share, in the near term the stock looks attractive. In the mid-term, a stock that has risen this fast always has the potential to fall—and fall fast. But long-term, despite, again, selling the world’s most horrible shoes, the company is shooting for over $5 billion in sales by 2026 fueled, in part, by more digital ordering and other footwear products. Moreover, the company intends to buy an extra $500 million in shares by the end of 2021, putting its buyback program at $1 billion for the year. So, if we do end up with a Christmas despite supply chain issues, you might want to stuff a pair of Crocs and a few shares of CROX in that stocking.

Crocks

Shifting directions to more controversial territory, Donald Trump’s announcement that he is bringing a SPAC public has investors from all sides of the spectrum (if they like money), chomping at the bit. I know that I am. The former president, after having been kicked off Twitter TWTR and (to a lesser extent) Facebook FB for that little unfortunate episode in American history on Jan. 6, has managed to take with him tens of millions of followers to whatever media platform he visits. And the more left-leaning and woke-ish the Twitter mob becomes (or is perceived), the more these other new right-leaning platforms will succeed. Betting on an increasingly binary media ecosystem is about as sure-footed a bet any investor can make.

The new venture, according to a statement by Mr. Trump and his investors, said that the new company would be called Trump Media & Technology Group. They also plan create a new social network called Truth Social.

Truth Social.

Ha. What a Crock.