Shoe Carnival Q4 Revenue Misses By A Whisker, Margin Shrinks

Shoe Carnival Inc SCVL reported a fourth-quarter FY23 sales decline of 3.7% year-on-year to $280.17 million, marginally missing the analyst consensus estimate of $280.27 million.

Comparable store sales declined 9.4% in the quarter, primarily due to soft trends prior to the December holiday period and weather disruptions in January.

Gross profit fell 10.4% Y/Y to $99.7 million, with the margin contracting 270 basis points to 35.6%. Adj EPS of $0.59 was in line with the consensus.

Selling, general and administrative expenses fell 3.5% Y/Y to $79.7 million. The operating margin compressed from 9.8 % to 7.1%, and operating income for the quarter declined 30.4% to $19.9 million.

Shoe Carnival held $111 million in cash and equivalents as of February 3, 2024. Net cash provided by operating activities for twelve months totaled $122.7 million.

As of February 3, 2024, the company had 400 stores, including 372 Shoe Carnival stores and 28 Shoe Station stores.

In March 2024, the company’s Board of Directors approved a dividend increase of 12.5% from $0.12 to 13.5 cents per share, payable on April 22, 2024, to shareholders of record as of the close of business on April 8, 2024. 

As of March 21, 2024, the company has $50 million available for future repurchases under its share repurchase program. During the quarter, the company did not repurchase any shares.

Outlook: Shoe Carnival sees FY24 adjusted EPS of $2.55 – $2.75 versus the consensus of $2.84.

Shoe Carnival sees FY24 net sales of $1.21 billion – $1.25 billion versus an estimate of $1.23 billion. The company expects FY24 comparable store sales in the range of down 3.0% to up 1.0%.

Price Action: SCVL shares closed higher by 3.23% at $32.95 on Wednesday.