Steve Madden (SHOO) Young Women's Shoes Apparently Nearly Recession Proof

My favorite stocks are companies who have a solid growth component combined with a positive technical condition.  Steve Madden (SHOO) is a name that has impressed me quite a bit during the past year and a half, as it would often - like J Crew (JCG) - stand out amongst the consumer discretionary crowd in terms of fundamentals.  Despite that I was short the name (for technical reasons) for a day or three before being stopped out in late May.   However, now both the fundamentals and technicals are aligned quite nicely, although the stock looks to be quite overbought in the very near term.


The company reported yesterday morning, and continues to impress with a 13 cent beat on EPS and mid 30% growth rates in revenue.  If they can expand their footwear brand into a full line of clothing (always a risk) there could be even more growth potential for a much longer period of time.  Looks like accessories already made up 16% of sales this quarter. At 16x forward estimates for 2010 it is not cheap but not necessarily expensive considering the growth rate.

Via Reuters:

• A fast-growing accessories and men's business helped Steve Madden (SHOO) top market expectations in the second quarter, and the shoemaker said it was seeing a lot of potential for growth outside footwear. 
• Steve Madden's solid quarterly results prompted it to raise its 2010 outlook for the second time this year.    The company, which primarily sells to 12- to 25-year-old girls, said it now expects 2010 earnings of between $2.45 and $2.55 a share, up from an earlier view of $2.30 to $2.40 a share.  The company also raised its full-year view on sales growth to 22% to 24%, from 17% to 19% forecast earlier.
• For the second quarter, the company reported earnings of 70 cents a share, up from 44 cents a share, a year earlier.   The company, whose lines include flagship brand Steve Madden, Stevies and Candies, saw sales jump 36% to $158.7 million during the quarter.
• Analysts were expecting the shoe maker to earn 57 cents a share, on revenue of $144.4 million in the quarter.  
• Net sales at Steve Madden's wholesale unit grew 46.5% to $129.2 million, during the quarter.
• Operating margin reached 20.2% of sales in the second quarter of 2010, compared with operating margin of 16.6% in the same period of 2009. 
• The company's wholesale accessories business grew 79% to $25 million during the second quarter ended June 30, driven by strong sales of its hand bags and private label belts, Chief Executive Edward Rosenfeld said on a conference call with analysts.   The segment got a major fillip from Steve Madden's acquisitions of Madden Zone last year and Big Buddha hand bags in February this year, he added.
• "We are also bullish about the prospects of our licensing business," Rosenfeld said, adding that the company would launch a new category of "special occasion dresses" to be sold for $90 to $200 at 50 of Macy's top dress stores in the spring of 2011. 

No position