Steven Madden Pulls Outlook of Nearly 20% Growth Amid Trade War

Steven Madden Ltd. pulled its sales and profit outlook for the year amid US President Donald Trump‘s trade war. The shoe retailer forecast almost 20 percent growth a few months ago.

“We face meaningful near-term headwinds and heightened uncertainty due to the impact of new tariffs on goods imported into the US,” chief executive officer Edward Rosenfeld said in the earnings release.

Steven Madden is the latest US company to withdraw or reduce its annual guidance. Shifting tariff rates and ongoing negotiations between the Trump administration and governments around the world have made it difficult for US executives to estimate their costs and how consumers will respond.

The company’s shares rose about 2 percent in light premarket trading. The stock had declined 53 percent this year through Tuesday.

Executives at Steven Madden faced a particularly daunting task in providing an outlook given how heavily exposed the company is to China. In late February, the retailer said it had reduced the goods it imported into the US from China to 58 percent from 71 percent. Executives said they were working to get that figure to around 40 percent by the end of this year.

Also in February, Steven Madden forecast revenue to increase as much as 19% this year. That includes a boost from its recent acquisition of footwear and fashion accessory brand Kurt Geiger.

In the most recent quarter, Steven Madden reported adjusted earnings per share that were above the average forecast of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

Net sales were $551.4 million, which trailed estimates. Direct-to-consumer sales were weaker than expected.

The company has said it planned to raise some prices to offset the tariffs. But those measures won’t be enough to fully account for the higher costs, Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Abigail Gilmartin wrote in a research note before earnings. She said that in the next couple of years the company has an opportunity to expand its international sales, which represent less than 20 percent of current revenue.

“We are optimistic that the current disruption will create opportunities for market share gains over time,” Rosenfeld said in the statement.

By Jeannette Neumann

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Steve Madden Plans to Raise Prices Due to China Tariffs

The accessories company is hiking its prices in the fall as part of its strategy to mitigate rising costs. Steve Madden will also accelerate its shift in production away from China to maintain profitability.