Skechers are popular.
Shares in the California shoe company jumped 10% in after-hours trading on Wednesday after the firm reported a more than doubling of quarterly earnings.
The company, which began as a distributor for Dr Martens boots in 1992, reported net second quarter earnings of $80m, a 130% increase on last year and far more than Wall Street analysts had expected even though Skechers blew the Street away the previous quarter.
So far this year the firm, known for its cheaper casual footwear which has been dubbed “athleisure”, has sold $1.57bn worth of shoes and overtaken Adidas to become the nation’s second-biggest sports shoe brand after Nike.
Shares in the company, which jumped 9.72% to $141 in after-hours trading on Wednesday, have risen by 133% so far this year.
“Skechers is clearly in the midst of the most exciting time in the company’s 23-year history,” the chief executive, Robert Greenberg, said. “The present has never looked as colorful, comfortable and successful thanks to our product and marketing, and resulting record sales, shipments and earnings.”
The company, which recently signed All About That Bass singer Meghan Trainor as the face of Skechers, plans to open 125-135 new shops this year to add to its global footprint of 1,126 stores.
While the brand is proving popular with teens, some previous Skechers customers are still smarting from it falsely claiming that its Shape Up shoes helped wearers lose weight and even combat heart disease. The company paid $40m to the Federal Trade Commission in 2012 to settle the false advertising claims. “Unfortunately, for the millions of people who bought Skechers toning shoes, the only thing that got a workout was their wallet,” David Vladeck, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said at the time.
