Fossil Group Reports Decline In Sales, Net Income
Texas-based Fossil Group, parent company of Fossil Corporate Markets (asi/55145), reported year-over-year declines in revenue and net income losses for the fourth quarter and 2017 as a whole.
On the bright side, however, fourth quarter revenue didn’t decline nearly as much as analysts had predicted, and sales of wearable technology doubled to more than $300 million, which initially sent Fossil Group’s stocks up more than 90% by mid-day Wednesday to about $17.50. By mid-morning Thursday, the stock had retreated to $14.99.
According to an earnings release, Fossil Group’s total net sales for 2017 tallied $2.78 billion, down from about $3 billion in 2016. The company experienced declines in all its major product categories, including leathers, jewelry and watches – the watches drop occurring despite the positive sales in smartwatches and other wearable tech that helped spur watch sales growth in the second half of the year. For 2017, Fossil Group reported a net income loss of $478.2 million. Diluted earnings per shared came in at a loss of $9.87, down for $1.63 for 2016.
Fossil Group said that the loss on diluted EPS included non-cash intangible asset impairment charges of $7.07 per diluted share, tax charges resulting from the federal government’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and valuation allowance of $2.20 per diluted share, and a restructuring charge of $0.65 per diluted share.
In the fourth quarter of 2017, Fossil Group reported total net sales of $921 million, down from $959 million during the same quarter the prior year, but better than the $890 million that Thomson Reuters’ analysts had forecast. Net income loss for the quarter was $79.9 million. Diluted earnings per share fell to a loss of $1.65 – a performance that included the tax charges of $2.20 per diluted share due to the impacts from the Tax Act combined with a valuation allowance and a restructuring charge of $0.09 per diluted share.
Despite the challenges, Fossil Group Chairman/CEO Kosta Kartsotis remained optimistic. “While sales and earnings were challenged as expected, we generated progress toward our objectives that include: driving growth in wearables across our portfolio of powerful brands, leveraging our scale to lower supply chain costs, increasing our digital capabilities, and continuing the transformation of our business through New World Fossil,” Kartsotis said in a statement.
Nonetheless, some analysts say there is still a tough road ahead for Fossil Group. “The company finally was able to deliver some good news," Wells Fargo analyst Ike Boruchow said in a note to clients as reported by CNBC, "with plans to recognize meaningful cost savings and significant [gross margin] expansion...[but Fossil continues to see] no stabilization of the traditional watch category…We would still contend that the fundamental story here remains extremely challenged."
