Birkenstock shares slide 8% after sandal maker posts loss in its second report as public company

By Ciara Linnane

The iconic German footwear brand is sticking with its guidance for 2024

Birkenstock Holdings Plc's stock tumbled 8% Thursday, after the German sandal and clog maker posted another quarterly loss in its second earnings report as a public company.

Birkenstock (BIRK) had a net loss of 7 million euros ($7.6 million), or 4 cents a share, for the quarter through Dec. 31 - narrower than its loss of 9 million euros, or 5 cents a share, in the year-earlier period.

Adjusted per-share earnings came to 9 cents, matching the FactSet analyst consensus.

Revenue rose 22% to 303 million euros, ahead of the 291 million euros FactSet consensus.

In January, the company posted a surprise fourth-quarter loss, which it blamed on "subdued customer sentiment." The company said it expected a slight hit to margins due to costs related to ramping up a new factory in Germany.

In the first quarter, demand continued to outstrip supply in all regions, channels and categories, said Chief Executive Oliver Reichert, who attributed that to the company's "engineered distribution" model. That model seeks to boost brand value by creating scarcity, allocating product between wholesale partners and its direct-to-consumer channel.

The DTC channel accounted for 53% of Birkenstock's revenue in the quarter. Revenue growth was also supported by the shift toward closed-toe silhouettes, which for the first time outstripped the company's revenue share of sandals.

By geography, revenue rose 19% in the Americas on a constant-currency basis, and was up 33% in Europe. In the Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa (APMA) region, revenue rose 51% on a constant-currency basis.

The company said it's now "even more confident" of its fiscal 2024 guidance offered in January. That guidance called for revenue of 1.74 billion to 1.76 billion euros, which compares with a FactSet consensus of 1.75 billion euros.

The company is also expecting adjusted Ebitda of 520 million to 530 million euros and an Ebitda margin of about 30%. Ebitda, or earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, is closer to a measure of cash flow than of actual profit.

Jefferies analysts said the numbers were encouraging, noting the strength of the DTC business.

"While full-year guidance was reiterated, we're raising our estimates to the high end and moving our price target to $60 to reflect first-quarter strength and management's confidence in the business," said analysts led by Randal Konik in a note.

Jefferies has a buy rating on the stock. Its prior price target was $52.

Birkenstock went public on the New York Stock Exchange in November at $46 a share, and fell more than 12% on its first day of trade.

Birkenstock's market debut was one of the bigger IPO flops for a deal of its size in recent years, according to Renaissance Capital.

The stock was last trading just above $47.

For more, see: Birkenstock is going public: 5 things to know about the iconic German sandal maker's IPO designs

-Ciara Linnane

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02-29-24 1447ET

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