Iconix Brand Group (ICON) Posts In-Line Q3 Earnings & Sales

Zacks

Iconix Brand Group, Inc. ICON reported in-line third-quarter fiscal 2017 results. Following, the shares of the company witnessed a gain of 2.3% in after-hour trading session on Dec 22. However, the stock has witnessed a sharp decline of 77.3% in the past three months, against the industry’s growth of 20.3%.

During the second quarter, management had deconsolidated its Southeast Asia joint venture due to the venture partner's payment of the final purchase price installment with regard to the interest in the venture.

Q3 Highlights

The company posted adjusted earnings from continuing operations of 24 cents per share that came in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate and increased 35% from the prior-year quarter. However, on a GAAP basis, Iconix incurred loss from continuing operations of $9.64 per share versus earnings of 25 cents posted in the year-ago period.

Total licensing revenues of $53.2 million met the consensus estimate but declined 12% from the year-ago quarter. Excluding the Sharper Image brand’s revenues, the same fell nearly 7% in the quarter under review. The year-over-year decline mainly stems from lower revenues at the Women’s, Men’s and Home segments, which were more than offset by revenue growth at International segments.

Revenues at the Women’s segment dropped 13% to $21 million, while the Men’s segment reported a decline of 5% to $11.4 million. Home segment reported revenues of $7.5 million, down 6% year over year. However, revenues increased 4% at international to $13.2 million.

Operating income came in at a loss of $ 595.9 million, against an earnings of $31.1 million reported in the prior year-quarter. Excluding trademark and goodwill impairment of $625.5 million and the charge of $2.8 million related to licensee terminations as well as gain of $0.9 million from the sale of trademarks, adjusted operating income increased 10% year over year to $31.6 million.

Financial Update

The company ended the quarter with roughly $330.7 million of total cash and $1,055 million face value of debt. Further, Iconix generated nearly $1.4 million as free cash flow from continuing operations versus $27.9 million compared with the year-ago quarter.

Iconix Brand Group, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Outlook

The company has two main objectives for the year, one strengthening the balance sheet and another executing the organic growth strategy.

Management now projects full-year licensing revenues to be at the lower end of its earlier guided range of roughly $225-$235 million. However, management anticipates 2017 adjusted earnings to be marginally above the earlier guided range of 65-70 cents. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate is currently pegged at 65 cents per share, which is likely to witness upward revisions. However, the company anticipates loss per share of $9.89 to $9.79 on a GAAP basis. Additionally, management projects free cash flow to be at the lower end of $65-$82 million.

Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider

Iconix Brand Group currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell). Better-ranked stocks worth considering in the same sector include Carter's, Inc. CRI, Skechers U.S.A., Inc. SKX and Wolverine World Wide, Inc. WWW. All the three stocks carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Carter's has reported better-than-expected earnings in the trailing four quarters and also has a long-term earnings growth rate of 9.1%.

Skechers has an impressive long-term earnings growth rate of 14%.

Wolverine World Wide has surpassed the Consensus mark in the trailing four quarter, with an average beat of 21.8%.

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