Gross profit as a percentage of revenue was 42.1%, up from 41.2% in Q3 2022. Net income for the quarter totalled US$64.4 million, up by 5% year-on-year.
Revenue for the brand’s wholesale business was down by 0.3% year-on-year to US$433.5 million, while wholesale footwear revenue alone fell by 7.5% and wholesale accessories/apparel revenue was up by 22.7%. Gross profit as a percentage of wholesale revenue was up to 35.9% from 35.3% in the third quarter of 2022.
Direct-to-consumer revenue was US$116.4 million, falling by 1.8%, driven by declines in e-commerce. Gross profit as a percentage of direct-to-consumer revenue was 63.7%, up from 61.2% in the same quarter last year.
At the end of the third quarter, Steve Madden had 251 brick-and-mortar retail stores and five e-commerce websites, as well as 22 company-operated concessions in international markets.
Looking forward, Steve Madden is expecting revenue to decline by around 7% year-on-year, a worsened forecast following the Q2 results.
CEO Edward Rosenfeld said: “We were pleased to return to year-over-year earnings growth in the third quarter, demonstrating the strength and durability of our business model in challenging operating environments. Our team prudently managed inventory and expenses – which enabled us to drive operating margin improvement in both wholesale and direct-to-consumer channels – while continuing to invest in our long-term growth initiatives.
“While softer trends across the industry since September have left us incrementally more cautious on the near-term outlook, we remain confident that our core strengths – our people, brands and business model – will enable us to deliver sustainable revenue and earnings growth over the long term.”
