Skechers (NYSE: SKX) shares soared in trading Friday after the company posted third-quarter earnings that blew past analysts' estimates on record sales.
The company's shares jumped $8.80, or 36.6% by noon ET Friday to a new 52-week high of $32.81. The stock’s 52-week low was $18.81, plumbed this week last year.
The sports footwear maker reported earnings excluding items of 59 cents a share, well above the 43 cents a share Wall Street had expected.
Skechers said profit was helped by sales growth in its international wholesale business, its company-owned global retail business, as well as a lower effective tax rate.
Said CFO David Weinberg, "Third-quarter net sales of $1.095 billion set a new quarterly record for the company, surpassing our previous record in the first quarter earlier this year by $22 million, and resulted in a new nine-month record with sales exceeding $3 billion.”
He added: "We believe the momentum we are experiencing will continue this year and in the coming year."
Analysts expected revenue of $1.07 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Skechers also saw a 4.4% increase in comparable-store sales.
A number of analysts upgraded their price targets on the stock in the wake of the report. Wedbush raised its target to $35 from $25, Cowen and Co. boosted its target to $36 from $35, and Morgan Stanley increased its target to $31 from $28.50.
