Financials

Movado Lowers Guidance Amid Q2 Sales Struggles

FinancialsAug 25, 2023

Movado Lowers Guidance Amid Q2 Sales Struggles

The company noted a “challenging environment for consumer discretionary products.”

Movado Carmen Herrera watches
These 36 mm square-dial watches are part of a Movado capsule collection in collaboration with the late artist Carmen Herrera. The company reported declining sales in its recent second quarter results.
Paramus, N.J.—Movado Group had a rocky second quarter, with sales falling double digits in the quarter and in the first half of its fiscal year. 
 
The New Jersey-based company said it faced a “challenging environment for consumer discretionary products,” which it expects to continue, leading the company to significantly lower its full-year guidance. 
 
“We managed our business well, delivering second quarter net sales and earnings within our range of expectations despite operating in a challenging retail environment for our category, particularly in the United States and Europe, our largest markets,” said CEO Efraim Grinberg in a statement. 
 
Here are five takeaways from Movado’s recent earnings report. 
 
Second-quarter sales fell as consumer demand weakened. 
 
In the second quarter ending July 31, net sales fell 12 percent year-over-year to $160.4 million. 
 
For the first half of the year, sales were down 12 percent to $305.3 million. 
 
The first-half sales came at the high-end of Movado’s prior guidance of a 9 to 12 percent sales decline. 
 
The company attributed the drop in sales to a decline in both its wholesale and retail businesses amid “a challenging environment for consumer discretionary products.” 
 
“While economic numbers have remained stable, discretionary purchases have been challenged by inflation and a greater allocation of consumers’ resources to travel and dining,” said Grinberg during an earnings call Thursday morning. 
 
Gross profit in the second quarter was $89.3 million, or 56 percent of net sales, compared with $106.9 million, or 59 percent of net sales in the previous second quarter. 
 
For the first half of the year, gross profit was $171.3 million, or 56 percent of net sales, compared with $203.6 million, or 59 percent of net sales in the previous second quarter. 
 
The decline in gross margin was due to “decreased leverage of higher fixed costs on lower sales,” said Movado, as well as “unfavorable” changes in channel and product mix and the impact of foreign currency exchange rates, though it was partially offset by reduced shipping costs. 
 
Grinberg highlighted the company’s nearly $219 million in cash with no debt, allowing for continued investment. 
 
U.S. sales continued to struggle amid inflation woes. 
 
In the U.S., Movado’s sales were down 12 percent year-over-year in the second quarter and fell 14 percent in the first half. 
 
Grinberg noted a difficult retail environment in North America, with single digit declines in the quarter in its outlet stores. 
 
“We have also intentionally slowed down the growth of our digital outlet channel, where we believe we were opening with products that were too sharply priced,” he said. 
 
Internationally, net sales were down 12 percent in the second quarter and fell 10 percent in the first half. 
 
Sales in Europe “remained challenging,” he said, though the company saw strong results in India and the Middle East, as well as “a return to growth” in China. 
 
 Related stories will be right here … 
 
From Tommy Hilfiger to Calvin Klein, its brands will introduce newness this fall. 
 
Movado’s brand portfolio includes its eponymous brand as well as in-house and licensed brands, like Coach and Tommy Hilfiger. 
 
Tommy Hilfiger’s spring offerings performed well, particularly at the opening price points. For fall, the brand will introduce the “Clark” and “Lexi” models that will begin at $189. 
 
For Hugo Boss, the “Troper” and “Gregor” lines are performing well. In the fall, the brand will introduce a new chronograph collection and the “Candor Automatic Sport Lux” collection opening under $400.  
 
Ahead of the holiday season, Hugo Boss is partnering with new brand ambassador, Suki Waterhouse. 
 
For Coach, the “Cadie” collection has seen success. The brand will introduce the “Elliot” collection this fall, which opens at $125. 
 
Lacoste has been “performing very well at retail,” said Grinberg, noting strong sell-through of its third generation of the Lacoste “12.12” collection, inspired by the brand’s polos. It will introduce a 12.12 automatic collection, retailing at $255, this fall, and “Spin,” a new sporty diver collection. 
 
The Calvin Klein brand, launched under Movado last year, has also been doing well. 
 
Grinberg noted strong retail sales in the “Sensation” range, while the “Black” collection has been a top seller for men. The brand recently debuted its new fall campaign featuring model Lila Moss.  
 
Olivia Burton is undergoing a brand refresh in the U.K. and the U.S. with new products, point of sale and packaging, and a marketing campaign.  
 
Movado’s brand refresh is launching this fall. 
 
Grinberg said Movado remained “excited” about its brand refresh launching this fall. 
 
“We’re introducing a total brand update for the Movado brand, which includes new marketing initiatives that we’ll roll out over the next few quarters, beginning with the launch of our new brand-building campaign in September,” he said. 
 
The Movado brand will soon debut the “most important” collection of new products in its “Bold” collection since its launch more than 10 years ago.  
 
It will revamp its “Evolution” collection, introducing “Evolution 2.0,” with a higher starting price point of $595. 
 
Its “Bold TR90” collections will also get a refresh, introducing new designs and colors. 
 
Movado will add a new titanium diver timepiece to the Bold range, a higher-end model that will retail for $1,495. 
 
Movado lowered its full-year guidance.  
 
Movado revised its full-year outlook, lowering its guidance and taking a pessimistic view of the fiscal year ahead. 
 
“We expect the difficult environment for consumer discretionary products to persist into the back half of the year, which is reflected in our updated outlook that incorporates lower shipments across our wholesale partners in North America and Europe,” said Grinberg. 
 
Movado lowered its expectations for full-year net sales, forecasting them to be in the range of $690 million to $700 million, down from its prior guidance of $725 million to $750 million. 
 
Gross profit is forecast to be 55 percent of net sales, down from 56 percent, while operating income may be in the range of $62.5 million to $65 million, down from 80 million to $85 million. 
 

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