Boot Barn Shares Are Surging Despite Broader Market Rout — Here’s Why

Samantha McDonald
·2 min read

Shares for Boot Barn Holdings Inc. were up more than 5.5% on Wednesday following the release of a better-than-expected second-quarter financial report.

The footwear chain logged income of $5.8 million, or 20 cents per share, compared with the prior year’s $7.7 million, or 26 cents per share, and significantly better than analysts’ forecasts of 12 cents per share. Revenues decreased 1.4% to $184.5 million, versus market watchers’ predictions of $179.76 million.

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As of 4:30 p.m. ET, Boot Barn’s stock was in the green more than 5% to $34.10 — despite a broader Wall Street selloff that sent the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 3.4%, or nearly 950 points, at market close.

“Our business continues to show resilience amidst challenging operating conditions,” CEO Jim Conroy said in a statement. “Following a slow start to the second quarter due to the changing sentiment around COVID-19, same-store sales trends improved each month, turning positive in September driven by stronger store traffic.”

According to the company, comps declined 5.1% during the three-month period — with retail stores seeing a decline of 9.1% and e-commerce experiencing a 17.6% gain.

“Our teams have done an outstanding job serving our customers in whichever channel they choose to engage with us and we have adjusted our merchandise assortments to reflect the shift in demand towards more functional and work-related categories,” Conroy added. “The speed at which we adapted our operations and reconfigured our inventory drove strong full-price selling in the quarter.”

As of Sept. 26, Boot Barn had cash and equivalents that amounted to $35.7 million. The retailer shared that its third quarter has “started well,” with same-store sales at its brick-and-mortar locations “improving to flat,” while e-commerce sales trends remain “strong.” (It did not provide an outlook for the third quarter and the fiscal year due to uncertainties stemming from the coronavirus pandemic.)

“In addition to solid demand for work boots, we’ve also seen a nice sequential improvement in western boots, western apparel and hats,” Conroy explained. “As we approach the beginning of the holidays, we are encouraged with our current momentum and are prepared to execute well as we enter the busy holiday shopping season.”