Steven Madden, Ltd. (SHOO.O): Shoe Show Takeaways - On the Right Side of Fashion and Momentum Building

Research evidence excerpt

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05 Aug 2026 07:00:39 ET │ 10 pages

Steven Madden, Ltd. (SHOO.O)

Shoe Show Takeaways - On the Right Side of Fashion and Momentum

Building

CITI'S TAKE

We attended a meeting with SHOO mgmt at the Steve Madden showroom

during the FFANY shoe show. Demand for the core Steve Madden brand

product has been better than originally planned, and management

highlighted significant energy in the brand. Fashion remains on their side

with strong trends in boots/booties, and casual overall. SHOO is growing

share within the fashion market, but they have not yet seen wholesale

accounts take space away from athletic and devote more to fashion

(which is another potential tailwind for SHOO if the fashion pie starts to

grow). On the private label business, they believe they have stopped the

bleeding but it is too soon to say when it could turn positive. We remain

confident that fashion trends are on their side (with no end in sight) and

F27E EPS could be $3.00+. SHOO remains as a Top 5 ranked stock within

our Buy-rated names.

Incremental takeaways from FFANY - (1) The JWN Anniversary sale was their best in

4 years, (2) Core brand expected to be a double digit grower this year; (3) Sell

through at wholesale accounts very strong though not as strong as DTC channel

(because they are able to respond more quickly to trends within DTC); (4) There was

a temporary period where wholesale accounts were getting more cautious with their

ordering plans, but that is no longer the case; (5) Border stores have gotten better

but are not back to where they were; (6) KG brand has some timing shifts that hurt

2Q and will help 3Q; (7) Tariffs are viewed as the biggest margin variable for

F27; (8) The chief product officer that began in early 2025 had her first season of

product hit in Fall 2025, which was where the core business inflected; (9) Western

not a big trend; not selling well following three years when it was a trend (though not

a big pct of biz for SHOO), (10) Mgmt believes it is possible to get to double digit EBIT

margins without the private label business regaining all the sales it lost, (11) Mktg

~5.5% of sales, but that could tick up.

Buy

Price (04 Aug 26 16:00)

US$48.86

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