27 Aug DSW beats Wall Street expectations in second quarter
Shares of DSW were up by more than 9 percent in early morning trading as the Columbus-based footwear and accessories retailer posted second-quarter results that beat Wall Street expectations.
DSW reported earnings of 37 cents per share and sales of $587 million, surpassing analysts’ predictions of 32 cents per share and sales of $565 million.
The good report was due to meeting “our goal of achieving improvement in the underlying sales trends and eliminating any inventory imbalances,” said Mike MacDonald, president and CEO.
All major categories recorded improved sales performance in the second quarter compared to the first quarter, MacDonald said, and sales improved month to month.
Inventories were up overall compared to the second quarter last year. However, because DSW has more stores, inventories per square foot decreased by 3.3 percent.
Importantly, “we continued to make progress in our omnichannel initiative,” MacDonald said.
DSW’s omnichannel strategy allows customers access to DSW’s entire inventory — across all stores, warehouses and e-commerce fulfillment centers — whenever they want to buy shoes and whether they buy in person, online or via mobile device.
The omnichannel strategy is key to DSW effectively competing against both online competitors such as Zappos.com as well as brick-and-mortar rivals such as Payless.
“The changes we are making are fundamental to the way we serve our customers,” MacDonald said. ” They will enable DSW to respond to the rapidly changing customer shopping patterns and maintain our position of strength in the footwear industry.”