Columbia CEO Boyle says early holiday shopping helped boost Q4 profits
Columbia Sportswear’s strong fourth-quarter profitability was helped by consumers starting their holiday shopping earlier than years past, CEO Tim Boyle told CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Friday.
Shares of the outdoor-focused apparel maker jumped 5% Friday, after the company a day earlier reported a 64% year-over-year jump in net income in Q4 and issued robust full-year guidance.
“In today’s environment where there was so much impact on supply chain, shortages really all over the world, I think we were helped a bit because consumers moved earlier to buy whatever they needed for their holiday and winter products,”[ads1]; Boyle said.
“That made for lack of promotional activity in our stores and also through our retail partners. Their promotions were smaller, as well,” Boyle continued.
Columbia’s operating income of $ 211.6 million in the fourth quarter was a record for the Oregon-based company. It represented 18.7% of net sales, compared with 13.5% of net sales in the same quarter in 2020.
Columbia projects sales between $ 3.63 billion and $ 3.69 billion in 2022, a potential increase between 16% and 18% compared to 2021 figures. Cramer told Boyle he was impressed by the company’s guidance, given the challenging business environment with inflationary pressures and a disheveled supply chains.
“Much of it is based on the fact that we have quite broad omnichannel business,” responded Boyle, who has led Columbia since 1988. “We sell to a lot of retailers globally. We’ve got orders from those retailers, which are going to basically fill our order book this year, so it gives us a great amount of confidence in our future. “
Columbia shares are down just under 3% year to date after Friday’s advance. Over the past three months, the stock is down 9.7%, based on Friday’s closing price of $ 94.59. The stock’s all-time high of $ 114.98 came on April 29.
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