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Bull of the Day: Columbia Sportwear (COLM)

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Based on Portland, OR, Columbia Sportswear (COLM - Free Report) is a specialty retailer that focuses on outdoor and active lifestyle apparel, footwear, accessories, and equipment throughout the U.S. and internationally. Columbia offers products under four well-established brands: Columbia, SOREL, Mountain Hardwear and prAna.

Q4 Earnings Impress Wall Street

Revenue spiked 23% to a record $1.13 billion compared to Q4 2020, while operating income increased 71% to $211.6 million, or 18.7% of total sales, another record. Columbia’s strong sales growth can be attributed to high consumer demand, which helped fuel direct-to-consumer growth (up 33% year-over-year) and larger-than-expected Fall 2021 wholesale shipments.

Net sales for COLM’s U.S. business grew 27%, and the company’s international markets experienced favorable recovery trends in most regions.

Looking at brand performance, SOREL revenue moved 9% higher in Q4 and Mountain Hardwear’s sales jumped 30% thanks to successful new product launches.

Columbia also said that it ended the quarter with $894.5 million in cash and short-term investments, with no borrowings; it also approved a 15% increase to its dividend, which now yields 1.1% on an annual basis.

Can COLM Take Off?

Columbia Sportswear Company Price and EPS Surprise

 

In the past one year, shares of Columbia are down about 10% compared to the S&P 500’s 15% gain. But earnings estimates have been rising, and COLM is a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) right now.

For fiscal 2022, four analysts revised their bottom-line estimate upwards in the last 60 days, and the Zacks Consensus Estimate has jumped $0.43 to $5.76 per share. Earnings are expected to grow about 8% compared to 2021, and sales could see growth of almost 18% to $3.7 billion for the year.

Columbia has proved that it is well-positioned in the current market environment, and CEO Tim Boyle is confident about the strategies the company has in place to drive profitable growth. For 2022, Columbia forecasts full-year sales growth of 16% to 18% on top of the record growth it generated last year.

Even though inflation and supply chain issues persist, management has implemented a mid-single-digit percent price hike for its Spring 2022 collection, as well as a high single to low double-digit percent hike for its Fall 2022 product. Columbia has also been investing to enhance its supply chain capabilities.

All of these factors, plus COLM’s enticing 16.3X 12-month price-to-earnings ratio, could mean the stock is ripe for a rebound.If you’re an investor searching for a retail stock to add to your portfolio, make sure to keep COLM on your shortlist.


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