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Guess? (GES) Benefits From Brand Momentum & Growth Pillars

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Guess?, Inc. (GES - Free Report) is benefiting from robust brand momentum globally and strong customer response to its product categories. The company is committed to its six key strategies and has made remarkable progress against each of them.

Courtesy of these upsides, the company began the fiscal 2025 on a strong note, with the first-quarter top line increasing year over year and surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate. GES is positive about its run in the fiscal 2025.

Let’s delve deeper.

Growth Efforts in Place

The Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) company is optimistic about its robust global platform, which will facilitate growth and expansion of the company’s Guess and Marciano businesses, alongside rag & bone, which marks its first acquisition. GES’ expansive global footprint, broad channel capabilities, extensive supply chain, diverse category portfolio and strong management team underscore its growth story. In first-quarter fiscal 2025, net revenues amounted to $591.9 million, rising 4%. On a constant-currency (cc) basis, net revenues grew 7%, driven by exceptional performances in the Licensing and Americas wholesale divisions, alongside significant gains in the Europe and Asia markets.

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Strategic Plan on Track

Guess? consistently focuses on its strategic business plan. The core strategies include organization and culture, functional capacities, brand relevance with three main consumer groups (heritage, Millennials and Generation Z customers), customer focus, product brilliance and international footprint.

Throughout first-quarter fiscal 2025, the company achieved substantial advancements in lowering the number of SKUs across its global apparel lines, aiming for a 30% reduction. The company also streamlined its retail store assortments to prioritize fewer SKUs, boosting productivity and service efficiency.  In an attempt to optimize its operations, the company is on track to convert its distribution center operation in the United States to a third-party provider. The move is likely to make a positive impact on cost structure.  

The company is inclined toward a brand-elevation strategy, which includes enhancing product quality, visual merchandising and boosting customers’ shopping experience across stores and online. Management is enhancing the customer experience while implementing various upgrades to its store and e-commerce infrastructure to improve the ease of shopping and increase customer conversion.

Road Ahead Looks Promising

Guess? remains optimistic about the fiscal 2025, wherein it expects to surpass $3 billion in revenues for the first time, supported by an impressive growth plan for its core business. Management is optimistic about deriving benefits from the acquisition of the New York-based fashion brand rag & bone.  For the fiscal 2025, Guess? anticipates revenues to grow in the range of 10.7-12.7%. For second-quarter fiscal 2025, management expects revenue growth in the 9-11% band.

The company’s shares have gained 8.6% in the past year against the industry’s 8.2% decline.

Other Key Picks

Some other top-ranked companies are G-III Apparel Group (GIII - Free Report) , Hanesbrands Inc. (HBI - Free Report) and PVH Corp. (PVH - Free Report) .

G-III Apparel Group sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

G-III Apparel Group has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 571.8%, on average. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for GIII’s fiscal 2024 sales indicates an increase of 3.3% from the year-ago period’s reported level.

Hanesbrands designs, manufactures, sources and sells apparel essentials. The company currently sports a Zacks Rank #1.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for HBI’s 2024 earnings indicates significant growth from the 2023 reported figures. HBI has a trailing four-quarter average earnings surprise of 10.2%.

PVH Corp, a renowned apparel company, presently carries a Zacks Rank #2. PVH has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 10.1%, on average.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for PVH Corp.’s current financial-year earnings suggests growth of 5.2% from the year-ago reported number.

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