Friday, January 12, 2007

Calls of Note Part 4

- Piper Jaffray notes their review of Crocs (NASDAQ:CROX) spring 2007 line underscores the dramatic expansion of the brand portfolio, extending beyond the classic clog into a lifestyle brand including footwear, apparel, and accessories. The classic Beach/Cayman style represents less than 5% of the mix and is trending quickly toward 25% of domestic sales. Last year, among the 8 styles, the core clog represented near 85% of sales. Firm believes Crocs is leveraging its global distribution network & proprietary Croslite resin to extend the brand into select technical apparel and sporting goods categories (currently less than 3% of sales) - longer term opportunities (late-FY07 & FY08).

They believe spring 2007 marks the first period when Crocs will aggressively bifurcate its
assortment by key retail accounts.

Sales/door continues to increase, seasonality is being offset with key license agreements, and the addition of Jibbitz into the floorset improves footwear sales by an average 35%. With near 140
(NCAA, NHL, NFL) team licenses, PJ thinks the brand will contend for year- round shelf placement and expand brand mindshare with the young male demo.

Firm is raising their FY07 sales & EPS estimates for new licensed product (NHL, NFL), expanded distribution, and elevated expectations surrounding sales & profitability. Tgt goes to $53 from $54.
Maintains Outperform.

Notablecalls: Nothing new in PJ's note. Won't have any immediate impact on the stock. Usually, when companies with strong core product lines start expanding agressively it's a sure sign that things will be slowing down.

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