Thursday, February 01, 2007

Calls of Note Part 3

- Piper Jaffray says they recently visited Crocs' (NASDAQ:CROX) booth at three industry tradeshows and left increasingly confident in current FY07 estimates and the potential for outperformance. Fall styles continue along the brand evolution continuum established with the spring collection including several price points, segmentation, and retail differentiation opportunities. Firm thinks this strategy has been very well received by retailers as they devote more space to the brand. Based on an early glimpse of the fall line, they estimate the classic beach/cayman styles represent less than 5% of the assortment and are quickly trending to less than 35% of sales. Additionally, approx. 56% of the collection is now priced at $30 & above versus just 48% in fall 2006 as the company continues to leverage its price-value positioning.

Firm's checks indicate that core retail partners continue to experience robust brand growth, despite often stated declines in their footwear categories. Central to firm's thesis remains the view that given Crocs' category creator status, meaningful opportunities exist to leverage price, style, exclusive partnerships (i.e. licensing), and positioning to deliver sustainable growth among core retail accounts.

Ups tgt to $57 from $54. Maintains Outperform.

Notablecalls: Not actionable but good to know category. For you CROX fans out there.

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