Steven Madden, Ltd. (NASDAQ:SHOO) Q2 2023 Earnings Conference Call August 2, 2023 8:30 AM ET

Company Participants

Danielle McCoy - Vice President of Corporate Development and Investor Relations

Edward Rosenfeld - Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

Zine Mazouzi - Chief Financial Officer

Conference Call Participants

Aubrey Tianello - BNP Paribas

Samuel Poser - Williams Trading

Laura Champine - Loop Capital Markets

Jay Sole - UBS

Corey Tarlowe - Jefferies

Kelly Crago - Citigroup Inc

Tom Nikic - Wedbush Securities

Operator

Good morning, everyone, and welcome to Steve Madden Earnings Conference for 2023. I will now turn the call over to Danielle McCoy.

Danielle McCoy

Thanks, Savannah, and good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining our second quarter 2023 earnings call and webcast. Before we begin, I'd like to remind you that our remarks that follow, including answers to your questions, contain statements that we believe to be forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks that could cause actual results to materially differ from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These risks include, among others, matters that we have described in our press release issued earlier today and filings we make with the SEC. We disclaim any obligation to update these forward-looking statements, which may not be updated until our next quarterly earnings conference call, if at all.

The financial results discussed on today's call are on an adjusted basis, unless otherwise noted. A reconciliation to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure and other associated disclosures are contained in our earnings release.

Joining me on the call today is Ed Rosenfeld, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer; and Zine Mazouzi, Chief Financial Officer. With that, I'll turn the call over to Ed. Ed?

Edward Rosenfeld

Well, thanks, Danielle, and good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us to review Steve Madden's second quarter 2023 results. As expected, we faced a challenging operating environment in the second quarter. In light of the difficult market conditions, in particular, the cautious approach to orders by many of our wholesale customers in the United States, we were pleased to deliver earnings results in line with expectations for the quarter. And while we are never satisfied with financial performance that falls short of what we achieved in the prior year, I'm proud of how our team controlled what we can control in the quarter, as we; one, drove strong gross margin performance despite the promotional retail landscape; two, managed our inventory with discipline, delivering a 32% reduction in inventory at the end of Q2 compared to the prior year; and three, controlled expenses and drove cost efficiencies even as we continue to invest in product innovation, consumer engagement and our long-term growth initiatives.