Zumiez Inc. (NASDAQ:ZUMZ) Q3 2024 Earnings Conference Call December 5, 2024 5:00 PM ET
Company Participants
Rick Brooks - Chief Executive Officer
Chris Work - Chief Financial Officer
Conference Call Participants
Mitch Kummetz - Seaport
Richard Magnusen - B. Riley
Corey Tarlowe - Jefferies
Operator
Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. And welcome to the Zumiez Inc. Third Quarter Fiscal 2024 Earnings Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in listen only mode. We will conduct a question-and-answer session towards the end of this conference.
Before we begin, I'd like to remind everyone of the company's safe harbor language. Today's conference call includes comments concerning Zumiez Inc. business outlook and contains forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements and all other statements that may be made on this call that are not based on historical facts are subject to risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially. Additional information concerning a number of factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the information that will be discussed is available in Zumiez Inc.'s filings with the SEC.
At this time, I'll turn the call over to Rick Brooks, Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Brooks?
Rick Brooks
Hello, and thank you, everyone, for joining us on the call today. With me is Chris Work, our Chief Financial Officer. I'll begin with a few remarks about our third quarter and the start of the holiday season before touching on our strategic initiatives. Chris will then take you through the financials and our outlook for the balance of the year. After that, we'll open the call to your questions. When we shared the outlook for 2024 during our Q4 earnings call back in March, we believe that we could build on improving trends that we were experiencing at that time and deliver total sales growth for the full year. I'm pleased to report that our third quarter results demonstrate further progress towards our goal as comparable sales increased 7.5%. Our top line performance was fueled by the North American business as comparable sales in the region accelerated from mid-single digits in the second quarter to low double digits in the third quarter. US and Canada sales results more than offset some expected and some unexpected softness in our international regions.
Total sales of $222.5 million were in the middle of our guidance range as warm weather in Europe hampered demand for snow related apparel and hardgoods late in the quarter. However, thanks to our continued focus on profitability, we reached the high end of our guidance range for earnings at $0.06 per share. Much the same as the prior quarter, our third quarter comp performance was driven by contributions from multiple areas of our business. Our men's category continued its positive momentum growing year-over-year for the fourth consecutive quarter at an accelerating pace. Our women's category, which turned positive in Q1, again, accelerated meaningfully after posting strong double digit growth year-over-year in Q2 while footwear also experienced a noticeable pickup in sequential demand, driving comps into the low double digits from the mid single digits in the second quarter. The fourth quarter and holiday season are off to a good start and have us in a good position to deliver a meaningful improvement from our 2023 results. While we're pleased with the progress we've made returning to positive comparable sales growth, improving profitability and driving cash flow, we believe the business is capable of much more. As we look ahead to 2025, we will continue to focus on the following strategies to grow sales and drive profitability. First, accelerating top line expansion through strategic investments to ensure we are winning with our customers. Our strategy is continue to focus on three key areas, injecting assortments with newness. We are on track to introduce well over 100 new brands in 2024 following the launch of 150 brands in 2023. These new brands constitute a larger portion of our sales this year compared to last year, demonstrating that they resonate with our customers.