Steve Madden’s First Quarter Best Wall Street Estimates, But Wholesale Footwear Sales Slow

Steven Madden Ltd. had a strong start to 2026.

The company on Wednesday said net income for the first quarter ended March 31 jumped 77.7 percent to $71.8 million, or $1 a diluted share, versus net income of $40.4 million, or 57 cents, in the same year-ago quarter. On an adjusted basis, diluted earnings per share were 45 cents for the three months. Net revenue rose 18.0 percent to $653.1 million from $553.5 million a year ago.

Wall Street was expecting adjusted diluted EPS of 37 cents on revenue of $650.04 million. While the adjusted EPS for the quarter of 45 cents bested Wall Street’s expectations, it lower than the 60 cents in adjusted diluted EPS posted a year ago.

“We got off to a solid start to the year in the first quarter, with healthy underlying demand across our brands driven by compelling product assortments and strong marketing execution,” said chairman and CEO Edward Rosenfeld.

Rosenfeld said that the Steve Madden brand continued to gain momentum, with consumers responding favorably to its on-trend assortments. That resulted in strong comps in the direct-to-consumer business and “robust sell-through” in wholesale. The Kurt Geiger London label also posted a strong quarter, with “continued momentum across channels,” he said.

By category, the company said wholesale sales saw a 1 percent increase to $443.6 million. Excluding Kurt Geiger, wholesale revenue fell 8.2 percent. Wholesale were down 5.8 percent, or down 12 percent excluding the Kurt Geiger brand. Wholesale accessories and apparel revenue rose 15.1 percent, but down 0.5 percent excluding Kurt Geiger. Gross profit as a percentage of wholesale revenue was 49.2 percent in the quarter, up from 35.7 percent a year ago. On an adjusted basis, gross profit as a percentage of wholesale revenue was 39.2 percent, up from 35.7 percent last year due to higher average selling prices and mix benefits from the addition of the Kurt Geiger business and a lower penetration of private label, the company said.

Where the company saw a jump was in DTC revenue, which increased 83.8 percent to $206.0 million. Excluding Geiger, DTC revenue rose 8.0 percent. Gross profit as a percentage of DTC revenue was 65.9 percent versus 60.1 percent in the year-ago quarter. Adjusted gross profit as a percentage of DTC revenue was 60.8 percent, versus 60.1 percent a year ago, due to the addition of the Kurt Geiger business and a modest increase in the organic business. The company completed its acquisition of Geiger in May 2025.

The company raised Fiscal 2026 revenue guidance, with a forecast of a 10 percent to 12 percent increase versus 2025 levels. It also introduced for the first time Fiscal 2026 diluted EPS guidance, which is projected in the range of $2.55 to $2.65. Adjusted diluted EPS was guided to the range of $2.00 to $2.10.

The company did not provide second quarter guidance. Wall Street’s estimates before the posting of first quarter earnings results were 32 cents a diluted share on revenue of $624.8 million.

Rosenfeld said the company expects “earnings growth in the second quarter.” And he also said company expectations were for “strong top- and bottom-line growth for the full year.”