This article first appeared on GuruFocus .
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Consolidated Revenue:$772.6 million, up 15.7% year over year.
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Wholesale Revenue:$528.7 million, up 19.4% year over year.
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Wholesale Footwear Revenue:$322.6 million, up 21%.
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Wholesale Accessories and Apparel Revenue:$206.1 million, up 17%.
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Direct-to-Consumer Revenue:$239.2 million, up 8% year over year.
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Steve Madden Brand Comp Sales:Up 7% globally; US comps up 16%; international comps down 2% (up 1% excluding GCC business).
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Kurt Geiger Comp Sales:Up 6% in the quarter (on top of 15% growth in prior-year Q3).
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Dolce Vita Comp Sales:Up 26% in the quarter.
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Consolidated Gross Margin:44.6%, up from 43.4% in prior year.
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Wholesale Gross Margin:36.8%, up from 33.6% in prior year.
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Direct-to-Consumer Gross Margin:60.7%, down from 61.9% in prior year.
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Operating Expenses:34.3% of revenue, down from 36.4% in prior year.
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Operating Income:$78.9 million, or 10.2% of revenue, up from $46.3 million (6.9% of revenue) in prior year.
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Effective Tax Rate:25.4%, up from 23.4% in prior year.
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Net Income:$57.3 million, or $0.79 per diluted share, up from $30.4 million ($0.43 per diluted share) in prior year.
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Licensing Royalty Income:$4.7 million, up from $3.7 million in prior year.
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Cash and Cash Equivalents:$71.3 million; total debt of $120.2 million; net debt of $48.8 million as of September 30, 2026.
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Inventory:$415.3 million, down 12.8% year over year (including 26% reduction in Kurt Geiger inventory).
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Capital Expenditures:$14.4 million in the quarter.
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Share Repurchases:None in the open market during the quarter.
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Dividend:Quarterly cash dividend of $0.21 per share, payable December 24, 2026.
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Store Count:381 company-operated brick-and-mortar stores (including 92 outlets), eight e-commerce websites, and 190 company-operated international concessions.
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Fiscal 2026 Revenue Guidance:Raised to 12%13% growth (from prior 11%13%).
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Fiscal 2026 Diluted EPS Guidance:Raised to $2.15$2.20 (from prior $2.05$2.15).
Release Date: November 05, 2026
For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript .
Positive Points
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Steven Madden Ltd ( NASDAQ:SHOO ) delivered strong Q3 2026 results with revenue up 16% and diluted EPS up 85% year-over-year.
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The flagship Steve Madden brand showed broad-based growth across footwear, accessories, and apparel, with global online search interest up 16%.
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Dolce Vita had a record third quarter with robust growth in both wholesale and DTC, leading the company to raise its full-year revenue forecast to low-double-digit growth.
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Kurt Geiger continues to expand distribution with new stores and shop-in-shops, and its DTC comps rose 6% on top of a 15% increase last year.
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The company raised its full-year 2026 revenue and EPS guidance, reflecting confidence in sustained momentum and brand strength.
Negative Points
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Kurt Geiger's growth has moderated from earlier highs, with full-year revenue guidance lowered to low-double digits from mid-teens.
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Wholesale shipments of $12-14 million shifted from Q3 to Q4 due to typhoons in Asia and late deliveries, impacting quarterly timing.
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The private label business remains challenged, expected to be down mid-teens for 2026, and the company has not yet turned it around.
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Tall-shaft boots underperformed, and seasonal liquidations required deeper markdowns, pressuring DTC gross margin.
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International comps for the Steve Madden brand decreased 2%, partly due to Middle East conflicts affecting the GCC business.
Q & A Highlights
Q: Anna Andreeva, Piper Sandler On the core Steve Madden business, revenue came in below Street expectations despite strong product. Did it meet your internal expectations, and are stockouts or unseasonable weather causing you to leave sales on the table? Also, what was Kurt Geiger's revenue contribution, and why is KG guidance now below double digits for the year? A: CEO Ed Rosenfeld said overall revenue was close to internal expectationsmaybe a couple million dollars belowdue to Wholesale shipments shifting from Q3 to Q4 from typhoons in Asia and late deliveries, while earnings exceeded expectations. On Kurt Geiger, he noted initial 2026 guidance was low-doubles, raised to mid-teens after a Q1 with 24% comps, but growth has normalized (7% Q2 comps, 6% Q3 comps), so guidance is back to low-doublesessentially where the year started.
Q: Kelly Crago, BMO Capital Markets What does the implied Q4 sales guidance of flat to up mean for core Steve Madden versus Kurt Geiger? A: CEO Ed Rosenfeld said the business excluding Kurt Geiger would be down modestly in Q4 due to Wholesale shipment timing, since last year's tariff disruption shifted shipments from Q3 to Q4. He noted Wholesale grew 19.4% in Q3 but will be down 6% to 7% in Q4, yielding roughly 6% to 7% growth for the second halfincluding a high-singles decline in private label, with the branded Wholesale business up low-double digits for the half.
Q: Sam Poser, Williams Trading How much revenue did Kurt Geiger do in the quarter, broken down by DTC and Wholesale? A: CFO Zine Mazouzi said Kurt Geiger's total Q3 revenue was $142.9 million, with the DTC portion at $101.8 million.
Q: Sam Poser, Williams Trading Can you discuss the concessions business and how it's performing relative to the rest of Kurt Geiger, given recent press reports? A: CEO Ed Rosenfeld declined to comment on rumors or press reports, saying material news would be shared through official channels. He said the concessions business continues to perform and is profitable, though it carries a lower operating margin than the rest of Kurt Geiger. He added that the brands are growing faster while concessions have been basically flattish, and concessions are now a bit less than a third of overall KG revenue.
Q: Ethan Saghi, BTIG What are your assumptions for tariffs and freight costs in Q4 and into 2027? A: CFO Zine Mazouzi said the tariff assumption for Q4 has been adjusted down from 15% to roughly 12.5%. On freight, he expects an inbound freight impact in Q4 plus about a 20 basis point impact on outbound freight to stores and e-commerce customers.
Q: Ethan Saghi, BTIG SG&A came in below prior expectations in Q3. What were the puts and takes behind the lower growth? A: CFO Zine Mazouzi attributed part of it to the comparison baseQ2 last year included only a partial quarter of Kurt Geiger, pushing Q2 SG&A growth to 25.3% versus 9% in Q3. He also cited a big focus on warehouse management with people on the ground, plus well-managed store operating expenses given the strong comp increase.
Q: Dana Telsey, Telsey Advisory Group Are you seeing differences in outlets versus full-price retail, and how are Wholesale order trends across off-price, department stores, and other channels? A: CEO Ed Rosenfeld said outlets, a laggard early in the year, have recoveredUS full-price stores comped up 23% in Q3 while outlets comped up 17%. In Wholesale, he sees no big change, with strong performance across branded channels including department stores, pure-play e-commerce, shoe chains, and off-price; the mass channel private label business remains the challenging area.
Q: Sam Poser, Williams Trading Where does the private label business stand now, and what's the outlook into next year? A: CEO Ed Rosenfeld said the full-year expectation was raised slightly to down mid-teens from down mid-to-high teens, though mostly due to orders shifting from January into December rather than a real trend change. He said the business is still a work in progress, the company hasn't cracked the code, and he isn't calling an inflection. Versus 2024, the business will be down north of $110 million to $115 million by 2026, and the goal is to be flat next yearstop the bleeding, then grow off that base.
Q: Anna Andreeva, Piper Sandler Can you update us on the Kurt Geiger shop-in-shops with Macy's, including the cadence toward up to 40 doors by spring, and remind us of KG profitability and the mid-teens margin goal? A: CEO Ed Rosenfeld said 15 shop-in-shops are now open, including Herald Square, with one more coming this season and potentially 40 to 42 for spring 2027; he declined to quantify revenue by Wholesale customer but called it a potentially meaningful relationship. On profitability, the Kurt Geiger brand is slightly above company average margin while the overall business is slightly below due to concessions. He said the operating margin target is unchanged, but the company will wait for the remaining 301 investigations and clarity on the go-forward tariff regime before giving timing.
Q: Kelly Crago, BMO Capital Markets You cited seasonal liquidations and softness in tall-shaft boots. What's the dynamic there, and is it weather or trend? A: CEO Ed Rosenfeld said the company has pulled back on promotions overall with fewer sale days this year, but had to take serious markdowns to clear lagging spring sandals in Q3 and enter fall clean. By category, the business is up in essentially everything except tall-shaft boots, with flats, casuals, dress shoes, and especially dress booties performing well. He attributed the tall-shaft weakness to trend rather than weather, noting the consumer moves with fashion.
Q: Sam Poser, Williams Trading How are Madden Girl and Men's performing, and
For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript .
