Crocs shoes are in high demand, in international markets but not in North America

By Tomi Kilgore

Stock soars as Crocs-brand sales return to growth during a strong holiday quarter

Crocs's stock soars as the company's namesake brand sees sales return to growth amid strong international demand over the holidays.

Shares of Crocs jumped toward a six-month high in early Thursday trading, after the casual-shoe and slipper seller reported fourth-quarter revenue that beat expectations by a wide margin, thanks to a strong holiday performance by its namesake brand.

The Crocs brand (CROX) saw sales increase 0.8% from a year ago in the latest quarter, after falling 2.5% the quarter before, as a growth in direct sales to consumers helped offset a decline in sales to other retailers.

While North America sales, and those of the HeyDude brand, continued to fall, international sales surged.

"We ended 2025 on a strong note with a better-than-expected holiday quarter," said CEO Andrew Rees.

The stock climbed 14.2% in premarket trading, putting it on track to open at its highest price since Aug. 6, 2025. On Aug. 7, the stock plunged 29% after a disappointing earnings report and outlook.

For the quarter ending Dec. 31, revenue fell 3.2% to $957.6 million, but beat the average analyst estimate compiled by FactSet of $916.9 million. The margin of that beat was the widest since the first quarter of 2024.

Crocs brand sales rose to $768 million. North America sales fell 7.4% to $436 million, but international sales jumped 14.1% to $332 million. For 2025, North America sales decreased 6.8% while international revenue surged 11.9%.

For the HeyDude brand, fourth-quarter revenue decreased 16.9% to $189 million, on flat direct-to-consumer sales but a 40.5% drop in wholesale revenue.

Net income for the quarter dropped 71.5% to $105.17 million, while adjusted earnings per share, which excludes nonrecurring items, slipped 9.1% to $2.29. That topped the FactSet EPS consensus of $1.91.

Looking ahead, the company expects Crocs brand revenue to be down in the low-single-digits percentage range for the first quarter, and flat to up 2% for the full year.

Crocs is expecting first-quarter adjusted EPS of $2.67 to $2.77, above the current FactSet consensus of $2.52. For 2026, the company is guiding for adjusted EPS of $12.88 to $13.35, well above the $11.89 analysts were modeling.

The stock has rallied 11.1% over the past three months through Wednesday, but has lost 6.9% over the past 12 months. In comparison, the S&P 500 index SPX has edged up 1.3% the past three months and gained 14.7% over the past year.

-Tomi Kilgore

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02-12-26 0852ET