Merrell and Saucony drive Wolverine Worldwide's Q3 revenue growth

Wolverine Worldwide's net sales for the third quarter ended September 27, 2025, were 470.3 million dollars, up 6.8 percent, largely due to the strong performance of key brands Merrell, Saucony, and Sweaty Betty. Ongoing total revenue in the quarter, which excludes the results of the Sperry business was sold in January 2024 also reached 470.3 million dollars, an increase of 6.9 percent.

The company's net earnings increased to 25.1 million dollars and earnings per share to 30 cents, underpinned by another record gross margin quarter which hit 47.5 percent, up from 45.1 percent in the prior year, primarily benefiting from supply chain cost initiatives, lower promotions, and recent price increases.

CEO Chris Hufnagel stated that this disciplined execution underscores the improvements made across the enterprise. Furthermore, the company successfully reduced its net debt to 543 million dollars, a 3.6 percent decrease year-over-year.

Growth in the third quarter was primarily fuelled by strong performances from the Saucony and Merrell brands. Saucony led the surge, posting net sales of 133.1 million dollars, a 27 percent increase, meanwhile, Merrell achieved 167.3 million dollars in net sales, marking a 5.1 percent increase.

However, not all brands saw gains: net sales for the namesake Wolverine brand declined 8.2 percent to 45.3 million dollars, and Sweaty Betty saw a drop of 3.9 percent to 44.5 million dollars. Geographically, the company's International revenue was up 13.5 percent to 242.7 million dollars, although its direct-to-consumer revenue declined 5 percent to 106.8 million dollars.

Looking ahead to the full fiscal year 2025, Wolverine Worldwide forecasts revenue growth of approximately 6 percent to 6.8 percent to between 1.855 billion dollars and 1.870 billion dollars and expects gross margin to reach 47.1 percent with diluted earnings per share in the range of 1.08 dollars to 1.13 dollars and adjusted diluted earnings per share in the range of 1.29 dollars to 1.34 dollars.