Columbia Sportswear Company (NASDAQ:COLM) Q2 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Mitchel Kummetz: Okay. And then I also had a question on the margins. I haven’t fully penciled out your revised guidance yet. But if I’m not mistaken, it looks like your sales are coming down, your gross margins coming down. I think from an SG&A dollar standpoint, that really hasn’t changed or maybe it’s up a tick from where it was before. I may have done my math wrong. But if that’s the case, I would have thought that you guys would have been — with the revised sales guidance, you would be sort of turning over every rock, looking for cost savings. I assume you’re doing that. But are there other expenses that are going up in the process? How should I think about that SG&A dollar number, which is leading to a fair amount of deleverage on the year?

Jim Swanson: Yes. I mean we’re certainly, to your point, turning over every rock that we can in terms of executing on cost containment; in certain cases, even cost reduction actions internally as well. So, that’s top of mind. I would agree, ordinarily you would expect a little bit more pass-through of variable-based expenses given the reduction in the top line. There are investments we’re making along the way here to ensure, though, that as we look at the distribution and the third-party logistics side of our business, there are some professional fees and other costs that we’re incurring that are incremental investments to ensure that we set those operations up going forward to be more streamlined and productive. So, there are certain onetime costs in there, Mitch. I won’t get down into specifics in terms of each one individually. But they’re offsetting some of what you otherwise believe to be a greater degree of variable-based expense savings.

Operator: Thank you. The next question is coming from John Kernan from TD Cowen. John, your line is live.

John Kernan: Just given some of the macro headwinds out there in your clearance, I’m just curious if you’ve seen any major reactions in the actual competitive environment? I know the Columbia brand has always really held more of an entry-level price point in the wholesale channel and versus some of your peers. Is there any change in the competitive environment? Or is it really just the difficult period being driven by a broader macro environment? Curious about some of your high-level thoughts there?

Tim Boyle: Yes, I want to — we ran in a little bit of trouble with the audio here, so I want to make sure I got your question, but I think you’re asking about whether our position as a value brand is impacted. And we believe that over time, this is going to be a real strength for the Company. We talked about the impact on the SG&A, of the carrying cost of inventories. We were able to keep a high gross margin based on the Company’s strength and sourcing, but we do have too much inventory. So that’s going to be impactful for the balance of the year on the SG&A line. We’re finding great strength and comfort in the fact that we have the balance sheet that can help us to hang on to this inventory and sell it profitably during a period like this.

John Kernan: Yes, I know I have some background noise, if you can hear me, any thoughts on SOREL. Obviously, there’s going to be new management is coming in, any thoughts about how to position SOREL specifically in the U.S.?

Tim Boyle: Yes, I’m sorry. I’m having a real difficult time understanding the question. We’ll be happy to capture that, if we can, at a later time if you’re able to call in.

Operator: Thank you. And the next question is coming from Jonathan Komp from Baird. Jonathan, your line is live.