Shoe Carnival Reports Second Quarter Fiscal 2025 Results

FORT MILL, S.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Shoe Carnival, Inc. (Nasdaq: SCVL) (the “Company”), a leading retailer of footwear and accessories for the family, today reported results for the second quarter ended August 2, 2025 and updated its Fiscal 2025 outlook.

Second Quarter Fiscal 2025 and Back-to-School Highlights

• Delivered $0.70 EPS, beating consensus by over 20 percent.
• Expanded gross profit margin 270 basis points to 38.8 percent.
• Achieved positive comparable sales and margin expansion during August Back-to-School.
• Shoe Station rebanner strategy delivered 8 percent comparable sales growth through year-to-date August.
• Grew cash double digits through fiscal August with zero debt, positioned to fund growth.

“Our second quarter results demonstrate meaningful progress, with profits beating consensus by double digits and gross margins reaching 38.8 percent - our strongest Q2 margin performance in years,” said Mark Worden, President and Chief Executive Officer. “As we moved into Back-to-School in early August, our execution hit a higher level. We delivered positive comparable store sales for the Company and margin expansion across all banners during the period that drives approximately 25 percent of our annual profits. This return to growth during our highest-stakes season - ahead of our projected timeline - validates that our transformation is accelerating.”

Worden continued, “Our rebanner strategy continues to deliver strong results. Through year-to-date August, the Shoe Station banner is outperforming the Shoe Carnival banner by a wide margin, with margins up sharply over last year. Our debt-free balance sheet with strong cash reserves allows us to invest aggressively in this proven model while remaining ready for strategic opportunities. By Back-to-School 2026, Shoe Station will be our majority concept, positioning us for sustained growth with a higher-income customer base, stronger margins, and improved returns.”

Shoe Station Growth Strategy

As of August 2, 2025, the Company operated 428 stores: 313 Shoe Carnival stores, 87 Shoe Station stores, and 28 Rogan's stores. The Shoe Station store count has more than doubled since second quarter 2024.

The Company completed 20 rebanner conversions during second quarter 2025, bringing year-to-date conversions to 44 stores. An additional 58 stores are expected to rebanner in the second half of fiscal 2025 (29 in third quarter and 29 in fourth quarter), bringing the total to 145 Shoe Station stores by year-end - representing 34 percent of the fleet. This positions the Company to surpass 215 Shoe Station stores by Back-to-School 2026, achieving the critical 51 percent threshold where expected portfolio growth overtakes legacy declines.

The rebanner strategy delivered strong financial returns through year-to-date August compared to the same period last year including:

• Comparable sales increasing high-single digits.
• Rebanner margins expanding 270 basis points.

First-year rebanner investments of approximately $25 million are expected to impact fiscal 2025 operating income, with $0.36 of EPS impact incurred year-to-date. Payback of these investments is expected within two to three years.

Second Quarter Operating Results

Gross profit margin reached 38.8 percent in second quarter 2025, expanding 270 basis points from 36.1 percent in the prior year. This margin expansion demonstrated the power of the Company's rebanner strategy. Merchandise margin improved 390 basis points driven by disciplined pricing across all banners, a favorable mix shift toward merchandise preferred by Shoe Station's higher-income customers, and strategic inventory investments. This more than offset 120 basis points of deleverage in buying, distribution and occupancy costs.

Net sales were $306.4 million compared to $332.7 million in second quarter 2024, a decrease of 7.9 percent. Comparable sales declined 7.5 percent, including a high-single digit decline at Shoe Carnival and break-even results at Shoe Station.

By banner, second quarter 2025 divergent trends reinforced the rebanner strategy:

• Shoe Station net sales grew 1.6 percent.
• Shoe Carnival net sales declined 10.1 percent as the sub-$40,000 income consumer remained pressured.
• Rogan's exceeded $20 million in net sales, in line with integration plans.

Net income was $19.2 million, or $0.70 per diluted share (“EPS”), compared to $22.6 million, or $0.82 per diluted share in the prior year. The Company estimates second quarter 2025 EPS included a $0.21 negative impact from rebanner investments while first quarter 2025 EPS included a $0.15 negative impact.

The rebanner investments in second quarter 2025 included an estimated 1 percent decline in net sales from stores temporarily closed during rebanner conversions and a 2 percent increase in selling, general and administrative expenses (“SG&A”) as a percent of net sales for store closing costs, additional depreciation, customer acquisition costs and other costs.

Back-to-School Performance Update

Fiscal August performance accelerated significantly, with the Company achieving positive comparable sales versus prior year - a significant improvement from second quarter trends and ahead of the Company's projected timeline for returning to growth.

By banner, fiscal August delivered strong results:

• Shoe Station grew comparable sales high-single digits, driven by high-single digit growth in the children's category and low-twenties growth in the adult athletics category with margin expansion.
• Shoe Carnival achieved positive children's category comparable sales with margin growth while maintaining discipline in other categories.
• Rogan's also achieved comparable sales growth, in line with integration plans.

Balance Sheet Strength

The Company ended second quarter 2025 debt-free, and consistent with the last 20 consecutive years, fully funded its operations and growth investments from operating cash flow. Cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities totaled $91.9 million.

Inventory increased 5 percent versus prior year, a strategic investment that delivered significantly improved availability on key items during Back-to-School. This availability directly contributed to margin expansion and sales capture during this peak selling period. The Company expects inventory levels to normalize during 2026 as supply chain visibility improves.

Capital expenditures totaled $24.4 million year-to-date, primarily for the 44 completed rebanner conversions. The Company has $50 million remaining under its share repurchase authorization.

The Company had approximately $148 million in cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities as of August fiscal month end, an increase of over 10 percent compared to the same time last year. This increase was largely due to a successful August Back-to-School that generated over $55 million in cash, providing ample liquidity for continued rebanner investments and strategic opportunities.

Fiscal 2025 Outlook

Based on second quarter results exceeding market expectations, Back-to-School results, and rebanner momentum continuing, the Company now expects the following for fiscal 2025:

• Net Sales: $1.12 billion to $1.15 billion, compared to the previous range of $1.15 billion to $1.23 billion.
• GAAP EPS: $1.70 to $2.10, an increase in the lower end of the range of $0.10.
• Gross Profit Margin: 36.5 percent to 37.5 percent, a 150-basis point increase.
• SG&A: $355 million to $360 million, inclusive of increased rebanner investment.
• Capital Expenditures: $45 to $55 million, inclusive of $30 to $35 million for rebanners.

The Company’s outlook anticipates that sales declines will slow in the second half of the year, with the midpoint implying a 3 percent decline versus the 7.7 percent year-to-date decline. This improvement reflects the rebanner strategy's momentum and strong event period performance, including August's positive comparable sales. As Shoe Station grows, the Company expects its gains will increasingly offset Shoe Carnival's challenges. The wide EPS range reflects macro uncertainty and expected traffic volatility outside key selling periods.

Conference Call

Today, at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time, the Company will host a conference call to discuss its second quarter results. Participants can listen to the live webcast of the call by visiting Shoe Carnival's Investors webpage at www.shoecarnival.com. While the question-and-answer session will be available to all listeners, questions from the audience will be limited to institutional analysts and investors. A replay of the webcast will be available on the Company's website beginning approximately two hours after the conclusion of the conference call and will be archived for one year.

About Shoe Carnival

Shoe Carnival, Inc. is one of the nation's largest family footwear retailers, offering a broad assortment of dress, casual and athletic footwear for men, women and children with emphasis on national name brands. As of September 4, 2025, the Company operated 428 stores in 35 states and Puerto Rico under its Shoe Carnival, Shoe Station and Rogan's store fronts and offers shopping at www.shoecarnival.com and www.shoestation.com. Headquartered in Fort Mill, SC, and with distribution and support operations located in Evansville, IN, Shoe Carnival, Inc. trades on The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC under the symbol SCVL.

Press releases and annual reports are available on the Company's website at www.shoecarnival.com.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information

As used herein, “we,” “our” and “us” refer to Shoe Carnival, Inc. This press release contains forward-looking statements, within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, that involve a number of risks and uncertainties, such as statements about our future growth, operations, cash flows and shareholder returns.

A number of factors could cause our actual results, performance, achievements or industry results to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. These factors include, but are not limited to: our ability to increase our comparable stores Net Sales and achieve expected operating results from rebannering Shoe Carnival locations into Shoe Station locations within expected time frames, or at all; our ability to achieve expected operating results from, and planned growth of, our Shoe Station banner within expected time frames, or at all; the impact of competition and pricing, including our ability to maintain current promotional intensity levels; changes in the political and economic environments in, the status of trade relations with, and the impact of changes in trade policies and tariffs impacting, China and other countries which are the major manufacturers of footwear; our ability to control costs and meet our labor needs in a rising wage, inflationary, and/or supply chain constrained environment; the effects and duration of economic downturns and unemployment rates; the potential impact of national and international security concerns, including those caused by war and terrorism, on the retail environment; general economic conditions in the areas of the continental United States and Puerto Rico where our stores are located; changes in the overall retail environment and more specifically in the apparel and footwear retail sectors; our ability to successfully utilize the e-commerce sales channel and its impact on traffic and transactions in our physical stores; the success of the open-air shopping centers where many of our stores are located and the impact on our ability to attract customers to our stores; our ability to attract customers to our e-commerce platform and to successfully grow our omnichannel sales; the effectiveness of our inventory management, including our ability to manage key merchandise vendor relationships and direct-to-consumer initiatives; changes in our relationships with other key suppliers; our ability to successfully manage and execute our marketing initiatives and maintain positive brand perception and recognition; our ability to successfully manage our current real estate portfolio and leasing obligations; changes in weather, including patterns impacted by climate change; changes in consumer buying trends and our ability to identify and respond to emerging fashion trends; the impact of disruptions in our distribution or information technology operations including at our distribution center located in Evansville, IN; the impact of natural disasters, public health and political crises, civil unrest, and other catastrophic events on our operations and the operations of our suppliers, as well as on consumer confidence and purchasing in general; the duration and spread of a public health crisis and the mitigating efforts deployed, including the effects of government stimulus on consumer spending; risks associated with the seasonality of the retail industry; the impact of unauthorized disclosure or misuse of personal and confidential information about our customers, vendors and employees, including as a result of a cybersecurity breach; our ability to effectively achieve the operating results from, and maintain the synergies, efficiencies and other benefits gained through, our acquisition strategy, including our recent acquisition of Rogan’s; our ability to successfully execute our business strategy, including the availability of desirable store locations at acceptable lease terms, our ability to identify, consummate or effectively integrate future acquisitions, our ability to implement and adapt to new technology and systems, our ability to open new stores in a timely and profitable manner, including our entry into major new markets, and the availability of sufficient funds to implement our business plans; higher than anticipated costs associated with the closing of underperforming stores; the inability of manufacturers to deliver products in a timely manner; an increase in the cost, or a disruption in the flow, of imported goods; the impact of regulatory changes in the United States, including minimum wage laws and regulations, and the countries where our manufacturers are located; the resolution of litigation or regulatory proceedings in which we are or may become involved; continued volatility and disruption in the capital and credit markets; future stock repurchases under our stock repurchase program and future dividend payments; and other factors described in the Company’s SEC filings, including the Company’s latest Annual Report on Form 10-K. In addition, these forward-looking statements necessarily depend upon assumptions, estimates and dates that may be incorrect or imprecise and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors. Accordingly, any forward-looking statements included in this press release do not purport to be predictions of future events or circumstances and may not be realized. Forward-looking statements can be identified by, among other things, the use of forward-looking terms such as “believes,” “expects,” “aims,” “on track,” “may,” “will,” “should,” “seeks,” “pro forma,” “anticipates,” “intends” or the negative of any of these terms, or comparable terminology, or by discussions of strategy or intentions. Given these uncertainties, we caution investors not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. We disclaim any obligation to update any of these factors or to publicly announce any revisions to the forward-looking statements contained in this press release to reflect future events or developments.

Financial Tables Follow

SHOE CARNIVAL, INC. CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF INCOME (In thousands, except per share data) (Unaudited)
		Thirteen				Thirteen				Twenty-six				Twenty-six
		Weeks Ended				Weeks Ended				Weeks Ended				Weeks Ended
		August 2, 2025				August 3, 2024				August 2, 2025				August 3, 2024
Net sales		$	306,388			$	332,696			$	584,103			$	633,061
Cost of sales (including buying, distribution and occupancy costs)			187,580				212,753				369,518				406,318
Gross profit			118,808				119,943				214,585				226,743
Selling, general and administrative expenses			93,580				89,864				177,392				174,157
Operating income			25,228				30,079				37,193				52,586
Interest income			(782	)			(672	)			(1,885	)			(1,475	)
Interest expense			77				137				155				273
Income before income taxes			25,933				30,614				38,923				53,788
Income tax expense			6,708				8,041				10,355				13,929
Net income		$	19,225			$	22,573			$	28,568			$	39,859
Net income per share:
Basic		$	0.70			$	0.83			$	1.05			$	1.47
Diluted		$	0.70			$	0.82			$	1.04			$	1.45
Weighted average shares:
Basic			27,339				27,159				27,286				27,151
Diluted			27,455				27,500				27,470				27,452
Cash dividends declared per share		$	0.150			$	0.135			$	0.300			$	0.270

SHOE CARNIVAL, INC. CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (In thousands) (Unaudited)
		August 2,				February 1,				August 3,
		2025				2025				2024
ASSETS
Current Assets:
Cash and cash equivalents		$	78,719			$	108,680			$	71,633
Marketable securities			13,198				14,432				12,831
Accounts receivable			8,457				9,018				5,519
Merchandise inventories			449,005				385,605				425,462
Other			24,689				18,409				21,651
Total Current Assets			574,068				536,144				537,096
Property and equipment – net			181,324				172,806				170,717
Operating lease right-of-use assets			338,950				343,547				337,926
Intangible assets			40,945				40,968				40,990
Goodwill			18,018				18,018				15,376
Other noncurrent assets			11,948				12,650				12,922
Total Assets		$	1,165,253			$	1,124,133			$	1,115,027
LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY
Current Liabilities:
Accounts payable		$	68,662			$	52,030			$	73,916
Accrued and other liabilities			29,912				25,382				30,204
Current portion of operating lease liabilities			57,889				53,013				55,870
Total Current Liabilities			156,463				130,425				159,990
Long-term portion of operating lease liabilities			303,689				314,974				304,578
Deferred income taxes			23,295				18,879				15,187
Deferred compensation			10,243				10,011				12,564
Other			873				848				4,213
Total Liabilities			494,563				475,137				496,532
Total Shareholders’ Equity			670,690				648,996				618,495
Total Liabilities and Shareholders’ Equity		$	1,165,253			$	1,124,133			$	1,115,027

SHOE CARNIVAL, INC. CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS (In thousands) (Unaudited)
		Twenty-six				Twenty-six
		Weeks Ended				Weeks Ended
		August 2, 2025				August 3, 2024
Cash Flows From Operating Activities
Net income		$	28,568			$	39,859
Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by operating activities:
Depreciation and amortization			16,760				15,116
Stock-based compensation			3,646				3,574
Loss on retirement and impairment of assets, net			1,097				215
Deferred income taxes			4,416				(486	)
Non-cash operating lease expense			30,660				28,307
Other			240				810
Changes in operating assets and liabilities:
Accounts receivable			560				(561	)
Merchandise inventories			(63,400	)			(37,177	)
Operating leases			(32,473	)			(29,223	)
Accounts payable and accrued liabilities			22,508				20,498
Other			(8,960	)			(190	)
Net cash provided by operating activities			3,622				40,742
Cash Flows From Investing Activities
Purchases of property and equipment			(24,408	)			(15,722	)
Investments in marketable securities			(1,498	)			(35	)
Sales of marketable securities			2,970				0
Acquisition, net of cash acquired			0				(44,384	)
Net cash used in investing activities			(22,936	)			(60,141	)
Cash Flow From Financing Activities
Proceeds from issuance of stock			97				92
Dividends paid			(8,531	)			(7,372	)
Shares surrendered by employees to pay taxes on stock-based compensation awards			(2,213	)			(688	)
Net cash used in financing activities			(10,647	)			(7,968	)
Net decrease in cash and cash equivalents			(29,961	)			(27,367	)
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period			108,680				99,000
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period		$	78,719			$	71,633

 

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250904404769/en/

Patrick C. Edwards

Chief Financial Officer, Treasurer and Secretary

(812) 867-4034

www.shoecarnival.com

(812) 867-6471

Source: Shoe Carnival, Inc.