Steven Madden Ltd.: Initiation Of Coverage – Is The D2C Growth & Portfolio Expansion Strategy Working Out For Shareholders? 

This is our first report on footwear major, Steve Madden Ltd. The company has reported a strong performance in Q4 and full year 2023 results, surpassing expectations in terms of both revenue and earnings. It showed sequential improvement each quarter throughout the year with revenue growth of 10% and a 39% increase in diluted EPS in Q4 compared to the same period in 2022. This is largely attributed to organic revenue growth in both wholesale and direct-to-consumer channels, supplemented by the contribution from the newly acquired Almost Famous. The results also saw noticeable operating margin improvement year-over-year.