Deckers Retail Investor Mood Sours As Stock Nears 3-Month Low
The footwear company is facing a crisis in investor confidence, as its stock has dropped by over 50% year-to-date.
Deckers Outdoor drew buzz on Stocktwits after the stock declined 4% on Tuesday, its third straight session of losses, to a nearly three-month low.
Analysts and investors fear the appeal of the footwear maker’s Hoka running shoes and UGG boots may be fading amid intensifying competition from Nike, which had strong sales of its running shoes last quarter, and rising brands such as On Running.
Deckers’ stock closed at $97.98, its lowest level since July 16. It has fallen sharply, about 21%, since a recent peak in early September.
On Stocktwits, the retail sentiment shifted to ‘bearish’ as of late Tuesday, from ‘bullish’ the previous day, and the 24-hour message volume rose over 950%.
Although the sentiment was low, some users kept a positive outlook. “$DECK see what the rest of the week brings before going full bearish here,” said one user.
A bullish watcher said: “$DECK they literally just posted great earnings last quarter and got upgrades from most banks… it’ll be back for sure – great price to pick up more shares currently.”
Notably, the short interest in the company dropped to 5.1% as of Tuesday, following a peak of 6.1% last month, according to Koyfin. Deckers has yet to set a date for its quarterly earnings release.
Also noteworthy is the brokerages’ improving outlook on the stock. Last month, Bank of America and Barclays raised their price targets on DECK, while Bernstein initiated coverage on the stock with an ‘Outperform’ rating.
Currently, 13 of the 26 analysts covering the stock have a ‘Hold’ rating, eight rate it ‘Buy’ or higher, and two rate it ‘Sell’ or lower, according to Koyfin data. Their average price target of $128.12 implies an over 30% upside. DECK stock is 52% year-to-date.
For updates and corrections, email newsroom[at]stocktwits[dot]com.
