Skechers aims to sprint past competition

Skechers USA Inc., which recently passed Adidas to become the number two athletic footwear brand in the United States, is on the fast track.

The company, whose second quarter sales beat estimates, has carved out a lucrative niche in casual athletic footwear and in kids’ athletic footwear. It is in expansion mode, with plans to open 125 to 135 company-owned and third-party-owned stores later this year.

Sketchers, by controlling expenses as revenues rose, was able paint a very pretty profit picture for the second quarter of fiscal 2015. It reported net earnings of $79.8 million, more than double the $34.8 million in the same period the prior year.

Second quarter 2015 net sales were $800.5 million, up 36% compared to $587.1 million last year. Same-store sales rose 12.9%.

“The continued strong demand for our product worldwide led to record quarterly financial results for the second quarter — including net sales, earnings from operations and earnings per share,” said David Weinberg, COO and CFO, Skechers, which operates 1,126 retail stores worldwide, in addition to its wholesale operations.