Wolverine World Wide raises 2026 revenue guidance after Q2 growth

Wolverine World Wide (NYSE: WWW ) reported second-quarter financial results on Thursday.

The transcript from the company's second-quarter earnings call has been provided below.

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Access the full call at Summary Wolverine World Wide reported better-than-expected revenue growth of 6% and a 14% increase in adjusted earnings per share for the second quarter, driven by strong performance from Merrell and Saucony.

Merrell and Saucony, which account for two-thirds of the company's business, saw revenue increases of 10% and 9%, respectively, with Merrell showing significant market-share gains in the U.S. hike category.

The company raised its full-year 2026 revenue guidance to a range of $1.98 billion to $2.00 billion, reflecting a 6.2% growth at the midpoint, due to strong first-half performance and continued momentum.

Sweaty Betty and Wolverine Brands are on paths to more consistent growth, with Wolverine achieving high single-digit revenue growth and market share gains in the work boot category.

The company's gross margin improved to 46.5%, supported by disciplined cost management and structural improvements, despite tariff-related pressures.

Management highlighted strategic investments in brand-building, product innovation, and marketing, particularly in key city strategies to enhance brand visibility and consumer engagement.

Saucony's global growth and market share gains were emphasized, with a focus on expanding both performance and lifestyle categories.

The company is confident in its inventory levels, which are aligned with the increased revenue outlook, and continues to focus on improving direct-to-consumer sales performance.

Full Transcript Jared, Investor Relations To the ongoing business and constant currency revenue growth rates were reconciled to the most comparable GAAP financial measures in attached tables within the body of the release or on our investor relations website.

I'd also like to remind you that statements describing the Company's expectations, plans, predictions and projections, such as those regarding the Company's outlook for fiscal year 2026, growth opportunities and trends expected to affect the Company's future performance, made during today's conference call are forward-looking statements under U.S. securities laws.

As a result, we must caution you that there are a number of factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements.

These important risk factors are identified in the Company's SEC filings and in our press releases.

All revenue growth rates will be cited on a constant currency basis unless otherwise stated.

With that, I will now turn the call over to Christoph Nagle.

Christoph Nagle Thanks, Jared.

Good morning, everyone.

Thanks for joining us on today's call.

In the second quarter, our business results continued to track ahead of our expectations, driven by the team's strong execution of our global brand-building model.

We delivered better-than-anticipated revenue, growing 6% against double-digit growth last year, with adjusted earnings per share growing 14%, reflecting healthy SG&A leverage, while at the same time investing in our strategic priorities and key growth drivers.

Merrell and Saucony, representing approximately two thirds of our business, continued to lead the way, with revenue up 10% and 9% in the quarter, respectively.

We continue to make progress in building better brands, delivering compelling products, investing more in demand creation and telling better stories, managing the marketplace more effectively, all leading to elevating our brands' positions in their respective markets.

As a result, we're seeing the cumulative tangible effects of our consistent efforts.

Across our portfolio, our brands generated increases in consumer interest and took market share in their key categories, and these gains in consumer demand are creating more consistent growth in the business, with the Company having now delivered seven consecutive quarters of year-over-year growth.

Given the strengthening of our brands, the solid results we drove in the first half, and the continued momentum we're seeing in the business today, we're raising our guidance for the year, which Taryn will walk you through in a few minutes, but before handing the call over to her, I'd like to share more on our brands, including the continued growth of Merrell and Saucony, as well as the progress we're making in applying our playbook to set Sweaty Betty and Wolverine on a path to more consistent growth.

I'll start with Merrell.

Merrell remains focused on modernizing the outside with faster, lighter, more versatile product design and elevated brand relevance.

The brand's consistent execution of its strategy has resulted in sustained, meaningful growth and market-share gains, and these trends continued in the second quarter.

The brand delivered a double-digit increase in revenue, with growth in all regions and outsized increases internationally, where its key city strategy has helped amplify the brand's momentum globally.

Merrell's It Starts Outside marketing platform, launched earlier this year, is creating brand consistency and lifting purchase intent with our consumers.

To extend the platform, the team executed a host of community activations as part of its Outside in the City series, redefining the outdoors in several key global cities including London, Paris and New York, with more cities planned in the coming weeks.

Merrell once again had triple-digit basis point market-share gains in the U.S. hike category, now with three in the top 10 styles.

The brand's key franchises, the Moab 3 and Moab Speed 2, are exceptionally healthy, each driving significant double-digit growth in the second quarter.