Zacks Analyst Blog Features Crocs, On Holding, Ralph Lauren, Kontoor, and Boot Barn
Holiday Sales Outlook: The 2025-26 holiday sales season in the U.S. is underway, with economists monitoring consumer spending trends, which are expected to grow but at a muted rate due to economic uncertainties and changing consumer preferences.
Recommended Stocks: Zacks Equity Research highlights five apparel and footwear stocks with strong growth potential for Black Friday, including Crocs Inc., On Holding AG, Ralph Lauren Corp., Kontoor Brands Inc., and Boot Barn Holdings Inc., all carrying favorable Zacks Ranks.
Company Performance Insights: Crocs is innovating with new product lines and collaborations, while On Holding shows significant revenue and earnings growth potential. Ralph Lauren is focusing on digital transformation and operational agility to enhance consumer engagement.
Market Positioning: Despite challenges in the apparel and footwear industry, the Zacks Retail – Apparel and Shoes sector ranks in the top 26%, indicating potential for market outperformance in the coming months.
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- Significant Revenue Growth: Boot Barn reported a 16% year-over-year revenue increase to $706 million in Q3, driven by new store openings and a 5.7% same-store sales growth, reflecting strong performance across major merchandise categories and geographies.
- New Store Opening Plans: The company plans to open 15 new stores in Q4, targeting a total of 70 new stores for the fiscal year, with new stores expected to generate approximately $3.2 million in annual sales in their first year, achieving payback in less than two years, thereby strengthening market position.
- E-commerce Sales Growth: Online same-store sales grew by 19.6%, with the successful launch of exclusive brand sites attracting a significant number of new customers, indicating success in the omnichannel strategy and enhancing customer base and market share.
- Margin Improvement: The gross profit margin increased to 39.9%, up 60 basis points year-over-year, and despite pressures from freight and shrink costs, the company plans to raise prices on some exclusive brand products in Q4 to support margin expansion.
- Strong Performance by CACI: CACI's earnings report showcased robust margin expansion and free cash flow generation despite a sluggish award environment, prompting analysts to raise their price target from $670 to $750, reflecting confidence in its continued dominance.
- Growth in Real Estate Investment Trust: Equity LifeStyle Properties reported strong business performance in January, leading analysts to upgrade the stock from neutral to buy, as its age-restricted mobile home portfolio benefits from demographic trends, with steady rent increases contributing to an 8% rise in stock price this year.
- Turning Point for Teledyne: Teledyne exceeded revenue expectations in January, with analysts noting that short-cycle recovery will drive margin expansion, while strong growth in the drone market is anticipated, resulting in a 27% increase in stock price since the beginning of the year.
- Boot Barn's Sustained Growth: Boot Barn continues to show consistent sales momentum, with analysts reiterating a buy rating, arguing that its 21x P/E ratio does not fully reflect its best-in-class growth profile, as third-quarter results aligned with prior expectations, indicating strong market performance.
- Amazon Downgrade: DA Davidson downgraded Amazon from Buy to Neutral, citing concerns that Amazon Web Services (AWS) is losing market share amid competition from Microsoft and Google, indicating a potential need for increased investment to regain its leading position in the cloud computing sector.
- Merit Medical Initiation: BTIG initiated coverage on Merit Medical with a Buy rating, highlighting its comprehensive product portfolio used across various interventional procedures, which underscores the company's high-quality positioning and growth potential in the medical device market.
- JBS Buy Rating: UBS initiated coverage on Brazilian meat company JBS with a Buy rating and a price target of $19.5 per share, implying a 23% upside, reflecting market confidence in its re-rating and potential stock price appreciation.
- Vistra Upgrade: Goldman Sachs upgraded Vistra from Neutral to Buy, projecting a potential EBITDA increase of 3-9% by 2028, indicating investor optimism regarding its future profitability and growth prospects in the nuclear energy sector.
- Qualcomm's Earnings Downgrade: Qualcomm's forecast was downgraded due to a global memory shortage, expecting adjusted earnings between $2.45 and $2.65 per share and revenue of $10.2 billion to $11 billion, significantly below analysts' expectations of $11.11 billion, resulting in an over 8% stock drop.
- Alphabet's Strong Earnings: Alphabet reported fourth-quarter earnings that exceeded expectations, with strong performance in revenue and Google Cloud, while YouTube ad revenue was $11.38 billion, slightly below the anticipated $11.84 billion, leading to a 1% stock increase.
- Boot Barn Raises Guidance: Boot Barn raised its full-year earnings guidance to $7.25 to $7.35 per share, surpassing the consensus estimate of $7.31, which contributed to a 5% increase in its stock price.
- Align Technology's Impressive Results: Align Technology reported fourth-quarter earnings of $3.29 per share, exceeding the LSEG consensus estimate of $2.97, with revenue of $1.05 billion also surpassing expectations, resulting in a stock surge of over 11%.
- Performance Beat: Boot Barn reported Q3 net sales of $705.3 million, reflecting a 16% year-over-year increase that surpassed the $693.75 million estimate, indicating robust performance in both retail and e-commerce sectors.
- Sales Outlook Raised: The company has raised its fiscal year sales guidance to a range of $2.24 billion to $2.25 billion, up from the previous forecast of $2.197 billion to $2.235 billion, reflecting optimism about market demand.
- Same-Store Sales Growth: Same-store sales growth is now expected to be between 6.5% and 7.0%, with e-commerce same-store sales projected to grow by 14.5% to 15.0%, showcasing strong momentum in online sales.
- Earnings Per Share Forecast: Boot Barn anticipates earnings per share in the range of $7.25 to $7.35, representing a 5% increase from the midpoint of the previous range, further solidifying investor confidence in the company's profitability.
- Earnings Release Date: Boot Barn is set to announce its Q3 earnings on February 4th after market close, with a consensus EPS estimate of $2.77, reflecting a 14% year-over-year growth, indicating sustained profitability.
- Revenue Expectations: The revenue for Q3 is projected to reach $704.84 million, representing a 15.9% year-over-year increase, which highlights the company's steady sales growth amid strong market demand, further solidifying its market position.
- Performance Beat Record: Over the past year, Boot Barn has beaten EPS estimates 75% of the time and revenue estimates 50% of the time, showcasing the company's financial stability and market confidence.
- Estimate Revision Trends: In the last three months, EPS estimates have seen 13 upward revisions and no downward adjustments, while revenue estimates have experienced 11 upward revisions and one downward, indicating analysts' optimistic outlook on the company's future performance.










