Ripples From Wall Street: Quiksilver's Bumpy Ride
The ripples from the Wall Street crash have finally reached the coast.
In the six weeks since the economic meltdown the stocks of many large surf companies have plummeted substantially. Billabong have lost approximately 30% of their value on the sharemarket, Volcom roughly the same.
However, the biggest casualty in the surf industry has been Quiksilver. One could say that there is never a good time for an economic crash, though in Quiksilver's case the timing was particularly bad.
The state of their shares bear this out: as of today Quiksilver shares are $1.04. A year ago they were $15.
The main reason for Quiksilver's plunge is their purchase of Rossignol in 2005. Quiksilver paid US$560M for the French snowsport manufacturer and in hindsight it was an injudicious buy. Even before the purchase Rossignol were underperforming and heavily in debt. Quiksilver acquired that debt when they took over the company.
Add to that production of expensive winter hardgoods that left them financially exposed to the unpredictable nature of both fashion trends and weather cycles. Other factors added to their woes; unsuccessful integration of manufacturing processes; slow down in discretionary spending; and finally, the credit crunch. The deck was firmly stacked against Quiksilver.
And the venture failed. Last week Quiksilver finalised the sale of Rossignol, selling it for US$147M. A loss of approx US$400M in three years. (An interesting sidenote: the company that bought Rossignol, Chartreuse & Mont Blanc, are majority owned by Macquarie Group. They are everywhere).
On Tuesday Quiksilver's CEO Bob McKnight issued a press release saying that in the future Quiksilver were going to focus on their traditional products: "We're delighted that we can now return to our roots, do what we do best and once again fully concentrate our efforts on our core apparel and footwear brands."
They were upbeat words in the face of a grave situation. They also mark a change in strategy for Quiksilver. In the last ten years they had an agenda of expansion that took them far beyond their surfwear origins.
Following the lead of conglomerates that expanded beyond their initial industry Quiksilver diversified its interests. Their reach extending into snow, skate, music, fashion, cars (the Peugeot Quiksilver) and mobile phones accessories. They sold their products in over 90 countries. In short, Quiksilver had been empire building.
However, as many large companies learnt in recent weeks, the rules of business have suddenly been re-written. Size and scope of operations are now serious considerations as companies may be burdened by debt or practices unfamiliar to them.
Quiksilver are hoping that by consolidating and specialising they can weather this storm.
**********
So one of surfing's iconic brands is struggling and altering it's operation to stay afloat, what will this mean to surfers?
Well, for most of us....not much. For most surfers, the sharemarket machinations hold very little interest and, in reality, they have no bearing on their surfing experience. As long as someone is making wetsuits, boards and boardies they will be happy.
However, as Quiksilver is such a large and pervasive company there will be many interesting changes. At least interesting to those inclined to find such things interesting...
I expect pro-surfing will be adversely affected. Quiksilver, being one of the largest sponsors of surfers and events, will have less money to fund them. As it is, the ASP have just released the 2009 WCT tour dates and Quiksilver are still slated to hold their events at Snapper and Hossegor for the men and Snapper and Honolua for the women.
However, they have recently withdrawn from a slew of events in 2009 - the Roxy WQS at Phillip Island, the Quiksilver National State Titles, and the Roxy Surf Jam that has been held nation-wide for the last 10 years. On the 'CT front they withdrew from the Roxy Fiji Pro last year.
It's worth noting here that Globe have cancelled their Fiji comp for next year too. The official line is political unrest, though a share price of just $0.20 wouldn't help.
As for sponsorship of surfers, last week 16-year-old Hawaiian surfer Carissa Moore left the Quiksilver stable for Nike 6.0 and Red Bull. Her deal is reportedly worth a staggering $500,000 per year. Moore is the first big-name competitive surfer to take a non-surf sponsor, after Kelly Slater and Jordy Smith both famously turned down mainstream dollars. It's an extreme case, but I wonder if this is a hint at the future; surfers seeking sponsorship outside the industry, and in the process non-surf companies extending their influence in surfing.
Maybe the days of the 'big three' monopoly are numbered? Maybe Quiksilver's strategy of containment will mean they can no longer afford the stratospheric wages of the modern surfer. Maybe that's a good thing.
Comments
Stumbled across this old article of Stu's (written back in November 2008, when our old site didn't have a comment section) - interesting to read the state of play back then.
Two interesting additions to make:
(1) Quiksilver's share price is currently around $6.45 (and was as high as $8.00 in May of this year), and
(2) As of last week, Macquarie Group (via Chartreuse et Mont Blanc) no longer owns Rossignol.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/wall-street-journal/macquarie-o...
Another development in this story - Quiksilver has just sold it snowboarding subsidiary Mervin Manufacturing, which makes snowboarding products under the Gnu and Lib Tech brands.
http://www.ocbj.com/news/2013/oct/23/quiksilver-sells-snowboarding-subsidiary/
Apparently Mervin was sold for $51.5 million.
http://www.ocbj.com/news/2013/oct/28/quiksilver-sells-mervin-515m/
More news from Quiksilver - they've "unveiled plans to pursue the sale and exit of several more noncore businesses".
"The businesses Quiksilver plans to shed include Surfdome Shop Ltd., Hawk Designs, Inc., its Moskova brand and its business under license with Maui & Sons."
http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20131203-705262.html?dsk=y
Gut feeling - this is to counter balance the potential for less-than-favourable news next week (Quiksilver are due to release the fiscal fourth-quarter financial results on Dec 12). Last quarter, their earnings fell 84% due to "restructuring-related charges, asset write-downs and other items, as well as lower revenue".
Ben, either ZQk's mgmt succeeds with these basic strategies to increase their share price, or someone else will with a bid for all shares.
Stay tuned.
And the results are in. "For the latest period, Quiksilver reported a loss of $171.1 million. Revenue fell 10% to $475.9 million. The drop was led by a 25% decline at its DC brand."
ZQK shares bottomed out at $7.49 last Thursday morning (same day as the Q4 annoucement), but jumped to $8.62 the following morning, before closing at $8.28.
Got me baffled how the machine works. Apparently B. Riley & Co have a "target share price of $10.00".
From Dec 13: "The apparel retailer’s shares are ripping higher today, up as much as 12% earlier in the session to touch $8.68 despite reporting a fourth-quarter loss and sales that missed analyst estimates. The stock moved lower in after-hours trading on Thursday, but reversed course on Friday in part on an upgrade to ‘Buy’ from ‘Neutral’ with a target share price of $10.00 up from $6.50 at B. Riley."
http://www.theoptionsinsider.com/unusualactivity/?p=100027895
Apparently Quiksilver are closing all of their UK stores.
http://www.thisiscornwall.co.uk/Quiksilver-latest-wave-closures/story-20...
apparently King Charlie don't surf.
Quiksilver have announced a new business venture: hotels.
http://www.ocbj.com/news/2014/jan/03/quiksilver-pushes-into-hotels
Ben, are you doubting that this brand name transfers well to the hoey moey biz?
Actually, as a business venture I think the hotel opportunity could end up doing really well. Certainly not my cup of tea but there's a big market for this kind of thing.
Quiksilver have sold the 'Tony Hawk' and 'Hawk' signature apparel brands for $19 million to Cherokee Inc.
http://online.wsj.com/article/PR-CO-20140113-905496.html
Getting out of clothing and into accommodation? The Byron Bay experiment has obviously worked. Surfers and snowboarders are relatively affluent but still want to be cool and groovy, staying at the local Hilton or whatever might suit their need for creature comforts but doesn't help their " cred". Sad and pathetic really but it will probably work.
"Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP, a leading national securities firm headquartered in New York City, is investigating the Board of Directors of Quiksilver, Inc For Potential Breaches of Fiduciary Duties".
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/faruqi-faruqi-llp-launches-an-investiga...
Yikes. ZQK shares are down 30% in "after hours trading" after they reported results for its fiscal second quarter (which was a quarterly net loss of 15c per share, which is more than the 2c loss per share that had been expected by analysts).
At close of trade (US time) ZQK shares were trading at $5.79. Currently it’s showing a share price of just $4.07.
Two and a half months ago on March 18th, ZQK shares were trading at $8.25; on January 3rd they were trading around $9.00.
It's got worse over the last few hours: now down to $3.55 in "pre-market" share trades (down $2.24 or 39% since close of business yesterday).
Apparently, market participants have tuned Quiksilver into Slow Lead.
ZQK ended up finishing the day at $3.41 (down $2.38 or 41.11%), of which their market capitalisation dropped from $987 million to $581 million in just 24 hours. That is, the public opinion of Quiksilver's net worth dropped by $406 million in a day. Crikey.
Wow. Quiksilver shares have continued to slide over the last month, and yesterday reached $3.06 (closing at $3.09) - their lowest point since 26 October 2012.
looks like andy mooneys hurley imitation strategy is going down like a fart in a lift
.
Without wanting to provide daily commentary on the share price, it's worth noting that ZQK actually dipped below $3 ($2.99) overnight, before settling at $3.02 at the end of business.
There haven't been any major announcements from Quiksilver in recent times, other than they had "entered into licensing agreements for several product categories, including Roxy young girls and children's apparel, watches and socks/legwear, as well as other product categories including luggage, beach towels and surfboards." (source)
However here's some interesting news: back in January they announced an "exclusive license agreement with Matteson Capital", who were looking to raise $250 million for the "acquisition, repositioning, development, and operation of active lifestyle hotels and resorts throughout the world’s most popular travel and leisure destinations."
"The release also said that Quiksilver Hotels & Resorts properties will be designed around the surf-inspired culture associated with the Quiksilver brand."
And according to Shop Eat Surf earlier this month, "The first hotel may be in Palm Desert. Yesterday, Matteson signed an exclusive negotiating agreement with the city to buy 80 acres of land for development of an eco-friendly Quiksilver resort hotel, wave pools, and retail shops – all within the Desert Willow Golf Resort, Quiksilver said."
with Slater wavepools?
Freeride if you don't start showing some enthusiasm for wave pools the Swellnet team excursion to the Webber pool on the Sunny Coast is going to see you left on the bus with the windows open a few centimetres.
Lmao
dogs die in hot cars.
So, do i buy now or not?!
And the slow slide continues. ZQK bottomed out at $2.81 yesterday, settling in at $2.84 at close of business.
Compare this to just seven months ago, when in early January ZQK stock was valued at around $9.
"Quiksilver shares fell after hours as the company on Thursday reported third-quarter sales were lower than expected. The company's stock dropped 13%, to $2.45, in recent after-hours trading."
http://online.wsj.com/articles/quiksilver-reports-lower-than-expected-sa...
$2.45? ZQK stock hasn't been this low since 13th July 2012. Will be interesting to see what happens tomorrow.
Regional breakdown:
Americas net revenues decreased 27% to $191 million
EMEA net revenues decreased 13% to $143 million
APAC net revenues decreased 2% to $62 million
And brand breakdown:
Quiksilver decreased $30 million, or 17%, to $143 million
Roxy decreased $12 million, or 9%, to $119 million
DC decreased $57 million, or 34%, to $109 million
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/quiksilver-reports-third-quarter-financ...
Wow.
"Quiksilver shares plunged 30% to a near five-year low... and.. have lost 77% so far this year, compared with an 8% gain in the S&P 500.
The stock was trading at $1.97 midday Friday, the lowest price seen since Dec. 22, 2009."
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/quiksilver-shares-tumble-to-near-5-year...
Seems the main problem here is that this (Q3) was the fourth consecutive quarter where Quiksilver revenues had dropped much more than analysts had estimated.
Another wow. Quiksilver stocks dropped to as low as $1.65 overnight (lowest since 10th July 2009), before rebounding to close at $1.86.
Will there be a revival ? Are the gromms wearing this gear ?
Problem is the girls are in wetsuits in france.
Another notable drop overnight, bottoming out at $1.60 (lowest since 10th July 2009), before closing at $1.72.
Yet another big drop last night, bottoming out at $1.40 (lowest price since 3rd April 2009) before closing at $1.57.
Quiksilver shares rebounded overnight, on the news that they're changing the leadership team.
- Bob McKnight is retiring (although will remain a Director and major shareholder)
- Pierre Agnes has been promoted to President of Quiksilver (taking over from Andy Mooney, who spent 21 months in the position following on from Bob McKnight, who held the position from 1979 thru' 1991, and then 2008 thru' Jan 2013)
- Andy Mooney has been elected Chairman of the Board of Directors
ZQK shares closed at $1.80, up 14.65%.
A sobering read.
"It seems reasonable to expect that Quiksilver, Inc. is less than six months away from Chapter 11 bankruptcy".
http://seekingalpha.com/article/2573785-quiksilver-restructuring-the-qui...
Andy Mooneys' "Plan" has been a fcuking disaster.
Wonder what sort of golden handshake he'll get .
ZQK shares actually had a good trading period recently, reaching $2.11 in the last week of November. But they've started to dive again, currently down to $1.68. Not sure if this is in anticipation that they're set to announce its Q414 earnings results in two days' time.
Yikes. Dropped another 10% overnight, bottoming out at $1.51 before closing at $1.52 (16c on yesterday).
And from the Q4 '14 earnings results:
"Fourth quarter revenues came in at $400.65 million, well below estimates of $430.36 million and the $475.91 million reported in the year-ago period. The fourth quarter loss per share was $0.29, more than the estimated loss of $0.11. Quiksilver traded at $1.40 in the after-hours session, down 5.40 percent."
http://www.benzinga.com/news/earnings/14/12/5075550/quiksilver-disappoin...
Seems the market really liked the Q4 '14 earnings results (despite negative press): ZQK shares jumped 32%, today finishing at $1.96! Wow.
Stu brah, Markets are forward looking, so the released numbers have already been baked into this cupcake...
Overall markets have been weak as of late, so there may be just a bit of those who were short covering their boardshorts short position.
Meow.... dead cat bounce?
Time will tell.
ZQK shares have continued an impressive upwards trend over the last week, closing yesterday at $2.26.
$2.72! Amazing that just eight days ago ZQK shares bottomed out at $1.40. I wonder what the catalyst for the surge is?
After reaching $2.72 less than a month ago, Quik shares have again fallen away - currently at $2.05, although they did spend a couple of days under $2.
"In its latest fiscal year ... Quiksilver was negatively impacted by an increase in promotional activity, a trend that more than offset its success at cutting overhead spending, especially in the marketing area".
An increase in promotional activity? I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. If anything, Quiksilver (at least in Australia) seemed to reduce their surf marketing spend - so perhaps this 'increase' was through non-core channels?
http://seekingalpha.com/article/2798365-be-careful-betting-on-the-story-at-quiksilver
Interesting development this morning. Quiksilver were meant to post quarterly earnings tomorrow, but have postponed the release (plus the conference call/webcast), "as a result of a revenue cut-off issue identified by management and brought to the attention of the Audit Committee".
Apparently the next Board of Directors meeting (March 16th) is when they'll announce the postponed earnings release date.
As a result of this, their share price dropped 7% to $1.82. It's been on a slow slide since 9th February when they were trading at $2.43.
Anyway... cue the legal firms:
Pomerantz Law Firm Investigates Claims On Behalf of Investors of Quiksilver Inc
Block & Leviton LLP Investigates Quiksilver, Inc. for Possible Violations of the Federal Securities Laws
"... as a result of a revenue cut-off issue ..."
mmm, wonder if income being under reported, or over reported ???
And, how far back the issue has been occurring.
Another law firm lines up:
"Harwood Feffer LLP is investigating potential claims against the board of directors of Quiksilver, Inc, concerning whether the board has breached its fiduciary duties to shareholders."
Some insiders look to have been trading rumours would be my jaded explanation of the volatility.
Billabong has been going nowhere for a year so as an indicator of general market sentiment the Quik price volatility looks unusual........is there any info that some other company is stalking them?
Well, IF, there is an over reporting of income issue and the board has let it slip to a few of their mates, well ...
Then again, if it is under reporting of income, and it's been let slip ahead of the announcement to the market as a whole, well, again, ouch ...
Both would be reason enough for some share volatility !!!
Law firm #4 enters the fray...
"Ryan & Maniskas, LLP has commenced an investigation into potential securities law violations by certain officers of Quiksilver Inc."
Introducing law firm #5...
"The Rosen Law Firm, P.A., a global investor rights law firm, announces it is investigating potential securities claims on behalf of shareholders of Quiksilver Inc. (NYSE:ZQK) resulting from allegations that Quiksilver may have issued materially misleading business information to the investing public."
Bloody hell. America, eh?
: ... allegations that Quiksilver may have issued materially misleading business information to the investing public."
Well, that would suggest it is not insider trading, but rather the formal reports issued and signed off by, the board. Read In context with:
"as a result of a revenue cut-off issue identified by management and brought to the attention of the Audit Committee".
I'd be guessing it is:
a) an over reporting of income issue (i.e. sales reported but not dispatched), or
b) a stock issue (i.e. counted as sold and still on hand stock), or
c) false sales (i.e. recorded sales to fictitious customers on account terms)
d) all or any combination of the above.
I would think the external auditors would be shitting themselves.
Sure, the board issues the reports, but they are subject to audit. Hell, that's why they get audited so the public has some confidence in the figures reported by the board.
You'll probably be introducing laws firms 6 through 265 soon Ben, especially if it's found the auditors missed the issue(s). Class action anyone?
And here's the sixth entity looking to undertake an "investigation for investors in Quiksilver, Inc. shares over potential securities laws violations".
The company is called "Shareholders Foundation" and their website states they "are a professional loss-prevention, settlement recovery, portfolio monitoring service. Specializing in securities class action and other legal actions that affect investor holdings and may lead to loss recovery."
http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/2490900
Wow. Quiksilver CEO Andy Mooney is "no longer with the company", according to a press release issued late yesterday. Seems to be an abrupt announcement for a rather significant change of business leadership.
Richard Shields - Quiksilver CFO since April 2012 - has also just left the company.
Pierre Agnes now has the top job, Greg Healy has been promoted to President, and Bob McKnight has been appointed Chairman. Thomas Chambolle (formerly Quik's EMEA Region CFO) will take the Primary CFO role.
ZQK shares dropped 15% on the news.
G'Day to all the true believers of the great surfing dream.
Prepare for the end of your dreams. The truth is on the way! The great fraud.
Who in their right mind would umbrella sponsor a circus like this.
Good bye Billabong...bye bye "Quikies". Hello Rip Curl, Volcom and Da Hiu(who would've thought that).
Perfectly..."off topic".
C Ya!
is it a good time to buy shares they got to go up rite? any thoughts thanks
"The Rosen Law Firm announces that it is has filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of shareholders of Quiksilver Inc. resulting from the Company's announcement that it has postponed the release of its first-quarter results."
http://www.rosenlegal.com/cases-536.html
The Defendants are Quiksilver Inc., former CEO Andy Mooney and former CFO Richard Shields (Andy was fired last week, and Richard resigned at the same time). See here for the Complaint.
G'Day!
Luxury discretionary sales(global) fell like a stone from 2008. Mysteriously publicly listed surf companies continued to seek sales and debt in the same dollar realm as the past right into the 2010's. Some of these companies expanded and asked for more investor capital input. Wow.
Some refused to allow an escape door for their trusting victims who demanded an exit. Wow.
Now the modern face of surfing is being exposed. Wow!
ZQK shares dropped to $1.27 overnight, their lowest point since 20th March 2009. Not sure what may be driving this as there hasn't been much recent news, although they did announce Friday that they'll be releasing Q2 financials on 9th June.
A huge tumble overnight due to "weaker-than-expected results in the April quarter" - ZQK shares bottomed out at 75c (lowest price since 2nd April 1993 - that's 22 years ago) before regaining a little and settling at 85c - a share drop of 39c, or 32%. Market capitalisation is now $233M.
Another drop to 67c overnight before settling at 69c. They're almost level with BBG (currently at 56c).
And it continues to slide: ZQK's share price is now 56c, the same price as Billabong.
Except BBG’s market cap is $564 million compared to Quik’s $107 million.
hey Ben ..do you think that the latest Press release from the CEO...which basically says ahh....Product is good,we are going back to our roots,we are not forecasting for the 2nd 1/2 of the year......but this years forecast are not achievable........Quik have still not
from a CEO that lives in France...sacked a CEO who was a heavy hitter in the USA business community...the CFO then abruptly left......investigations into impropriety from directors....
looks like all the institutions dropped them ...cut their losses ......which happened to BBG....the surfers who took quik into so mauch debt..are back ...with no real plan ..except we are going back to our roots??
Looks like amateur hour again?
Yeah I read the press release. But to be honest every press release from every company in this position is always putting a positive spin on things. The only difference this time 'round seems to be that they declined to give a forward estimate which is probably why everyone's selling their shares.
Having not been involved in a company of this size before, I find it difficult to get a grip on their business decisions, which are obviously made with a view to bring a return to their shareholders.
But where to from here? Despite their own share price woes, Billabong seem to have a clear idea what they want to do, and how they're going to do it - but this isn't yet apparent from Quiksilver IMO.
With a share price where it now is maybe another company will make a play for them? Billabong even? But their real problem remains the huge debt on their balance sheet and that dates way back to Rossignol so maybe the vultures will wait a bit longer...
After reaching a low point of 51c a few days ago, ZQK shares have rebounded back to 85c. A tidy return if you were prepared to take a punt!
ZQK reached as high as 94c on Monday - a massive increase from 51c the previous week - but we're now on the downwards trend again, back to around 60c. Very volatile indeed.