Caleres Experiences Third Quarter Decline Post Stuart Weitzman Purchase

The U.S. group Caleres, one of the world’s largest groups in the footwear segment, closed the third quarter with plummeting profitability. The company, which has managed to beat analysts’ forecasts in terms of sales, has reduced its net result by more than 96% in the last three months of the year.

The company sealed the purchase of Stuart Weitzman from Tapestry last August, although the deal had been announced in February, and is valued at $105 million. With this move, Caleres wants to consolidate its women’s footwear business, where it operates the Vince and Veronica Beard brands.

According to the company, the change in U.S. tariff policy has put pressure on profitability in the third quarter, the period ended November 1. The group ended the period with an operating profit of $11.97 million, a decline of 78.88% compared to the same period in 2024. Net income, meanwhile, fell by 96.52% to $1.43 million.

Caleres reported a 6.63% increase in sales in the third quarter of the current fiscal year

“With the recent addition of Stuart Weitzman, the Brand Portfolio division now generates nearly half of our sales and more than half of our operating income,“ said Jay Schmidt, group president and CEO. “As we expected, we have experienced pressure on our revenues due to tariffs and near-term acquisition dilution; however, the fundamentals of our business are improving,“ he added.

Caleres’ third-quarter sales were $790.05 million, up 6.63% from $740.94 million in the same period last year.

“During the remainder of the year, we will work to move the Stuart Weitzman business onto Caleres’ systems and liquidate old and excess inventory, while refining our strategies for the long-term growth and profitability of the brand,“ the CEO stressed; “ in fiscal 2026, we will begin to leverage synergies to reduce costs.

In the first nine months of the year, the company’s sales stagnated at $2.06 billion. The group’s operating income, meanwhile, fell by 76.88% to $32.84 million, while net income fell from $102.33 million in the first nine months of 2024 to $16.04 million in 2025.