Levi Strauss Raises Full-Year Outlook After Earnings Beat; Shares Fall on Margin Concerns

Core Insights - Levi Strauss & Co. raised its full-year revenue and profit forecast after a stronger-than-expected quarterly performance driven by robust denim demand and growth in direct-to-consumer sales [1] - Despite the positive outlook, shares fell over 11% following Morgan Stanley's analysis indicating disappointing profitability flow-through from the upgraded guidance [1] Financial Performance - For Q3, Levi reported earnings of $0.34 per share, exceeding Wall Street's consensus estimate of $0.30 [1] - Revenue increased to $1.54 billion from $1.50 billion year-over-year, surpassing analyst expectations of $1.50 billion [1] Future Guidance - The company now forecasts fiscal 2025 adjusted earnings of $1.27 to $1.32 per share, up from the previous range of $1.25 to $1.30 [2] - Levi raised its reported net revenue growth outlook to around 3%, an increase from the prior estimate of 1% to 2% [2] - Projected organic growth is now roughly 6%, compared to the earlier estimate of 4.5% to 5.5% [2] Margin Expectations - Gross margin is expected to expand by 100 basis points this year, an increase from the prior forecast of 80 basis points [2] - Adjusted EBIT margin is anticipated to remain between 11.4% and 11.6% [2]