One-glance verdict
Within fair range
$40.05 our estimate vs market $41.90
Wall Street consensus: $52.40 (30.8% higher than our fair-value estimate)
5% above our estimate
Fundamentals snapshot
Steven Madden, Ltd.
SHOO · NMS · Consumer Cyclical · Footwear & Accessories
Current price
$41.90
52-week range
$30.12 - $49.70
Market cap
$3.07B
Balance sheet
Watch
6.60x Adequate
Net debt $282.40M. Interest coverage shows how many times profit covers the interest bill.
What stands out
3 Rewards
2 Risks
3 rewards · 2 risks
- Reward Revenue grew 8.1% last year.
- Reward Returns 15.9% on equity, ahead of 20% of its peers.
- Risk Operating margin compressed from 13.5% to 6.7% over 3 years.
- Risk Insider ownership is only 2.2% (peer median: 2.3%).
What this company does
Steven Madden, Ltd.
Steven Madden designs and sells trendy shoes, handbags, and clothes under well-known brands like Steve Madden and Dolce Vita. The company earns most of its money through its wholesale business (selling in large quantities to department stores and other big retailers), rather than just through its own stores. This matters because the company's success is closely tied to its ability to maintain strong relationships with these major retail partners.
How the company got here
Steven Madden started his company in 1990 with just $1,100, selling shoes with a distinctive chunky, platform style out of the trunk of his car in New York City. The brand quickly gained a following for its trendy and accessible fashion. The company went public in 1993, raising money from investors to expand its operations. Over the years, it has grown from a single footwear label into a larger fashion company by creating new brands and acquiring others, like Dolce Vita and Betsey Johnson.
What it actually does
Steven Madden is a fashion company that designs and sells shoes, handbags, accessories, and apparel. You would recognize their products in department stores, shoe stores, and their own retail locations. The company is known for creating fashion-forward items at prices that are more affordable than luxury brands. They offer a wide variety of styles, from dress shoes and boots to sneakers and sandals, for women, men, and children.
Wholesale Footwear
This is the company's largest business segment, making up a significant portion of its sales. In this part of the business, Steven Madden sells its footwear brands to other retailers, like department stores (such as Macy's and Nordstrom), online retailers, and shoe chains. Those stores then sell the shoes to everyday shoppers. This is a common business model called wholesale, where a company sells its products in bulk to other businesses rather than directly to individual customers.
Wholesale Accessories/Apparel
Similar to the footwear business, this segment involves selling Steven Madden's handbags, belts, scarves, and clothing to other retailers. This part of the company has grown as Steven Madden has expanded beyond shoes to become a broader fashion brand. It includes products under various brand names that the company owns, like Betsey Johnson and Anne Klein. This segment also creates private label products, which means they design and make accessories for other retailers who then sell them under their own store brand name.
Direct-to-Consumer
This segment is how the company sells its products directly to shoppers, without a middleman. It includes the company's own brick-and-mortar retail stores that you might see in a shopping mall, as well as its e-commerce websites where customers can buy products online. This direct relationship allows the company to control the customer experience and gather immediate feedback on what styles are popular. This part of the business represents a substantial portion of the company's total revenue.
Licensing
This is a smaller but still important part of the business. In this segment, Steven Madden allows other companies to use its brand names, like Steve Madden and Betsey Johnson, on products that it doesn't manufacture itself, such as outerwear, sunglasses, and home goods. In return for the use of its well-known brand name, Steven Madden receives a payment, typically a percentage of the sales, known as a royalty. This allows the brand to expand into new product categories without having to invest in the manufacturing process.
What management is betting on now
The company's leadership is focused on growing into a global lifestyle brand, expanding beyond its core footwear business. A key part of this strategy is international expansion, as a large majority of their sales currently come from the United States. They are also investing in their direct-to-consumer channels, like their e-commerce websites, to build a stronger relationship with customers. Additionally, the company is making acquisitions (buying other companies) to add new brands and product categories to its portfolio.
Price history
How the share price has moved
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Earnings history
Last 8 quarters — what happened
Click any quarter to read the call summary and what the numbers say.
FY2024 Q3
$-12.22M
FY2024 Q4
$99.88M
FY2025 Q1
$-28.68M
FY2025 Q2
$58.80M
FY2025 Q3
$8.62M
FY2025 Q4
$80.81M
FY2026 Q1
$-61.24M
FY2026 Q2
$196.09M
Revenue
$665.87M
Net income
$27.73M
Diluted EPS
0.38
Operating cash flow
$204.60M
Free cash flow
$196.09M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$653.10M
Net income
$71.82M
Diluted EPS
1.00
Operating cash flow
$-55.34M
Free cash flow
$-61.24M
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Sources
Revenue
$753.70M
Net income
—
Diluted EPS
0.33
Operating cash flow
$91.13M
Free cash flow
$80.81M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$667.88M
Net income
$20.53M
Diluted EPS
0.29
Operating cash flow
$23.44M
Free cash flow
$8.62M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$559.00M
Net income
$-39.48M
Diluted EPS
-0.56
Operating cash flow
$66.47M
Free cash flow
$58.80M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$553.53M
Net income
$40.42M
Diluted EPS
0.57
Operating cash flow
$-18.83M
Free cash flow
$-28.68M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$582.32M
Net income
—
Diluted EPS
0.49
Operating cash flow
$103.85M
Free cash flow
$99.88M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$624.67M
Net income
$55.28M
Diluted EPS
0.77
Operating cash flow
$444.00K
Free cash flow
$-12.22M
Fetching…
Sources
Is it cheap or expensive?
Fair value $40.05 vs current price $41.90
Wall Street consensus is the average analyst price target: $52.40 (30.8% higher than our fair-value estimate).
Our most-likely fair value is $40.05 a share — about 4.4% away from today's price of $41.90, so the stock currently looks fairly priced.
Is it drowning in debt?
Watch
Net debt $282.4M. Interest coverage 6.6x.
Net debt
$282.40M
Interest coverage
6.60x
Steven Madden, Ltd.'s profit covers its interest bill about 6.6 times over.
Watch
Worse cushion
Baseline
Better cushion
SHOO
BASELINE
Steven Madden, Ltd.
Total debt $377.14M Interest coverage 6.60x This is the baseline the peer rows are being compared against.
Total debt $745.40M Interest coverage 4.58x -31% vs SHOO Carries about 1.4x less debt cushion than SHOO.
Total debt $1.69B Interest coverage 10.05x +52% vs SHOO Carries about 1.5x more debt cushion than SHOO.
Total debt $2.25B Interest coverage 7.30x +11% vs SHOO Has roughly the same debt cushion as SHOO.
Total debt $472.33M Interest coverage 499.17x +7,461% vs SHOO Carries about 75.6x more debt cushion than SHOO.
What you should know
The case for and against SHOO
3 Rewards
2 Risks
Rewards
-
Revenue grew 8.1% last year.
-
Returns 15.9% on equity, ahead of 20% of its peers.
-
Free cash flow was positive in 10/10 years.
Risks
-
Operating margin compressed from 13.5% to 6.7% over 3 years.
-
Insider ownership is only 2.2% (peer median: 2.3%).
The numbers
All the key metrics, grouped by purpose
Tap any ? icon to learn what it means.
Valuation
How expensive the stock looks
P/E (TTM)
20.95x
Forward P/E
15.08x
P/B
3.26x
P/S
1.12x
EV/EBITDA
12.60x
PEG ratio
2.17x
Profitability
How much profit each dollar creates
Gross margin
46.9%
Operating margin
6.7%
Net margin
5.2%
ROE
15.9%
ROA
8.1%
Health
Liquidity and balance-sheet strength
Debt / equity
0.39x
Current ratio
1.91x
Quick ratio
1.02x
Total debt
$377.14M
Total cash
$94.74M
Growth
How the business has been compounding
Revenue TTM
$2.74B
Revenue 5Y CAGR
7.9%
EPS TTM
2.00
EPS 5Y CAGR
-39.0%
Cash flow
How much cash the business throws off
Operating CF TTM
$263.83M
Free CF TTM
$119.54M
FCF margin
4.4%
Dividend
Shareholder payout
Yield
1.9%
Payout ratio
42.0%
Last ex-div date
2026-09-11