By Claudia Assis, MarketWatch

Bloomberg News/Landov
Skechers USA Inc. shares rallied in premarket trade Friday, after the shoe retailer reported second-quarter earnings that topped Wall Street views.
Skechers /zigman2/quotes/201784799/composite SKX +2.18% said it earned $75 million, or 49 cents a share, in the quarter, compared with $45 million, or 29 cents a share, in the year-ago quarter. Sales rose 11% to $1.26 billion, the company said.
Analysts polled by FactSet had expected GAAP earnings of 33 cents a share on sales of $1.22 billion.
Comparable-store sales rose 4.9%, including a 4.2% increase in the U.S., the company said.
“We experienced growth in every region, with the biggest dollar increases coming from India, the Middle East and China, as well as in Mexico with the conversion of the business to a joint venture,” Skechers Chief Operating Officer David Weinberg said in a statement.
Skechers forecast third-quarter sales between $1.325 billion to $1.350 billion, and diluted earnings per share between 65 cents and 70 cents.
Shares of Skechers were up 13.4% premarket and have gained 52% in 2019 so far, while the S&P 500 /zigman2/quotes/210599714/realtime SPX +0.86% has gained 19%.


