Benzinga | Sep 14, 2021 02:02PM EDT

Crocs Announces Co. Expects Crocs Brand To Grow To Over $5B In Sales By 2026

Crocs, Inc. (NASDAQ:CROX), a world leader in innovative casual footwear for women, men, and children, today hosted an event where Chief Executive Officer Andrew Rees and other members of the Crocs leadership team provided an overview of the Company's long-term strategy and key initiatives to deliver sustainable, profitable growth.

"We are incredibly proud of the track record of growth and shareholder value creation since we first embarked on the turnaround of the Crocs brand in 2014," said Andrew Rees, Chief Executive Officer. "Looking forward, we expect the Crocs brand to grow to over $5 billion in sales by 2026. We are confident in our ability to deliver this growth while maintaining industry-leading profitability, creating significant shareholder value, and having a positive impact on our planet and our communities."

We outlined a five-year growth framework to achieve $5 billion in revenues, representing a compound annual growth rate in excess of 17% using the midpoint of the company's 2021 guidance as the base year. Four key drivers underpin this growth -- growing digital sales, gaining market share in sandals, capturing growth in Asia and innovating in product and marketing. With digital remaining a top priority, we expect at least 50% of total revenues to be derived from digital channels by the end of 2026.

As we grow revenue, we expect to deliver high levels of profitability and cash flow. By 2026, we expect Non-GAAP operating margins to exceed 26% and annual free cash flow to surpass $1 billion.

"While COVID-19 and its impact on our manufacturing in Vietnam remains fluid, we are reiterating our full year 2021 guidance provided in July and we are confident in our ability to achieve a 17% compound annual growth rate delivering over $5 billion of revenue by 2026," said Anne Mehlman, Chief Financial Officer.

Share Repurchase Activity

Today we announced that we expect to have repurchased $500.0 million of shares in 2021 by the end of the fiscal third quarter. In addition, we announced we will enter into a new Accelerated Share Repurchase ("ASR") that will conclude by the end of 2021, which will bring total expected repurchases by year end to $1.0 billion.

Earlier this month, the Board of Directors approved an increase to our repurchase authorization such that $1.05 billion will remain available for future common stock repurchases after the announced ASR is completed.