PUMA just reported a quarter that looks like progress if you only read the headline. Sales landed at EUR 1.78 billion ($1.98 billion), down 5 percent. For every dollar it sold, PUMA kept about 49.5 cents after making and shipping the shoes, up from 45.4 cents a year ago. It went from burning EUR 43 million ($48 million) in cash to bringing in EUR 92 million ($103 million), and the company narrowed its full-year loss forecast. Shares rose on the news.
And here is where I like to think I separate myself from most coverage of this industry. I look closer. After a year of bad news, a quarter without a disaster feels like a win. But when I went through the release and the call, one detail made me stop trusting that read.
Take out a single payment PUMA won’t see again, and the profit line tells a very different story...
