Wolverine World Wide Inc
🔔 Watch stock
Assessment
Our Rating
A journalistic assessment by our editorial team at the time of the deep dive — it rates the company, not the entry point. Not investment advice and not a solicitation to buy or sell.
The business works in principle, but one material question is open. As long as it stays open, our findings do not carry a quality verdict.
Why this colour
The business works and funds itself — $150.2 million of operating profit in 2025, interest coverage of 4.6, compliance with all covenants, $492.9 million of undrawn revolver and $119.6 million of cash as of April 4, 2026. Nothing supports red: no going-concern language, no negative book equity, no accounting or governance breach, no existential dependence on a single counterparty. But the open operating question is too large for green: the upswing hangs on Saucony and Merrell, whose Active Group delivered 81.2 percent of revenue in the first quarter of 2026 while the Work Group shrank by $33.1 million in 2025; on top of that sit $158.5 million of brand value with only 16 percent of headroom in the impairment test and a receivables program drawn to 96.6 percent. That is not a price argument but an open question about the business itself — hence yellow, the more cautious of the two grades. The decision is yours.
What the thesis turns on
Assessment: Opportunities & Risks
Wolverine World Wide has a documented earnings turnaround behind it: gross margin rose from 39.0 to 47.3 percent in two years, diluted earnings per share from minus $0.49 to $1.14, and the first quarter of 2026 followed up with revenue growth of 11.0 percent. But that turn stands on a smaller company (revenue 16.4 percent below 2023) and on two brands: Saucony and Merrell carry the group while the Work Group shrinks. Underneath sit tangible equity of minus $220.2 million, a Sweaty Betty unit with only 16 percent of headroom in the impairment test, a receivables program drawn to 96.6 percent and a PFAS cleanup that runs for up to 25 more years. An unbooked tariff credit of roughly $36 million points the other way. Not investment advice.
Earnings turnaround
The turnaround is documented in audited filings: gross margin from 39.0 percent (2023) to 44.3 (2024) to 47.3 percent (2025), operating profit up 54.1 percent to $150.2 million in 2025, diluted earnings per share from −$0.49 to $1.14. The first quarter of 2026 continued the trend (revenue up 11.0 percent to $457.6 million, $0.24 instead of $0.15 per share).
Brand concentration
The company hangs on two brands: Saucony and Merrell together added $177.2 million of revenue in 2025 while the entire Work Group lost $33.1 million. The Active Group accounted for 75.1 percent of revenue and more than 71 percent of segment income in 2025, and for 81.2 percent of revenue in the first quarter of 2026. Running-shoe fashion is cyclical — the variety of the other nine brands barely cushions it.
Balance sheet substance
As of April 4, 2026, $415.7 million of equity attributable to Wolverine shareholders stands against $635.9 million of intangibles — minus $220.2 million on a tangible basis. The Sweaty Betty unit carries $158.5 million of book value (38.1 percent of equity) with only 16 percent of headroom in the 2025 impairment test; $48.4 million has already been written off there.
Financing & liquidity
Orderly, but not generous: $550 million of notes at a fixed 4.000 percent to August 2029, a revolving facility to September 2030 with $492.9 million of headroom, compliance with all covenants, interest coverage of 4.6 and an Altman Z-double-prime of 3.01. Against that stand $519.3 million of net debt and a receivables program drawn to 96.6 percent ($120.7 million of $125.0 million) that props up operating cash flow (all figures April 4, 2026).
Legacy & legal risk
The tannery operated in Rockford through 2009 left a PFAS burden with a $25.5 million remediation reserve (of which $14.4 million runs over up to 25 years), an $8.7 million litigation reserve and a $69.5 million cap on the water connection settlement. Two matters remain pending, one of them only since December 4, 2025. The company itself writes that future developments could materially change the cost estimate.
Valuation & capital allocation
Price-to-sales about 0.8, price-to-earnings about 15, enterprise value roughly 13 times trailing four-quarter operating profit (data as of July 28, 2026). The $0.40 annual dividend stands; but of the $150 million repurchase authorization of March 7, 2024 only $14.5 million had been used by January 3, 2026, and nothing at all was bought back in the first quarter of 2026.
Worth Noting
Wolverine World Wide reached our research list through the Reddit hype scan (ApeWisdom, as of July 28, 2026). The forum attention is explained by the combination of a turnaround curve, a low price-to-sales ratio (about 0.8) and short interest of roughly 12.3 percent of the free float (data as of July 28, 2026). Scanner lists are recomputed daily.
Currency status: the most recent mandatory filing is the quarterly report 10-Q as of April 4, 2026 (filed May 14, 2026); the first quarter earnings release (Form 8-K, Exhibit 99.1) appeared the same day and carries the company's fiscal 2026 outlook, which is worked into the valuation chapter. Only insider and ownership reports followed: two threshold notifications on May 15, 2026 (Callodine Capital Management with 5.96 percent and Wellington Management Group with 5.3 percent, each as of the March 31, 2026 event date), plus Form 144 and Form 4 filings in May and July 2026. No second quarter 2026 earnings report was available as of July 28, 2026.
Basis of figures: the 2023 and 2024 annual figures are the retrospectively adjusted values shown in the 2025 annual report — in the third quarter of 2025 the company switched part of its domestic inventory from LIFO to FIFO costing and restated the prior years accordingly (2025: +$0.05 per share, 2024: −$0.03). When comparing 2024 with 2025, note also that 2025 contained a 53rd week. Valuation metrics carry a data cut-off of July 28, 2026; a dated price anchor from a mandatory filing is the insider sale at a weighted average $18.14 on July 13, 2026.
Stock Watch
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Price history
Chart
Interactive price chart (TradingView).
52-week range: 14.70 $ to 30.70 $ · Last price: 19.30 $ (As of: September 17, 2026)
Key figures
Key figures at a glance
Every figure we hold for this stock, grouped by topic. The question mark next to a label explains what the number means.
Basics
Performance
Technical Indicators
Calculated from the price history · as of 09/18/2026
Valuation
Profitability
Balance Sheet & Safety
Growth
Dividend
Quality & Screener
Highlighted are things our editorial team noticed: green = stands out as strong, red = deserves a closer look. No single metric is a verdict on its own — always read it in context.
Comparison
Industry comparison
The stock alongside the largest companies in the same group. The median row is the middle value of the companies shown above — not of the whole industry.
Industry: Footwear & Accessories
| Company | Market cap ($B) | P/E | EV/EBITDA | Gross Margin % | EBIT Margin % | Sales Growth (Year) % | Perf. 1Y % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wolverine World Wide Inc WWW | 1.6 | – | 11.0 | 47.1 | 7.4 | 6.8 | -35.5 |
| Nike Inc NKE | 53.9 | 24.0 | 12.4 | 43.3 | 6.9 | -9.8 | -49.2 |
| Deckers Outdoor Corporation DECK | 11.1 | 12.0 | 7.1 | 57.8 | 14.0 | 9.4 | -32.8 |
| On Holding Ltd ONON | 9.2 | 30.1 | 11.1 | 64.8 | 14.1 | 24.2 | -37.7 |
| Crocs Inc CROX | 6.2 | – | 7.4 | 57.5 | 22.2 | -1.5 | 52.7 |
| Birkenstock Holding plc BIRK | 5.9 | – | 8.2 | 57.5 | 26.9 | 16.2 | -31.7 |
| Steven Madden Ltd SHOO | 3.1 | 41.5 | 13.3 | 46.9 | 15.5 | 10.5 | 31.4 |
| Forward Industries, Inc. FWDI | 0.5 | – | 20.8 | 70.6 | 18.8 | -39.8 | -83.9 |
| Weyco Group Inc WEYS | 0.4 | – | 6.8 | 49.1 | – | -4.9 | 64.7 |
| Median of companies shown | 5.9 | 27.0 | 11.0 | 57.5 | 14.8 | 6.8 | -32.8 |
Based on the most recently reported figures. Only stocks from the same trading venue are lined up, so the market caps are counted in one currency. Compare in a chart →
Fiscal years
Annual Figures
Fiscal years from the audited annual reports, oldest first. EBIT is the operating profit before interest and taxes; total assets are everything the company owns.
Revenue, operating income and net income per fiscal year $M
Revenue Operating income Net income
| Fiscal Year | Revenue ($M) | EBIT ($M) | Net Income ($M) | EPS ($) | Operating Cash Flow ($M) | Equity ($M) | Total Assets ($M) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 2,495 | 160 | 88 | 0.90 | 296 | 974 | 2,432 |
| 2017 | 2,350 | 24 | 0 | 0.00 | 203 | 955 | 2,399 |
| 2018 | 2,239 | 252 | 200 | 2.11 | 98 | 992 | 2,183 |
| 2019 | 2,274 | 171 | 129 | 1.47 | 223 | 767 | 2,480 |
| 2020 | 1,791 | -137 | -137 | -1.69 | 309 | 561 | 2,137 |
| 2021 | 2,415 | 156 | 69 | 0.82 | 87 | 630 | 2,586 |
| 2022 | 2,685 | -208 | -188 | -2.36 | -179 | 321 | 2,493 |
| 2023 | 2,243 | -68 | -40 | -0.50 | 122 | 279 | 2,063 |
| 2024 | 1,755 | 101 | 48 | 0.60 | 180 | 307 | 1,669 |
| 2025 | 1,874 | 150 | 96 | 1.17 | 136 | 408 | 1,709 |
Quarters
Quarterly Figures
Each bar is one quarter, the last one is the most recent. Use the switch to step through the individual figures.
Revenue & Profit
Cash Flow
Balance Sheet
Margins
Per Share
Click the chart or tab into it, then use ← and → to step through the periods.
None of the selected stocks reports this metric. Pick another metric or switch between annual and quarterly.
· Total · per year
These companies report in different currencies — switch on “Indexed” or pick a margin for a fair comparison.
The figures could not be loaded right now.
Source: fundamental data
| Quarter | EPS (Earnings Per Share) | EPS YoY (%) | Sales ($M) | Sales YoY (%) | Net Margin (%) | OCF ($M) | FCF ($M) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024: Q4 | 0.31 | – | 495 | -6.10 | 5.00 | 82 | 74 |
| 2025: Q1 | 0.14 | – | 412 | 4.40 | 2.70 | -84 | -91 |
| 2025: Q2 | 0.33 | 86.20 | 474 | 11.50 | 5.70 | 45 | 41 |
| 2025: Q3 | 0.31 | 4.10 | 470 | 6.80 | 5.30 | 33 | 30 |
| 2025: Q4 | 0.39 | 27.40 | 518 | 4.60 | 6.10 | 146 | 146 |
| 2026: Q1 | 0.25 | 80.00 | 458 | 11.00 | 4.40 | -83 | -85 |
| 2026: Q2 | 0.37 | 12.10 | 506 | 6.80 | 6.20 | 87 | 84 |
What Do These Terms Mean?
- EPS (Earnings Per Share):
- Quarterly profit divided by the total share count — how much of the profit works out to a single share.
- YoY (Year over Year):
- Change versus the same quarter a year ago — this is how you compare without seasonal distortion (e.g. the holiday shopping season).
- Sales:
- All revenue for the quarter, before any costs are deducted — the top line of the income statement.
- Net Margin:
- What percentage of sales is left over as profit in the end. Negative means the company is posting a loss.
- OCF (Operating Cash Flow):
- The cash that actually flows into the till from the core business during the quarter — harder to dress up than book profit.
- FCF (Free Cash Flow):
- Operating cash flow minus capital expenditures — the money that's genuinely free to use, say for paying down debt, buybacks, or dividends.
Screening
Appears in These Scanners
This stock currently matches 4 of our scanner strategies — each hit links to the scanner.
Growth
Quality & Balance Sheet
Research
Only genuine hits from verified scanners count; pure ranking metrics (P/E, P/S, and similar, which just sort the whole universe) don't count as a hit. View all scanners
Outlook
Analysts & Price Target
Combined picture of the price targets and recommendations of every analyst covering the stock. Price targets are expectations for the next 12 months, not promises — and they often follow the price rather than predict it.
Distribution of Recommendations
Estimates by Fiscal Year
| Fiscal Year | EPS Estimate ($) | EPS Range ($) | Revenue Estimate ($M) | Expected Growth | Analysts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12/31/2026 | 1.65 | 1.63 – 1.66 | 2,001 | 21.9% | 11 |
| 12/31/2027 | 1.85 | 1.80 – 2.00 | 2,118 | 12.4% | 11 |
Average of the analyst estimates for the coming fiscal years. The range shows how far the most optimistic and the most cautious estimate sit apart — the wider it is, the less certain the expectation.
Valuation
What is priced in?
Instead of guessing what the stock is worth, we turn the question around: what free cash flow growth has to happen for today’s market value to add up? The assumptions behind it can be moved.
Today’s market value implies roughly -2.7% growth in free cash flow per year over ten years (assumptions: discount rate 10.0%, terminal growth 2.5%).
| Free cash flow (last twelve months) | $175.0M |
|---|---|
| Market cap | $1.65B |
| Free cash flow in year ten | $132.8M |
| Terminal value as a share of market value | 42.5% |
For comparison: over the past five years free cash flow shrank by 16.5% per year.
It shows which assumption is built into today’s price, not whether that assumption will hold. Every assumption can be changed with the sliders; the figures move with them.
A simplified model calculation — not a forecast and not a recommendation.
AI classification
AI Rating
Wolverine World Wide verkauft keine KI-Produkte, setzt Künstliche Intelligenz laut Geschäftsbericht 10-K für 2025 aber bereits in eigenen IT-Systemen und im Betrieb ein — unter anderem über die KI-Funktionen der vorhandenen Warenwirtschafts-, Personal- und Kundenverwaltungssoftware.
View the full file — quotes, sources, reviewed filings
„The Company has begun to incorporate, and may expand its use of, artificial intelligence, including generative artificial intelligence, in certain of its information technology systems and in its operations; for example, enabling the native artificial intelligence functionality of existing enterprise resource planning, human capital management, customer relationship management and other software systems."
Das Unternehmen hat begonnen, Künstliche Intelligenz einschließlich generativer Künstlicher Intelligenz in bestimmten seiner IT-Systeme und in seinem Betrieb einzusetzen, und könnte diesen Einsatz ausweiten; zum Beispiel indem es die eingebauten KI-Funktionen bestehender Warenwirtschafts-, Personalverwaltungs-, Kundenverwaltungs- und anderer Softwaresysteme aktiviert.
10-K · 2026-02-27 · View SEC filing
„The rapid evolution and potential regulation of artificial intelligence could expose the Company to new risks and may require the allocation of significant resources to develop, test and maintain the Company’s artificial intelligence resources."
Die rasche Entwicklung und mögliche Regulierung Künstlicher Intelligenz könnte das Unternehmen neuen Risiken aussetzen und erhebliche Mittel erfordern, um die KI-Ressourcen des Unternehmens zu entwickeln, zu testen und zu unterhalten.
10-K · 2026-02-27 · View SEC filing
Filings Reviewed: 10-Q 2026-05-14 · 10-Q 2025-11-06 · 10-Q 2025-08-07 · 10-Q 2025-05-08 · 10-K 2026-02-27 · 10-K 2025-02-20
Rated on July 28, 2026 · How the Rating Is Built
Growth
Growth Score
Ten checks against the annual reports — each one passed counts a point.
- Revenue grows by more than 15% a year over three years -11.3%
- More than 10% revenue growth is expected for the coming year 5.8%
- Share count grows by less than 3% a year 0.8%
- Revenue growth plus cash-flow margin add up to at least 40 ("Rule of 40") 13.3%
- Gross margin at 40% or higher and without meaningful erosion 47.0%
- Goodwill from acquisitions does not grow faster than revenue 25.2%
- Net debt below twice EBITDA 3.0 x EBITDA
- Operating cash flow covers the profits of the last three years 334 m
- Return on capital at 15% or higher, or up versus two years ago 12.6%
- Insiders hold at least 10% or are net buyers 1.4%
A criterion without figures counts neither as passed nor as failed; a score is only produced from 7 judgeable criteria upwards. Source: fundamental data. All ten criteria in detail
Quality check
AAQS
4/10The AAQS (AlleAktien Quality Score) checks 10 quality criteria on growth, profitability, and balance-sheet strength — per the methodology developed and published by AlleAktien, calculated by us from our own fundamental data. A stock counts as a quality stock from 9 out of 10 points. Where a company has a shorter listing history, we calculate over the fiscal years available (at least five).
- Sales growth 10Y > 5% -3.1%
- Exp. sales growth 3Y > 5% 6.3%
- EBIT growth 10Y > 5% -0.7%
- Exp. EBIT growth 3Y > 5% 25.6%
- Net debt < 4x EBIT 3.7x
- EBIT positive, 10Y straight 7
- Max. EBIT decline < 50% 100.0%
- Return on equity > 15% –
- ROCE > 15% 12.6%
- Expected return > 10% 34.9%
View stocks with the full AAQS score · Read the methodology at AlleAktien
Source: fundamental data
Insiders
Insider Transactions
Reportable transactions by officers and major shareholders from SEC Form 4 filings. "Other" includes things like stock grants and option exercises without a buy/sell character.
| Date | Person | Role | Type | Shares | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 1, 2026 | Boromisa Jeffrey M | Director | Sell | 25,000 | 19.58 | 489,500 |
| Jul 31, 2026 | Hufnagel Christopher | President and CEO | Other | 5,703 | 19.68 | 112,235 |
| Jul 31, 2026 | Hufnagel Christopher | President and CEO | Other | 13,155 | – | – |
| Jul 13, 2026 | Boromisa Jeffrey M | Director | Sell | 25,000 | 18.14 | 453,500 |
| Jul 9, 2026 | Boyle Jack | Director | Other | 7,459 | – | – |
The company
About the Company
Wolverine World Wide, Inc. entwirft, fertigt, beschafft, vermarktet, lizenziert und vertreibt Schuhe, Bekleidung und Accessoires in den USA, Europa, im Nahen Osten, in Afrika, im asiatisch-pazifischen Raum, in Kanada und Lateinamerika.
- Employees
- 3,050
- Headquarters
- Rockford, MI
- Address
- 9341 Courtland Drive N.E., 49351 Rockford, United States
- Phone
- 616 866 5500
- Website
- wolverineworldwide.com
- IPO Date
- 12/18/1984
- ISIN
- US9780971035
- Stock Split
- 2:1 on 11/04/2013
- Stock Split
- 3:2 on 02/02/2005
- Stock Split
- 3:2 on 05/27/1997
Management
| Name | Title | Birth Year |
|---|---|---|
| Christopher E. Hufnagel | CEO, President & Director | 1972 |
| Taryn L. Miller | CFO & Treasurer | 1973 |
| David A. Latchana | Chief Legal Officer & Corporate Secretary | 1978 |
| Amy M. Klimek | Chief Human Resources Officer | 1974 |
| Susan J. Kuhn | President of Active Group | 1976 |
| Dee Slater | Chief Information Officer & Senior VP of Central Services | – |
| Jared Filippone C.F.A. | Head of Investor Relations | – |
| Brett Parent | Chief Strategy Officer | – |
| Alex Wiseman | Senior Vice President of Finance | – |
| Melissa Mullen | Global Brand President of Sweaty Betty | – |
Executives per the latest required filings; titles kept in their original language. Source: fundamental data.
Filings
Company Filings (8-K)
An 8-K is the filing a US company must use to disclose material events immediately — takeovers, changes at the top, major contracts or payment troubles, for instance. The links open the original document at the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
- 08/13/2026 WOLVERINE WORLD WIDE INC /DE/ (WWW): Results of Operations and Financial Condition; Financial Statements and Exhibits SEC ↗
Data as of: September 17, 2026 · Source: fundamental data & SEC filings (annual and quarterly reports, 10-K/10-Q)
Note: pure fact-based analysis, not investment advice and not a solicitation to buy or sell. All figures without guarantee.