Shares of Wolverine Worldwide Inc. jumped nearly 11 percent by the end of trading on Thursday afternoon following continued performance improvements at the footwear company.
Chris Hufnagel, Wolverine Worldwide’s president and chief executive officer, told analysts on the company’s fourth quarter earnings call on Thursday that he is “pleased the heavy lift of the turnaround is behind us, with our transformation now well underway.”
And the results show it. The Rockford, Mich.-based footwear company posted total revenue for 2025’s fourth quarter of $517.5 million, up 4.6 percent from $494.7 million in the same year-ago period. Net earnings in the quarter were $32.5 million, up 36.6 percent from $23.8 million over the same period.
In an interview with FN after the company’s earnings call on Thursday, Hufnagel is “pleased” with the results this quarter.
“Saucony posted an all-time record year last year, which is great,” the CEO told FN. “And I think we remain optimistic about where our brands are, and I’m really pleased with the transformation the company has gone through. Not only the turnaround we did, but the momentum we continue to build.”
And as Saucony continues its growth path, some sell-side analysts have expressed concerns of the brand’s distribution being “too wide.” Hufnagel addressed those worries, saying that 2026 is focused on optimizing the footprint through sharper assortments and marketing to support full-price sell-through and sustainable long-term growth.
“We’re trying to responsibly grow the business,” Hufnagel told FN. “And it’s what we do. It’s not a perfect science. And opening and closing doors, and rationalizing distribution, that’s the world in which we live in. So, to me, Saucony is a global story. It’s both performance and lifestyle. The brand’s success is not predicated upon on any one shoe or any one silhouette, and that’s what gives me confidence for the long-term health of the business. We will make mistakes along the way. We will learn from them. We will execute as best we possibly can. But ultimately, our goal is to be really strong brand managers.”
As for the company’s other star brand, “there is a lot that’s working for Merrell,” the CEO added. Merrell’s key performance franchise, the Moab Speed 2, nearly doubled sell-through year-over-year at U.S. retail in the quarter, while the Moab 3 also continued to deliver solid growth. The Agility Peak 5 contributed good growth in trail running as well.
“Trail run is a really important category in the industry that we want to win in as well,” Hufnagel said. “The hike category seems to be coming back a little bit, which bodes well for Merrell. And then ultimately, we are aiming for Merrell to become a true outdoor lifestyle brand, not just a trail-ready brand, but a place where we can sell outdoor-inspired products for a lot of occasions.”
In 2026, the CEO noted that Merrell plans to deliver newness across its key performance and lifestyle franchises, including fresh colors and materials, seasonal energy drops, and new styles to bolster the collections.
Over at the company’s Work Group and namesake Wolverine brand, Hufnagel noted that the team has “identified the challenges” facing the division. “I think we didn’t bring enough innovation into the Wolverine brand, and the product line got a little bit tired,” he admitted. “We also missed the Western trend. I think our demand creation engine was a little bit splintered across a lot of different ideas, with nothing big enough to really move the needle. And I also think we didn’t do a great job managing the marketplace, segmentation, distribution and/or specialty work business, which we frankly, got away from.”
Now with the background work done, the company is starting to see the division see some improvement in the fourth quarter. Hufnagel said that the Wolverine brand saw its best market share order in five years, which he noted is a good metric for how the new product is being bought at market.
“We’re not out of the woods yet,” he said. “In fact, we only called a flat year for the Wolverine brand in 2026 versus 2025. But, if we can get [the] Wolverine brand stabilized, it would be very good for the company and good for our shareholders.”