Overview
Williams Trading has maintained a Hold rating on Wolverine World Wide shares and preserved a $17.00 per-share price target while reducing revenue estimates for the footwear maker. The firm pointed to softness in the Saucony brand as the primary reason for the downward revision. As of the latest quote, Wolverine trades at $18.16, marginally above both Williams Trading's target and InvestingPro's Fair Value estimate of $18.06, and the company carries a market capitalization of $1.49 billion.
Analyst adjustments and timing
In its updated model, Williams Trading trimmed revenue projections and also altered earnings-per-share estimates to reflect the impact of lower tariffs. Wolverine is due to report fourth-quarter 2025 financial results on Thursday, February 26, 2026, before the market opens.
Expectations for fourth quarter and fiscal 2026
The firm expects the coming quarter's results to land at the low end of management's guidance. Williams Trading cites a combination of steady improvement at Merrell and what it describes as continued strength from Saucony as the drivers shaping the near-term outcome. For fiscal 2026, the analyst firm is cautious and models guidance below consensus, driven primarily by concerns about the trajectory of Saucony's lifestyle business, which had been the brand's chief expansion engine in 2025.
Williams Trading projects Saucony revenue to rise 11% in the fourth quarter of 2025 but anticipates the brand will turn negative in the first quarter of 2026 and to decline over the full fiscal 2026 year, forecasting a 3.9% decrease for Saucony in fiscal 2026. The firm notes that Saucony's core performance segment remains healthy even as the lifestyle segment cools.
By contrast, the firm expects Merrell's revenue for fiscal 2026 to grow in the mid-single digits. Williams Trading cautions that Wolverine's management may be tempted to rely on Merrell to offset Saucony's weakness, but warns that this could demand more revenue from Merrell than is practical without diluting the brand.
Share performance and dividend context
Wolverine's stock has fallen about 40% over the past six months, yet the company has continued its dividend distribution history, paying a dividend for 39 consecutive years and currently yielding 2.2%, according to InvestingPro data. InvestingPro is cited as tracking more than 10 additional key metrics and subscriber tips related to WWW.
Other analyst views
Analyst coverage of Wolverine remains varied. Stifel reiterated a Buy recommendation with a $25.00 price target and expects robust fourth-quarter results driven by the popularity of Saucony and Merrell. Argus took a more conservative stance, downgrading Wolverine to Hold from Buy because of trade policy uncertainty and slowing sales in the Lifestyle category. UBS kept its Buy rating and set a $28.00 price target, pointing to a strong brand pipeline and continued investment in the Active brands portfolio.
Separately, Piper Sandler provided a preview for Steven Madden's fourth quarter of fiscal 2025, projecting earnings per share of $0.47 in line with consensus, while noting potential upside to $0.50-$0.52 on the back of healthy wholesale replenishment and direct-to-consumer trends.
What comes next
Investors will be watching Wolverine's fourth-quarter report on February 26, 2026, for confirmation of the trends Williams Trading has modeled into its estimates, particularly the interplay between Saucony's lifestyle segment and Merrell's performance. With the firm trimming revenue and tweaking EPS assumptions for tariff changes, the near-term outlook the analyst presents is conservative relative to consensus expectations.
Valuation tools referenced
The article notes InvestingPro's Fair Value calculation for WWW at $18.06, and references a Fair Value calculator that uses a mix of 17 industry valuation models to produce valuation guidance.