Columbia Sportswear Company COLM is seeing growth in its Spring 2027 wholesale order book, with footwear emerging as the most encouraging category. According to its second-quarter 2026 earnings call, the book is nearly complete and roughly 90% of orders were already in.
Current indications point to low to mid-single-digit wholesale growth in the first half of 2027. This increase is broad-based across brands and geographies, including the Columbia brand in the United States. Orders are also growing across account types and tiers, including higher-priority brand-enhancing partners.
Footwear is outpacing apparel in the Spring 2027 order book, although both categories are showing solid growth. Newer apparel and footwear styles are seeing strong adoption, including products aimed at younger, dynamic active consumers. More expensive footwear products are also standing out within the spring order pattern.
Importantly, the projected order-book growth is not tied to a meaningful pricing change. Pricing in the Spring 2027 book is broadly unchanged, and the low to mid-single-digit growth indication applies on an equivalent basis to both dollars and units.
The Spring 2027 order-book growth comes after the Spring 2026 order book was down from prior periods, resulting in lower merchandise shipments. Newer products subsequently recorded high sell-through, while order-book conversion came in stronger than expected. Recent footwear performance also provides context: total company footwear sales increased 5% in the second quarter of 2026, while Columbia brand footwear grew at a high-single-digit rate globally.
Footwear is one of the Columbia brand's five strategic pillars under ACCELERATE and a stand-alone growth priority. With some Spring 2027 orders still being taken, footwear currently represents the most encouraging category within the upcoming wholesale order base. Apparel is also showing solid growth in the Spring 2027 order book.
Columbia Sportswear’s Zacks Rank & Share Price Performance
This Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) stock has fallen 14.6% in the past three months against the broader Consumer Discretionary sector and the industry’s growth of 0.3% and 2.1%, respectively. COLM has also underperformed the S&P 500, which gained 0.4% during the same period.
COLM Stock's Past 3 Months' Performance
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Is COLM a Value Play Stock?
Columbia Sportswear currently trades at a forward 12-month P/E ratio of 13.95, below the industry’s average of 14.7 and the sector average of 16.36. This valuation positions the stock at a modest discount relative to both its direct peers and the broader consumer staples sector.
COLM P/E Ratio (Forward 12 Months)
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Key Picks
Superior Group of Companies, Inc. SGC produces, manufactures and sells promotional products and branded uniforms, and healthcare apparel and accessories in the United States and internationally. At present, SGC carries a Zacks Rank of 2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Superior Group of Companies’ current fiscal-year sales and earnings implies growth of 3.1% and 39.1%, respectively, from the year-ago figures. SGC delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 90.2%, on average.
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The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Abercrombie & Fitch’s current fiscal-year sales and earnings implies growth of 4.5% and 11.7%, respectively, from the year-ago reported figures.
Boot Barn Holdings, Inc. BOOT operates specialty retail stores in the United States and internationally. It has a Zacks Rank of 2 at present. BOOT delivered an earnings surprise of 11.4% in the trailing four quarters, on average.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Boot Barn’s current fiscal-year sales and earnings implies growth of 15.7% and 22.6%, respectively, from the year-ago reported figures.
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Columbia Sportswear Company (COLM): Free Stock Analysis Report
Abercrombie & Fitch Company (ANF): Free Stock Analysis Report
Boot Barn Holdings, Inc. (BOOT): Free Stock Analysis Report
Superior Group of Companies, Inc. (SGC): Free Stock Analysis Report
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).