"An incredible 167-year-old iconic brand that is highly ESG rated and could be worth owning at current prices."
Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) is an American clothing company that has it's roots all the way back to 1853 when it was founded by German immigrant Levi Strauss. Known worldwide for its denim jeans casual and dress pants tops shorts skirts jackets footwear and related accessories. It has a long history, incredible brand name and in fact, I do not know of one person who has not owned at least one pair of Levi's jeans in their lives.
Although Levi's has a 167-year history it has only recently started publicly trading after 34 years of being held privately. The Company began trading on the New York Stock Exchange with an initial public offering of $17 and a first-day opening price of $22.22, March 21st, 2019.
By the end of the year and starting 2020 was looking really good for Levi's, they had plans to expand their direct-to-consumer strategies including the accelerated rollout of the ship from stores. Additionally, Levi's was looking at a smaller footprint and more capital-efficient stores to help drive sales. CEO, Chip Bergh, and many analysts were very positive about the company heading into the start of the second year as a publicly traded company.
What Happened
Today we now see Levi's stock languishing under $13 after hitting a 52 week low of almost $9 back in early March. Unfortunately, the early enthusiasm seen at the IPO has dissipated due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has really hit the apparel company's earnings. Levi's in fact saw a 62% drop in revenue during fiscal Q2 and rang up a "net loss of $364 million. This was in part due to the $242 million, pre-tax, restructuring charges and inventory costs, and other charges recorded in connection with COVID-19 business disruptions. The adjusted net loss of $192 million was primarily resulting from the temporary closures of the company-operated, franchise and wholesale customer third-party retail locations." Add a suspension to their share repurchase program and dividend, it's definitely a quarter to forget. This is why we have seen significant pressure on Levi's share price.
What Next?
Levi's is not sitting ideally by, they will cut around 700 corporate jobs, roughly 15% of its corporate workforce, in areas that are seeing a revenue drop. This will generate annual savings of around $100 million. Secondly, as Chip Bergh, president, and CEO of Levi Strauss highlighted in Q2 earnings, “the pandemic is accelerating retail landscape shifts and consumer behavior in ways that play to the strength of Levi's brand. And we are doubling down on our digital transformation, incorporating the power of AI and data science, and leveraging our iconic brands to have an even stronger focus on Gen Z and sustainability. We believe this will enable us to further grow our market leadership position and emerge from this crisis a stronger company.” Additionally, Levi's increased total liquidity to $2 billion, reduced Adjusted SG&A by $157 million and managed inventories to only a ten-percent increase over the prior year.
Although hurt due to the pandemic, there is no evidence to be concerned with this company over the long term. They are making the right moves by investing in technology, keeping inventory low, plus the company did get a boost from a 25% increase in e-commerce sales during the quarter. This is a net positive and shows the company can continue to improve its direct-to-customer sales. Plus smart investing prior to the pandemic set the company up well for the success and has better enabled them to adapt to the acceleration of the work from home environment
“Levi's is a stock potential investors should take a look at. It's an iconic brand well positioned to flourish over the long term.”
Is Levi's a stock a buy?
This is an iconic powerhouse that is not terribly indebted and has plenty of cash. Unlike other apparel brands, it has held up reasonably well and was in a strong position when the pandemic hit. It never hurts when you are going into a pandemic while experiencing double-digit sales growth in smaller categories, such as women's wear and tops. Additionally, we find management has taken prudent steps such as keep inventory lean in order to match current demand. Also, they are also making tough decisions such as cutting around 700 corporate jobs, roughly 15% of its corporate workforce.
ESG Investing
We take pride in ensuring that we look at ESG when reviewing Consumer Discretionary stocks [1]. When looking at Levi Strauss & Co (LEVI) We found them to be a highly focused ESG company. They have done a number of social responsible initiatives to improve customers and workers alike over the past few years. One such initiative aimed to improve life for garment workers. As a result Barons recently ranked Levi 13th on social responsibility metrics out of 100 top ESG companies. When it comes to LGBTQ efforts, Levis has taken serious action as shown on their website. We encourage investors to always take a look at company's efforts to improve their Environmental, Social, and Governance.
This is a company that will easily survive the current pandemic and will be well-positioned to succeed over the long term. This could be a stock worth buying at current prices and potential investors should take the time and see if LEVI's should be added to their portfolio.
Apparel Stocks to Buy
There are other highly rated ESG consumer discretionary stocks that are doing well in this current environment such as Tapestry Inc (TPR) and Nike Inc (NKE).
Notes:
1. Smart well informed modern Investors desire to understand a company’s long-term value creation plan that is highly focused on Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Issues. This means investors are searching for companies that are clearly showing how its products and services contribute to sustainable development. We help Investors by ensuring that when mysmallbank.com reviews a stock we look at the Impact investments companies are making to address social and/or environmental issues. We strive to ensure that readers only invest in socially responsible companies that improve the environment and our lives.
Stocks to buy is a segment of the MySmallBank.com blog written by Allan R Kirby, who writes and produces Personal Finance articles and videos along with My Success Magazine.
Disclosure: mysmallbank.com nor the author received any compensation from the mentioned security for this article. The article is our opinion only and is written to help readers learn more about the stock mentioned in this article. Consider this as basic information only and utilize professional services and additional sources before making an investment decision.
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