Morgan Stanley On Footwear: 'Still Kicking,' Outperformer On Black Friday

According to store checks by Morgan Stanley's Jay Sole, branded apparel and footwear sales outperformed overall "lackluster" retail Black Friday sales.

Sole estimates "at least" high-single-digit sales growth for companies like Deckers Outdoor Corp DECK, Nike Inc NKE, Foot Locker, Inc. FL, VF Corp VFC and Skechers USA Inc SKX.

According to Sole, many of these companies offered "minor" shopping promotions, implying strong sales and a favorable margin implication. As such the analyst is "incrementally" more bullish on the sector but still recognizes the need to exercise a certain degree of caution as the holiday shopping season is still in its early stages.

"Black Friday weekend store visits surpassed our expectations," Sole wrote. "If checks through December are similar, we expect upside to our earnings per share estimates."

Sole concludes by suggesting that if the stock market experiences a pullback due to negative overall Black Friday headlines, it should be viewed as a buying opportunity.