Deckers' Transition Year Includes Both Positives And Negative Risks

Baird maintained its Neutral rating and $53 price target for Deckers Outdoor Corp DECK. Fiscal 2017 will be a transition year for the company, and Baird sees both positive and negatives.

"Management appears to be approaching F2017 with a bit of cautious optimism," the note read. "On the one hand, DECK feels very confident in its broad set of product initiatives in place for UGG, as well as the potential benefits from recent business transformation actions already taken. However, the difficult external environment both for DECK's wholesale partners and the company's stores also elevate uncertainties as sluggish retail traffic dampens near-term visibility to the outlook."

The analysts continued, "Still, management appears optimistic overall for the year, and the assumptions embedded in the current full-year EPS guidance of $4.05-4.40 do not appear particularly aggressive as the assumed wholesale projection of flat-to-down mid-single-digits is supported by the March 31 backlog position of -4% (which was hurt by comparing against orders that ultimately were cancelled during holiday)."

Shares closed at $45.48, up 0.7 percent on the day.