Deckers Outdoor shares decline as market drops

Tag : sheepskin shoes
NEW YORK -

Shares of Deckers Outdoor Corp. fell on Friday, as the broadermarket sank, even after the shoe maker said it signed a deal todistribute its popular UGGs sheepskin boots in China.
Late Thursday, the Goleta, Calif.-based company said it enteredinto a joint venture with Stella International Holdings Ltd. toopen retail stores and distribute the shoes in China. Deckers saidits total investment will be about $5 million.
Robert W. Baird & Co. analyst Mitch Kummetz, who rates the company"Outperform," said in a note to investors on Friday that Decker'sbest bet for long-term growth is global development, and theagreement is one step toward that.
"In short, we like Deckers for not only its near-term prospects,namely the back-half outlook for UGG, but also its long-termoutlook, and this agreement supports that outlook," Kummetz wrote.
However, investors shed the stock as the broader market tumbledamid investor concern about troubled government-sponsored mortgagefinance companies Freddie Mac and Fannie Mac and record-high oilprices. Investors are jittery about corporate earnings. Quarterlyresults are expected to be down overall, and shares could fallagain if results are worse than expected.
The Dow Jones industrials fell below the 11,000 mark for the firsttime in two years before recovering somewhat, but was still downmore than 56 points in afternoon trading. The Standard & Poor's 500was down 4 points.
Deckers shares fell $8.33, or 6.8 percent, to $114.97. The stockhas traded between $83.51 and $166.50 during the past 52 weeks.
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