Crocs Inc. celebrates its 20th year as a public company with confidence that it has a runway ahead for growth at both its Crocs and Hey Dude brands.
The shoe firm on Thursday surprised some Wall Street observers Thursday when the company reported fourth-quarter results that beat their estimates. Shares of Crocs closed up 19 percent to $98.46 on Thursday.
Earlier in the week Williams Trading analyst Sam Poser reduced estimates for Crocs ahead of the firm’s fourth quarter report, noting that sales in North America for both Crocs and Hey Dude brands for Fiscal Year 2026 are likely to “remain challenged.” After the shoe firm report earnings that were better-than-expected, Needham analyst Tom Nikic noted Thursday that with investor trepidation running high, “Crocs seems to have allayed those fears with a Q4 beat and upside to guidance.” While there’s still work to be done, Nikic said “guidance assumes steady improvement without sacrificing margins.”
“Our diversified revenue streams today are powerful, and we have already built multibillion-dollar-plus revenue pillars,” said Crocs chief executive officer Andrew Rees said. “In fact, our digital, international and non-clog product categories each represent a revenue stream in excess of $1.5 billion, which we see as compelling drivers for future growth.”
Crocs went public 20 years ago on Feb. 8. Rees said that since then, the company has sold 1.5 billion pairs of shoes while delivering 14 percent sales growth on a compound annual growth basis. Moreover, since the IPO, Crocs shares have “generated a total shareholder return in excess of 700 percent, almost 2 times that of the S&P 500 over the same period,” he said.
For the full year 2025, revenue was over $4 billion, with $3.3 billion attributable for the Crocs brand and $715 million from Hey Dude. “International revenues, which comprise almost half of our Crocs brand sales grew double digits,” he said adding that direct-to-consumer (DTC) grew faster than the Crocs wholesale business.
A strong holiday season with positive consumer response to our new product introductions boosted sales in the quarter.
But that isn’t the only plus in the Crocs portfolio. According to Rees, 2025 was a “very good year” for sandals, representing 13 percent of the mix and closing in on $450 million in sales. “Sales growth was robust in North America, where we not only took market share, but also took advantage of an extended selling season beyond the traditional spring/summer period,” he said.
Last year saw strong full-price selling of the Brooklyn, Getaway and Miami sandal franchises. Rees said 2026 will see continued newness in existing francises, along with the introduction of a new Saturday franchise, an “updated personalizable 2-strap sandal” that he said “underscores an opportunity to gain further market share in this category.”
Crocs is also the No. 1 footwear brand on TikTok Shop in the U.S., with the shoe firm expecting to see “significant future growth” in 2026 in the social commerce category.
There’s also growth for the Crocs brand internationally, where sales grew 11 percent on top of the 19 percent gain in 2024. The second largest market after the U.S. is China, which grew 30 percent on top of the 64 percent growth in 2024 and now represents 8 percent of total sales.
“Our average market share in China, India, Japan, Germany and France represented approximately one-third of the market share we have in our established markets. We ended the year with approximately 2,600 Crocs mono-branded stores and kiosks,” Rees said. “In 2026, we plan to continue expanding our footprint internationally and see an opportunity to open between 200 and 250 doors, both in our Tier 1 markets and within distributor markets around the world.”
In other international markets, Rees said Crocs expects to see strong growth in 2026 in Japan, where it has been investing time and effort to build up that market. “It’s a big footwear market, large population, highly affluent population. So we’re excited to see that return to growth, and we think we’re on the right trajectory there,” Rees said.
He noted that Western Europe is also showing momentum. And the U.K., France and Germany is expected to continue to have the double-digit growth in ’26 that it had in ’25. And in other areas, Rees said India is an important market, where the company has been making some strategic investments to set up the brand for future sustained growth.
“The Crocs brand in 2026 will actually be bigger internationally than it is in the U.S., and we’re very confident in about a 10 percent growth rate for our international business,” Rees told investors.
At Hey Dude, Rees said the priority in ’25 was on stabilizing the brand in North America. “First, we are building a community laser-focused on our core consumer. Our Hey Dude Country campaign plays into our brand affinities, including music, travel and pre- and post-sport, while appealing to our laid-back no-fuss consumer,” he said, adding that social platforms also play a key role. At TikTop Shop, Hey Dude last year was the No. 2 footwear brand.
Rees said the product direction for Hey Dude is clear as the focus in on the slip-on category via its Wally and Wendy lines. He also said the that new “Stretch Jersey” launch in January across all channels followed the successful test it did during the holiday quarter, adding that “Stretch Sox” has continued to perform well in its second year with “favorable consumer and retailer response.”
Also on the agenda for spring is the expansion of its Hey20 collection, the Wally and Wendy shoe line that caters to outdoor activities with shoes built for in-and-out-of-water action. The company in November promoted Rupert Campbell to the role of executive vice president and brand president for Hey Dude. The former Adidas executive now has oversight for the brand’s product, marketing and commercial go-to market strategy.
Rees also said the company sees opportunity for growth in the work shoe category.
