Wolverine Worldwide’s stock price has taken a beating over the past six months, shedding 26.5% of its value and falling to $17.21 per share. This might have investors contemplating their next move.
Is now the time to buy Wolverine Worldwide, or should you be careful about including it in your portfolio? Dive into our full research report to see our analyst team’s opinion, it’s free.
Why Do We Think Wolverine Worldwide Will Underperform?
Even with the cheaper entry price, we're swiping left on Wolverine Worldwide for now. Here are three reasons why WWW doesn't excite us and a stock we'd rather own.
1. Long-Term Revenue Growth Flatter Than a Pancake
A company’s long-term sales performance can indicate its overall quality. Even a bad business can shine for one or two quarters, but a top-tier one grows for years. Unfortunately, Wolverine Worldwide struggled to consistently increase demand as its $1.85 billion of sales for the trailing 12 months was close to its revenue five years ago. This wasn’t a great result and is a sign of poor business quality.
2. Mediocre Free Cash Flow Margin Limits Reinvestment Potential
Free cash flow isn't a prominently featured metric in company financials and earnings releases, but we think it's telling because it accounts for all operating and capital expenses, making it tough to manipulate. Cash is king.
Wolverine Worldwide has shown poor cash profitability over the last two years, giving the company limited opportunities to return capital to shareholders. Its free cash flow margin averaged 7.2%, lousy for a consumer discretionary business.
3. New Investments Fail to Bear Fruit as ROIC Declines
A company’s ROIC, or return on invested capital, shows how much operating profit it makes compared to the money it has raised (debt and equity).
We like to invest in businesses with high returns, but the trend in a company’s ROIC is what often surprises the market and moves the stock price. Over the last few years, Wolverine Worldwide’s ROIC averaged 2.5 percentage point decreases each year. Paired with its already low returns, these declines suggest its profitable growth opportunities are few and far between.
Final Judgment
Wolverine Worldwide falls short of our quality standards. Following the recent decline, the stock trades at 13.6× forward P/E (or $17.21 per share). While this valuation is fair, the upside isn’t great compared to the potential downside. There are superior stocks to buy right now. We’d recommend looking at the most dominant software business in the world.
Stocks We Would Buy Instead of Wolverine Worldwide
The market’s up big this year - but there’s a catch. Just 4 stocks account for half the S&P 500’s entire gain. That kind of concentration makes investors nervous, and for good reason. While everyone piles into the same crowded names, smart investors are hunting quality where no one’s looking - and paying a fraction of the price. Check out the high-quality names we’ve flagged in our Top 5 Strong Momentum Stocks for this week. This is a curated list of our High Quality stocks that have generated a market-beating return of 244% over the last five years (as of June 30, 2025).
Stocks that have made our list include now familiar names such as Nvidia (+1,326% between June 2020 and June 2025) as well as under-the-radar businesses like the once-small-cap company Comfort Systems (+782% five-year return). Find your next big winner with StockStory today.
