SHOO - Steven Madden dips ahead of earnings after Wedbush warns on near-term challenges

Steven Madden ( NASDAQ: SHOO ) traded lower early during the Tuesday session after Wedbush Securities turned cautious.

The firm cuts its rating on SHOO to Neutral from Outperform with specific concerns about the retailer hitting near-term estimates.

"Our move to the sidelines is due to the deteriorating macro environment, difficult compares, high exposure to the challenging U.S. wholesale channel, and a highly-discretionary category focus that may come under pressure now that consumers have refreshed their closets," warned analyst Tom Nikic.

Nikic and team thinks SHOO's sales growth is decelerating, and could turn sharply negative this quarter against extremely difficulty year-over-year.

Wedbush cut its price target on SHOO to a Street-low $29 just ahead of the earnings report due out on November 2. Steven Madden has topped EPS expectations in seven straight quarters.

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