Tommy Hilfiger, Coach Drive Growth for Movado

Paramus, New Jersey—Movado Group Inc. turned in a strong third quarter performance, with sales of fashion watches leading the way.

The watch design and distribution company reported Tuesday that net sales were up 10 percent year-over-year in the third quarter at both actual and constant exchange rates. Net income rose from $24.3 million to $27.9 million.

Wholesale sales of the company’s owned and licensed watch brands—which include Movado, Ebel, Tommy Hilfiger, Coach and Hugo Boss—climbed 12 percent in the United States.

Excluding one month of sales from MVMT, the millennial-focused company Movado acquired Oct. 1, Movado’s U.S. wholesale sales were up 7 percent year-over-year.

On the company’s earnings call Tuesday morning, Chairman and CEO Efraim Grinberg called out Coach and Tommy Hilfiger, which has a strong social media presence and brand ambassador in model Hailey Baldwin (now Hailey Bieber), as top sellers in the U.S. market.

Internationally, Movado’s wholesale business was up 10 percent year-over-year, led by Tommy Hilfiger and Lacoste.

The company introduced the Olivia Burton brand to the Chinese market, opened an Olivia Burton boutique in London’s Covent Garden and is decking out double-decker buses in New York with the brand’s messaging for the holiday season.

Grinberg said Tuesday he was “pleased” with the company’s third quarter and year-to-date results including the progress it is making with digital initiatives.

He acknowledged the strong performance of the brands licensed from fashion companies while noting that its flagship brand, Movado, continues to hold the largest market share within the $300 to $3,000 price category in the U.S.  

But sales of the brand are migrating online as certain mall retailers continue to struggle.

“On the Movado side, I think there are some channel issues, and we’ve talked about those in the past, as mall-based retailers are not performing at the same level that they had been, but we believe that the digital opportunities are significant,” he said.

Grinberg noted on the call that the newest Movado collection, the Movado Face, is being sold online only.  

He also acknowledged that appealing to younger generations is key to success in watches today, telling analyst Oliver Chen when he asked about long-term growth in the industry, “We have made two significant investments for our future, those being Olivia Burton and MVMT, so we believe in the category and we believe that to engage with younger consumers is really important to the future, so