How to Invest in VF Corporation

About VF Corporation

VF Corporation (NYSE: VFC) is a global consumer goods company that designs and manufactures apparel, including outdoor wear and leisure wear, footwear, and accessories. VFC is based in Denver, Colorado and its products are sold in over 125 countries. The company was founded in 1899 and employs over 30,000 people around the world.

VF currently owns 13 brands:

• Supreme - fashion and skate ware
• The North Face – Outerwear and gear for outdoor sports and activities
• SmartWool – base-layers and socks for cold weather
• Icebreaker – Merino-wool clothing
• Altra – Athletic shoes for road and trail running
• Vans – skateboarding shoes and apparel
• Kipling – bags, backpack and luggage
• Napapijri – jackets, coats and backpacks
• Eastpak – bags, backpacks, and luggage
• Jansport – bags and backpacks
• Dickies – workwear clothing for the outdoors
• Timberland – outdoor footwear
• TimberlandPRO – work footwear

VF Corporation Financials

VFC follows a fiscal calendar that is eight (8) months ahead of the normal calendar. Their 2022 fiscal year ran from April 4, 2021 to April 2, 2022. In FY2022, VFC had revenues of $11.8 billion, an increase of 38% on FY2021. VFC attributes this increase to recovery from reduced demand in the prior year due to the COVID-19 pandemic (1). In the most recent quarter, fiscal year Q2 2023 (ending October 1, 2022), VFC reported revenues of $3.1 billion for the quarter, a decline of 4%. VFC reported that revenue was up the most at The North Face (up 8%) and down the most at Vans (down 13%) (2).

Recent Company updates

VFC recently divested 9 of their workwear brands so that they could focus on “a carefully curated group of outdoor and activity-based lifestyle brands that are strongly positioned for direct-to-consumer (DTC) growth and international expansion” (3). VF Corp brands are all lifestyle brands and some (like Supreme) have devoted followings. Supreme is one of the largest and most recent of VFC’s acquisitions. VFC purchased the skate wear company in 2020 for $2.1 billion. Supreme releases a new collection two times per year and is known for their Thursday “drops” when you can pick up new pieces from the collection. The Supreme brand is valued for its quality, style, and scarcity.

What sector of the economy does VF operate in?

The stock market is broken down into 11 sectors – healthcare, materials, real estate, consumer staples, consumer discretionary, utilities, energy, industrials, consumer services, financials, and technology. These classifications are helpful if you are trying to diversify your portfolio. For example, during the housing market crash in 2008, your portfolio would have suffered if you were over-concentrated in real estate. As an apparel company, VF Corp is within the consumer discretionary sector of the economy. Consumer discretionary generally performs well when the economy performs well. Consumer discretionary goods are considered “nonessential,” so consumers would cut this spending before other sectors of the economy (like consumer staples and energy).

Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Factors at VF Corporation

ESG represents the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors that companies incorporate into their business practices. ESG factors can include anything from a company’s carbon footprint (environmental) to their inclusion practices (social) to their disclosure and compliance practices (governance). Many companies now incorporate non-financial factors into their performance. The general idea is that a company that is performing well on ESG will be more resilient and perform better in the long-term. Some of VFC’s ESG highlights from FY2022 include increasing their use of renewable energy by 7% to a total of 34% renewable; improved leadership positions held by women and Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) to 41.8% and 18.1%, respectively (4).

How to invest in VF Corporation

VFC is a publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange. You can buy a share of VFC stock and become a part owner of the company. Each share represents a fraction of the company – the more shares you buy the more of the company you own.

A stock is just one type of investment (also called a “security”). There are also investments called exchange traded funds (ETFs) and mutual funds. Funds are baskets of securities that are usually invested in multiple stocks, bonds, and other types of securities. The fund pools together the money of their investors so they can buy more shares and be more diversified.

You can buy a share of an ETF or mutual fund that is invested in VFC. By investing in a fund, you are still investing in VFC, but you are also getting access to multiple other investments at the same time. In general, this is adding more diversification and reducing the risk of your investment. One thing to note is that while stocks do not have any fees associated with them, ETFs and mutual funds have expense ratios (fees associated with the management of the fund).

If you would like to invest in VFC, try the following searches on Magnifi:

• Invest in VFC
• Funds that hold VFC
• Competitors to VFC

For more information on VF Corporation you can also visit the Investor Relations section of their website.

References:

1. “Fiscal Year 2022 Annual Report,” https://www.vfc.com/investors/financial-information/annual-reports.
2. “VF Corporation Reports Balanced Performance in Second Quarter and Revises Full Year Fiscal 2023 Outlook,” 26 October 2022, https://www.vfc.com/investors/news-events-presentations/press-releases/detail/1798/vf-corporation-reports-balanced-performance-in-second
3. “Fiscal Year 2022 Annual Report,” https://www.vfc.com/investors/financial-information/annual-reports
4. “Seizing the Momentum - Made for Change: Sustainability & Responsibility Report Fiscal Year 2022.” https://www.vfc.com/news/press-release/1799/vf-corporation-publishes-sustainability-responsibility