Shares of On Holding (ONON) fell after the shoe company reported mixed second quarter results. The company reported revenue that beat analyst estimates and raised its outlook, but earnings fell short. Part of the problem was the strong Swiss Franc (CHF=X). On Holding Co-CEO Marc Maurer says the company is planning for different currency situations, saying "it has a stronger top-line impact...than bottom-line impact." On the consumer, On Holding Co-CEO and CFO Martin Hoffman says the company is seeing "some cautiousness" from consumers, noting it's more from its European customers than U.S., but that overall the company is still seeing "very strong sales." When it comes to its retail partnerships, Maurer says "we're really seeing across geographies... very strong growth rates in wholesale and in D-to-C (direct-to-consumer)."

Video Transcript

- Shares of On Running are heading downhill this morning after its net sales expectations fell short of estimates. The athletic brand did, however, raise its full year outlook and saw gross profit rise 64% year over year.

Martin Hoffmann, On Holding Co-CEO and CFO and Marc Maurer on holding co-CEO join me now alongside Yahoo Finance's, Brooke DiPalma to break all of this down. A big welcome back to all of you here. So a tough morning as we're looking at the stock this morning. Break down-- we'll start with you Martin, what you think is happening in terms of perhaps the story that investors are missing or what they're honing in on.

MARTIN HOFFMAN: So I think first and foremost for the company, for the team, it's been an amazing quarter. It was the sixth consecutive record quarter that we had 50% growth, 60% on a currency neutral base. All regions, all channels are growing strongly. Our best gross profit margin since the IPO is 59.5%, more than doubled our adjusted EBITDA compared to last year.

Clearly everything above our expectations we increased. Our guidance for the rest of the year. We see continued strong demand going into the third quarter. So we are super positive and we are clearly on track towards our long term mission of building a company that is set up for double growth on top line and profitability.

- And Marc, we did see people really digging in on these earnings, especially focusing on the impact of the strong Swiss Franc. What are your expectations there and how long do you expect that to keep really weighing on the earnings picture for you?

MARC MAURER: We're focusing on influencing what we can, which is the products that we're creating and the stories that we're telling and how we're reaching the consumers. I think we're very clearly planning with different currency situation for the months to come. It has a stronger top line impact that it has a margin and bottom line impact because there's a lot of natural hedging happening there.

But I think in the end, we're trying to be open with our communication in terms of what we see on the currency situation and we're focusing on our implied growth and how many products we bring to the market. Again, and to Martin's point, we're extremely happy with where we stand and also how Q3 has started.

BROOKE DIPALMA: Martin, I want to hone in on that consumer a bit. We did see net sales increase 52% driven by a high end consumer. Do you think that this wealthier consumer is able to shrug off inflation here?

MARTIN HOFFMAN: As I was speaking about the end consumer. So it's really the end consumer that is driving the sales. Both our retail partners are seeing very strong sellout numbers. We are seeing very strong sales in our direct channels, be it our e-com channel but also our growing own retail network. And of course, there was some cautiousness how the consumer would react in the current macro environment.

We clearly see a bit of a stronger impact of that environment in Europe compared to the US but as Marc just said, the brand is strong. We have an exciting pipeline of new products coming. We just launched, for example, the Cloudboom Echo 3, our fastest product yet. And yeah, this gives us the confidence that is reflected in the numbers.

BROOKE DIPALMA: And I do want to talk about where consumers are getting your products. Direct to consumer is still a majority of your business but you are dipping into retail partners. We see a heavy partnership with Foot Locker. Where do you see these points of access really increasing awareness for on running and driving sales?

MARC MAURER: For us, it's always been important to reach the right consumers through the respective retail partners, right? So Dick's is reaching a different consumer than, for example, JD or Foot Locker is reaching or Fleet Feet as run specialty is reaching.

And we're really seeing across geography. So whether it's Europe, whether it's Asia-Pacific, whether it's the US, very strong growth rates in wholesale and in DTC and it's in all wholesale channels. So we don't have a channel that is not growing or growing much, much slower.

So it's very consistent and this also then shows that we're tapping in new younger consumer segments with, for example, Foot Locker and JD and that strategy is working out. But at the same time, we're the fastest growing brand at Fleet Feet and we can significantly expand our market share in the running category and this comes in an overall environment where we have a lot of price pressure from other brands.

There's a lot of discounting happening in the market because of Overstock situations at some retailers with products from other brands and we're very happy that we continue to perform super strongly against that and we can drive full price premium sales.

This shows in the highest gross profit margin ever and we already mentioned the DTC share continues to grow, which is important because it's our direct access to the end consumers where we can bring our full product range to life.

- And Martin, as we talk about the product range, you mentioned the Cloudboom Echo 3. Talk about what the success of that model has done for you and what it means for sort of future innovation and the demographics that you're targeting.

MARTIN HOFFMAN: Yeah. If you look at running, you basically have runners like myself who are everyday runners but then you have a lot of athletes who are really going for the best possible time and the Cloudboom Echo 3 is constructed and built for those fast runners, especially on the mid-to-long distance. It has been developed together with our amazing athletes who are now also ready to go to Budapest and compete on the biggest stages there.

It provides a lot of new innovations, a super strong helium foam carbon plate in there and we expect that this is elevating our presence and market share on the marathons of the world and then it's trickling down into the everyday consumer where we have already very strong franchises like the Cloudmonster, like the recently Cloudsurfer and to grow our market share there. And I think that's the reason why we are currently the fastest growing brand in run specialty as well.

BROOKE DIPALMA: I want to talk about that trickle down effect. I couldn't help but notice this morning on my commute to Manhattan, I saw someone wearing your shoes on the way to work. When you think about the different range that you're now getting in terms of ages and how they're wearing your shoes even for the everyday wear, what does this mean for future growth plans for the business? Are we going to see a broader audience in years to come?

MARC MAURER: Yeah, I think it shows that On is a premium sportswear brand that is rooted in performance and rooted in innovation and this really allows us to have product like the Cloudboom Echo very much rooted in running and the performance core of it.

But then, it's being adopted by people that are wearing it all day and every day and you can also even actually run to work with the product or you walk to work with the product. So for some people, performance means fast times and carbon plate or whatever.

For other people, it means comfort and I think this is how we're bringing some of these elements into many different products also on the apparel side. So we're seeing very strong growth in our apparel range. We're seeing apparel growing, especially strong around in our own stores and that shows the potential that the brand has that goes way beyond the core running segment and is much, much broader than that.

- And certainly, you have tennis legend, Roger Federer agreeing to become one of your global ambassadors there. So for the non-runner who is looking at your brand and trying to see the appeal here, what would you tell them?

MARTIN HOFFMAN: It's an innovation brand with a great design language. Also if you focus on sustainability, we have a fully recyclable and circular products in our range. But all of them as Marc just mentioned, they give you access to the technology that allows the best runners to perform but it also allows you to enjoy every day on your feet.

BROOKE DIPALMA: And I do quickly want to ask, I couldn't help but notice on your site that there is an opportunity to buy last season's items, whether it's apparel, footwear, even socks ranging from 20% to 50% but the catch, you need to be an account member. How does this help get rid of inventory, drive sales, and boost loyalty here?

MARC MAURER: The first thing is great you noticed because it shows that we're gaining and attracting more consumers that more visitors are kind of seeing our website on.com every single year. We already have the same logic for many years actually. But because On is getting bigger, more and more people notice and it's a very normal thing.

We have product life cycles. We have products that go out of line as we're updating apparel, as we're updating footwear and this summer, we ran the classics campaign where basically, you have product that goes out of line accessible at lower rates and we're trying to bring that to our most loyal customers and also being able to bring the value proposition from On to you when you're not shopping and this is why that they're part of the environment is very important for us and beneficial for you as a consumer.

- We'll certainly. I see a lot of brand loyalty for your company. A big thank you for joining us this morning. Martin Hoffmann, On Holding Co-CEO and CFO and Marc Maurer, On Holding Co-CEO joining me alongside our very own Brooke DiPalma. Thank you so much.