01:48 PM EST, 01/29/2025 (MT Newswires) -- VF (VFC) said Wednesday that it expects its fiscal fourth-quarter revenue to drop year over year even as the apparel and footwear company's third-quarter financial results unexpectedly increased.

The company sees revenue falling 4% to 6% in the ongoing quarter on a reported basis, or down 2% to 4% on a constant-dollar basis. The outlook implies revenue of flat to down 1% on a constant-dollar basis for the second half of the year.

"This represents a progression in trend versus (the first and second quarters) and is right in line with our expectations," Chief Financial Officer Paul Vogel said on an earnings conference call, according to a FactSet transcript.

For the fourth quarter, the company expects an adjusted operating loss of $30 million to reaching a breakeven point.

Its shares were down 2.7% in Wednesday afternoon trade.

Adjusted earnings rose to $0.62 a share for the quarter through Dec. 28 from $0.45 a year earlier, while revenue grew to $2.83 billion from $2.78 billion. The results surpassed Wall Street's views for $0.34 and $2.75 billion, respectively.

In terms of brands, third-quarter Timberland revenue rose by a double-digit percentage on a reported-dollar basis, with The North Face rising 5%. Dickies saw a 10% decline, while Vans fell 9%. Regionally, the Americas went positive for the first time in more than two years, Chief Executive Bracken Darrell said on the call.

"We did a little better in (the third quarter), driven by stronger-than-expected (direct-to-consumer) and outsized wholesale performance and expect the (fourth-quarter) trend to be a little lower relative to (the third quarter)," Darrell told analysts. Third-quarter foreign exchange headwinds were lower than projected, the company said.

Free cash flow is now seen at $440 million for the full year, up from the prior outlook of $425 million. The company said the updated outlook reflects higher-than-planned proceeds on sale of noncore physical assets and improved core fundamentals.

"Although there is work to do to consistently deliver double-digit operating margins and sustainable top-line growth, we are making great strides in transforming VF into a truly differentiated, multi-brand operator," Darrell said in a presentation.

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