The German company Birkenstock is going public and will debut on the New York Stock Exchange Wednesday with plans to move 32 million shares under the “BIRK” ticker, priced between $44 and $49 each. Although Birkenstocks are made in Europe, the company chose to list their IPO in the U.S. market because companies are generally valued higher here. Not to mention, 54% of Birkenstock clients are based in the Americas and the majority owner, L Catterton, is headquartered in the States.
Originally in 1774 these now iconic sandals were available exclusively in health stores, but years later became available at brick-and-mortar wholesalers and Birkenstock boutique stores worldwide. The company began focusing on direct-to-consumer sales for its success when people stopped going to the malls and started shopping online. They ventured into online sales through an agreement with Amazon but pulled all of their products in 2016 citing concerns of counterfeiting and unauthorized selling. If you were to shop on Amazon today, you would find an array of counterfeit “Birkenstocks” that continue to be listed for sale.
After expanding their product line on Birkenstock.com and creating a consumer-friendly online shopping experience, company revenues surged. They reported $781 million in revenue in 2020 that grew to over $1.3 billion in 2022. This summer, after a pair of their Arizona sandals was featured in the hit film “Barbie”, profits soared to over $1.25 billion for the first 9 months of 2023.
Birkenstock could be valued at up to $10 billion.