Birkenstock Earnings: The Currency Wedge Closed To Two Points

Updated August 13 at 10:15am ET with reported fiscal Q3 results. The preview below the update said to watch the size of the wedge between reported and constant-currency growth, and called the gross margin line the test of the pricing-power thesis. The wedge closed from six points to two. The margin call I got partly wrong, and the section below says how.

TL;DR

• Revenue was EUR 719.5 million, up 13% as reported and 15% in constant currency, against a EUR 713.2 million consensus. Prior-year revenue was EUR 635 million.
• The FX wedge closed to two points from six. Fiscal Q2 grew 7.7% reported against 14% constant currency. That convergence was the thing to watch here, and it is most of why the stock moved.
• Adjusted EPS of EUR 0.74 missed the EUR 0.76 consensus, up 19% on the year. Reported net profit fell 15% to EUR 110 million, with basic EPS of EUR 0.60 against EUR 0.69.
• Gross margin was 59.1%, down 140 basis points. US tariffs took 70bp of that, currency 60bp, and the Australian distributor acquisition 20bp.
• Guidance went up. Full-year constant-currency growth is now 15%, from 13-15%. Adjusted EBITDA is now at least EUR 710 million, from at least EUR 700 million. The adjusted gross margin guide of 57.0-57.5% was left unchanged.
• BIRK traded at $41.46 in premarket, up 12.85% from Wednesday's $36.74 close, quoted at 9:03am ET.

The Board

The gap between the two growth numbers was the whole preview. It closed.

Did Birkenstock Beat Earnings?

On revenue and guidance, yes. On earnings per share, no. Revenue of EUR 719.5 million cleared the EUR 713.2 million consensus and grew 15% in constant currency, at the top of the company's own 13-15% full-year target. Adjusted EPS of EUR 0.74 came in two cents under the EUR 0.76 the Street wanted.

The market took the revenue and the raise. Wednesday's premarket movers had BIRK among the largest gainers on the board.

The Wedge Closed To Two Points

Fiscal Q2 grew 7.7% reported against 14% in constant currency, a six-point gap that this preview argued was the most important number in the story, because the ADR is paid in dollars and carries no hedge inside the ticker.

Fiscal Q3 grew 13% reported against 15% constant currency. Two points.

That is the convergence the preview asked for, and I think it explains the size of the move better than the revenue beat does. A EUR 6.3 million beat on a EUR 713 million consensus is under a percent. Four points of recovered reported growth, on a company whose dollar earnings had been leaking through translation for a year, is a different order of thing.

Regionally it was broad: Americas +14%, EMEA +15%, APAC +23% in constant currency. Direct-to-consumer grew 16% against 15% for B2B, so the mix kept tilting toward the higher-margin channel.

Where The 140 Basis Points Went

Gross profit was EUR 424.9 million on EUR 719.5 million of revenue, a 59.1% margin against 60.5% a year earlier. The company attributes the decline to unfavourable currency translation (60bp), incremental US tariffs (70bp) and a 20bp mark-up to cost of sales from acquiring its long-standing Australian distributor, partly offset by better capacity absorption.

One clarification, because two identical numbers sit next to each other in this story. Q3's 59.1% gross margin is a single quarter in peak sandal season. Fiscal 2025's 59.1% was a full year. The full-year adjusted guide of 57.0-57.5% is a blend across weaker quarters, so Q3 landing at 59.1% is not the guide being beaten by 160 basis points.

The Margin Call I Overweighted

The preview said the fiscal 2026 gross margin guide was the first genuine evidence against the pricing-power thesis, and that Thursday's margin line would confirm or reverse it.

Reading the decomposition, I put too much weight on that. The pure tariff cost is 70 basis points. The rest of the 140 is currency translation and an acquisition accounting item, neither of which says anything about whether Birkenstock can charge what it wants. A brand absorbing 70bp of tariff while growing DTC 16% and lifting its full-year revenue and EBITDA guides is not failing the pricing test.

What I would still watch: adjusted EBITDA grew 11% against 15% constant-currency revenue growth, and the adjusted EBITDA margin slipped 70bp to 33.7%. Costs are growing faster than sales somewhere below the gross line. That is the same shape as the wholesale margin squeeze the July PPI report is measuring across the economy, and it is worth another quarter of attention.

What The Raise Actually Commits To

Full-year constant-currency revenue growth moves to 15% from a 13-15% range, on reported revenue of EUR 2,300-2,350 million. Adjusted EBITDA goes to at least EUR 710 million from at least EUR 700 million, with the margin band tightened to 30.2-30.5% from 30.0-30.5%.

The gross margin guide did not move. Holding 57.0-57.5% while raising revenue and EBITDA is a company saying the tariff and FX drag is inside what it already told the market, and that the extra volume drops through below the gross line. I read the unchanged gross margin guide as the more informative half of the raise.

The Options Angle

The August 21 expiry has not expired, so the volatility rows stay open. The conditional equity row triggered.

• The straddle logged at $37.50 needs a move beyond $43.26 or below $33.64 to pay, against the $38.45 spot it was struck at. The premarket $41.46 is inside that range with six sessions to run.
• The conditional long triggers. Both published conditions were met: gross margin held above the 57.5% threshold at 59.1%, and reported growth converged toward constant currency. It is struck off the August 13 close, per the original row, which is not known at filing.
• The pass on selling premium stands until August 21.

Trade log

#	Stance	Structure	Strikes and expiry	Cost or credit	Spot at writing	Implied move	Breakeven
1	Long volatility	Long straddle	$37.50 straddle, Aug 21	~12.5% of spot; live price not sourced	$38.45, Aug 7 close	±12.5%	Needs a move beyond $33.64 or $43.26
2	Pass	Short premium of any kind	Aug 21 expiry	Not sourced	$38.45, Aug 7 close	±12.5%	Scored as a trade not taken
3	Conditional, now triggered	Post-print long (shares)	Struck off the Aug 13 close	Struck off the Aug 13 close	$41.46 premarket, 9:03am ET Aug 13	n/a	Scored from the Aug 13 close

Rows 1 and 2 stay open to August 21. Row 3's conditions were published on August 9 and both were met on the print, so it enters the record; the entry is the August 13 close as originally specified, and the premarket quote is there to show roughly where the trigger fired.

The One-Line Read

Birkenstock closed the currency gap that was costing dollar holders half the growth, raised guidance, and gave up 70 basis points to tariffs. The EPS miss is the least interesting line in the release.