The decision to attack Iran has impacted OC’s crop of public companies; see Kevin Costelloe’s front-page story on the new CEO of Surf City-based defense and space supplier Karman Holdings (NYSE: KRMN), whose market cap has nearly tripled over past the past 12 months to almost $14 billion.
Several area firms dependent on discretionary consumer spending have taken stock hits the last few weeks amid the Iranian conflict, including Irvine’s Boot Barn Holdings Inc. (NYSE: BOOT). The western and workwear retail chain has seen its shares drop nearly 20% this month, giving it a market cap of $4.8 billion.
The specialty retailer’s decline is somewhat surprising, given the state of oil prices.
Boot Barn’s fortunes had historically fared better when the price of oil rises, as higher prices brought about more domestic oil production, prompting more spending on the company’s products from “workers seeking dependable, high-quality footwear and clothing.” Crude oil prices are up over 50% the past month.
A decade ago, when it had about 200 stores, Boot Barn derived nearly 30% of its $523 million in revenue from just Texas, North Dakota, Colorado and Wyoming, areas whose economies are dependent on oil and other commodities, making the company much more susceptible to market swings related to oil prices.
An expansion push by former CEO Jim Conroy since then expanded the company’s brick and mortar presence to other markets; it now counts nearly 460 stores, and work-related boots and clothes made up less than 30% of its sales last year, according to the company’s latest annual report.
Despite the recent setbacks, shares in Boot Barn — now headed by CEO John Hazen — are still up 50% over the past 12 months.
Jim Conroy left Boot Barn at the end of 2024 to take over the CEO role at a larger national retailer, Dublin, Calif.-based Ross Stores Inc., the Fortune 500 company that runs the country’s largest off-price chain, Ross Dress for Less. It counts 2,283 stores nationwide.
Conroy appears to be running the same successful playbook that earned him a Businesperson of the Year honor from us in early 2025.
Following a solid Q4 earnings report earlier this month, shares at Ross are now at an all-time high, giving the company a market cap nearing $70 billion (Nasdaq: ROST). Shares in Ross are up 70% over the past year.
Price-conscious shoppers are boosting traffic to Ross stores, which have “the best bargains in retail,” Conroy told analysts.
The U.S. Army said on March 13 it awarded Anduril Industries a contract worth up to $20 billion for its counter-drone technology and products, a deal that has the potential to be the Costa Mesa defense firm’s largest ever.
Potential is the operative word.
Matthew Steckman, Anduril president, told news outlets last week that the contract is more like an “ordering guide where any buyer within the federal government can buy Anduril commercially made products.”
“We got a lot of messages over the weekend, like, ‘Oh, you made $20 billion,’” he said.
“There’s no money attached to it, this is just a contract vehicle, but it reduces a lot of friction in things that just simply shouldn’t have it.”