The Outlook Is Sunny for Irvine-Based Oakley

While heralding a 38% jump in fourth-quarter sales, Oakley Inc. also announced Monday it will expand two popular lines of sunglasses, allowing the public to buy customized versions of models that were redesigned for professional athletes.

Industry analysts said the news, particularly the strong sales, bodes well for the company this year. Oakley’s stock rose $1.25 Monday, closing at $33.25 on the New York Stock Exchange.

“The top-line sales growth in the fourth quarter was much better than we had expected,” said Marcia L. Aaron, with the Alex. Brown investment banking firm, which has its headquarters in Baltimore. “We raised our earnings estimates as a result of this news.”

“We have a buy on the stock,” added associate analyst Jeffrey Coons with Robertson Stephens in San Francisco. “We really like the company. We want to get it at this price.”

The company said sales for the fourth quarter increased to $43 million from $31.2 million a year ago and that sales for 1995 increased 39% to $172.8 million from $124 million in 1994.

The sales increase was due, in part, to the success of Oakley’s new “eye jacket” line of twin-lens sunglasses that sport a more sculptured design. Aaron called the line “one of the most significant new products introduced in the company’s history.”

The company Monday also unveiled its plans to sell to the general public modified versions of its M Frame and Zeros sunglasses.

“This is the first time we’ve done anything like this,” said Link Newcomb, executive vice president of the Irvine-based sunglasses and goggles company. “This is a little bit of a test for us to see how it works since we haven’t done a sports specific model before.”

Although the original M Frame and Zeros single-lens sunglasses were available to the public, the newest versions have added features designed for athletes.

For example, the M Frame, which has a curved stem so it won’t put pressure on the temples, was modified with a straight stem for baseball players to fit under batting helmets.

“These are just refinements that our athletes have found beneficial that we want to pass on to consumers,” he said.

A limited number of the new products should be available in February at a cost of about $100 for the Zeros and about $130 for the M Frames.