In 2020, Levi Strauss & Co. has made $5.8 billion in revenue – highest in 24 years. Levi’s overpowered supply chain glitches, sheer logistics costs and labor scarcities to beat its internal retrieval forecasts last year.
Chip Bergh, CEO, Levi Strauss & Co. says Levi’s is at its robust point “in decades” after it piloted through the pandemic’s worst.
In the process, the denim giant has slightly outdone 2019 revenues, reaching over $5.8 billion—a 29% development from 2020 and its maximum revenue since 1998, Bergh said in the firm’s annual report.
Bergh wrote, “We accomplished this despite the impact of COVID-related store closures and soft retail traffic.”
“Our structural economics are stronger, Levi’s brand has grown share globally, and our strategic focus on driving DTC and continuing to diversify the business have driven our results,” added Bergh.
In the firm’s annual report, Bergh said, “With $737 million in operating cash flow generated during 2021, Levi’s is continuing to invest in technology and infrastructure. It also cashed in on the activewear trend—which is five times larger than denim, and growing more quickly—by shelling out for Los Angeles activewear brand Beyond Yoga.”
“These investments are already delivering the highest return on invested capital in 10 years, allowing Levi’s to return almost $200 million to shareholders in dividends and share buybacks.”
Most importantly, Levi’s main business drive continues with denim. And the San Francisco-based company remains the No. 1 men’s and women’s denim brand In the USA and globally.
Bergh believes looser silhouettes, reflecting the general shift in clothing toward more relaxed, casual fits, to rising Gen Z and millennial interest. Doubling down on sustainable messaging, Levi’s initiated an advertising campaign around the concept of ‘Buy Better, Wear Longer,’ and raised its second hand offering to entice consumers’ interest in sustainable buying.
