Principles of Consolidation - The accompanying Consolidated Financial Statements include the accounts of Rocky Brands, Inc. ("Rocky Brands") and its wholly-owned subsidiaries, Lifestyle Footwear, Inc. ("Lifestyle"), Five Star Enterprises Ltd. ("Five Star"), Rocky Brands US, LLC, Rocky Brands International, LLC, Lehigh Outfitters, LLC, US Footwear Holdings, LLC, Rocky Brands (Australia) Pty Ltd., Mexico FW Holdings, S. de R.L. de C.V., Rocky Footwear (Chuzhou) Co. Ltd., UK Footwear Holdings Limited and Rocky Outdoor Gear Store, LLC (collectively referred to as the "Company"). All inter-company transactions have been eliminated.

Business Activity - We are a leading designer, manufacturer and marketer of premium quality footwear marketed under a portfolio of well recognized brand names including Muck, Rocky, Georgia Boot, Durango, Lehigh, XTRATUF, Ranger and the licensed brand Michelin. Our brands have a long history of representing high quality, comfortable, functional and durable footwear and our products are organized around six target markets: work, outdoor, western, commercial military, duty and military. In addition, as part of our strategy of outfitting consumers from head-to-toe, we market complementary branded apparel and accessories that we believe leverage the strength and positioning of each of our brands.

Our products are distributed through three distinct business segments: Wholesale, Retail and Contract Manufacturing. Wholesale includes sales of footwear and accessories to several classifications of retailers, including sporting goods stores, outdoor specialty stores, online retailers, marine stores, independent retailers, mass merchants, retail uniform stores and specialty safety shoe stores. Our Retail business includes direct sales of our products to consumers through our e-Commerce websites, third-party marketplaces, our Rocky Outdoor Gear Store and Lehigh businesses. Contract Manufacturing includes sales to the U.S. Military, private label sales and any sales to customers in which we are contracted to manufacture or source a specific footwear product for a customer. See Note 19 - Segment Information for further information.

Estimates - The preparation of financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates.

Foreign Currency - We have determined that the functional currency for our international subsidiaries is the USD as this is the currency in which the entities primarily generate and expend cash. Monetary assets and liabilities that are in a currency other than the USD are remeasured at the rate prevailing at year end. Revenue and expenses in a foreign currency are remeasured at rates that approximate those in effect at the time of remeasurement. Resulting gains and losses from remeasuring the foreign currency to the USD are included in net income. Foreign currency transaction gains and losses are not material for any period presented.

Cash and Cash Equivalents - We consider all highly liquid investments purchased with original maturities of three months or less to be cash equivalents. Balances may exceed federally insured limits. We also hold cash outside of the U.S. that is not federally insured.

Allowance for Credit Losses - We maintain an allowance for credit losses resulting from the inability of our customers to make required payments. We calculate the allowance based on historical experience, the age of the receivables, receivable insurance status, and identification of customer accounts that are likely to prove difficult to collect due to various criteria including pending bankruptcy. Estimates of the allowance in any future period are inherently uncertain and actual allowances may differ from these estimates. If actual or expected future allowances were significantly greater or less than established reserves, a reduction or increase to bad debt expense would be recorded in the period this determination was made. Our credit policy generally provides that trade receivables will be deemed uncollectible and written-off once we have pursued all reasonable efforts to collect on the account. Trade receivables are presented net of the related allowance for credit losses of approximately $1.0 million and $1.8 million at December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively.

Concentration of Credit Risk - We have significant transactions with a large number of customers. No customer represented 10% of net trade receivables as of December 31, 2024 and 2023. Our exposure to credit risk is impacted by the economic climate affecting the retail shoe industry. We manage this risk by performing ongoing credit evaluations of our customers, maintaining reserves for potential uncollectible accounts and utilizing credit insurance for some of our key customers.

Supplier and Labor Concentrations- We purchase raw materials from a number of domestic and foreign sources. We produce a portion of our shoes and boots in our Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and China operations. We are not aware of any governmental or economic restrictions that would alter these current operations.

We source a significant portion of our footwear, apparel and gloves from manufacturers in Asia, primarily in China and Vietnam. We are not aware of any governmental or economic restrictions that would alter our current sourcing operations.

Inventories - Inventories are valued at the lower of cost or net realizable value, on a first-in, first-out (FIFO) basis. We reduce the carrying value of inventories to the lower of cost or net realizable value for excess and obsolete inventories based upon assumptions about future demand and market conditions. If we estimate the net realizable value of our inventory is less than the cost of the inventory, we record an adjustment equal to the difference between the cost of the inventory and the estimated net realizable value. The adjustment is recorded as a charge to cost of goods sold. If changes in demand or market conditions result in reductions to the estimated net realizable value of our inventory below our previous estimate, we would further adjust the value of our inventory in the period in which we made such a determination.

Property, Plant and Equipment - We record fixed assets at historical cost and generally utilizes the straight-line method of computing depreciation for financial reporting purposes over the estimated useful lives of the assets as follows:

For income tax purposes, we generally compute depreciation utilizing accelerated methods.

Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets - Goodwill represents the excess of the purchase price over the fair value of net tangible and identifiable intangible assets. Indefinite-lived intangibles include trademarks and trade names. Goodwill and intangible assets deemed to have indefinite lives are not amortized but are subject to impairments tests at least annually. The Company reviews the carrying amounts of goodwill and indefinite-lived intangible assets by reporting unit at least annually, or when indicators of impairment are present, to determine if such assets may be impaired.

The Company may first assess qualitative factors to determine whether it is more likely than not that the fair value of goodwill and indefinite-lived intangible assets are less than their carrying value. The Company would not be required to quantitatively determine the fair value unless the Company determines, based on the qualitative assessment, that it is more likely than not that its fair value is less than the carrying value.

The Company performs its annual testing for goodwill and indefinite-lived intangible asset impairment in the fourth quarter of the fiscal year for all reporting units. Goodwill is quantitatively evaluated for possible impairment by comparing the estimated fair value of the reporting unit with its carrying value, including the goodwill assigned to that reporting unit. An impairment charge is recorded if the carrying value of the reporting unit exceeds its estimated fair value. An indefinite-lived intangible asset is quantitatively evaluated for possible impairment by comparing the estimated fair value of the asset with its carrying value. An impairment charge is recorded if the carrying value of the asset exceeds its estimated fair value.

Other intangible assets determined to have a finite life primarily consist of customer relationships and patents, which are amortized over their estimated useful lives using straight-line amortization. We review intangible assets with finite lives for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the related carrying amounts may not be recoverable. Determining whether an impairment loss occurred requires a comparison of the carrying amount to the sum of the future forecasted undiscounted cash flows expected to be generated by the asset group.

Leases - Our leases primarily consist of office buildings, distribution centers, manufacturing facilities and equipment. We lease assets in the normal course of business to meet our current and future needs while providing flexibility to our operations. We enter into contracts with third parties to lease specifically identified assets. The Company's incremental borrowing rate is used to determine the present value of future lease payments unless the implicit rate is readily determinable. Most of our leases have contractually specified renewal periods. Our operating leases expire at various dates through 2029 and contain various provisions for rental adjustments and renewal provisions for varying periods. We determine the lease term for each lease based on the terms of each contract and factor in renewal and early termination options if such options are reasonably certain to be exercised.

We have elected the practical expedient to account for lease components and nonlease components associated with individual leases as a single lease component for all leases. In addition, we have elected to account for multiple lease components as a single lease component. Our leases may include variable lease costs such as payments based on changes to an index, payments based on a percentage of retail store sales, and maintenance, utilities, shared marketing or other service costs that are paid directly to the lessor under terms of the lease. We recognize variable lease payments when the amounts are incurred and determinable. We have elected to account for leases of twelve months or less as short-term leases and accordingly do not recognize a right-of-use asset or lease liability for these leases. We recognize lease expense for these leases on a straight-line basis over the lease term.

Comprehensive Income - Comprehensive income includes changes in equity that result from transactions and economic events from non-core operations. Comprehensive income is composed of two subsets – net income and other comprehensive income. There were no material other comprehensive income items, and, therefore, no Statements of Comprehensive Income were presented.

Revenue Recognition - Revenue is recognized when the performance obligations under the terms of a contract with our customer are satisfied; this generally occurs at a point in time when our product ships to the customer, which is when the transfer of control passes to the customer or at the time of sale for our retail stores. Revenue is measured as the amount of consideration we expect to receive in exchange for the transfer of our products at a point in time and consists of either fixed or variable consideration or a combination of both. Payment terms vary by sales channel and customer. For our wholesale channel and our Lehigh business-to-business channel, terms generally require the customer pay within 30 to 60 days of product shipment. For our retail store, e-Commerce channel, and third-party marketplace channel, payment is due at the time of sale.

Cost of Goods Sold - Cost of goods sold represents our costs to manufacture products in our own facilities, including raw materials costs and all overhead expenses related to production, as well as the cost to purchase finished products from our third-party manufacturers. Cost of goods sold also includes the cost to transport these products to our distribution centers.

Advertising - We expense advertising costs as incurred. Advertising expense was approximately $ 19.9 million, $ 16.6 million and $ 15.4 million for 2024 , 2023 and 2022 , respectively.

Shipping Costs - All shipping costs billed to customers have been included in net sales. All outbound shipping costs to customers have been included in operating expenses and totaled approximately $27.0 million, $25.1 million and $38.5 million in 2024, 2023 and 2022, respectively.

Stock Compensation Expense - We recognize compensation expense for awards of stock options, restricted stock units ("RSUs"), and director stock units based on the fair value on the grant date and on a straight-line basis over the requisite service period for the awards that are expected to vest, with forfeitures estimated based on our historical experience and future expectations. Stock-based compensation is included in operating expenses in the consolidated statements of operations.

Fair Value Measurements - The fair value accounting standard defines fair value, establishes a framework for measuring fair value, and expands disclosures about fair value measurements. This standard clarifies how to measure fair value as permitted under other accounting pronouncements.

The fair value accounting standard defines fair value as the exchange price that would be received for an asset or paid to transfer a liability (an exit price) in the principal or most advantageous market for the asset or liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. This standard also establishes a three-level fair value hierarchy that prioritizes the inputs used to measure fair value. This hierarchy requires entities to maximize the use of observable inputs and minimize the use of unobservable inputs. The three levels of inputs used to measure fair value are as follows:

The fair values of cash and cash equivalents, receivables, and payables approximated their carrying values because of the short-term nature of these instruments. Receivables consist primarily of amounts due from our customers, net of allowances, and expected insurance recoveries. The carrying amounts of our long-term credit facilities and other short-term financing obligations also approximate fair value, as they are comparable to the available financing in the third-party marketplace during the year. The fair value of our revolving line of credit is categorized as Level 2.

Some assets are not measured at fair value on an ongoing basis but are subject to fair value adjustments only in certain circumstances. These assets primarily include goodwill and other indefinite lived intangible assets that have been reduced to fair value when impaired. Assets that are written down to fair value when impaired are not subsequently adjusted to fair value unless further impairment occurs. We incurred $4.0 of impairment relating to our trademarks during the year ended December 31, 2024, to write-down the carrying value of the Muck trademark to the fair value of the asset.

Deferred Compensation Plan Assets and Liabilities - On December 14, 2018, our Board of Directors adopted the Rocky Brands, Inc. Executive Deferred Compensation Plan (the "Executive Deferred Compensation Plan"), which became effective January 1, 2019. The Executive Deferred Compensation Plan is a nonqualified deferred compensation plan in which certain executives are eligible to participate. The deferrals are held in a separate trust, which has been established for the administration of the Executive Deferred Compensation Plan. The trust assets and liabilities are classified as trading securities within prepaid expenses and other current assets and deferred liabilities, respectively in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets, with changes in the deferred compensation charged to operating expenses in the accompanying consolidated statements of operations. The fair value is based on unadjusted quoted market prices for the funds in active markets with sufficient volume and frequency (Level 1).