Ross Stores delivered a record quarter with 17% comp growth, driven by strong customer acquisition and aided by tax refund timing. Management raised full-year guidance and expressed confidence in the durability of growth drivers, while noting abundant off-price inventory supply. Q1 comps +17% YoY, driven by transactions and double-digit customer count growth across all demographics.
Ross Stores delivered a record quarter with 17% comp growth, driven by strong customer acquisition and aided by tax refund timing. Management raised full-year guidance and expressed confidence in the durability of growth drivers, while noting abundant off-price inventory supply. Q1 comps +17% YoY, driven by transactions and double-digit customer count growth across all demographics.
Management expressed strong confidence and enthusiasm, highlighted record performance and broad-based growth, and reiterated a positive outlook with raised guidance.
Record 17% comp driven by transaction growth, broad-based strength. Management expressed strong confidence and enthusiasm, highlighted record performance and broad-based growth, and reiterated a positive outlook with raised guidance.
Full-year EPS guidance raised to $7.50-$7.74 (up 13-17% YoY), with comps expected +6-7%.
Off-price supply environment favorable, with Ross gaining priority access to deals.
Record 17% comp driven by transaction growth, broad-based strength. Management expressed strong confidence and enthusiasm, highlighted record performance and broad-based growth, and reiterated a positive outlook with raised guidance.
Management reaffirmed plans for 5% unit growth with approximately 110 new stores in 2026, and noted capital expenditures of about $1 billion, slightly up from $819 million last year. They also mentioned continuing store refresh initiatives and building a pipeline for future growth.
Management expressed strong confidence and enthusiasm, highlighted record performance and broad-based growth, and reiterated a positive outlook with raised guidance.
“We have seen some cancellations in the market, some from mainstream retail, and some from other off-pricers that we are able to pick up.”
“the market is now recognizing that our growth rate is a bit outsized and we're getting a lot of first calls now.”
| Metric | Period | Range | Midpoint | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EPS | FY2027 Q2 | $1.85–$1.93 | $1.89 | RAISED |
| EPS | FY2027 | $7.50–$7.74 | $7.62 | RAISED |
| Op margin | FY2027 Q2 | 12.8%–13% | 12.9% | GUIDED |
| Issued | Metric | Target | Guide | Actual | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 Q4 | EPS | FY2026 Q1 | $1.60–$1.67 | $2.02 | Met / beat |
| FY2025 Q4 | Op margin | FY2026 Q1 | 11.8%–12.1% | 13.38% | Met / beat |
| FY2025 Q3 | EPS | FY2026 Q1 | $1.77–$1.85 | $2.02 | Met / beat |
Ross is seeing abundant closeout inventory in the market, partly from cancellations by mainstream retailers and other off-pricers, giving it a supply advantage. — This suggests Ross is taking market share in the off-price channel and the supply environment is favorable, potentially pressuring competitors like TJX.
Makes total sense. Thanks, guys. Great job. Best of luck for the rest of the year.
Sure, sure. I think the sentiment in the market, and look, we're one of three big competitors out there. The relationships that the merchants have with the off-price market is critical. And the relationships that the Ross Merchandising team has is just remarkable. I marvel at the new entry into this world of how relationship-based it is. Having said that, I think the market is starting to see the transformation of Ross going from a very good company and accelerating from there. And it's getting noticed. And I think now when someone has a good deal or more closeouts, we're getting calls. And it's partly because we can take the goods. We have seen some cancellations in the market, some from mainstream retail, and some from other off-pricers that we are able to pick up. I think the last thing I would say is I think our merchants not only have great relationships, but tend to be very easy to work with with the market. That's a philosophy that I inherited from my predecessor, and we absolutely want to continue to do that. We want to be partner-like and low-friction. But we've seen, we've opened up new vendors and we've seen a lot of sort of early calls on opportunistic goods.
Ross is gaining 'first calls' on deals due to its growth and market reputation, improving its access to opportunistic inventory.
Thank you. Good afternoon. The 17 was an unprecedented comp and probably was the result of unprecedented amounts of Chase inventory. So can you just talk about how comfortable you are with your inventory reserve levels and quality and ability to continue to chase into this six to seven comp?
Sure. I think we're very comfortable. The availability of closeouts in the marketplace is still outstanding. I think you'll hear that from each of the players in the industry. I think our buyers and our merchants have been very aggressive. We did really have to react to a pretty sharp spike in sales and were able to feed demand. The other great thing is I think the market is now recognizing that our growth rate is a bit outsized and we're getting a lot of first calls now. And again, hats off to both of our chief merchants, Karen and Karen, and their teams for really hustling to make sure we had product available and seasonally appropriate product transition us from holiday to spring through Easter into Mother's Day. It's just been a fantastic execution.