Image source: The Motley Fool.

DATE

Thursday, May 21, 2026 at 10 a.m. ET

CALL PARTICIPANTS

• President & Chief Executive Officer — Laura J. Alber
• Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer — Jeffrey E. Howie
• Chief Technology Officer — Sameer Hassan

TAKEAWAYS

• Comparable Brand Revenue Growth -- 4.8% positive comp reported, with every brand delivering a positive comp in the quarter.
• Total Net Revenues -- $1.81 billion achieved, with sequential comp improvement from Q4 performance.
• Operating Margin -- 16.2% reported, exceeding internal expectations despite higher tariffs and fuel costs.
• Diluted Earnings Per Share -- $1.93, up 4% compared to the prior year.
• Brand Performance -- Pottery Barn comp +1%, Pottery Barn Children’s comp +4.5%, West Elm comp +8.5%, Williams Sonoma comp +5% on top of +7.3% last year, B2B growth +13.7% (trade +9%, contract +22%).
• Emerging Brands Growth -- Rejuvenation and Mark and Graham both reported double-digit comp increases, and GreenRow continued its growth trajectory with the opening of its first store.
• Channel Performance -- E-commerce sales up 4.8%, retail sales up 4.7%; market share gains occurred as the broader home furnishings market declined low single digits.
• Gross Margin -- 44%, down 30 basis points due to 100 basis point decline in merchandise margin from higher tariffs and fuel costs, but partly offset by 50 basis points benefit from supply chain efficiencies and 20 basis points occupancy cost leverage.
• SG&A -- SG&A was 27.8% of revenues, 30 basis points higher; employment expense deleveraged 30 basis points, advertising expense leveraged 10 basis points, and general expense deleveraged 10 basis points.
• Inventory -- Ended at $1.46 billion, up 9%, including $60 million of embedded tariff costs; excluding these, growth was in line with sales trajectory.
• Shareholder Returns -- $373 million returned via $288 million in share repurchases (1.4% of shares outstanding) and $85 million in dividends (15% increase year over year).
• Capital Expenditures -- $58 million invested in the quarter, with $275 million planned for the year; 95% targeted to ecommerce, retail, and supply chain.
• Guidance Reiteration -- Fiscal 2026 comp brand revenue growth guided at 2%-6% with total net revenue growth 2.7%-6.7%; operating margin expected to be 17.5%-18.1%.
• Dividend Policy -- Quarterly dividend of $0.76 per share confirmed, with fiscal 2026 marking the 17th consecutive year of increases.
• Tariffs & Oil Price Assumptions -- Guidance includes current tariffs (Sections 32, 301, 1, and 122) and fuel prices near today’s levels, with Section 122 tariffs assumed replaced at similar rates.
• Store Development -- Five new West Elm openings planned; year-end store count expected essentially flat, then returning to 1%-3% growth annually starting fiscal 2027.
• Leadership Changes -- Jennifer Keller promoted to president of Pottery Barn; Monica Bhargava departed as former Pottery Barn president.
• AI & Technology Investments -- Expanded AI use across customer journey, scaling personalization, product discovery, and design tools to drive operational and customer experience efficiencies.
• B2B Division Pipeline -- Noted record quarter and ongoing momentum in contract business, with stated objective of reaching $2 billion in B2B sales.

Need a quote from a Motley Fool analyst? Email [email protected]

RISKS

• Management cited external uncertainty—including “war, trade policy, including tariffs and interest rates”—as explicit reasons for not raising guidance despite first-quarter outperformance.
• Jeffrey E. Howie said, Q2 will probably be peak impact of the tariffs. as tariff-related merchandise margin pressures are expected to be heavily front-loaded in the fiscal year.
• Guidance assumes continued volatility in geopolitics, fuel prices, trade policy, tariffs, and interest rates; any significant changes to the macro environment are explicitly not included in estimates.

SUMMARY

Williams-Sonoma (WSM +5.76%) reported accelerating comps and earnings amid challenging macro conditions, maintaining full-year growth and margin targets while explicitly highlighting tariff and cost headwinds. Management reaffirmed capital allocation strategies, including unchanged dividend policy and substantial share repurchases backed by strong free cash flow. Guidance remains conservative, with external economic and policy risks clearly framed as reasons for not increasing forecasts despite a robust quarter.

• AI-driven personalization and automation received increased management focus as sources of ongoing customer experience and operational improvements not previously detailed in numbers.
• Leadership transition at Pottery Barn signals both continuity and change, as Jennifer Keller steps in following Monica Bhargava’s departure after more than two decades, a move directly referenced as part of ongoing brand evolution.
• Emerging brands, including GreenRow’s first store and continued innovation in Dorm and small-space solutions, are set to expand the portfolio’s addressable market beyond legacy banners.
• Global operations continue to gain traction in key markets (Canada, Mexico, UK), supported by omnichannel initiatives and trade partnerships referenced as differentiators in a contracting industry environment.

INDUSTRY GLOSSARY

• B2B: Business-to-business sales division focused on trade clients such as interior designers and large contract projects, distinct from consumer-facing retail.
• Comp: Comparable brand revenue growth, measuring same-store or brand performance versus the prior period, excluding new or closed locations.
• DTC: Direct-to-consumer, referencing sales through ecommerce or company-owned channels rather than third-party retailers.
• Merchandise Margin (MMU): Income from product sales after direct product costs, not including overhead or indirect costs; key indicator of profitability excluding tariffs, shipping, and supply chain efficiencies.
• Shrink Accrual: Accounting estimate for inventory lost due to theft, damage, or administrative errors, factored into supply chain and gross margin metrics.

Full Conference Call Transcript

Laura J. Alber: Thank you, Jeremy. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining the call. We are off to a strong start in fiscal 26. In Q1, our comp came in at 4.8%, reflecting strong execution across our portfolio of brands, our channels, our teams. Thank you to everyone at the company for your hard work and dedication. We are pleased that our growth initiatives are working. And every brand delivered a positive comp in Q1. We also saw strength in both our retail and DTC channels, with improvements across the customer journey. Furniture and non furniture trends were strong, and collaborations, newness, and innovation all performed well. From a profitability standpoint, we delivered an operating margin of 16.2% ahead of expectations.

We delivered this operating margin even while absorbing tariffs and higher fuel costs. Earnings per share was $1.93 up from $1.85 last year. We continue to outperform on both top and bottom lines, in this uncertain environment. Which includes, but is certainly not limited to, war, trade policy, including tariffs and interest rates. We are delivering compounding results year after year despite the cyclical swings of the housing market and other macroeconomic events. We believe our strong brands, our proven ability to execute our vision, and our relentless focus on customer service will allow us to accomplish our goals in 2026 and beyond. First, on growth.

In Q1, our 4.8% comp reflected our company wide focus on growing our top line. Our quarter was driven by strong performance at all of our brands, growth from our B2B division, and continued outperformance of our smaller but quickly growing and profitable emerging brands. Also, the product pipeline that we laid out this year is working. We are committed to delivering great customer service and we continue to put the customer at the center of everything we do. We extended AI further into the customer journey We scaled personalization across our portfolio of brands. And we continued to optimize the shopping, and checkout experience.

We also made progress using automation to improve customer care and strengthen product discovery while continuing to advance our design tools. And across operations, we delivered enhancements to support supply chain efficiency and enabled important brand initiatives this quarter. And we continue to make progress in supply chain performance with our focus on timely delivery, and low returns and replacements. These improvements helped us offset higher year on year tariffs, and higher fuel costs. We stayed lean and efficient throughout the organization and managed variable costs. And you can see those results in the P&L we shared with you today.

Additionally, in the quarter, we returned $373 million to our investors through share buybacks and dividends, Our results demonstrate our discipline and commitment to delivering quality earnings and returning free cash flow to our stockholders. Now let's talk about guidance. We are reiterating the annual guidance we provided on our Q4 call. We are confident about our business both because of our Q1 results and our strategies for the balance of 2026. However, despite our beat in the first quarter, we are not raising guidance as it is early in the year and there is a lot of uncertainty in the external environment.

We are not building in a meaningful housing recovery and we are assuming continued volatility across geopolitics war, fuel prices trade policy, and tariff and interest rates. Of course, we can never plan for extreme outlier events. But what we can do is give you our best estimate for 2026 which at this point reflects comp brand revenue growth of 2% to 6% with a midpoint of 4% and an operating margin in the range of 17.5% to 18.1% with a midpoint of 17.8%. Now let's review our brands. Pottery Barn delivered a positive 1% comp in Q1. And we were pleased to see the brand's results improve.

We saw progress in key categories for product line, across furniture, lighting, and textiles. Customers responded to both our spring and summer assortments. The quarter also reflected the actions we have been taking in marketing. We are focused on Pottery Barn's heritage aesthetic both in marketing and product design. And we are improving value across key categories. At the Pottery Barn channel level, DTC improved as we focused on the digital experience. Retail remained strong as customers continued to respond positively to our stores design services, and the in person shopping experience including Take It Home Today. We remain focused on executing the Pottery Barn strategy quarter by quarter and are confident about the brand's trajectory in 2026 and beyond.

Before I move on, I also want to share an update on leadership at Pottery Barn. This morning, we announced the promotion of Jennifer Keller to the role of president of Pottery Barn. Over the course of her 29 year tenure, Jen has demonstrated an exceptional track record of driving growth, and incubating brands She brings deep, expertise across merchandising, design, ecommerce, and marketing, and has helped drive significant growth for our company. We also have a strong bench of talent in our Pottery Barn children's businesses and that team will continue to lead the brands and will report to me. And finally, today, we announced former Pottery Barn president Monica Bhargava's departure from the company.

I want to thank Monica for his significant accomplishments throughout her 26 years with our company. Monica's visionary leadership, and creative talent have made a lasting impact across our brands and we are grateful for her many contributions. Now let's turn to our Pottery Barn children's business which delivered yet another strong quarter running a positive 4.5% comp in Q1. Growth was driven by product innovation with strength in both Furniture and nonfurniture. Collaborations and licensing remain key drivers led by Love Shack Fancy, Christopher Loves Julia, and partners, to keep the assortment fresh and bring in new customers.

We also saw strong momentum in baby supported by high quality furniture, and expanded gifting assortment and improvements to the registry experience both in stores and online. And in dorm, we are entering the season well positioned with complete solutions that meet customers' needs, and preferences. In the quarter, we also launched Dormify as our 10th brand. Which expands our reach in dorm and small space living with functional style driven solutions for the next generation of customers. As we think about the future, we see meaningful growth ahead in our children's business. Our pipeline of new product introductions and continued collaboration growth is strong, and we are excited about the momentum as we move through the year.

Now let's review West Elm. West Elm ran a positive 8.5% comp in Q1. And I am proud to say again, that West Elm is on a roll. The drivers at West Elm are consistent and the results are compounding. West Elm continued to make improvements across products, brand heat, and channel excellence. New introductions in both furniture and non furniture drove growth in both spring and summer newness performed particularly well. Wheaton West Elm was a highlight in Q1, Customers who came into our stores and saw more newness and better in stock availability And the strength in the brand gives us confidence to return store count growth with 5 West Elm openings planned in 2026.

Collaborations also remain a key pillar of the growth strategy at West Elm. The Emma Chamberlain collection was a great example It brought new energy to the brand and connected with a younger customer. It is another proof point that West Elm, can create and drive growth and drive growth through distinctive products and storytelling. Overall, we are thrilled with momentum at West Elm. The brand is executing well, and we feel good about the opportunity to build on this progress as we move through 2026 and beyond. Now let's review the Williams Sonoma brand. Williams Sonoma continues its streak of strong performance with a positive 5% comp in Q1 on top of a 7.3 comp last year.

As we spoke about on the last earnings call, 2026 marks Williams Sonoma's 70th anniversary. And at 70 years old, this brand is not slowing down. In fact, it is gaining momentum. The kitchen business continues to accelerate and our pipeline of proprietary in house design products and market exclusive separate us from the competition. We also continue to strengthen the brand through collaborations and marketing partnerships. In Q1, we welcomed world renowned interior designer Kelly Wearstler as a spokesperson for our exclusive rental offering. We also launched the Stanley Tucci pizza oven from Green Pan, and a food collaboration with Oakville Grocery, a Napa Valley culinary institution and the oldest continuously operating grocery store in California.

In our Williams Sonoma stores, we continue to bring the brand to life through experiences that deepen engagement. In Q1, skill series classes remained an important driver and we also built momentum in registry through events, and concierge appointments. We also saw notable momentum in Williams Sonoma Home in the quarter. Customers responded to newness and innovation in color, prints, and pattern. And while the business is small, we see opportunity to expand in the underserved high end furniture and home furnishings market. Looking ahead, we are excited for the summer entertaining season.

We have bottle rock this weekend, which is another great example of how we bring the brand to life through food, community, and experiences that are uniquely Williams Sonoma. And if you are going to be in Napa this weekend, please give me a call. Now I would like to update you on B2B. B2B started the year strong, with another record breaking quarter delivering growth of 13.7%. We saw the strength across B2B with continued momentum in both trade, which grew 9% and contract, which grew 22%.

Our B2B team continues to strengthen our position as a preferred partner We are winning because of our deep relationships with designers developers, procurement groups, and brands And because our design to deliver capabilities are difficult to replicate, We also delivered several marquee projects in the quarter, including hospitality work, for Delano Miami, Bernardus Resort and Spa, multiple locations with national developers like AMLI and Greystar, and continued momentum in sports and entertainment with Capital 1 Arena Live Nation Philadelphia, and upcoming work with the US Open. And to start Q2, the team was recognized at the Hospitality Design Expo winning the best in show award.

Overall, we are pleased with the start to the year in B2B, and we remain excited about the pipeline and the opportunity ahead. Now I would like to update you on our emerging brands. With our proven ability to incubate and scale brands in house, these concepts represent sizable growth opportunities for us. Starting with rejuvenation, which had another strong quarter with double digit comp growth. Performance was driven by continued momentum in project led categories, including cabinet hardware, bath, lighting, and mirrors. Rejuvenation also continued to see strong engagement from the trade which reinforces the brand's position with design, and renovation customers. And in DTC, growth was supported by continued engagement in our core categories.

Product innovation continue to be a focus in the brand with high quality, design driven product, distinctive details, and customizable options that matter in home project categories. With only 13 stores, and great online growth, we are thrilled with the progress in Rejuvenation and we continue to believe in the opportunity for Rejuvenation to be our next billion dollar brand. Mark and Graham also had strong Q1 with a double-digit positive comp. The brand continued to build momentum across key categories and it remains a distinctive destination for personalized gifts for less meaningful moments. As we look ahead, we are leading into major seasonal milestones. Like graduation, Father's Day, wedding season, and summer entertaining.

And we are doing that with compelling new products and elevated coastal point of view. And last, certainly not least, GreenRow. GreenRow continued to deliver growth in Q1. We opened our first store in March and it is a great manifestation of the brand. And since we have last talked, I hope you have had an opportunity to stop by and see the store yourself in SoHo. GreenRow focuses on sustainable, responsibly crafted, vintage inspired design. The brand combines colorful, eclectic styling with heirloom quality materials and low impact manufacturing practices. Finally, I would like to talk about our global business.

We continue to see strong performance across our strategic global markets, including Canada, Mexico, and The UK, driven by differentiated products ongoing omnichannel improvements, and continued growth in our design and trade businesses. So in closing, as you can see, we are off to a strong start in fiscal 26. I would summarize Q1 with 3 accomplishments. First, we delivered strong top line growth with every brand positive Second, we drove operating margin that exceeded expectations And third, we delivered earnings growth. And we did all of this in a dynamic and uncertain external environment.

This quarter, reflected what we set out to do in 2026 We are accelerating growth through strong execution across channels, strength in both furniture and non furniture, and continued momentum in collaborations product newness, and product innovation. We are continuing to invest in the customer experience, and making progress in service and supply chain. And finally, we are staying disciplined on cost and productivity which supports strong profitability and returns to our shareholders. We feel good about the start of the year. And we remain confident in our priorities and our strategies for 2026.

And while the external environment can shift quickly, our model and our team are built to navigate volatility and keep delivering And with that, I want to thank our teams again for their work and their commitment and I also want to thank our vendors and our shareholders for their partnership and support. Now I will turn it over to Jeff to walk you through the numbers and our outlook in more detail.

Jeffrey E. Howie: Thank you, Laura. And good morning, everyone. We delivered another quarter of growth and strong earnings in Q1. Our results reflect the power of Williams Sonoma Inc. Operating model. And our team's strong execution on the priorities we laid out for fiscal year 26. Accelerating growth, delivering world class customer service, and driving earnings. As I walk through the numbers, you will see how we delivered on all 3 priorities this quarter. I will start with our Q1 results, and then review our guidance for fiscal year 26. Q1 net revenues finished at $1.81 billion with comp growth of 4.8%. Both our 1 year and 2 year comps accelerated From Q4 to Q1.

Reflecting the continued strength and momentum of our business. Both furniture and non furniture categories posted positive comps in the quarter, and the trend in both categories accelerated significantly From Q4. From a channel perspective, both e commerce and retail delivered strong comps with e commerce up 4.8% and retail up 4.7%. We accelerated our market share gains as the home furnishings market declined in the low single digits in Q1. We accomplished this even as we maintained our level of full price selling. Our strong results demonstrate the power of our portfolio of brands. Which span different aesthetics, life stages, and price points. Combined with our growth strategies, our portfolio sets Williams-Sonoma, Inc. apart in the home furnishings industry.

Moving down the income statement, Q1 gross margin was 44%, down approximately 30 basis points versus last year. Our focus on growth, customer service and supply chain efficiency partially offset the headwinds from tariffs and higher fuel costs. Merchandise margins declined 100 basis points versus last year. Higher tariffs flowing through to our weighted average cost of goods sold drove this decline. Full price selling was essentially flat year over year. Ocean freight costs were also pressured by higher oil prices. However, our size and scale and our talented supply chain team helped mitigate the impact. Supply chain efficiencies including a lower shrink accrual, delivered approximately 50 basis points of gross margin benefit in the quarter.

Our focus and execution on customer service continued to drive efficiency across our supply chain, enabling us to offset the impact of higher fuel prices to domestic shipping costs. I would like to acknowledge and thank our supply chain team for their relentless focus on service and efficiency that is helping us offset higher fuel prices. Occupancy costs leverage approximately 20 basis points versus last year. With our strong top line growth, more than offsetting the 3% increase in occupancy dollars. Overall, our gross margin came in ahead of our expectations. We are pleased with our ability to partially offset tariff related merchandise margin pressure and higher fuel prices through supply chain efficiencies and occupancy leverage. Turning now to SG&A.

Q1 SG&A ran at 27.8% of revenues, approximately 30 basis points higher than last year. Employment expense deleveraged 30 basis points We continue to manage variable employment costs in line with top line trends while staying focused on investing in talent. Advertising expense as a percent of revenues leveraged 10 basis points. Our in house marketing team continued to test, scale, and optimize across our portfolio of brands, driving strong customer engagement while remaining disciplined on spend. We also invested in social media, using compelling content, collaborations, and influencer partnerships to increase relevance, expand reach, and drive brand heat. Lastly, general expense deleveraged approximately 10 basis points primarily from timing.

On the bottom line, we delivered operating income of $292 million. With operating margin at 16.2%. Diluted earnings per share were $1.93, up 4% versus last year. On the balance sheet, merchandise inventories were $1.46 billion, up 9% to last year. Included in our inventory is approximately $60 million of embedded incremental tariff costs. Excluding these tariff costs, inventories would have been in line with our top line growth. Our inventory levels and composition continue to be well positioned to support our sales growth, and customer service goals. During the quarter, we invested $58 million in capital expenditures to support our long term growth. We also returned $373 million to shareholders through share repurchases and dividends.

We repurchased $288 million of stock for approximately 1.4% of shares outstanding. We also paid $85 million in dividends, a 15% increase year over year. Summing up our Q1 results, we are proud of the strong execution across the business. We accelerated our top line growth continued to improve customer service and supply chain efficiency, and grew earnings per share. These results speak to the power of our operating model. But none of it would be possible without the incredible team we have here at Williams Sonoma Inc. I would like to thank our team for their outstanding execution this quarter. Now let's turn to our fiscal year 26 outlook.

As Laura mentioned, we remain confident in our strategy and momentum We are reiterating our guidance as it is still early in the year and the environment is uncertain. We expect fiscal year 26 net revenue comps to be in the range of 2% to 6%. With total net revenue growth of 2.7% to 6.7%. We expect operating margin to be in the range of 17.5% to 18.1%. Our guidance continues to assume no material changes in the macroeconomic environment. for housing turnover, or interest rates. We remain focused on accelerating growth delivering world class customer service and driving earnings. As we discuss guidance, I would like to address 3 topics top of mind for investors.

Higher oil prices, tariff refunds, and tariffs. First, higher oil prices. Higher oil prices are pressuring transportation costs. With ocean freight, we believe our size and scale combined with the outstanding work of our experienced transportation team, will allow us to continue to mitigate the impact. For domestic shipping expense, fuel prices near today's levels are embedded in our guidance. While the direction of oil prices is difficult to predict, our guidance reflects our best estimate of the impact of higher oil prices on our business. Second, tariff refunds. Our guidance does not contemplate recognizing any benefit from tariff refunds due to the uncertainty surrounding the timing and potential of recovery. Finally, tariffs.

Our assumptions on tariffs remains unchanged as well. As discussed last quarter, we continue to expect the impact of tariffs to be front half weighted. And then moderate over the balance of the year. Our guidance continues to assume all tariffs currently in place remain in effect for the balance of the year. Including the Section 32 tariffs, the current Section 301 tariffs, and the section 1 and 22 tariffs. While the Section 122 tariffs are currently set to expire in July, Our guidance assumes they will be replaced with tariffs at a similar rate.

With the ongoing uncertainty around tariffs, it is impossible to say where they will ultimately land and it is difficult to determine what impact they will have on our business. Our guidance reflects our best estimates based on the tariffs in place as of this call. As tariff policy changes, we may need to update our guidance. Also today, we are providing some further inputs for modeling purposes. We expect our full year interest income to be approximately $25 million and our full year effective tax rate to be approximately 25.5%. Turning now to capital allocation. We will continue to prioritize funding our business operations and investing in long term growth. Our capital expenditure guidance is unchanged.

We expect to spend approximately $275 million in capital expenditures for the year. About 95% of that investment will be focused on ecommerce, retail, and supply chain. In regards to our investment in retail, we continue to expect our year end store count to be essentially flat to last year. After which we anticipate 1% to 3% growth in store count each year starting in fiscal year 27. Embedded in our fiscal year 26 guidance, continues to be approximately 70 basis points of non comp growth from our investment in retail. We remain committed to returning excess cash to shareholders. Through a combination of increased dividends and ongoing share repurchases.

On dividends, we will continue to pay our quarterly dividend of $0.76 per share. Which is a 15% increase year over year. We are proud to say that fiscal year 26 is the 17th consecutive year of increased dividend payouts. On share repurchases, we have approximately $1.1 billion remaining under our current authorizations and we will continue to repurchase shares opportunistically as part of our disciplined approach to delivering shareholder returns. Looking beyond fiscal year 26, we are reiterating our long term outlook for mid to high single digit revenue growth and operating margins in the mid to high teens. Wrapping up our comments, we are proud to have delivered yet another strong quarter for our shareholders.

We are confident we will continue to outperform our peers and deliver shareholder returns for these 5 reasons that remain consistent. Our ability to gain market share in the fragmented home furnishings industry. The strength of our in house proprietary design, The competitive advantage of our digital first, but not digital only channel strategy. The ongoing strength of our growth initiatives. Growth initiatives and the resiliency of our fortress balance sheet. With that, I will open the call for questions.

Operator: We will now begin the question-and-answer Please limit your time. to 1 question and 1 follow-up. If you would like to ask a question, please press 1 to raise your hand. To withdraw your question press 1 again. Okay. Please stand by while we compile the Q&A roster. Your first question comes from the line of Kate McShane of Goldman Sachs. Your line is open. Please go ahead.

Kate McShane: Thank you. Good morning. Wanted to first ask about the health of the consumer. If you saw any change of behavior during the quarter, any differences between income cohort and if you have seen any changes made to date.

Laura J. Alber: Sure. Good morning, Kate. How are you? I cannot really speak for others and what they are saying, but the consumer--our consumer is responding to our products and our strategies across our channels and across our brands as you can see by this morning's set of numbers. And it is, you know, from furniture to smaller items, and collaborations. Across the board, really. I think that the truth is that we have put together a pipeline of products that is very appealing and distinctive in the market. And people trust us for our great prices and quality. And they are coming into our stores because of our engaging store experiences and service.

And you know, they--it seems like they are very interested in spending with us, and we believe that is going to continue. As we look through the year because the strategies that we have built through the year that are going to come look like the ones we have been implementing. And so I think you are going to continue to see the momentum that we have seen in the first quarter.

Kate McShane: Thank you. And it does appear that you were able to offset a lot of the higher fuel cost with the efficiencies in the supply chain that you laid out on the call. But I was wondering if this inflationary environment were to persist do you think you will have to look to increasing prices at all?

Laura J. Alber: I think it is too early to comment on that. And remember, we do not just compete on price. We are competing on the whole, which is the product itself and where it sits in the market versus other similar products. And we have incredible finishes and product design, exclusives, exciting stuff in the works. And, you know, that is where we see the being less price sensitive. That said, careful to make sure that they feel really good about buying from us, and we wanna continue to invest in our customer. And give them the best value in the market.

Jeffrey E. Howie: And I will just add, Kate, that as I said in our opening remarks, oil prices at today's levels are embedded in our guidance. And we are seeing ocean freight prices pressured, but given our size and scale, we are able to mitigate them. And then with domestic transportation, we are seeing higher costs. But our supply chain efficiencies are really offsetting them. And I wanna take a moment just to, you know, acknowledge and recognize and thank our entire supply chain organization for their ongoing focus on just efficiency and driving customer service. Which as everyone has seen, is really producing phenomenal results for the company.

Laura J. Alber: Thank you.

Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Seth Sigman of Barclays. Your line is open. Please go ahead.

Seth Sigman: Thanks so much. Good morning, everyone. So with comps accelerating this quarter relative to prior quarters, at a time when it seems like you have raised prices, but it seems like those price increases are maybe starting to stabilize. So it would imply that the composition of the business is maybe shifting, meaning more volume is improving. Is that right directionally? And if so, what do you think is changing that is driving that? And how do you think about the sustainability as you move through this year?

Laura J. Alber: You are right. And so we are seeing broad based comp-lever improvements. And we are very excited to see it across channels. Based on our strategy stuff--the execution of our strategies, which are very competitive. We could lay out a bunch of them you know, in last in my last conference call. And in this 1. And so we are we are thrilled to see furniture recovering. We had a good Easter. We are going to--back to school. We have invested in the dorm experience total customer experience, in stock at retail. All these things are good for the comp levers. You know, I always think of comp levers as output.

Of the strategy, not the thing to focus on, but just to tell you, it is it is it is not just price. Okay.

Seth Sigman: that is helpful. And then maybe for Jeffrey, on the merchandise margins, they were down this quarter, but a little bit better than I think expected. You are going to start to lap very healthy margins, particularly in the second and third quarter. Can you just remind us how you are thinking about that? How you would expect the cadence to play out throughout the year?

Jeffrey E. Howie: Yes. So margin was down about 100 basis points in the MMU in Q1. A little better than Q4 and a little better than we expected. But we still are guiding that the impact of tariffs will be heavily front weighted and then moderate across the back half of the year. Simply because the way the tariffs are flowing through on our weighted average cost accounting. Now Q1, had an easier compare because we are again up against some timing items in last year. Q2 will not have that benefit, so Q2 will probably be peak impact of the tariffs. But after that, we expect it to moderate for the balance of the year. Okay. Great. Thanks, guys. Bye.

Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Chuck Grom of Gordon Haskett. Your line is open. Please go ahead.

Chuck Grom: Hey guys, great quarter. Can you help us think about the underlying demand curve in the business? I mean skeptics are going to say that it is tax refund driven, but do not think that is the case. And I was hoping maybe you could opine on strength at West Elm and the recovery in Pottery Barn specifically. More importantly, just getting a better sense for the demand curve, the underlying demand curve in the business?

Laura J. Alber: We are thrilled with the results in this. And you remember, you know, many, many quarters ago, mentioned that we are starting to see--do this--have that stock and we have confidence building more newness. It is broad based. So it is the categories we always have, but we also have I also will just say that is not promotionally led. We had very, very strong Easter. Thank you. Additionally, In West Elm. I do not give you those numbers, but I would just say that And we believe this is sustainable, the brand is very well positioned versus the competition. The brand has an extremely exciting.

As it relates to Pottery Barn, we continue to see improvements is really resonating with the customer and then we have only begun to implement that strategy. And so I think you are going to see continuing improvements in Pottery Barn comps. as we go, not just the share of the next and we are confident. Okay. Great. Thanks. Thanks for that, Laura.

Chuck Grom: And then just Jeffrey, on the supply chain, in another 50 bps of improvement there to help offset some of the merchandise margin pressure. Can you walk through some of the KPIs across the metrics you follow to give us a sense of kind of where you are on that journey and the visibility you have to continue to gain on the supply chain side?

Jeffrey E. Howie: Absolutely, Chuck. So, you know, supply chain efficiencies continue to be a big benefit for us. And our goal remains the same. it is having a perfect order on time, damage free every time. And those are really the key KPIs that we track. Is the order on time? Is it damage free? Are there no issues with it? Is the customer satisfied? And at the end of the day, it is really about making sure that customer is satisfied. And we have an incredible supply chain team that really makes a difference in terms of our customer service. And as many of you have heard me say, we do not just compete on price. We also compete on service.

We compete on service in our stores, with our free interior design services, which is helping propel the strength of our retail division. And, also, we compete on our in home delivery. We make 2.4 million in home deliveries a year. that is about 7 thousand a day. And we do it better than just about anybody else out there. And we do it by focusing on making sure the customer is happy and that the order comes you know, perfect every time. Is it on time? Did we hit the delivery Does it have all the pieces together? Did we put it where the customer wanted it? Are they happy with it?

At the end of every order, they actually have to sign, and acknowledge they are happy with it. We take pictures of the order, and we make sure that it is what they want. And that customer service is really what differentiates us. And the more we service our customer, the better our results are.

Laura J. Alber: Great. Thank you, both.

Operator: Next question comes from the line of Jonathan Matuszewski of Jefferies. Your line is open. Please go ahead.

Jonathan Matuszewski: Great. Good morning, and thanks for the time. My question was on the trade channel. it is promotional in the industry for consumers, but it is also increasingly promotional in the industry for the trade channel. Seems like, many retailers are trying to court the interior design community. It looks like your trade channel business was strong this quarter, up around 9%, I believe. So my question is, what is on the horizon in terms of initiatives to maintain that momentum and neutralize maybe some of the higher promotions some competitors are doing to, you know, court those designers. Thanks.

Jeffrey E. Howie: Good morning, Jonathan. We continue to believe in our B2B business, had another really strong quarter of 14%, That was our largest quarter ever to date at B2B. Now trade's an important part of it. To your point, it was up 9% in the quarter. And that is not really being driven on price. We are not changing anything regarding the pricing we do with our trade consumers. or promotional activity. We work with you and on service. And it comes down to our local stores, our own window on the trade community, building those relationships. And really executing on all the different strategies we have around product and service and delivery.

And then the place we are really focused with B2B is on the contract side. Which had a 22% increase on the quarter. We continue to have an incredibly robust pipeline, and are making really big inroads here. I will share--as many of you guys know, I manage B2B. Earlier this month, I joined our B2B team down in Las Vegas at the Hospitality Design Expo. Where we won best booth, which was a sign of, you know, how much you know, attention we get in the industry. And I will just share with you. It was incredible business. I have never seen a team more motivated to drive results and so much activity and memorability of customers coming in.

It left me incredibly excited about our ability to achieve our goals. To drive B2B to $2 billion. Thank you.

Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Christopher Horvers of J.P. Morgan. Your line is open. Please go ahead.

Christopher Horvers: Thanks for taking my question. Feel like I am at a Pink Floyd concert right now. Can Laura, can you maybe talk about the West Elm acceleration a bit more? there is a lot going on at the brand. You are running that PB playbook of category expansion. you know, in rooms, outdoor, kids, You have the B2B side, which I think is a big driver of the West Elm business. And then the Emma collaboration. So as we think about that sequential improvement, could you maybe qualitatively bucket how the drivers which 1 of these drivers have been more significant?

Laura J. Alber: Thank you. I am assuming you are commenting about the echo. Which were very sorry for. Is it any better now? it is a little better. Yeah. I mean, it is our partner Q4, and they are working on it as we speak. But I apologize. it is distracting for us too, but I am not so distracted. I will not tell you about the amazing West Elm business, which is driven by multiple things. We laid out strategies and we have been executing against them. And it is it is not 1 thing. You know? Emma Chamberlain is amazing. She is got such a wonderful following, and she continues to gain momentum in the world and people knowing her.

And the team started working with her a while back, and they put together a beautiful line of product that is really bringing in new customers, younger customers to the brand. And bringing back that hip feeling, and that You know, I think in great retailers, execute, you know, it is not what you always expect. it is this new layer that makes you smile, and that is what Emma did. All her great products from pigeons to beautiful beds. I mean, it is it is across the categories. And, you know, that is just 1 thing. there is a bunch of really exciting other collaborators coming.

And you can imagine you know, when you have 1 hit like that and people see it, a lot of people wanna work with you. So we have a wonderful opportunity to continue to feed the collaboration pipeline with really interesting names. And then at the same time, we have been working on filling white space in the market with West Elm's unique designs, modern aesthetic, and price point, and we are making progress against the categories of furniture. We have, you know, I would say we have added more looks. We have seen, you know, Bassenian Lagoni continue to do well.

And then we have our core categories, textiles and you know, rugs and decor and tabletop, and we have wins across the board. So it really is not pointing to just 1 thing. But there is a lot of room to go. I mean, there is still areas where we are underdeveloped versus pottery barn, and areas where we have not hit it, and that is what we are focused on. We are just going to keep driving it and we are going to keep pushing for even higher comps. I think this brand has a lot of growth in it, in its positioning, and we are going to go get it.

Christopher Horvers: Excellent. And then, Jeffrey, as a follow-up, can you help us with the price cost lap? You mentioned gross margin trough year over year in the second quarter. How much of the how much did 2Q 25 have the price cost benefit? And does that 60 million of tariff cost that is hung up in inventory right now essentially flow through in the second quarter.

Jeffrey E. Howie: Yes. Good morning, Christopher. So not all of the $60 million flows through in the second quarter. But Some of it does. And, like I said earlier, Q2 will be peak impact of the tariffs. We got out of the front half as the tariffs flow through. But as I have said this quarter and last quarter, the tariffs will moderate throughout the year. Q2, the tariffs are essentially still being non-comped. Then in Q4, they are fully comped. So when you think about that across the year, it goes back to Q2 will feel the pressure and then it will moderate across the back half. Thank you. Yep.

Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Peter Benedict of Baird. Your line is open, please. Go ahead.

Peter Benedict: Hey guys, thanks for taking the question. I guess Jeffrey, so the full year guide still embeds about a 70 basis point gap between your comp brand revenue growth and your total revenue growth. The first quarter, it was a 40 basis point negative, I guess. So just help us understand the cadence and what is going to drive that as we think about over the balance of the year.

Jeffrey E. Howie: Yeah. Good morning, Thanks, Peter. It really comes down to our store opening schedule As we talked about on the last call, we did say that Q1 would have a benefit of the 70 basis point benefit We are we are gonna go here. Because of the all this data that I discussed which includes opening 20 new stores and repositioning 9 to 90 stores. We will all have them later in the year just based upon on the structure of China. So we still anticipate a full year benefit of 70 basis points to revenues from all this retail activity. And it will accelerate as we go throughout the year.

Peter Benedict: Okay. Makes sense. And then other question is just on the shrink accrual. I do not recall if you frame the size of that in the quarter if that was just part of maybe 1 of the other buckets. But can you talk about shrink accrual in the first quarter and if we should expect that to continue to be a good guy, I guess, over the balance of the next couple of quarters before we cycle. The positive in the fourth quarter of last year. Thank you.

Jeffrey E. Howie: Happy to, Thanks, Peter. And as you may recall, our emphasis on the physical inventory results came in lower than expected. And then that comes against the benefit we saw last year in Q4. Yeah. In terms of how much it was in Q1, it was about half the benefit, we are reporting in supply chain benefits. And then here's the thing. You never know what is gonna happen until you take physical inventories. You We think we have the right accrual for this year. And all of this is embedded in our guidance. Great. Thanks so much. Thanks, Peter.

Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Christina Fernandez. Of Telsey Advisory Group. Your line is open. Please go ahead.

Cristina Fernandez: Thank you. Good morning. I wanted to ask about the accelerating trends in DTC. Can you talk perhaps what you are doing on the advertising that is different in driving traffic to the website in that environment that has seemed more promotional to us. Not from you, from the competition.

Laura J. Alber: Well, I would say that we are always looking at, you know, where we can make a tweak to our mix that drives incremental traffic and conversion. And, we are using our brand heat to fuel social, organic, and paid. And, influencers are doing a great job for us With our partners, you know, we are continuing to invest in the, you know, high ROIC.

Ad costs, terms and programs, and we are doing a lot of testing with these groups to find what will matter in this new world and how we feed the LLMs and I do have Sameer here with me, and I am going to--before we run out of time, use your question to turn it to him to talk a little bit more. About what we are doing with AI and how we are using that to accelerate really all of our strategies. And if you do not mind, I am just going to give him the chance to do that now. it is relevant to your question.

Sameer Hassan: Yeah. I appreciate you. Excuse me. You have heard me talk about our prepared remarks about how we are accelerating the AI impact it is having. The impact we are seeing and how that starts to come from, like, in Q1. I think I can share your examples. So first, and all of it continues to get smarter and smarter. handling more complex queries is another area. And so, you know, we are using generative AI in our room planner to help customers visualize the actual room plan through our Design Crew tools. This is AI A way that nobody else can. Here's how we complete the interior design. Here's how it will all come together.

We talked about supply chain, we have had massive efficiencies come through and productivity within our corporate associate base. We are seeing code generation, documentation, all of these things accelerate very quickly, our company with people moving from being users of AI to really leading company builders in AI. it is just really exciting to see that. Thank you for that.

Cristina Fernandez: And then as a second question, could you talk about Pottery Barn? I mean, was good to see the improvement this quarter, but what areas are you focused on as we look at the rest of the year to even accelerate growth in that brand?

Laura J. Alber: Great. We continue to make improvements on our DTC channel. And the way that, the customer finds products and shops, as Sameer just told you, the medicine across the board but in particular, we have been very focused in Pottery Barn in really having everyone study where we can make those improvements the fastest. And, also, in the photography. So the photography, if you go on, you will see just I think some of the best photography we have had, and it is gonna get even better into the fall season.

I have had the chance to look at the fall film with the new product, and I think it is gonna really you know, it is going to--it is going to really blow everybody's socks off. I mean, it is it is great it is appealing. It is fresh. it is also what you would imagine Pottery Barn, it says at when it is at its best, what it should look like. And multiple layers of different aesthetics that are all working well together. So you know, creatively, I am excited about how that feeds the brand And the stores have looked great. We have done really well with the stores.

And so focusing on the DTC channel is gonna really help improve the performance because that has been where it is been lagging. And then from a product perspective, we are seeing, and this is competitive, so I have to be careful not to tell too much, but we are seeing some new things work. It was what we expected. We are gonna continue to develop more into those looks across the board, both in textiles and in furniture. Those are the big pieces. there is a lot of other things too. That we are working on in the store experience. And, you know, all of it will be incremental, and we are very, very confident.

Operator: Thank you. There are no further questions at this time. I would now like to pass the call back to Laura J. Alber, chief executive officer for closing remarks. Okay.

Laura J. Alber: Well, thank you all for your patience on this call. I hope you could hear everything. And we appreciate your support. We are confident in our business, and we cannot wait to talk to you next time.

Operator: This concludes today's call. Thank you for attending. May now disconnect.