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DATE
Thursday, Sept. 10, 2026 at 8:00 a.m. ET
CALL PARTICIPANTS
- Vice President of Investor Relations - Pamela Nagler Quintiliano
- Chairman and Chief Executive Officer - Antony Spring
- Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer - Thomas J. Edwards Jr.
TAKEAWAYS
- Net Sales -- $4.9 billion, representing a 1.1% increase compared to the prior-year period.
- Go-Forward Comparable Sales -- 2.8% growth, reflecting positive comparable performance across all three nameplates and channels.
- Macy's Nameplate Comparable Sales -- 1.1% increase, marking the fifth consecutive quarter of growth driven by reimagined store locations.
- Reimagine 200 Stores -- 1.9% comparable sales growth, outperforming the total Macy's fleet due to investments in staffing and localized assortments.
- Bloomingdale's Comparable Sales -- 11.3% increase, representing the highest second-quarter sales volume in the brand's 154-year history.
- Bluemercury Comparable Sales -- 6.2% growth, led by customer engagement in dermatological skin care and makeup categories.
- Adjusted Diluted EPS -- $0.63, which includes a $0.23 net benefit from received tariff refunds.
- Gross Margin Rate -- 41.5%, an increase of 180 basis points compared to 39.7% in the second quarter of 2025.
- Adjusted EBITDA -- $457 million, or 9% of total revenue, compared to $373 million in the prior-year period.
- Merchandise Inventories -- $4.4 billion, a 2.5% increase year over year to align with anticipated fall season demand.
- Operating Cash Flow -- $586 million for the first half of the year, compared to $255 million in the first half of 2025.
- Free Cash Flow -- $262 million for the first half, compared to an outflow of $88 million in the same period last year.
- Tariff Refunds -- $116 million total expected proceeds, with $98 million received during the second quarter.
- Full-Year Net Sales Guidance -- $21.675 billion to $21.825 billion, raised from the previous range of $21.5 billion to $21.75 billion.
- Full-Year Adjusted Diluted EPS Guidance -- $2.15 to $2.35, representing an increase from the prior range of $2.00 to $2.20.
- Full-Year Comparable Sales Guidance -- 1.0% to 1.5% growth, reflecting second-quarter outperformance and current consumer trends.
- Share Repurchases -- $50 million during the second quarter, with $1 billion remaining under the company's current authorization.
- Cash Balance -- $1.3 billion at quarter end, an increase from $829 million in the prior year.
- Other Revenue -- $193 million, a 3% increase driven by performance in credit card and media network segments.
- Credit Card Revenue -- $156 million, reflecting a 2% increase supported by stable net credit card losses and a healthy portfolio.
- Macy's Media Network Revenue -- $37 million, representing 9% growth due to higher partner engagement on the advertising platform.
- Capital Expenditures -- $324 million in the second quarter, compared to $343 million in the prior-year period.
- Average Unit Retail (AUR) -- 9% increase for the quarter, driven by relevant brands, refined assortments, and reduced promotional activity.
- SG&A Expense -- $1.96 billion, representing 38.7% of total revenue, an improvement of 20 basis points compared to last year.
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RISKS
- Spring noted that the company experienced softer consumer demand in specific categories, stating, "We experienced softer trends in plus sizes, intimates, and women's sleepwear."
- Edwards warned that ongoing tariff and fuel costs remained a headwind, noting that they "impacted the quarter by approximately 10 basis points."
- Spring indicated that big ticket categories, while improving, remained soft during the quarter compared to the prior year.
SUMMARY
Macy's, Inc. (M +2.83%) reported total revenue growth and positive comparable sales across its three nameplates for the second quarter of 2026. Management attributed the performance to the execution of its Bold New Chapter strategy, citing growth in reimagined Macy's locations and record volume at Bloomingdale's. The company raised its annual financial guidance to reflect second-quarter outperformance and the strategic deployment of tariff refunds. Operational initiatives highlighted during the call included the expansion of artificial intelligence tools for customer engagement and inventory replenishment, as well as ongoing supply chain efficiency projects.
- Management reported that its 200 Reimagined stores now account for approximately 75% of Macy's nameplate go-forward store sales.
- Antony Spring stated that the company is expanding its AI-powered conversational shopping assistant to in-store colleagues "to help deliver the best Macy's at every touch point."
- The company received $98 million in tariff refunds during the quarter and expects a total of $116 million, with approximately $20 million flowing through to full-year earnings.
- Thomas J. Edwards Jr. noted that supply chain efficiencies are expected to benefit gross margin in the second half of 2026 as the China Grove facility ramp-up continues.
- Macy's introduced exclusive capsule collections from six American designers to engage consumers during the fall fashion season.
- Bloomingdale's achieved its highest second-quarter sales volume in its 154-year history, with comparable sales rising 11.3%.
- The company maintained $1 billion in remaining share repurchase authorization after buying back $50 million of stock during the second quarter.
INDUSTRY GLOSSARY
- Bold New Chapter strategy: The company's enterprise-wide strategic plan focused on store fleet optimization and operational excellence.
- Reimagine 200: A group of 200 Macy's store locations that received targeted investments in staffing and localized assortments.
- AUR (Average Unit Retail): The average dollar amount received for each unit sold during a specific period.
- NPS (Net Promoter Score): A metric used to track customer satisfaction and loyalty based on consumer feedback.
- Go-forward Nameplate: Performance metrics specifically encompassing store locations intended for long-term operation.
- IEEPA: The International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which serves as the regulatory basis for the tariff refunds received by the company.
Full Conference Call Transcript
Operator: Greetings, and welcome to the Macy's, Inc. Second Quarter 2026 Earnings Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. A question and answer session will follow the formal presentation. As a reminder, this call is being recorded. It is now my pleasure to turn the floor over to Pamela Nagler Quintiliano, Vice President of Investor Relations. Thank you. Please go ahead.
Pamela Nagler Quintiliano: Thank you, operator. Good morning, everyone, and thanks for joining us. With me on the call today are Tony Spring, our Chairman and CEO, and Tom Edwards, our COO and CFO. Along with our second quarter 2026 press release, a Form 8-K has been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. And a presentation has been posted on the Investors section of our website, macysinc.com, and is being displayed live during today's webcast. Unless otherwise noted, the comparisons we provide will be versus 2025. All references to our prior expectations, outlook, or guidance refer to information provided on our March 3, 2026 earnings call. On today's call, we will refer to certain non GAAP financial measures.
Reconciliations of these measures can be found in our earnings presentation and SEC filings available on the Investor Relations section of our website. All references to comp sales throughout today's prepared remarks represent comparable owned plus licensed plus marketplace sales. Unless otherwise noted. All reported nameplate comp sales results are on a go forward basis. Go forward Macy's Inc. Comp sales include the approximately 350 go forward store locations and digital for Macy's. Which represents the Macy's go-forward nameplate, and all stores and digital for Bloomingdale's and Bluemercury. Which represent their respective nameplates. All forward looking statements are subject to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 2 thousand.
These forward looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the expectations and assumptions mentioned today. A detailed discussion of these factors and uncertainties is contained in our filings with the SEC. Today's call is being webcast on our website. A replay will be available approximately 2 hours after the conclusion of this call. With that, I will turn it over to Tony Spring.
Antony Spring: Good morning and thank you for joining us today. First, I would like to welcome Pam. Our new VP of Investor Relations to the team. Over the coming months, she will meet with many of you on the call today. We are so excited to have her on board. Now on to the results. We are encouraged by our strong performance in the second quarter. Which reflects our continued momentum of the Bold New Chapter strategy. We delivered revenue growth, comparable sales increases across all nameplates and channels, and better than expected performance across all key financial metrics. These results reflect the substantive enterprise wide improvements we are making in our business that are resonating with our customers.
Combined with consistent execution of our bold new chapter initiatives, we are building a durable foundation that delivered second quarter results ahead of expectations. Macy's Inc. Net sales, comparable sales, adjusted EBITDA and adjusted diluted EPS all exceeded our guidance. Macy's nameplate delivered its 5th consecutive quarter of positive comps, led by the reimagined 200. Bloomingdale's achieved double digit comparable sales growth for the second consecutive quarter and its best second quarter sales volume on record. And Bluemercury delivered another quarter of solid comparable sales growth. Our talented colleagues are driving this performance, and I want to take a moment to recognize all of them. They are the heart of our customer led focus, powering the bold new chapter.
Through meaningful customer engagement and strong execution, our teams are making a difference every day and delivering tangible results. Now turning to a more detailed view of the quarter. Macy's Inc. Delivered comparable sales growth of 2.7%, our fifth consecutive quarter of comp sales growth. On a go forward basis, our business continued to outperform, with Macy's Inc. Comparable sales rising 2.8%, Adjusted EPS of $0.63 reflects both higher sales as well as the net benefit of tariff refunds received in the quarter. When excluding the net tariff refund benefit, adjusted EPS was 14% above the prior year and above the high end of our guidance.
Now let's discuss how each pillar of the contributed to our results beginning with strengthening and reimagining Macy's. The Macy's nameplate achieved positive 1.1% in comparable sales posting its 5th consecutive quarter of increases. This reflects a steady multiyear improvement Macy's comp sales grew 32 basis points on a 2-year stack, driven by sustained progress, enhanced brand offerings, product assortments, and omnichannel shopping experience. Our Reimagined stores continue to outperform in the second quarter. Sustaining that lead over several years Earlier this year, we expanded the program to 200 locations, which delivered comp growth of 1.9% in the second quarter. This performance reflects our customer led focus and purposeful changes around staffing, events, and local market strengths.
The result is 5 consecutive quarters of Reimagined comparable sales growth, with increases in 9 of the last 10 quarters. Year after year, quarter after quarter, Reimagined stores consistently perform higher on our Net Promoter Score contributing to continued improvement in NPS for the entire Macy's fleet. Our total Macy's fleet NPS score is up 10 full points. Since the initiation of the strategy, underscoring the strength of our customer first approach. As a reminder, the Reimagined locations account nearly 60% of our go-forward Macy's stores and 75% of our Macy's go forward store sales. and are now delivering meaningful scale to our overall business.
These stores represent a clear proof point of our ability to drive growth, and we are confident we can continue to expand these initiatives going forward. Our digital channel also contributed to positive comparable sales growth in the quarter. Results benefited from the halo of brand and assortment improvements and a shift to fashion authority positioning. In addition, we saw continued growth in our marketplace business, which provides complementary offerings and fills white-space opportunities. Digital is a central component of our omnichannel approach. We are creating a seamless customer experience across all touch points, and continue to enhance our digital offerings and connections across channels. Our new AI powered conversational shopping assistant, AskMacy's, was introduced last quarter on digital platforms.
As a starting point for discovery. We are now expanding this capability to our in store colleagues to help deliver the best Macy's at every touch point. Turning to brand offerings. We are increasingly viewed as a valued partner to market brands, which are excited to work alongside our teams. Our strong balance sheet, large addressable market, and loyal customer base are attractive differentiators that further strengthen our vendor relationships. In the quarter, we continue to make progress on our brand curation adding new brands and expanding distribution for others. 1 good example is Kiko Milano. A trend setting Gen Z Italian beauty brand. KIKO MILANO chose Macy's for its exclusive US launch of their popular beauty line.
We also introduced Happy Campers junior apparel line, and further expanded the store distribution of Reiss, Rodd and Gunn, and BOSS among others. Our multi category model provides product and price optionality and diversification. It gives us the ability to lean into areas of opportunity and chase important trends. Providing more reasons for customers to shop with us. In the second quarter, we continue to see outperformance in watches, dresses, petites, career sportswear, kids, handbags, fragrances, and men's and women's shoes. We experienced softer trends in plus sizes, intimates, and women's sleepwear. We did see improvement for our big ticket category compared to the prior quarter, but it remained soft versus the prior year.
From a marketing and event perspective, we continue to engage with customers and leverage the strength of our brand as part of Macy's year of celebrations. This summer, we hosted our biggest Macy's fourth of July fireworks yet, celebrating the event's 50th anniversary with America's 250th. Over 11 million people tuned in to watch the live event setting a new record, up nearly 60% from last year. The star studded event featured performances by Noah Khan, Post Malone, Salt N Pepa, Bibi Rexha, Shibuzi, and Blake Shelton. We also leverage the reach of this national event to drive in store traffic through local activations, celebration Saturdays, and fireworks themed marketing.
Summing up the Macy's nameplate, we are pleased with our continued growth reflecting the positive consumer response to our offerings and initiatives. Now turning to the second pillar of our bold new chapter strategy, accelerating and differentiating luxury. Bloomingdale's delivered another impressive quarter, achieving positive 11.3% in comparable sales and the highest second quarter sales volume in its 154-year history. This performance was driven by growth in all channels, and categories and is a testament to the brand's progress as the omnichannel local leader in the markets we serve. In addition, Bloomingdale's performance highlights significant step change with comp sales up almost 1.7 thousand basis points on a 2-year stack.
These results reflect Bloomingdale's and unique positioning from premium contemporary to luxury. We continue to raise the bar on our curation, with a clear emphasis on discovery, newness, and experiences. Looking at the second quarter category performance, we saw growth in all areas with outperformance in ready to wear, men's apparel, fine jewelry, fragrances, and tabletop. We grew our customer base and continue to expand the reach of our very important client program, which focuses on our highest spending customers. Bloomingdale's continues to deepen brand partnerships. Expanding the breadth of our offerings during the second quarter. We introduced several new brands, including Ulla Johnson, Proenza Schouler and Dries Van Noten.
We also expanded distribution of James Perse, Chanel Fine Jewelry and watches, Christian Louboutin, and Prada shoes. Our compelling brand assortment evolution continues to engage existing customers and attract new ones, strengthening Bloomingdale's cultural relevance. Looking at the customer experience, there are several initiatives to support our loyal customer base. First, we are expanding our widely popular in store events, holding hundreds of events across the majority of our stores during the quarter. In addition, we launched Bloomingdale's own AI powered conversational shopping assistant for digital. Which enhances how customers engage with the brand and discover products. This rollout also highlights the power of leveraging enterprise wide capabilities across Macy's Inc, to enhance the customer experience across nameplates.
Summing up Bloomingdale's, we are encouraged by the brand momentum and the ongoing growth potential. Our strategic initiatives position us to continue to gain market share across brands, categories, and regions. Turning to Bluemercury. We are pleased to welcome Alexandra Schreer, as the new CEO. Alexandra brings extensive experience in beauty, luxury strategy, and retail to our team and joins an exciting time to help guide Bluemercury's next phase of growth. Bluemercury delivered another quarter of solid comparable sales with growth of 6.2% Results were driven by our in store marketing campaign, summer party, which drove strong customer engagement.
From a product perspective, growth was led by dermatological skin care, makeup, fragrances, including brands such as SkinCeuticals, Victoria Beckham Beauty, La Mer, and Jo Malone London. Both new and remodeled stores continue to perform well. The final pillar of our strategy is simplifying and modernizing end-to-end operations. Which was recently expanded to incorporate optimizing and scaling enterprise wide organizational excellence. We are focused on harnessing the extensive reach and capabilities of Macy's Inc. To support revenue growth, improve customer experiences, and execute our strategies even more effectively. These efforts include supply chain efficiencies, with additional savings expected in the second half of the year and included in our outlook.
We are also actively advancing our AI and automation capabilities in areas such as the customer journey, inventory management, and localization while ensuring that the human connection remains central to our customers and to our colleagues. Now I would like to discuss our thoughts on the consumer, upcoming events, and guidance. Our consumers remained resilient and engaged in the second quarter, responding positively to newness across our product offerings and our lineup of marketing and events. Across nameplates, we continue to skew toward middle and upper income consumers where performance remains stronger. For the third quarter, we are delivering a strong slate of events. For Macy's, this includes our fall fashion campaign, celebrate American designers.
This week, we launched our exclusive capsule collections, featuring 6 of the most influential voices in American fashion. Including icons Tommy Hilfiger, Donna Karan, and Michael Kors, and the New Guard, Edwing D'Angelo, Sade Mims, and Jonathan Cohen. We are also building up to our marquee event of the year, our 100th Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. We have already kicked off the 100-day countdown with a compelling set of activations designed to engage consumers and generate excitement leading up to the parade. At Bloomingdale's, we just launched our fall campaign named Hotel Bloomingdale's. This features exclusive products and immersive brand activations and includes a special partnership with the Ritz Carlton Hotels.
We are excited for this collaboration, which brings together 2 iconic brands that share a commitment to exceptional service and elevated experiences. Turning to guidance. Today, we are raising our full year outlook, reflecting our better results and confidence in the Bold New Chapter strategy, as well as a pass through of a portion of our tariff refunds. Consistent with our past practice, we are taking a prudent approach that provides the flexibility to respond potential changes in the competitive landscape and consumer demand. Regarding tariff refunds, we received the majority in the second quarter and are taking a balanced approach to deploy the benefits.
We are flowing through a portion to the bottom line and reinvesting the remainder to support the Bold New Chapter strategy and our long term growth ambition. We will continue to ensure we deliver for our customer. In closing, I am encouraged by our results This performance reinforces our confidence that the Bold New Chapter continues to gain momentum. Our initiatives are resonating. Highlighted by 6 consecutive quarters of better than expected results 5 consecutive quarters of comparable sales growth, and 2 consecutive quarters of net sales growth. This reflects the strength across Macy's, Bloomingdale's, Bluemercury and underscores the benefits of being a multi brand, multi category, and multichannel retailer serving customers from off price to luxury.
Combined with a strong financial position, we are building a durable foundation that positions the company to deliver sustainable long term profitable growth. With that, let me turn it over to Tom.
Thomas J. Edwards Jr.: Thank you, Tony, and good morning, everyone. In the second quarter, the Bold New Chapter continued to deliver strong financial and operational results. Our strategies are gaining traction, driving top and bottom line performance. These results are made possible by the skillful execution and customer focus of our dedicated colleagues and teams across the company. Looking at a detailed view of the quarter, beginning with Macy's Inc, net sales grew 1.1% to $4.9 billion compared to $4.8 billion last year. Net sales grew 1.9%, adjusting for a roughly $35 million from the 14 store closures at the end of last year.
Comparable sales on a reported basis rose 2.7% on top of 1.9% growth last year. and go-forward comps grew 2.8%. By nameplate, Macy's comparable sales rose 1.1%. We continue to be encouraged by the performance of the Reimagined locations, which grew 1.9%. Bloomingdale's comparable sales were up 11.3% and Bluemercury comparable sales increased 6.2%. Total revenue rose 1.2% to $5.1 billion. On a go-forward basis, total revenue increased 2% to $4.9 billion Other revenue, which includes credit card and Macy's Media Network, was $193 million, up 3% versus last year. Within that, credit card revenue was $156 million, up 2%, supported by a healthy credit portfolio and stable net credit card losses.
Macy's Media Network revenue was $37 million, up 9%. Reflecting partner engagement on our advertising platform. Gross margin was $2 billion or 41.5% of net sales compared to 39.7% last year. Excluding both the net tariff refund benefit and the incremental impact of ongoing tariffs and fuel, our underlying gross margin rate increased approximately 10 basis points versus last year. Underlying gross margin expansion was driven by favorable brand mix as well as the continued benefits of reimagined expansion partially offset by channel mix. Ongoing tariff and fuel costs impacted the quarter by approximately 10 basis points, which was favorable to our prior estimate of 20 to 40 basis points, driven by lower tariffs.
Our SG and A rate was 38.7%, an improvement from 38.9% last year reflecting leverage on higher sales. SG and A dollars of $1.96 billion were 1% above prior year of $1.944 billion reflecting higher variable costs driven by sales growth, as well as investments in Bold New Chapter initiatives partially offset by our always on approach to expense savings. Adjusted EBITDA was $457 million or 9% of total revenue, compared to $373 million or 7.5% of total revenue last year. Adjusted EPS of $0.63 compared to prior year second quarter of $0.35. Second quarter results included a roughly $0.23 net tariff refund benefit.
Excluding the net tariff refund benefit, adjusted EPS would have been up 14% versus prior year and above the high end of our guidance. Our disciplined approach to cash flow generation and balance sheet management continues to support our strong financial position. During the first half, operating cash flow was an inflow of $586 million versus $255 million last year. Free cash flow was an inflow of $262 million versus an outflow of $88 million last year. End of quarter inventory dollars were up 2.5% compared to last year. In line with our expectations and comp sales growth.
We believe the composition and level of inventories are well positioned heading into the fall season with a good balance of newness and evergreen product. In the first half of 26, we returned $201 million to shareholders, through $101 million of quarterly cash dividends and $100 million of share repurchases including $50 million during the second quarter. This leaves approximately $1 billion remaining on our buyback authorization. Capital expenditures were $324 million compared to $343 million in the prior year. Monetization proceeds were $35 million compared to $75 million last year. And we ended the quarter with $1.3 billion of cash on our balance sheet, compared to $829 million last year.
Now I would like to provide some additional perspective on our end-to-end initiatives and efforts to optimize and scale enterprise wide organizational excellence. 2 examples of these efforts highlight our focus on building efficiency and improving the customer experience. The first relates to delivering products to our customers. We have made significant enhancements over the past years And this fall, we will continue to improve service times provide more transparency around order status, and reduce costs. In addition, the ramp up at China Grove continues to progress, and over time, we believe the automation improvements will support faster, more reliable service for customers and a more scalable operating model. Another example of our end-to-end initiatives is focused on inventory replenishment.
A critical area centered on having the right product in the right place at the right time. We are adding an AI forecast overlay capability to replenishment. Moving from pilot to broader execution, to improve in stocks and deploy our inventory more efficiently. In total, we expect to realize supply chain efficiencies in the second half of 26 which will benefit gross margin. Looking further ahead, we are confident we can build on these and other initiatives to drive revenue, improve the customer experience, and reduce costs. Before moving to detailed guidance, I would like to discuss our tariff and fuel outlook for the year. Second quarter tariff impacts were lower than anticipated.
For the second half of 26, we now anticipate tariff being a tailwind compared to the prior year. For fuel and transportation costs, we are factoring in current outlook based on what we know today. We now forecast full year combined tariff and fuel gross margin net headwind of 5 to 15 basis points compared to prior guidance of 20 to 30 basis points. Turning to tariff free funds, In the second quarter, we received $98 million of proceeds and $18 million following quarter end for a total of $116 million. We have now received all of our expected refunds. We are taking a balanced approach to deploying the proceeds to both the bottom line and for reinvestment.
From an EPS perspective, we are flowing through approximately $0.05 to the bottom line, representing about $20 million. We are using the remaining funds to invest in Macy's brand building, accelerate reimagine store pilots, to support 2027 program expansion, strengthen our value proposition, and mitigate the uncertainty of fuel headwinds. Now moving to guidance. For the full year, we are raising our outlook on the top and bottom lines. From a sales perspective, we are flowing through the entire second quarter outperformance and are maintaining second half sales consistent with our prior outlook.
Our EPS assumptions reflect our better results and confidence in the bold new chapter strategy as well as a pass through of a portion of our tariff refunds. Consistent with our past practice, we are taking a thoughtful approach to quarterly and annual guidance allowing us to respond to changes in the macroeconomic and geopolitical environment. Looking at detailed third quarter guidance, we expect net sales of $4.65 billion to $4.7 billion Last year's store closures contributed about $30 million to sales in the comparable period.
Comparable sales of down 0.5% to up 0.5% adjusted EBITDA as a percent of total revenue of 3.7% to 4.0% and adjusted diluted EPS of a loss of $0.19 to $0.23 it is important to note that our outlook includes disciplined reinvestment of tariff refunds which nets to approximately $0.18 of EPS in the second half of 26. For more details, please see slide 23 of our earnings presentation. For the full year, we increased net sales to $21.675 billion to $21.825 billion Door closures contributed roughly $145 million to net sales in the prior year. Comparable sales of up 1.0% to up 1.5% other revenue of $920 million.
Gross margin as a percent of net sales of 38.5% to 38.7% SG and A up 1.5% to 2.25% on a dollar basis compared to last year. Adjusted EBITDA as a percent of total revenue of 7.8% to 8.0% interest expense of roughly $90 million and have increased our adjusted diluted EPS to $2.15 to $2.35. In summary, we are pleased with second quarter performance as we continue to deliver and execute the bold new chapter strategy. We are well positioned to navigate the near term environment, and we remain focused executing our strategic initiatives to deliver long term profitable growth. This is supported by our healthy balance sheet and disciplined approach to investment and capital allocation.
Now let me turn the call back to Tony for closing remarks.
Antony Spring: Thanks, Tom. In closing, the second quarter is another proof point for the Bold New Chapter and our ability to deliver growth. Our strategy is gaining traction. And we are excited to continue to scale the initiatives that are resonating so well with the customers. Looking at the back half, we are well positioned for the fall and holiday seasons. And longer term, we are focused on building on our progress, delivering for our customers, and increasing shareholder value. And with that, operator, we are now ready for questions.
Operator: Thank you. The floor is now open for questions. You may press 2 if you would like to remove your question from the queue. For participants using speaker equipment, it may be necessary to pick up the handset before pressing the In the interest of time, we do ask that you please limit yourself to 1 question and 1 follow-up. Again, that is 1 to register a question at this time. Today's first question is coming from Blake Anderson of Jefferies. Please go ahead.
Blake Anderson: Congrats on a nice quarter. So I wanted to start off with it sounded like you held the second half sales expectations mostly despite the Q2 outperformance. Can you provide any color on the quarter to date comp versus the flat guide at the midpoint, which implies a step down? How much of this is recent run rate? Versus maybe prudence for the macro or a tougher compare? Any color you can provide there or rather puts and takes for Q3 comp would be helpful.
Antony Spring: Sure. Thanks, Blake. Appreciate the question. We, had a strong, first quarter, second quarter. You saw that we beat guidance in both, and we raised for the year, each time. We look at the third quarter as being the strongest comp that we are up against for the year, 3.2%. there is actually a slight acceleration on a on a stack basis. That being said, there is nothing unusual unfolding about the quarter. You know, we sat here, right after Memorial Day in the first quarter. We sat here right after Labor Day now in the second quarter. I feel exactly the same way.
We have the right strategy, the right team, the right culture, the right execution, we are really well prepared. And you go back a year ago, we were scrambling with tariffs and re forecasting the business and canceling orders and re pricing merchandise. We are focused solely on the customer and the quality of the experience. So I think we have opportunity to obviously deliver beyond what we have guided. Tom?
Thomas J. Edwards Jr.: And, Tony, I would add that, Blake, we have raised our guidance now 2 quarters in a row. We started out the year at $1.90 to $2.10, added $0.10 in Q1 and now an additional $0.15 and that really highlights the confidence we have in our business and in the Bold New Chapter. And your insight into the second half is exactly correct. When you take out all the puts and takes our second half expectations are exactly in line with what we had at the prior quarter. So we think that is important as we are moving forward. And look forward to talking more about that as we continue the call.
Blake Anderson: Great. Thank you. And if I could ask as a follow-up, wanted to unpack AUR a bit more. there is some moving factors there. You have made a lot of progress on accelerating AUR. Do we think about the AUR sustainability into the second half? How much runway do you have left for premiumizing brand mix? And then maybe lower promotions despite what sounds like more prep price investments across the industry. And perhaps with your tariff refunds as well?
Antony Spring: Yeah, Blake. I think we have opportunity to continue to increase our AUR. It may not be at the rate that it is been for the last 12 months, but we can premium premiumize, whatever the right word is, our assortments across all 3 brands. The customer continues to respond most favorably to newness, to trends, to the expansion of brands, to additional points of distribution, think you heard, on the call the comments about brand expansions at both Macy's and Bloomingdale's. So that naturally is gonna have a positive benefit to our AUR. But I think the other piece is making sure that we are not undershooting the customer's expectations.
So there is a interest in buying certain products and certain brands, And when we have them, we can convert that to a higher AUR. We are using a portion of the tariff refund to sharpen our pricing in a couple of categories furniture and fine jewelry being 2 of them, where we wanna make sure we are capturing our fair share of the business.
Thomas J. Edwards Jr.: And I would add, Blake, that AUR is really part of our broader model of building a healthier business. We saw AUR up in the quarter around 9%. And it is driven, as Tony mentioned, by more relevant brands refined assortment, a better omnichannel experience. And our traffic is very steady and very significant and predictable. We do see a slight offsetting conversion, but our overall basket size has been higher and AUR trends growing at been a multiyear effort. So we see this continuing over time and a big part of our model going forward.
Antony Spring: Thank you. Best of luck for the back half. Thanks, Blake. Appreciate it.
Operator: Thank you. The next question is coming from Alex Straton of Morgan Stanley.
Alex Straton: Thanks so much and congrats on a nice quarter. Tom, I just wanted to clarify quickly just on the updated full year guidance. it is clear that your back half sales assumptions are the same as last quarter. But excluding tariffs, has your back half margin outlook evolved at all across the growth or SG and A? Then I just have 1 quick follow-up.
Thomas J. Edwards Jr.: Sure. Our back half of margins are consistent with our prior outlook. So we do anticipate on the gross margin side expansion, and this is a little more weighted to Q4 In the prepared remarks, I referenced some supply chain activities and other initiatives that are improving our cost structure as well as delivering importantly for the customer, and providing better service and better transparency as well as some AI initiatives that are helping us to forecast better and put the right inventory in the right place at the right time for areas like replenishment. We see that coming to fruition in our highest volume quarter in Q4.
For SG and A, excluding the other puts and takes related to refunds, we they had always noted that our investments would be made more in the third quarter. So we see higher SG and A investments in Q3 that was part of our initial guide for the year as well as in Q4. that is part of supporting our bold new chapter. that is more reimagined stores as we expand it to reimagine 200. Supporting Bloomingdale's, continued growth, and other initiatives like digital. So the answer the net is it is the same as it was before. And it is really investments to support the bold new chapter and delivering for our customer.
Alex Straton: Perfect. that is that is super clear. Maybe turning to Re imagine, do you have any details that you can share around how the oldest Reimagine cohorts so the first 50 is performing today, I am just curious as those stores mature, are you seeing the comp uplifts strengthen? Is it holding steady? Or is it moderating? I would just love to understand how those stores are performing.
Antony Spring: Sure. Alex, it is Tony. What we would say is that all cohorts of stores are growing. And since we do not break out the, individual year cohorts, again, offer any anything more specific than that. I think what is exciting is that all cohorts are growing and that the stores continue to benefit from the investment in staffing. The better assortments, the better execution, and the improvements in our customer experience. I mean, 10 points of net promoter score growth And, actually, the Reimagined stores are higher over the 2.5 years of the program, I think, underscores the reaction, the customer is giving us to the changes we are making in the Macy's store experience.
And our confidence in the reimagine program is 1 of the reasons why as part of the tariff spend back, we allocated a portion to pilot some additional stores at the end of this year, which will allow us to get a head start as we expand the program in 2027. Thanks so much. Good luck. Thanks, Alex.
Operator: Thank you. The next question is coming from Matthew Boss of JPMorgan. Please go ahead.
Matthew Boss: Thanks and congrats on a nice quarter. Tony, could you elaborate on the strategies that are gaining traction and the comment that you made earlier? So specifically, at the Macy's banner, you lapped the inflection to positive low single digit comps a year ago. You showed acceleration on a 2-year stack this quarter. And Bloomingdale's posted both their best 1 and 2 year comps this quarter. So what initiatives or strategies that the Macy's banner where do you see opportunity remaining, and what inning do you see this market share momentum at Bloomingdale's in today?
Antony Spring: Sure. Thanks for the question, Matthew. It starts with product. So we are in the early innings, 3rd inning, 4th inning. In terms of the improvement in the quality of our assortments. that is the right balance of best, better, good. that is a part of the AUR growth that seeing at both Macy's and Bloomingdale's. Luxury on the Bloomingdale's side, contemporary on the Macy's side. it is the respect and treatment of product in our stores. So it is a better flow of inventory. it is better presentation and storytelling. You see today on both of our websites, the American designer campaign at Macy's, focused on trends, focused on newness.
You see the launch of Hotel Bloomingdale's focused on trends, focused on newness. Both store brands doing activation events, in the stores in the course of September. So I believe the focus continues to be making sure we have relevant assortments, making sure we are rooting out the redundancy within our assortments, improving the variety, and making sure that top of funnel, we are spending enough time from, social to CRM to, audio and video on how we communicate our enthusiasm for fashion of the season. As I mentioned on the call, newness and fashion and trends are selling. We are excited about suede brown, the boot assortment, animal prints, new treatments in denim.
There is so much to, convey to the consumer, and we just have to make sure that we balance that with the other messages that we are, communicating, throughout the season.
Matthew Boss: And Tom, maybe multiyear or just the bottom line opportunity tied to Tony's top line answer there. Could you speak to gross margin drivers from here? And what comp is needed to leverage SG and A on a multiyear basis?
Thomas J. Edwards Jr.: Well, Matthew, thanks for the question. And I would say in the first couple of quarters, we have levered SG and A, held it flat and it is slightly lower on percent of sales basis in Q2 with low single digit comp growth. And that is the area point to with a model of low single digit growth on the top line. Mid single digit in the middle. And a little lower higher growth at the bottom when we look at EPS. So that is, I believe, the model that we have talked about and can continue to deliver. And it is the 1 that we actually have delivered.
So in the first half of the year, we have grown the top line, and the bottom line. And last year, in fiscal 2025, excluding tariffs on a go forward basis, we grew both the top line and the bottom line. So we are committed to deliver long term profitable growth And I would say they and can point to that we are doing that. And I just I just add inventory is in a healthy position. We see opportunities for margin expansion as we get to the end of the year and we go into next year and controlling SG and A, below the rate of inflation.
I think if we have the low single digit comp growth, we can we can lever and we can deliver greater profit for our shareholders. Great color. Best of luck. Thanks, Matthew.
Operator: Thank you. The next question is coming from Brooke Roach of Goldman Sachs. Please go ahead.
Brooke Roach: Good morning, and thank you for taking our question. Tony, with the success of the reimagine format at the Macy's banner, are you thinking about the pacing of expanding that to the remainder of the fleet? And additional investments in reimagine ahead?
Antony Spring: Thanks, Brooke. We are excited about the Re imagine performance, 9 of 10 quarters of growth, continued outperformance versus the rest of the fleet, I think as I said before, you know, it is this great recipe of a great product and a better experience, more people in the stores. And adding in local empowerment has made the difference in continuing to grow and comp the comp across all cohorts of stores.
We saved the fourth quarter call for the expansion of the store fleet, but you can bet based on our piloting of additional store initiatives in the fourth quarter that we are gonna be adding more reimagined stores next year, and the aim will be to reimagine all of our go forward fleet. The we said that at the beginning of the bold new chapter that there were 350 go forward stores. We began with 50. We added 75. We added another 75. So I think you have pretty much our cadence of, expansion. But we will we will leave that for the fourth quarter call.
Thomas J. Edwards Jr.: And, Brooke, I would add that we take a very disciplined approach to rolling out initiatives and delivering ROI, and our reimagined stores are working. Are delivering results and very pleased. They are capital light. As well. So our investments are in associates, in eventing, and in bringing in new brands and assortments. And these investments are driving growth. Importantly, we are learning and iterating as we have moved along, so our investments are becoming even more efficient as we go from 1 cohort to the next, and we look forward to continuing to build on that.
Brooke Roach: Great. And then just a follow-up for Tom. Can you unpack the proportion of the reinvestment of tariff dollars is being put into price versus the other buckets? And then how should we be thinking about the baseline margin rate from which you can grow into 2027 as you cycle these refunds and reinvestments into next year from a margin rate perspective?
Thomas J. Edwards Jr.: Sure, Brooke. I am happy to help with that. So on the reinvestment piece, the majority of our reinvestments are in the Bold New Chapter Strategy and supporting our long term growth. There is a portion, as Tony mentioned, that is supporting our value proposition for some very selective and surgical areas. Such as big ticket and fine jewelry. But the other areas are brand marketing, particularly for Macy's, for top of the funnel to build out our brand. To do our reimagine pilots. And, of course, we are holding a little back just due to the realities of the situation and dynamics of the external environment related with fuel. But the longer term is what we are focused on.
And then as we look at 2027, these initiatives are designed to give us a head start and continue the momentum and traction of the bold new chapter. So I do not look at it so much as lapping as it is helping us maintain and build on the momentum of our strategies.
Antony Spring: Great. Thanks so much. Thanks, Brooke.
Operator: Thank you. The next question is coming from Oliver Chen of TD Cowen. Please go ahead.
Oliver Chen: Hi, Tony and Tom. The AUR was impressive. What factors offset that? And also, as we think about guidance, what is incorporated and what you are thinking for longer term AUR trends? Second question was just on your thoughts on the younger customer and the initiatives that you are conducting to target that younger customer, embrace the younger customer while the same time, of course, maintaining your loyal base. And then on the guidance as well, merchandise margins and promotions and markdowns, versus last year, should we expect that to be flattish And would also love your comments on the consumer, meaning did anything incrementally change since we last spoke?
We have been seeing some pressure additional pressure at the middle to lower, but would love your thoughts on any changes or optimism. Thank you.
Antony Spring: Thanks, Oliver. Let me try to take the first few parts of the questions, then I will let Tom finish out. AURs continue to grow because our product assortment continues to improve. The, assortment of better quality things, whether it be third pieces whether it be leather versus faux, whether it be, brands that command a higher price point. We are in the early innings of continuing to better and improve the quality of our assortments. The growth of Ralph Lauren, the growth of Coach, the, and continued growth of, areas like watches, fine jewelry, Bloomingdale's all leads to a higher AUR.
And that is the confidence of our colleagues. that is the impact of our web on the better goods that we sell that the customer wants to buy them from Macy's and Bloomingdale's and Bloom Mercury. In terms of the younger customer just coming off of a great prom season, great graduation season, I mean, our watch business is on fire because it is it is to graduation gifts. it is the great birthday gifts. It is a great entree to the younger customer as is the prom business. As is our wedding registry which continues to grow. So I think we just have many opportunities. We have a young next gen fashion component at Macy's.
We have the launch of Hotel Bloomingdale's. A part of that is the new Aqua collab with Nikki Hilton, which is obviously geared a little more younger So there is there is so much within the assortment based on the brand matrix to cater to multigeneration of customers and certainly the younger customer. Tom?
Thomas J. Edwards Jr.: And I would add we are not seeing anything dramatically different in the competitive environment right now and expect our promotional activity to be in line with last year. Importantly, we are positioned very well from an inventory perspective. Inventory up to a half percent in Q2, in line with our growth. And a lot of newness positioned for the fall. So feel like we are heading into the fall and holiday in a in a good spot. And our consumer skews more to the middle and higher end, and we have seen more consistent performance at that level. And as we have noted before, at the lower end, a little more choiceful, but those trends have remained.
And I point out, as Tony was mentioning, we are we also have a wonderful ecosystem across Macy's We have our credit card, our loyalty program, with visibility into over 70% of our customers. Every transaction and a chance to really engage with them as we now have the product and the reimagined store built out to 75% of our go forward volume. So feel good about how we are positioned for fall. Great. Best regards. Thank you. Nice job. Thanks, Oliver.
Operator: Thank you. Our next question is coming from Michael Binetti of Evercore ISI. Please go ahead.
Michael Binetti: A couple from me. Think this is just second quarter in a row with really big AUR gains, but modest gross margin expansion. Is in your mind, is there a transition point where AUR starts to offset any of the gross margin headwinds in the business that leads to a higher rate of the strong AUR strategy? Is it best to think that AURs come with ongoing higher costs, they are driving a nice top line and gross profit dollar growth, but the rate is kind of the investment for that top line.
And then Tony, I think 1 thing that investors in the sector are wrestling with is comments across the sector that tariff refunds are going to be redeployed into investments and sharper prices in the second half, there is generally a lack of increasing same store sales guidance. Into the back half despite more investment or even slowing multiyear stacks I would love your perspective on that. You have got a lot of investment in third quarter, like Tom mentioned, and you are putting some of the tariff refund back to work. But there is a range in 3Q and 4Q comps that allows for slightly negative comps.
I would just love to get your perspective on that for the industry.
Antony Spring: Sure. Let me take a shot at both, and then I am sure Tom will want to add as well. I would love to separate AUR from gross margin because I think it is a false narrative to kind of say higher AURs lead to higher margin. Because we have businesses with high AURs that have high margins naturally, We have businesses with high AURs that have naturally lower margins. So it really is category and brand dependent.
A higher AUR will ultimately allow us to flow fewer units through the system, which will lower our cost base, will allow us to, improve the quality of the experience for the customer because we are maybe moving fewer units through a colleague per hour. So there is a lot of advantages to selling if you can, a higher AUR product. And so it is been a mission of ours across both Macy's, Bloomingdos, and Bluemercury to have the right proportion We wanna have best, better, good. We wanna have a range of, brands and price points to offer.
But higher AUR really just gives you more of an opportunity to lever on the expense side than it does to deliver more on the margin side. In terms of your other question about the investment of tariffs and the and the comp guide, I think our investment of, tariff refunds is disproportionately focused on the long term health of our brands and business. So while there will be some benefit to the short term, most of it, when you talk about top of funnel brand building, when you talk about piloting reimagine, store initiatives, when you talk about defraying fuel costs in the fourth quarter, those things do not have a short term, sales benefit.
They are the yet the right thing to do for the business. And if you go back to the middle of, 2025 and you say, what were the things that we were wrestling with as we faced the impact of tariffs? We started to pull back on marketing. We started to change kind of the piloting program for reimagined stores. So we stopped doing the things we should be doing because we had to navigate the impact of, tariffs. So in my mind, this reinvestment program is doubling down on the benefits of the Bold New Chapter which if you strip everything away, strip all the tariff headwinds and tailwinds away, the core of our business is actually performing better.
Thomas J. Edwards Jr.: I would emphasize that point, Tony, that our tariff refund reinvestment is focused on the long term, and the short term is more surgical. And we are not overly investing in any 1 specific area. So it is not a meaningful in terms of the broader overall business. And, Michael, when we look at AUR, I would just add on to your point that we look to grow margin dollars with top line growth. And they are longer term margin expansion opportunities because better, best brands do ultimately help drive margin, but they do come with cost in the short term.
And with gross margin, we look to improve our assortment continue to manage and improve the efficiency of managing our inventories We can expand our private brands and continue with our store and online initiatives to build margin as we go forward. And as I noted earlier, from an SG and A perspective, we can lever the P&L at a low single digit level And we certainly always have our always on savings approach. So look forward to delivering margin dollars along with top line growth as we move forward. Thanks, Michael.
Operator: Thank you. The next question is coming from Dana Telsey of Telsey Advisory Group. Please go ahead.
Dana Telsey: Hi, good morning everyone and nice to see the progress. 1 of the things that you mentioned in the deck at least was AI. An AI both for Macy's and for the Bloomingdale's brand. How do you see AI as a revenue driver and an expense enhancer? And then just lastly, obviously, with the new activations and the stores do look great. I have seen them the Bloomingdale's almost all over the country, and each 1 is special in terms of what they are doing. How are you thinking about brands that is where are you in brand newness? Is there more brands that are added or brands being subtracted? How do you think of the flow? Thank you.
Antony Spring: Thanks, Dana, for the questions. I will give you a small piece on AI and let Tom finish and then talk more about the brand, additions. You know, we view AI in 3 parts. Driving revenue, improving the experience for our colleagues and customers, and creating greater efficiency and reducing costs for our company. And I think our initiatives are geared that way. We have a number of pilots a number of things that are proof of concept, and a number of things that are rolling out. That are in those 3 buckets. And if you wanna say a third, a third, a third, that is as good a, way to look at it as any.
Because I think the embracement of AI also comes with the belief that humanity has a role within the retail business. Particularly in the relationship selling that we do at all 3 of our brands. In terms of the brand additions, we are we still have plenty of opportunity to edit and add.
Thomas J. Edwards Jr.: And I think that is the great part of where we are in the bold new chapter. If we were done, where's the upside? We are in the early innings. There is plenty more to do. We are seeing more excitement. We are adding it. Macy's, adding Kurt Geiger. We will have, Tory Burch launching at Herald Square. In the fourth quarter.
So there is plenty of opportunity for growth all 3 of our brands by making the case in the market that we are a, dependable, consistent, well thought of, great balance sheet, strong partner, believe in the importance of fashion and newness in our business, and have great regard for our grant brand partners where we really just wanna be the very best partner they can work with. And, Tony, on AI, I would just add that they are very thoughtful around the return on investment. And the example of our replenishment is a good 1. That started out as a pilot. Has moved to through testings to prove itself out and then to further roll it out more broadly.
To improve how we are allocating our inventory to stores. And that is a great example of making sure we do it thoughtfully and get a return. We are also have customer facing activities like the AI assistant that has been rapidly rolled out from Macy's Digital to Macy's stores and now Bloomingdale's Digital that helps customers really choose what products they want, and we have seen much better engagement end results, and basket size, and conversion from people who are using it. So we wanna make sure we are doing the right thing for the business, as well as for our customer. And look at a lot of different opportunities going forward on Thank you. Thanks, Dana.
Operator: The next question is coming from Paul Lejuez of Citi. Please go ahead.
Paul Lejuez: Hey, thanks guys. On the reimagine 200, I am curious where the outperformance is from. Is it more from transactions? Or ticket, and also, just at a high level, like, are those stores able to traffic or is it more of a conversion? Customers show up in the stores. And then second, just at a high level, here on the Macy's banner, how apparel performed versus other categories within the store? Thanks.
Antony Spring: Sure, Paul. Thanks for the question. On the businesses that are performing, we are seeing the apparel business strong at both Macy's and Bloomingdale's. And again, we referred to the return to work as being a driver of that. You can say GLP ones are a driver of that, and I would argue that fashion within all the brands and across both nameplates is a driver of that. And there is even more reason to be excited as you look at what, the fall season has to offer, which always comes in the fall season with higher AURs when you talk about coats.
Versus swim or you talk about boots versus sandals. it is just naturally a an easier, sale in terms of growing the, the top line. In terms of the Reimagine 200, we are seeing steady performance in terms of traffic, We are seeing increase in AUR. We are seeing higher basket size and we are seeing, slightly lower conversion based on the price points and the deliberative, experience I think that the consumer has in those stores. So we know our conversion rate at Bloomingdale's is lower than Macy's. And our AUR is higher than Macy's, and our average transaction is higher than Macy's.
So we can kind of really, forecast nicely looking and understanding market by market and store by store. As we change the character of the assortment, what happens to the individual components? You get a higher AUR. You can get a higher basket. You have slightly less conversion because people deliberate a little longer on a more expensive purchase. Thanks, Tony.
Paul Lejuez: Just to go back to the category, then any other color you could share outside of apparel? How other categories perform, maybe what underperformed?
Antony Spring: Sure. In terms of other categories that performed, we are continuing to see growth in our petite business. We are excited the growth in men's and women's shoes. I think we talked about the watch category. Has been strong for 3 quarters now, and we are we think that is great going into the holiday season. it is gonna be a super gift business for both Macy's and Bloomingdale's. The fragrance business continues to perform really well. there is a ton of newness in fragrances, for the fall season. And we are already getting a nice read on all the new fragrances, for the third quarter.
And then in terms of softer businesses, we talked about the women's, intimate of power business being softer. We talked about the sleepwear business being softer. And the big ticket business, even though it got better in the second quarter versus the first quarter, was still down to the prior year. it is 1 of the places where we are using a portion of the tariff refunds to sharpen our prices. And I think when we return to pre tariff pricing and big ticket, we saw a meaningful change in the business. Got it. Thank you. Good luck. Thanks, Paul.
Operator: Thank you. The next question is coming from Chuck Grom of Gordon Haskett. Please go ahead.
Ryan Bulger: Hey, guys. This is, Ryan Bulger on for Chuck here. I wanted to ask about historically, you have seen tourism, as a contributor. To the business and then spoke me to it a little bit less recently. You know, you had a bit of a unique event with the with the World Cup here in Q2. And I was just curious if did you see anything related to that either impacting your business during the quarter or impacting how you think about the contribution of tourism, on the business overall going forward? Thank you.
Antony Spring: We had a great performance World Cup product. So I would say we are very pleased that at both Macy's and Bloomingdale's, a bigger piece at Macy's. Of the World Cup business. I think we probably saw a little bit more tourism but we are still nowhere near the, tourism levels that we saw before the pandemic. And I think as I always look at it and say, this represents a big opportunity for us over time. Because, our city stores that draw tourists, represent, incremental business that we are not counting on, but that will return at some point in the future as more people travel to The States. Great. Thank you. Thanks, Ryan.
Operator: Thank you. The next question is coming from Bob Drbul of BTIG. Please go ahead.
Robert Drbul: Hi. Good morning. Tom, I was just wondering if you could spend some time, on the credit card side of the business, you know, a little bit more detail around trends there, usage trends and any sort of, I would say, bad debt, etcetera, that you are seeing at that level? Thanks.
Thomas J. Edwards Jr.: Sure. Happy to. So our credit card continued to grow in the quarter. And we are pleased with performance. Net credit losses in line with expectations, and we believe better than overall industry. And we have great credit quality. Importantly, we are continuing to build out our credit base with great partnership across all of our businesses in store and on digital. And have a number of programs to build usage of the card because it is intimately connected to our loyalty program. Is part of our broader ecosystem. And so we are pleased with credit card trends, believe they are sustainable, and it is a critical part of our overall loyalty and business model going forward. Great.
Thank you very much. You are welcome.
Operator: Thank you. Our final question today is coming from Simeon Siegel of Guggenheim Partners. Please go ahead.
Simeon Siegel: Thanks. Good morning, everyone. Thanks for slipping me in there. Hope you had a nice summer. Tony or Tom, maybe just within your comments about the different AUR dynamics by brand. So could you share what AUR versus students were by banner? And then I was hoping you could flesh out the traffic versus conversion comments you had made earlier on the call. You feel like you need to and maybe there is an opportunity to retrain your customers for the ongoing elevation? That would help conversion, or do you feel like you need to walk away from certain customers? Just curious how you are thinking about that traffic versus conversion dynamic as an opportunity.
And maybe thinking that, especially with the great NPS improvement, how you would align that with the conversion you are seeing. Thanks, guys.
Antony Spring: Thanks, Simon, for the question. On the AUR, do not break out the difference the 2. But as I said, the AUR at Bloomingdale's is meaningfully higher than the AUR at Bloomingdale's, but has been growing at both brands. Based on the mix of products we are selling and based on the brand elevation that we are committed to. In terms of traffic and conversion, traffic has been steady. Both physically and digitally, and conversion has been more of a of a challenge. And I would say that your point is right.
That we are working with our colleagues to help them to become better sellers We are spending more time on our PDPs and on the quality of our top of funnel marketing, making sure that we are underscoring and accentuating the benefits of buying better things. We are also trying to temper ourselves because, you have data now by the second that some purchases take 1, 2, or 3 visits before you make them. So a more expensive mattress or a more expensive diamond or a better quality leather, is not an immediate purchase necessarily.
So how do you tease between the immediacy of conversion you are looking for on every single visit to the site or to the store, with what may be a browse behavior that is so important to people becoming and falling in love with your brand and business. Sounds great. Thanks, guys. Best of luck for the year. Thanks, Simeon.
Operator: Thank you. At this time, I would like to turn the floor back over to Mr. Spring for closing comments.
Antony Spring: Thank you, everybody. Appreciate your questions today. And for joining our second quarter call. Please look out for some fun surprises as we are less than 77 days from the parade. And I promise our hundredth Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade will be our best yet. Talk to you after the holidays. Happy Fall.
Operator: Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today's event. You may disconnect your lines or log off the webcast at this time. And enjoy the rest of your day.




