Ross Dress for Less 8-K

PositiveEarningsGuidance raised

Higher tax-refund spending and stronger store traffic drove comp growth; FY2026 EPS outlook raised to $7.50-$7.74

Filed 2026-05-21 16:02 ET

Summary

First-quarter FY2026 results with Q2 guidance and a raised FY2026 outlook. Sales rose 21% and comparable-store sales increased 17%; management cited customer traffic, merchandise assortments, marketing and an improved in-store experience as drivers, with higher tax-refund spending also contributing. EPS and operating margin exceeded the company’s stated outlook.

Key Figures

Metric Q1 FY2026
Sales $6.01B, +21% Y/Y
Operating income $804M, +33% Y/Y
Net earnings $650M, +36% Y/Y
Diluted EPS $2.02, +37% Y/Y
Operating cash flow $836M, +104% Y/Y
Comparable-store sales +17%, vs flat
Store count 2,282, vs 2,205
  • Share repurchases: 1.5M shares for $319M, vs $263M a year earlier; weighted-average diluted shares fell to 321.2M from 327.0M. The company said it remains on track to repurchase $1.275B of stock in FY2026 under its $2.55B authorization.
  • Cash and cash equivalents were $4.13B, vs $3.78B a year earlier. The company repaid $500M of long-term debt during the quarter.

Guidance

Metric Period Guidance Prior Direction Q1 FY2026 actual
Comparable-store sales Q2 FY2026 +6%-7% Y/Y — — —
EPS Q2 FY2026 $1.85-$1.93; +19%-24% Y/Y — — —
Same-store sales FY2026 +6%-7% Y/Y — Raised —
EPS FY2026 $7.50-$7.74; +13%-17% Y/Y — Raised —

Results vs Outlook

Metric Period Outlook Actual
EPS Q1 FY2026 $1.60-$1.67 $2.02
Operating margin Q1 FY2026 11.8%-12.1% 13.4%

Investor Takeaways

  • Q2 comparable-store sales and EPS will test whether the first-quarter, traffic-led momentum carries forward.

The summary is written by an AI model reading the filing.

Model 005 · prompt 8caf0d6673 · 2026-10-15 20:09:35Z

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