Ollie's Bargain Outlet Holdings, Inc.

Ollie's reported first-quarter fiscal 2026 net sales of $659 million, up 14% year over year, with comparable store sales up 1.7%. Gross margin was 41.9%, up 80 basis points, adjusted net income was $56 million, adjusted EPS was $0.91, and adjusted EBITDA was $88 million, up 22% year over year. The company opened 27 new stores in the quarter and ended with 672 stores in 35 states. For the full year, management guided to 75 new stores, net sales of $2.98 billion to $3 billion, comparable store sales growth of about 2%, gross margin around 40.7%, operating income of $340 million to $348 million, adjusted net income of $271 million to $277 million, adjusted EPS of $4.45 to $4.55, capital expenditures of $103 million to $113 million, and buybacks of $125 million. Management said second-quarter comps could look similar to the first quarter and that current trends are running below the full-year 2% comp target, mainly due to weather volatility and pressure on the lower-income consumer.

Eric van der Valk emphasized that the quarter showed the durability of Ollie's model, with strong deal flow, disciplined execution and the ability to benefit from disruption in the closeout market. He said weather and surging gas prices hurt traffic and seasonal categories, especially in the South, but also created opportunities for pent-up demand and trade-down. His tone was constructive and opportunistic, highlighting aggressive reinvestment in price, loyalty events, trend product, store growth and supply-chain capacity.

Robert Helm said results were driven by new stores, basket growth and strong margin execution: sales rose 14% to $659 million, comp was 1.7%, gross margin reached 41.9%, SG&A was flat as a percent of sales, adjusted EPS was $0.91, and adjusted EBITDA was $88 million. He pointed to lower supply-chain costs, lower tariff expense and lower shrink as margin supports, while fuel costs remained a headwind. On the balance sheet, cash and investments rose $111 million to $526 million, inventories were up 12% year over year due to store growth, capex was $25 million, and the company bought back $53 million of stock in the quarter; annual buybacks were raised to $125 million.

Analysts focused on the comp cadence, the weather hit, consumer trade-down/trade-out, and whether the company would need to sacrifice margin to reinvest in price. Management said all three months of Q1 were positive, February was strongest, and the South lagged due to heat, drought and lawn-and-garden weakness; they also said Q2 trends were running below plan but seasonal demand could rebound if weather normalizes. On pricing and gross margin, management said it has room to widen price gaps on select deals, is willing to reinvest to drive share, and still expects to deliver the margin guide. Questions also covered flyer shifts, tariff refunds, furniture, and buybacks; management said flyer timing is set well in advance, tariff refunds have been filed but only immaterial amounts have been received, furniture is a small but promising test replacing wall-to-wall carpet, and buybacks could rise further if cash flow supports it.