Dive Brief:
- Impressing industry analysts, Five Below’s second quarter net sales grew nearly 23% year over year to $1.3 billion, the company said Wednesday. Comparable sales increased about 14% primarily due to growth in transactions and new store units, CFO Daniel Sullivan told analysts on a call.
- The retailer’s operating income jumped 425% to $275.4 million and net income grew 417% to $221.4 million, aided in part by tariff refunds. Five Below ended the quarter in a "strong cash position" inclusive of about $170 million in pretax IEEPA refunds, Sullivan said.
- Five Below raised its outlook — exclusive of the impact of IEEPA tariff refunds — and now expects full year net sales in a range from $5.63 billion to $5.71 billion (versus the previously expected $5.40 billion to $5.48 billion range).
Dive Insight:
Five Below’s “transformational changes” — as described by a Jefferies analyst on the call — are thanks to the retailer’s hard work in 2025, CEO Winnie Park said.
“What we did last year was first put that maniacal focus on the customer, who is our customer, and got really intimate with what it means to be Gen Alpha, Gen Z and a millennial parent and what their needs are,” Park said on the Wednesday call. “We remerchandised and we really kind of took a step back and up and thought about not just merchandising items and chasing great one-off ideas but how do we do our job telling really great stories and curated product stories that are grounded in what's happening out there, especially in social media.”
Five Below shifted its media spend away from traditional commercial channels and more toward social media in 2025, which has helped it capitalize on trends more, she added.
The company’s comps were improved by traffic, not just the trendy squishy toy sales Five Below has become known for, Jefferies analysts said in an emailed note Thursday.
“This is the TJX playbook compounding in real time and the market still is not paying for the durability,” the analysts added.
Looking forward, Five Below plans to open its first locations in Puerto Rico in the back half of 2027, Park said on the call. The retailer will open a handful of stores initially and review its presence in the market over time.
The retailer’s broad performance is a positive signal amid a complex macroeconomic environment, according to experts.
“Five Below continues to defy broader concerns about a shaky consumer backdrop, especially against increasingly tough comparisons,” William Blair analysts said in a Thursday note. “We believe the momentum is sustainable as traffic gains continue to be the key driver behind outsized comp growth and the company is still in early days of its efforts to revamp its merchandising, marketing, and omnichannel initiatives, which should drive solid growth in retention and new customers.”
