Ross Stores, Inc.: Form 10-Q for the period ended May 2, 2026

OPERATIONS

This section and other parts of this Form 10-Q contain forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Our actual results may differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements. Factors that might cause such differences include, but are not limited to, those discussed below under the caption “Forward-Looking Statements” and also those in Part I, Item 1A. Risk Factors of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for fiscal 2025. The following discussion should be read in conjunction with the condensed consolidated financial statements and notes thereto included elsewhere in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and notes thereto in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for fiscal 2025. All information is based on our fiscal calendar.

Overview

Ross Stores, Inc. operates two brands of off-price retail apparel and home fashion stores—Ross Dress for Less® (“Ross”) and dd’s DISCOUNTS®. Ross is the largest off-price apparel and home fashion chain in the United States, with 1,917 locations in 44 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, and Puerto Rico as of May 2, 2026. Ross offers first-quality, in-season, brand name and designer apparel, accessories, footwear, and home fashions for the entire family at savings of 20% to 60% off department and specialty store regular prices every day. We also operate 365 dd’s DISCOUNTS stores in 23 states as of May 2, 2026 that feature a more moderately-priced assortment of first-quality, in-season apparel, accessories, footwear, and home fashions for the entire family at savings of 20% to 70% off moderate department and discount store regular prices every day.

Financial Highlights

Financial results for the first quarter of fiscal 2026 were as follows:

• Sales were $6,010 million, compared to $4,985 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2025.
• Comparable store sales increased 17%.
• Operating income was $804 million, compared to $606 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2025.
• Operating income as a percentage of sales was 13.4%, compared to 12.2% in the first quarter of fiscal 2025.
• Net income was $650 million, compared to $479 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2025.
• Diluted earnings per share were $2.02, compared to $1.47 in the first quarter of fiscal 2025.

Key Initiatives

Our current key initiatives include the following:

• Merchandising: Delivering broad‑based assortments timely and offering more brands at compelling values for our customers.
• Marketing: Advancing our marketing initiatives to further increase customer acquisition and engagement.
• Stores: Making meaningful improvements to the in-store shopping experience for our customers.

We believe these initiatives will positively contribute to our performance and support our growth plans.

Store Openings

The following table summarizes the stores opened and closed during the three month periods ended May 2, 2026 and May 3, 2025:

We opened 17 new stores in the first quarter of fiscal 2026 and remain on track to open a total of approximately 110 new stores this year, comprised of about 85 Ross stores and 25 dd’s DISCOUNTS stores. We expect to open 47 stores in the three month period ending August 1, 2026, including 35 Ross and 12 dd’s DISCOUNTS locations.

Our long-term strategy is to open additional stores based on market penetration, local demographic characteristics, competition, expected store profitability, and the ability to leverage overhead expenses. We continually evaluate opportunistic real estate acquisitions and opportunities for potential new store locations. We also evaluate our current store locations and determine store closures based on similar criteria. We continue to believe that customers’ focus on value and convenience supports opportunities to expand our reach and serve more customers over time.

Sales Metrics

Comparable store sales (“comp store sales”) is a metric used by management and across the retail industry to evaluate the performance of existing stores by measuring the change in net sales for a particular period over the comparable prior period of equivalent length. We define comp store sales to be sales from stores that have been open for 14 complete months.

Sales excluded from comp store sales (“non-comp store sales”) consist primarily of sales from new stores that have been open for less than 14 complete months. Non-comp store sales also include sales from stores that are permanently closed (beginning in the month prior to closure) and temporarily closed (i.e., stores that do not have sales for at least two weeks within a fiscal month).

The calculation of comp store sales varies across the retail industry; therefore, our measure of comp store sales may differ from other retailers.

Metrics relating to customer purchasing behavior, such as “traffic” (defined as the number of transactions) and “basket” (defined as average transaction value), may provide additional insight into our comp store sales results (see Sales discussion below).

Results of Operations

The following table summarizes our financial results for the three month periods ended May 2, 2026 and May 3, 2025:

Sales. Sales for the three month period ended May 2, 2026 increased by approximately $1,026 million, or 21%, compared to the three month period ended May 3, 2025. This was primarily due to the 17% increase in comp store sales of $841 million and an increase in non-comp store sales of $185 million. The 17% increase in comp store sales was primarily driven by an approximately 11% increase in traffic and 6% increase in basket.

Our sales mix for the three month periods ended May 2, 2026 and May 3, 2025 is shown below:

Cost of goods sold. Cost of goods sold for the three month period ended May 2, 2026 increased by approximately $649 million compared to the three month period ended May 3, 2025, primarily due to the increase in sales.

Cost of goods sold as a percentage of sales for the three month period ended May 2, 2026 decreased by approximately 145 basis points compared to the three month period ended May 3, 2025, primarily due to an 85 basis point increase in merchandise margin. Occupancy costs levered by 60 basis points. Distribution and domestic freight costs declined by 15 and 10 basis points, respectively. Partially offsetting these lower costs were higher buying costs of 25 basis points from higher incentive compensation expense.

Selling, general and administrative expenses. For the three month period ended May 2, 2026, selling, general and administrative expenses (“SG&A”) increased by approximately $179 million, compared to the three month period ended May 3, 2025, primarily due to higher store-related costs.

SG&A as a percentage of sales for the three month period ended May 2, 2026 increased by approximately 25 basis points compared to the three month period ended May 3, 2025, primarily due to higher incentive compensation expense.

Operating income. Operating income as a percentage of sales for the three month period ended May 2, 2026 increased by approximately 120 basis points compared to the three month period ended May 3, 2025, primarily driven by the decrease in cost of goods sold as a percentage of sales period-over-period, partially offset by the increase in SG&A as a percentage of sales period-over-period.

Interest income, net. For the three month period ended May 2, 2026, interest income, net was relatively flat compared to the three month period ended May 3, 2025, as shown in the table below:

Taxes on earnings. Our effective tax rates for the three month periods ended May 2, 2026 and May 3, 2025 were approximately 22.4% and 25.2%, respectively. The decrease of 2.8% in the effective tax rate for the first quarter of fiscal 2026 compared to the first quarter of fiscal 2025 was primarily due to the tax effects associated with stock-based compensation. Our effective tax rate represents the applicable combined federal and state statutory rates reduced by the federal benefit of state taxes deductible on federal returns. Our effective tax rate is impacted by changes in tax laws and accounting guidance, location of new stores, level of earnings, tax effects associated with stock-based compensation, and the resolution of tax positions with various tax authorities.

Earnings per share. Diluted earnings per share for the three month period ended May 2, 2026 was $2.02 compared to $1.47 for the three month period ended May 3, 2025. The $0.55, or 37%, increase in diluted earnings per share for the three month period ended May 2, 2026 was primarily attributable to an approximately 36% increase in net earnings and 1% reduction in weighted-average diluted shares outstanding, largely due to stock repurchases under our stock repurchase program.

Financial Condition

Liquidity and Capital Resources

The primary sources of funds for our business activities are cash flows from operations and short-term trade credit. Our primary ongoing cash requirements are for merchandise inventory purchases, payroll, operating and variable lease costs, taxes, capital expenditures related to our new and existing stores, and investments in distribution centers, information systems, and buying and corporate offices. We also use cash to repurchase stock under active stock repurchase programs, repay debt as it becomes due, and pay dividends. In April 2026, we repaid at maturity $500 million of Senior Notes, and in April 2025, we repaid at maturity $700 million of Senior Notes. As of May 2, 2026, we had $242 million principal amount of Senior Notes that will reach maturity in 2027.

Our cash flows for the three month periods ended May 2, 2026 and May 3, 2025, are summarized in the table below:

Operating Activities

Net cash provided by operating activities for the three month period ended May 2, 2026 increased by approximately $426 million compared to the three month period ended May 3, 2025, primarily due to higher net earnings, higher accounts payable leverage (defined as Accounts payable divided by Merchandise inventory), and higher current year incentive compensation accruals. Accounts payable leverage was 89% and 81% as of May 2, 2026 and May 3, 2025, respectively. The increase in accounts payable leverage was primarily due to the timing of inventory receipts and related payments versus last year.

Packaway merchandise is purchased with the intent that it will be stored in our warehouses until a later date. As a regular part of our business, packaway inventory levels will vary over time based on availability of compelling merchandise purchase opportunities in the marketplace and our decisions on the timing for release of that inventory to our stores. The timing of the release of packaway inventory to our stores is principally driven by the product mix and seasonality of the merchandise, and its relation to our store merchandise assortment plans. As such, the aging of packaway varies by merchandise category and seasonality of purchase, but typically packaway remains in storage for less than six months. We expect to continue to take advantage of packaway inventory opportunities to maximize our ability to deliver bargains to our customers.

Changes in packaway inventory levels affect our operating cash flow. As of May 2, 2026, January 31, 2026, and May 3, 2025 packaway inventory was 36%, 37%, and 41% of total inventory, respectively.

Investing Activities

Net cash used in investing activities for the three month period ended May 2, 2026 was relatively flat compared to the three month period ended May 3, 2025.

Capital expenditures for fiscal 2026 are projected to be approximately $1.1 billion. Our planned capital expenditures for fiscal 2026 include costs to open new stores and improve existing stores, investments in our supply chain to support long-term growth, including construction of our next distribution centers, investments in our information technology systems, and for various other expenditures related to our stores, distribution centers, and buying and corporate offices. We expect to fund capital expenditures with available cash.

Financing Activities

Net cash used in financing activities for the three month period ended May 2, 2026 decreased by approximately $60 million compared to the three month period ended May 3, 2025, primarily due to lower Senior Notes repayments, partially offset by higher stock purchased for tax withholding, and higher stock repurchases under our stock repurchase program.

Revolving credit facility. As of May 2, 2026, we had no borrowings or standby letters of credit outstanding under the Credit Facility, and we were in compliance with the financial covenant. Refer to Note E: Debt in the Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information.

Senior notes. As of May 2, 2026, we had approximately $1.0 billion of outstanding Senior Notes, of which $241 million was classified in Current Liabilities on our Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet for the period ended May 2, 2026. Refer to Note E: Debt in the Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information.

Stock Repurchases. In March 2026, our Board of Directors approved a new, two-year program to repurchase up to $2.55 billion of our common stock through January 29, 2028. During the three month period ended May 2, 2026, we repurchased 1.5 million shares of common stock for $318.7 million (excluding excise tax) under this program. Refer to Note A: Summary of Significant Accounting Policies in the Notes to the Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information relating to our stock repurchase program.

Dividends. On May 20, 2026, our Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.4450 per common share, payable on June 30, 2026.

Our Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.4450 per common share in March 2026. Our Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.4050 per common share in March, May, August, and November 2025.

For the three month periods ended May 2, 2026 and May 3, 2025, we paid cash dividends of $143.6 million and $133.3 million, respectively.

Other financing activities. Short-term trade credit represents a significant source of financing for merchandise inventory. Trade credit arises from customary payment terms and trade practices with our vendors. We regularly review the adequacy of credit available to us from all sources, and expect to be able to maintain adequate trade credit, bank credit, and other credit sources to meet our capital and liquidity requirements.

We ended the first quarter of fiscal 2026 with $4.1 billion of unrestricted cash balances, which were held primarily in bank deposits, money market mutual funds, and U.S. Government and agency securities across a highly diversified set of banks and other financial institutions. We also have $1.3 billion available under our Credit Facility. We estimate that existing cash and cash equivalent balances, cash flows from operations, our Credit Facility, and trade credit are adequate to meet our operating cash needs and to fund our common stock repurchases, planned capital investments, quarterly dividend payments, debt repayments, and interest payments, for at least the next 12 months.

Contractual Obligations

As of May 2, 2026, there have been no material changes to our contractual obligations as disclosed in our Annual Report on Form 10-K as of January 31, 2026, other than those which occur in the ordinary course of business.

Critical Accounting Estimates

During the first quarter of fiscal 2026, there were no significant changes to the critical accounting estimates discussed in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended January 31, 2026.

Forward-Looking Statements

This report contains a number of forward-looking statements regarding, without limitation, projected sales, costs and earnings, planned new store growth, capital expenditures, liquidity, and other matters. These forward-looking statements reflect our then-current beliefs, plans, and estimates with respect to future events and our projected financial performance, operations, and competitive position. The words “plan,” “expect,” “target,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “believe,” “forecast,” “projected,” “guidance,” “outlook,” “looking ahead,” and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements.

Future impact from inflation, changes in tariffs on imported goods, interest rate changes, ongoing military conflicts and economic sanctions, extreme weather, public health crises (including pandemics), natural disasters, and other economic, regulatory, consumer spending, and industry events and trends that could potentially adversely affect our revenue, profitability, operating conditions, and growth are difficult to predict. Our forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties which could cause our actual results to differ materially from those forward-looking statements and our previous expectations, plans, and projections. Risks and uncertainties, any of which could adversely affect our sales, profitability, and growth, and harm our business may include (but are not limited to):

• Adverse changes in the macroeconomic environment, government regulations and policies, geopolitical conditions, and financial and credit markets.
• Continuing inflation and other external economic events and trends may have significant negative effects on our costs, and also on consumer confidence, shopping behavior, and spending.
• Tariff increases (or threats of increases), and other changes and uncertainty in U.S. trade or tax policy regarding apparel, home-related merchandise, shoes, and other goods we sell that is produced in other countries.
• Competitive pressures and the pace of change in the retailing industry.
• Unexpected changes in the level of consumer spending or preferences.
• Adverse or unseasonable weather may affect shopping patterns and consumer demand for seasonal apparel and other merchandise, and may result in temporary store closures and disruptions in deliveries of merchandise to our stores.
• Our dependence on the market availability, quantity, and quality of attractive brand name merchandise at desirable discounts, and on the ability of our buyers to source and purchase merchandise to enable us to offer customers a wide assortment of merchandise at competitive prices.
• Our need to expand in existing markets and enter new geographic markets in order to achieve growth.
• Our need to obtain acceptable new store sites with favorable consumer demographics in order to achieve growth.
• Our need to continually attract, train, and retain associates with the retail talent necessary to execute our off-price retail strategies, as well as labor shortages, increased turnover, or increased labor costs.
• Our need to effectively manage our inventories, markdowns, and inventory shortage in order to achieve our planned gross margins.
• Information or data security breaches, including cyberattacks on our transaction processing and computer information systems, including malware intrusion, data exfiltration, identity theft, and other types of cybersecurity threats, could disrupt our operations, result in theft or unauthorized disclosure of our confidential and valuable business information or credit card and other customer information, and could disrupt our operations, damage our reputation, increase our costs, and create significant legal exposure.
• Disruptions in our supply chain or in our information systems could impact our ability to process sales and to deliver product to our stores in a timely and cost-effective manner.
• Risks associated with importing and selling merchandise produced in other countries.
• Damage to our corporate reputation or brands.
• A natural or man-made disaster in a region where we have a concentration of stores, offices, or a distribution center.
• Consumer problems or legal issues involving the quality, safety, or authenticity of products we sell could harm our reputation, result in lost sales, and/or increase our costs.
• An adverse outcome in various legal, regulatory, or tax matters, could damage our reputation or brand and increase our costs.

The factors underlying our forecasts are dynamic and subject to change. As a result, any forecasts or forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are given and do not necessarily reflect our outlook at any other point in time. We disclaim any obligation to update or revise these forward-looking statements.

We are exposed to market risks, which primarily include changes in interest rates. We do not engage in financial transactions for trading or speculative purposes.

Interest that is payable on our Credit Facility is based on variable interest rates and is therefore affected by changes in market interest rates. As of May 2, 2026, we had no borrowings outstanding under the Credit Facility.

As of May 2, 2026, we had outstanding four series of unsecured Senior Notes. Interest that is payable on all series of our Senior Notes is based on fixed interest rates, and is therefore unaffected by changes in market interest rates.

We receive interest payments on our cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash and cash equivalents. Changes in interest rates may impact the interest income we recognize in the future.

A hypothetical 100 basis point increase or decrease in prevailing market interest rates would not have a material negative impact on our financial position, results of operations, cash flows, or the fair values of our cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash and cash equivalents as of and for the three month period ended May 2, 2026. We do not consider the potential losses in future earnings and cash flows from reasonably possible, near-term changes in interest rates to be material.

Disclosure Controls and Procedures

Our management, with the participation of our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, conducted an evaluation of the effectiveness of our “disclosure controls and procedures” (as defined in Exchange Act Rule 13a-15(e)) as of the end of the period covered by this report. Our disclosure controls and procedures are designed to provide reasonable assurance of achieving their objectives. Based on that evaluation, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures were effective at that reasonable assurance level as of the end of the period covered by this report.

It should be noted that any system of controls, however well designed and operated, can provide only reasonable, and not absolute, assurance that the objectives of the system will be met. In addition, the design of any control system is based in part upon certain assumptions about the likelihood of future events.

Quarterly Evaluation of Changes in Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

Our management, with the participation of our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, also conducted an evaluation of our internal control over financial reporting to determine whether any change occurred during the first quarter of fiscal 2026 that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting. Based on that evaluation, our management concluded that there was no such change during the first quarter of fiscal 2026.

See Part I, Item 1A of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended January 31, 2026 for a description of risks and uncertainties associated with our business.