Neil Bowden
Analyst · Goldman Sachs
Thanks, Dani. Our first quarter fiscal 2026 results are a continuation of the strong performance we delivered as we closed out fiscal '25 and the early progress we're making on our key operational priorities this year. Let me walk you through the financial results. Revenue for the first quarter was $108 million, up 22% on a reported and constant currency basis from last year's first quarter. D2C comparative sales growth of 15% on a consolidated basis was the primary contributor to our strong quarter with standout performance in both North America and APAC and across both e-commerce and stores. First, some color on channel performance before getting into the regional picture. All the figures I cite are on a constant currency basis. D2C revenue increased to $78 million, up 23%, reflecting success of our broader D2C strategy. We sharpened execution and delivered a more elevated experience alongside more newness and made a greater investment in marketing. The combination of these initiatives is translating directly into our financial results with comparable D2C sales up 15% after a growth of 7% in Q4 of fiscal '25. In wholesale, we achieved an 11% year-over-year increase in revenue both delivering on our order book, including travel retail and some wholesale replenishment activity. While timing shifts may cause quarterly fluctuations, our view for the wholesale business is stable performance this year following the channel reset over the past few fiscals. That said, we are monitoring retail health in every market. And while there are some spots of caution, we are working together to build the Canada Goose business in this critical channel. Other revenue was $12 million, up from $9 million in Q1 last year, mainly due to hosting 2 Friends & Family events this year compared to 1 in the prior year. Now commentary on the geographic revenue trends in Q1. In North America, revenue was up 27% as our D2C channel continued to deliver very strong performance. Stores led the way with double-digit D2C comp sales growth each month in the quarter, while we're very pleased with the performance in both countries, the exceptional growth in the U.S. is particularly encouraging as we head towards our peak season. In APAC, revenue increased by 27%, driven by higher revenue in both channels. Mainland China delivered strong D2C growth, driving the region's overall performance. While softer trends in Japan tempered growth, the region still achieved double-digit D2C comparable sales growth, underscoring the strength of our brand in the region. While macroeconomic challenges had an effect on traffic, our store conversion rates improved year-over-year, evidence of our operational improvements bearing fruit. We opened a new store at WF CENTRAL in Beijing late in the quarter, marking our third store in that city. In EMEA, revenue was down slightly year-over-year due to a planned decline in wholesale revenue, partially offset by higher D2C revenue. The decrease in wholesale revenue was primarily due to timing shifts to later in the year and some planned decline in the order book across the region. For the quarter, D2C comparable sales growth was low single digits negative, reflecting a U.K. consumer who remains under pressure, while the business in Continental Europe is performing at a higher rate. We're focused on ensuring our conversion and brand marketing are optimized to mitigate some of the macro factors that are weighing on performance in EMEA. Moving down the income statement, let's turn to gross profit, keeping in mind that in Q1, small dollar impacts can have an outsized effect on our gross margin figures. Gross margin expanded 170 basis points year-over-year to 61.4% favorably impacted by margin expansion from our European manufacturing facility. Pricing, product and channel mix did not have a significant impact during the quarter. Reported SG&A expense for the quarter was $225 million and an increase of $75 million or 50% year-over-year. This included a onetime charge of approximately $44 million related to an arbitration award to a vendor in a previously disclosed commercial dispute as well as a higher earn out of $9 million linked to the purchase of our knitwear manufacturing facility in 2023. Excluding these onetime charges, our underlying adjusted SG&A was up 16% year-over-year as we made investments in important revenue-driving areas like strategic marketing spend, product creation talent, including design, merchandising, product development, talent and store labor, which helped fuel our strong comp sales growth for the quarter. Adjusted SG&A grew at a slower pace than revenue and therefore, improved as a percentage of revenue by 850 basis points year- over-year. As a reminder, our fourth operating imperative in fiscal '26 is operating efficiently with pace and accountability and SG&A as a percentage of revenue is the key metric we are tracking to monitor our progress. We're pleased with our progress here and plan to continue to focus on this by driving revenue growth and spending SG&A efficiently and on more revenue-driving investments, leading to EBIT margin expansion over the long term. Our adjusted EBIT was a loss of $106 million for the quarter, which increased from a loss of $96 million in Q1 last year. Adjusted net loss attributable to shareholders was $88 million or $0.91 per share compared to a loss of $76 million or $0.79 per share in Q1 of fiscal '25. We ended the quarter with a balance sheet with a strong position. Inventory was $440 million, down 9% on top of a 7% reduction in Q1 of fiscal '25, driven largely by higher demand over the last 12 months and tighter inventory management. This marks our seventh consecutive quarter of year-over-year inventory declines. Our inventory turnover has improved as well, rising to 0.9x from 0.8x at this time last year. As we plan the year with the benefit of demand signals of the last few quarters, production and purchasing have returned to a more normalized level, although still down from highs a few years ago. Supply chain agility, a competitive strength of being vertically integrated and more coordination across the product creation value chain continues to be an area of focus and an exciting opportunity for us. We ended the quarter with $542 million of net debt compared with $766 million at the end of the first quarter of fiscal '25. This significant improvement reflects our strong operating cash performance including our efforts around the inventory management over the past 12 months and resulted in higher cash balances and lower borrowings on our credit facilities. Our net debt leverage was 1.8x adjusted EBITDA compared with 2.8x adjusted EBITDA at the same time last year. CapEx in Q1 was higher versus the prior year as we are strategically allocating capital primarily to store openings and renovations that directly support revenue generation and brand elevation. We've started fiscal '26 in a strong liquidity position that provides flexibility to make strategic investments and navigate uncertainty in the operating environment, while maintaining an efficient capital structure. Lastly, I want to address the evolving trade environment. Consistent with what you heard from us last quarter, approximately 75% of our units are manufactured in Canada and virtually all comply with the USMCA requirements, making them currently exempt from tariffs. For our European product, we are paying modestly higher tariffs, but they will continue to have a minimal financial impact. We continue to monitor the ongoing developments as it relates to potential new U.S. tariffs on Canadian goods as well as potential second-order impacts on the consumer. In this fluid environment, our strong operational foundation and manufacturing advantages position us well to navigate the evolving trade dynamics. To close out today's remarks, we are seeing meaningful progress across our 4 key operating priorities to start the fiscal year, which is leading to continued momentum in our financial results. As we look ahead, we remain focused on what we can control, elevating our brand, driving operational excellence and deepening connections with our customers around the world. On behalf of our senior leadership team, I want to thank our Canada Goose teams around the world for their continued efforts and great results. Carrie, Beth, Dani and I will now take your questions. And with that, I'll turn the call over to our operator. Operator, you can open the line.