Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) Q1 2026 Earnings Call Transcript

Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) Q1 2026 Earnings Call Transcript May 27, 2026

Bath & Body Works, Inc. beats earnings expectations. Reported EPS is $0.32, expectations were $0.29.

Operator: Good morning. My name is Melissa, and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I’d like to welcome everyone to the Bath & Body Works First Quarter 2026 Earnings Conference Call. Please be advised that today’s conference is being recorded. [Operator Instructions] I’ll now turn the call over to Luke Long, Vice President of Investor Relations. Luke, you may begin.

Luke Long: Good morning, and welcome to Bath & Body Works First Quarter 2026 Earnings Conference Call. Joining me on the call today are Daniel Heaf, Chief Executive Officer; and Eva Boratto, Chief Financial Officer. In addition to this call and this morning’s press release, we have posted a slide presentation on our website that summarizes the information in these prepared remarks and provide some related facts and figures regarding our operating performance and guidance. As a reminder, some of the comments today may include forward-looking statements related to future events and expectations. For factors that could cause the actual results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements, please refer to the Risk Factors in Bath & Body Works’ 2025 Form 10-K.

Today’s call also contains certain non-GAAP financial measures. Please refer to this morning’s press release and supplemental materials for important disclosures regarding such measures, including reconciliations to the most comparable GAAP financial measure. With that, I’ll turn the call over to Daniel.

Daniel Heaf: Thank you, Luke, and good morning, everyone. Today, I’ll walk through our first quarter performance and share an update on the progress we’re making on our consumer-first formula. Our strategy to return Bath & Body Works to sustainable, consistent growth. In the first quarter, net sales declined 3% and adjusted EPS was $0.32, both ahead of expectations, but remain below the standard we expect of our brand. Underlying business trends remain pressured and largely consistent with the past several quarters, reinforcing the necessity of our strategy. We are executing with urgency and remain on track with our transformation road map. Based on this performance and with our expectations for the balance of the year, we are reaffirming our full year 2026 net sales and earnings per share guidance.

Since introducing the consumer-first formula in November, we have been clear that this is a multiyear plan to return Bath & Body Works to sustainable growth. Our aspiration remains clear to bring together luxury sense real benefits and unmatched access, building a brand consumers love, trust and choose every day. The actions we are taking across product, brand and the marketplace are beginning to generate evidence that the strategy is working, and we expect the impact to build through the year and become more visible to consumers and in our financials as we move into 2027. The work has moved from strategy to execution and from execution to early evidence. While there is significant work ahead, the early proof points we are seeing reinforce our confidence that the actions we are taking are the right ones.

With that context, let me walk through some of the progress we are making across our 4 strategic priorities. First, creating disruptive and innovative products. Restarting our innovation engine remains foundational to our strategy, particularly in our Hero category. We are being more intentional about where we innovate, how we innovate and how we bring product to market. We are prioritizing our Hero category, focusing on the forms where we have clear authority and telling stories that make the quality, benefit and feeling of our product unmistakable. When we deliver a stronger product offering, clearer benefits and sharper execution, the consumer responds, better product clearly communicated win. This was evident in the quarter with the launch of our new moisturizing and revitalizing These products pair our distinctive fragrance with clear consumer benefits, upgraded packaging, focused marketing support and stronger in-store and online presentation.

More importantly, this launch reflects the model we are building: stronger product offering, clearer benefit, better packaging, focused marketing and sharper execution, all working together to drive a powerful consumer response. Strong product acceptance by consumers showed up across multiple metrics. AUR and SKU productivity for the new formulates were both up double digits. This reinforces an important point: value is not simply price. It is the quality of the product, the clarity of the benefit and the strength of the experience relative to the price the consumer paid. That is the equation we are focused on improving. Body Care underperformed the broader business in the quarter. Some of this reflected planned assortment choices, including the increased mix of accessories in our Disney collaboration, and actions within our everyday luxury franchise, where we pulled back too substantially on the assortment.

We identified this quickly and took action. As of this month, we are backing stock with 10 everyday luxury fragrances, including our top sellers, and we are seeing strong early reads. Everyday luxury remains an important long-term franchise. As part of our broader merchandising architecture, we have clarified the role of key franchises with everyday luxury firmly positioned within that portfolio. We are rebuilding the core assortment, increasing fragrance loads and expanding into new forms and sizes to support durable growth. Importantly, the broader category remains healthy, which reinforces our conviction that stronger innovation, clearer benefits and more modern and emotive storytelling will improve our body care performance over time. We will also continue to use collaboration strategically as a way to drive engagement, build relevance and support moment.

Disney Princesses 2 built on the insights from the original launch and resonated once again with our existing customers, with particular strength in accessories where we broadened the offering this year. I have said that as we move forward, we will use collaborations to build cultural relevance and brand equity, attract new consumers and support our most important franchises and seasonal moment. was an early example of this approach. We kept the collaboration intentionally limited in scale, and it drove consumer excitement as it quickly sold out. The energy, it created supported our Easter assortment contributing to a spring collection that was up 9% versus last year. Similarly, our Vera Bradley collaboration served as a complement to our Mother’s Day offering, driving excitement and interest in our brand during this key gifting moment.

As we move into the second half of the year, I am excited about the product innovation we will bring to market. Consumers will begin to see upgrades to our Hero categories, including new forms such as a flat back hand sanitizer; upgraded vessels, including a pump on our moisturizing body wash; higher fragrance loads; and more modernized and elevated packaging. All of these innovations have been informed by consumer feedback and designed to strengthen our leadership in our Hero categories, by delivering more relevant benefits and better meeting modern consumer expectations. Our new product launches will be supported by bolder marketing, stronger social engagement, and, in some cases, talent partnership designed to create broader cultural reach.

In summary, our product innovation is in early innings. We are encouraged by the results, and we expect momentum to build in the back half of the year and continue through 2027. Second, reigniting the brand. We are modernizing how Bath & Body Works shows up creatively, culturally and emotionally while building a modern demand creation engine. This work is increasingly coming together in a cohesive and consistent way. We are sharpening our positioning, elevating our creative expression and moving towards clearer, more benefit-forward storytelling. The goal is simple: to be clear about who we are to make the quality and distinctiveness of our products unmistakable and to create an experience and make Bath & Body Works choosing time and time again.

As part of this evolution, it’s how we engage consumers. We are making creative and influencers a more consistent part of our go-to-market playbook, not as a one-off tactic, but as a way to build relevant and create demand around our most important launches. For example, during our Vera launch and Mother’s Day event, we expanded our creative network by hundreds of influencers, extending our reach and reinforcing our elevated brand narrative across the social platforms our consumers use every day. We are also leveraging these capabilities to amplify our key product stories and franchises in a more modern and culturally relevant way. This quarter, we applied this playbook to our White Barn Neutrals franchise. We extended the White Barn brand into new and unexpected spaces by partnering with creators who use White Barn Neutrals to elevate their own homes and leverage live ad read across relevant podcasts to deepen connection and reinforce our authority, as the market leader in beautiful, high-quality candles at affordable prices.

Our approach resonated. The White Barn Neutral collection grew approximately 20% in Q2 versus last year and attracted a younger consumer. This builds on our evolved brand expression, we are using on Amazon, where richer and consistent visual storytelling is helping us show up in a more modern and relevant way and attracting new consumers to the brand. The enriched brand expression will roll out more broadly across our own channels later this year. This will create a more consistent and elevated presence wherever the consumers encounter the Bath & Body Works brand. We are in the early stages of transforming Bath & Body Works from a specialty retailer to a category-leading global brand, one that leads with products, creates desire and builds deeper emotional connection with consumers.

Third, winning in the marketplace. We are focused on meeting consumers wherever they choose to shop: in stores, online and across third-party platforms. Our global fleet of approximately 2,500 doors remains a significant competitive advantage, and we are committed to fully leveraging the strength, reach and convenience of that footprint. This includes simplifying the in-store experience and improving navigation to make it easier for consumers to discover and shop the products they love. Beginning in July, we will begin to roll out updates across our entire fleet. Consumers will see a more intuitive in-store experiencing, featuring clearer signage and product layout designed to make the store easier to navigate by fragrance, form and franchise.

At the same time, we are strengthening our digital presence to extend our reach and reduce friction, particularly for new and lapsed consumers. Later this year, we will relaunch our website with a mobile-first experience, stronger storytelling and a faster, more seamless path to checkout. The site will celebrate our fragrance icons, including beloved such as Thousand Wishes, giving consumers a richer way to discover and engage with the hero of our brand. Within our digital business, we are beginning to see early signs of progress including approximately a 10% improvement in conversion among new consumers. While the experience is not yet where we want it to be, this progress reinforces our belief that there is significant opportunity to expand reach, deepen engagement and drive sustainable e-commerce revenue over time.

Our Amazon business is in its early stages, and we are seeing consistent growth week over week, in line with our plan. The channel is helping us to reach consumers who are not shopping with us through our own channels with a meaningful SKU towards younger and more affluent consumers. We are delivering higher AURs on Amazon relative to our own channels. We view Amazon as an important complement to our own platform, and we are learning thoughtfully, refining and scaling our presence. Beyond our owned marketplace channels, international remains a key pillar of our strategy. In the quarter, retail sales were up double digit. Despite near-term pressure in the Middle East, the business represents a compelling opportunity with a long runway for high-return asset-light franchise growth outside of North America.

Across all of our channels, our objective is clear: to be in the path of the consumer, spark discovery and ensure Bath & Body Works shows up clearly, consistently, whenever and wherever consumers choose to shop. Finally, operating with speed and efficiency. Underpinning all of our work is a commitment to operating with greater speed, focus and discipline. Through our multiyear Fuel for Growth program, we are simplifying the business, removing unnecessary complexity and reallocating resources towards the areas that most directly impact the consumer. These efforts are helping fund investment in innovation, brand relevance and digital acceleration, while maintaining a strong financial foundation. In conclusion, early consumer response to initial consumer-first formula actions supports the logic of the strategy and reinforce our conviction in the path we are on.

We are executing with urgency and discipline and early proof points are beginning to emerge across the business, reinforcing our confidence that the actions we are taking today will drive more meaningful and sustainable impact over time. This is a comprehensive transformation. We are building the foundation to reposition Bath & Body Works from a specialty retailer into a category-leading global brand with the discipline required to return the company to sustainable long-term growth. With that, I’ll turn over to Eva to review our first quarter financial results.

Eva Boratto: Thank you, Daniel, and good morning, everyone. Today, I’ll provide the details of our first quarter results and provide an update on our Q2 and fiscal year 2026 guidance. Beginning with the first quarter, net sales were $1.4 billion, down 3.2% versus last year and ahead of our guidance range. As Daniel noted, the underlying business trends remain pressured, consistent with the past several quarters, and our category performance reflects the same themes we’ve shared previously: the need to deliver consumer right innovation, elevate the brand and ensure availability across all channels. Body Care declined mid-teens, below the shock and our expectations. As Daniel mentioned, the deceleration in performance was largely driven by everyday luxury assortment changes and a mix shift towards accessories in our Disney Princesses 2 collaboration.

The underlying trends within the body care portfolio remain pressured. And as we have said previously, we have taken steps to refocus on our core and better align our product with evolving consumer expectations. We will bring bold innovation to our body care assortment in the back half of the year. Home Fragrance declined low single digits. Candles performed slightly above the shop supported by strategic pricing actions and solid results in the neutrals line, partially offset by softness in wallflowers. Soaps and sanitizers grew low single digits with continued strength in sanitizers and solid performance in soaps, driven by our new moisturizing and revitalizing formulas. In U.S. and Canadian stores, net sales were $1.1 billion, a decrease of 4.3% to the prior year.

Direct channel net sales were $246 million, a decrease of 1.5%, benefiting from a reduction to our free ship threshold to $50. Normalized for our free shipping threshold change, digital and stores performed comparably. International and other net sales, which is inclusive of domestic third-party wholesale revenues, were $70 million, up 9% to the prior year. International net sales were up 5%, in line with expectations. Our first quarter adjusted gross profit rate was 42.7%, slightly above expectations and a decline of 270 basis points. Adjusted merchandise margin rate declined 210 basis points, primarily driven by tariffs, inflation and crude oil impact totaling approximately 130 basis points and category mix. Mix-adjusted AUR was flat versus prior year.

B&O dollars were flat as expanded store occupancy costs were offset by the closure of a fulfillment center in Q1 of last year. B&O deleveraged as a result of sales decline. Adjusted SG&A dollars were also flat with rate of 31.7%, better than expected due to incremental cost savings and timing. The increase in adjusted SG&A rate of 100 basis points versus last year due to sales decline as investments associated with the consumer-first formula, increases in inflation and merit were offset by our fuel for growth. Bringing it all together, adjusted operating income was $151 million, 11% of net sales; and adjusted earnings per diluted share of $0.32 was slightly ahead of our expectations. Inventory ended the quarter down 10% to prior year. We’re confident with our inventory levels going into Q2.

Turning to real estate. Approximately 60% of our fleet is in off-mall locations. And in the quarter, we opened 13 new North American stores, all off-mall; and closed 17 stores, primarily in malls. International partners opened 8 stores and closed 2 stores in the first quarter. We ended the quarter with 579 international locations. Now moving to guidance. For the fiscal full year 2026 confirming all elements of our guidance with net sales guidance range of down 4.5% to down 2.5%, and adjusted earnings per share guidance range of $2.40 to $2.65. A few additional points to note. Our guidance does not include any share repurchases. Our guidance assumes energy prices remain elevated for the remainder of the year. And finally, our guidance does not assume any benefit from potential tariff refunds.

As a reminder, tariffs represented an approximate $80 million cost in fiscal 2025, and our current guidance assumes the impact of tariffs and inflationary pressures will be roughly neutral year-over-year. You can find additional commentary on the details of our full year guidance in our slide presentation. Turning now to the second quarter. We expect net sales of down 5% to down 3%. International net sales are expected to be down low- to mid-single digits, primarily related to a decline in shipped product sales to our Middle East partner due to ongoing conflict. International retail sales are expected to grow low double digits, in line with Q1. We expect second quarter gross profit rate to be approximately 40%, reflecting higher store occupancy and deleverage due to sales declines as well as product transformation investments.

We expect second quarter SG&A rate to be approximately 31.8%, reflecting net sales deleverage and inflation and merit impacts and investments associated with the consumer-first formula, partially offset by Fuel for Growth savings. Our second quarter outlook includes net nonoperating expense of approximately $56 million, a tax rate of approximately 29.3% and weighted average diluted shares outstanding of approximately 203 million. Considering these inputs, we are forecasting second quarter earnings per diluted share of $0.20 to $0.25. Looking forward to Q3, we expect greater transformation investments affecting both product and marketing. This is consistent with our expectations in our original full year guidance, which we reaffirm today. Now for a quick update on capital allocation.

We are a strong cash flow generating business, and our top priority remains driving sustainable, long-term profitable growth through strategic investments in the business. For the first quarter, our capital expenditures totaled $49 million and we returned $40 million to shareholders through dividends. In 2026, we continue to expect to invest approximately $270 million in capital expenditures focused on high-return real estate, consumer-first formula investments largely related to product assortment and logistics and fulfillment upgrades. We also continue to expect to generate approximately $600 million of free cash flow in 2026, including a $66 million after-tax benefit from the interchange fee litigation settlement recognized in Q1. In the first quarter, we redeemed our January 2027 notes of $284 million.

And as always, we will take a balanced approach, investing to drive long-term growth while returning excess cash to shareholders. In closing, while 2026 is an investment year, we’re executing with speed and discipline. We’re confident in our strategy, encouraged by our early progress and focused on establishing Bath & Body Works as a premier global brand, one that delivers sustained durable growth. With that, I’ll turn it over to Daniel.

Daniel Heaf: Before we take questions, I’d like to take a moment to thank Eva for her contribution to Bath & Body Works. Eva, on behalf of the entire Bath & Body Works team, thank you. You’ve been a steady in force during a pivotal chapter for this company, strengthening our financial foundation, bringing discipline to how we invest and helping to lay the groundwork for the consumer-first formula. You leave us in a stronger position than the founder and you do so with our deep gratitude and very best wishes for what comes next. We have initiated a comprehensive search process, supported by a leading executive search firm to identify our next Chief Financial Officer. In the meantime, Tom will step in as interim Chief Financial Officer effective upon Eva’s departure.

Tom brings deep experience with more than 16 years at Bath & Body Works and 25 years with L Brands, including serving as EVP of Brand Finance. We are confident he will provide strong continuity and leadership during this transition. With that, we’ll open the call for questions.

Q&A Session

Operator: [Operator Instructions] Our first question comes from the line of Irwin Boruchow with Wells Fargo.

Irwin Boruchow: Daniel, I think my first one is for you. Just on the body care down mid-teens in the first quarter, it seems like it was the biggest drag, clearly, on the results. Just can you elaborate just a little bit more on what you’ve done to address that category issue and mainly trying to get at is that a problem that they kind of surfaced in the first quarter behind you at this point? How are you expecting body care to trend from here?

Daniel Heaf: Thanks for the question. Let me start by taking you back to the diagnosis that we gave in November when we said that body care is the most competitive category and that the offering — our offering has not kept pace with the consumer. That is why, as part of the consumer-first formula, we have prioritized investment in body care, and we are expecting stronger, more relevant innovation to begin showing up in the back half. As I said in my prepared remarks, I’m excited about the body care innovation that we have coming. Now within the quarter, the underperformance, which you noted was driven by 2 factors: Firstly, we planned Disney, Disney Princesses 2 to be bigger in accessories this year, that is where we left demand on table last year and the results we delivered so that, that was the right thing to do.

Also, in everyday luxury, we have not managed the franchise as effectively as we should have, and we pull Black to substantially on that assortment. We recognize that very quickly, and we’ve already taken action. As of this month, we are back in stock with 10 fragrances, including the top sellers from last spring in both Fine Fragrance Smith and Body And we are already seeing improved results, and we expect Q2 to be meaningfully better in body care. Important, though, and this brings us back to the sort of the more substantial strategic point, I think, is we now have a clear franchise architecture across the business, including defined key growth franchises and fragrance icons. Everyday luxury is — it has a very important role in that portfolio, and we expect it to deliver durable growth over time.

We are rebuilding the core assortment, increasing fragrance loads and expanding into newer forms and all of that newness in everyday luxury will be delivered in the back half of the year. So in summary, while Body Care the performance is not — was absolutely not where we want it to be, we understood the drivers, we took action and we remain in the very confident in the category’s long-term potential for us.

Irwin Boruchow: Got it. Super helpful, Daniel. And then as a follow-up, I guess a bigger picture, you’re now 1 or 2 quarters in post the reset in the third quarter. Is there any view of a need to push out your revenue inflection story maybe into early 2027 for any reason? Or do you kind of just view things as largely on track and things are progressing the way you had hoped?

Daniel Heaf: I think you said it, brilliantly. Q1 was absolutely consistent with where we expected to be at this stage of our transformation. As we noted in the prepared remarks, the underlying business remains pressured, and we’re not calling an inflection. It was a beat, but nowhere near the potential of this brand. And what gives us confidence, the actions that we’re taking are starting to show up in the growth indicators that we told you to look out for last quarter. So particularly stronger pricing power behind our innovation and the expanded reach through new distribution channels is bringing new consumers to the brand. As I said, I don’t think the examples that we gave on today’s call, particularly moisturizing, hand soap and White Barn Neutrals are meaningful enough at yet to show up in our full financials, but that is the job that we are all focused on in the back half.

It is how do we put it together to deliver the scale and bring the company back to growth as soon as possible. That is what every team in this company wants and that is where we are focused.

Operator: Our next question comes from the line of Matthew Boss with JPMorgan.

Matthew Boss: So Daniel, you launched on Amazon during the first quarter. What are your biggest learnings to date? Have there been any surprises? And how are you thinking about balancing marketplace expansion while protecting traffic and productivity within your owned channels of distribution?

Daniel Heaf: Thanks, Matt. I think it’s fair to say that we are very pleased with our Amazon performance since launching in new February. Totally new capability and strategy for this company. It is still early, but we’re seeing strong double-digit week-over-week growth, and that is absolutely in line with the expectations that we gave. More importantly than the growth though, I think that Amazon is proving to be an effective consumer acquisition channel. That was one of the green shoot indicators we talked to on our last earnings call. And we are bringing in a higher mix of new-to-brand consumers who are skewing younger and more affluent and who value Amazon’s speed, convenience and ease of discovery. We’re also seeing AUR on this channel up higher.

So this reinforces the strategic point of view that Amazon can be a controlled, curated, complement to our own channel and absolutely not a substitute for them. As we said from the outset, and it’s absolutely still the case, our owned channels will always be and always offer the broadest assortment. And just by a way of reference, we have about 94 unique SKUs live on Amazon today, that’s about 7% of our active in-store assortment. So there’s so much more breadth and depth in our own channels than in third-party marketplaces. And then maybe I’ll add just a couple more points that I think are interesting things that we have learned. Firstly, we are as — part of it in the process of cleaning up the marketplace, and we put in place quantity limits in both our digital channel and stores channel.

And absolutely, that is being effective, and we are cleaning up the marketplace. And secondly, perhaps more future focused, we are finding that the product information that we’re putting up on Amazon is really helping to improve our recommendations in generative search in platforms like ChatGPT and Claude. So again, something that we are watching and perhaps an unexpected benefit of the expansion on to Amazon.

Matthew Boss: And maybe just a follow-up for Eva. Could you elaborate on the product investments that are pressuring merchandise margin this year? And just what you’ve contemplated, whether it relates to oil from a headwind or markdowns over the balance of the year?

Eva Boratto: Sure. Thanks for the question, Matt. Overall, as you look at gross margins for the year, we reiterated our prior gross margin guidance of 42.4%. The merch margin deleverage, it’s about 40 basis points. Think about that as largely product investment, tariffs enroll, material inflation kind of together roughly flat between the 2 of those. We have contemplated inflationary pressures in crude oil, which is a new headwind that we’ve been able to offset with some incremental cost reductions. So largely, it’s a little bit of pressure on that crude oil as well as the product investments, net of our Fuel for Growth initiatives. B&O deleverage, obviously, about 90 basis points, which is really driven by the sales decline. And I would just remind you that there are no tariff refunds included in our guidance. And there’s a lot of news out there, and we expect to know more about that in about 3 months from now.

Operator: Our next question comes from the line of Simeon Siegel with Guggenheim Securities.

Simeon Siegel: Eva, it’s been really nice working with you, I wish you best in your next chapter.

Eva Boratto: Thank you.

Simeon Siegel: You bet. Daniel, you’ve been with the company for about a year now, how was your view of the opportunity evolved since you joined? I guess, just could you speak to your optimism and the opportunity now versus maybe when you begin, any big learnings about the business and the path forward? And then if you were to take a step back and just diagnose the sales declines in recent years, how would you characterize them between price versus units? And within units, how do you think about whether you’re losing customers versus you’re lowering their frequency of shop?

Daniel Heaf: Thanks for the question. Let me start by saying, I’ve loved every minute of my first 12 months here with the Bath & Body Works team. I would say that my conviction in the opportunity 12 months in is stronger. But I’d also say that my understanding of what it will take is sharper. As I said, I think almost on day 1 when I did my first earnings call, Bath & Body Works has extraordinary assets, deeply loved brand, it has leadership in growing and attractive categories; a large, profitable and convenience store footprint; highly engaged customer base; and then I’d say that the learning has been the work required to reach our potential is significant. We need to restart our innovation engine in the Hero categories. We need to make the brand more relevant and modernized demand creation.

We need to improve digital, we need to expand access. And of course, we need to do that simultaneously while operating faster and more efficiently. And that is exactly what the plan we put in place as a team, the consumer-first formula is designed to do, and it is the plan we’re driving. I would say that the diagnosis that I gave, a little bit to the second point of your question before I maybe hand to Eva, it hasn’t changed. If anything in the last 6 months since we gave the diagnosis, I think that the evidence reinforces it. When we deliver stronger product sharper storytelling and better marketplace execution, and we do those things simultaneously, the consumer response. The proof points that we talked about on today’s call they’re still early.

It’s still too small to show up in the financials, but they support the logic of the strategy. So net-net, 1 year in, I have a clearer view of the work the right leadership team and a growing conviction that we’re absolutely on the right path.

Eva Boratto: So Daniel, I’ll take the second part of the question around the sales performance over the last several years. And I’ll think this year into last year, Simeon, as I make these comments, right? Overall, our existing loyal customers have been strong. We’ve seen more frequency, greater spend with that loyal customer base. as Daniel pointed out several quarters ago, right, we need to be more relevant with that new younger customer where our focus is with the consumer-first formula. On the pricing unit, given where the brand is, we really have not been able to take AURs up, right? They’ve been flat to down low single digits each quarter. And as you look forward, as you bring product, brand, marketplace together and have the right innovation, we know this brand can grow AUR as well as units. And that’s what we’re looking to drive here.

Operator: Our next question comes from the line of Lorraine Hutchinson with Bank of America.

Lorraine Maikis: When you were answering Irwin’s question, you spoke about the building benefits throughout the year of the consumer-first formula. Do you expect a return to positive sales growth in the second half? And if not, why not?

Daniel Heaf: I mean I’ll sort of go back to the comments I made earlier. I think we’re exactly where we expect to be. Again, the underlying trends of the business remain pressured and we’re not calling it an inflection. We do see the positive proof point in the strategy, particularly around White Barn Neutrals, moisturizing hand stope. And I think we didn’t talk about it on the call, but the iconization of Japanese cherry blossom in also a good proof point. What we need to do in the back half as the innovation comes to market is making sure that we’re putting all the pieces together that the foundation that we’ve built is being executed in the marketplace correctly and we expect the impact to become more visible to the consumer in the back half and more visible in our financials. So look, every team of Bath & Body Works wants to win and is laser focused on bringing the company back to delivering sustainable and healthy growth as soon as possible.

Eva Boratto: Yes, Lorraine, and I’ll just add 1 thing, Daniel, if I could, right? We’re in the early stages of this transformation. And as we provided our guidance 3 months ago and reaffirm that today, we believe we’ve planned the business prudently in line with our current trends. And as you think about the innovation, we’re also being very surgical how we approach that and the impact so we can build on the things that win in the marketplace and drive durable growth.

Operator: Our next question comes from the line of Paul Lejuez with Citi.

Unknown Analyst: This is Brian [indiscernible] on for Paul. Can you remind us what is embedded in your guidance regarding tariff rate? I think previously, you expected 15% for the year, but you’re bringing product in at 10% currently. So just wondering how that has been factored into your outlook.

Eva Boratto: Sure. Thanks for the question, right? Overall, as you think about tariffs inclusive of the supply chain information that I spoke about, think about it as roughly neutral year-over-year with then an added headwind impact related to the crude oil pressures that we’ve seen, and we fill into our guidance that those continue. As you think about tariffs in particular, Q2 and fall, right, they’re at lower rates than Q1, but you also layer on the 232 aluminum, so that’s how we plan the business, and we’ll see what changes come along. And as I said on a prior question, our guidance does not include any impact of tariff refunds.

Unknown Analyst: Got it. That’s helpful. And then I was just curious, are you seeing any difference in performance in your stores by geography or mall, off-mall locations?

Eva Boratto: Sure. I’ll take that 1 as well, Daniel. As we looked at our performance in Q1, right, consistent with prior periods, our off malls did perform better than our mall stores driven by both traffic and conversion. We did not see any meaningful difference by income tier in our performance. It was pretty consistent across our different income tiers. And I think our regional performance, there was some modest differences across regions, but nothing substantial as to a meaningful trend break that I would note and I would say our strongest malls, our high-tier malls performed best, those A malls and the lower-tier malls had the weakest performance.

Daniel Heaf: [indiscernible], there’s one more strategic point that I think will be worth making as it regards to stores. So we’ve talked in previous calls about how consumers have found our stores on occasion overwhelming. They’re not as easy to shop as they should be. We have done a great deal of consumer research into this subject. And beginning this summer, we are rolling out meaningful improvement to our store navigation, which will be full fleet. So I think that there were some pictures of that in the presentation that we showed alongside our earnings call this morning, and we think that will really improve the consumer experience and conversion as we go into the back half.

Operator: Our next question comes from the line of [indiscernible] with Piper Sandler.

Unknown Analyst: Okay. Great. This is [ Noah Halston ] on for Anna. Could you just give some more color on monthly trends you saw in the first quarter? And curious if you could give us an early read on how Mother’s Day was for the business? And just on exiting adjacent categories, what was the impact of that in the first quarter? And how do you think about that as we go through the year?

Eva Boratto: Sure. No, I’ll take that. There’s a number of questions there. The exiting of adjacent categories, that was a minimal impact. Those exits were relatively small percent of the overall shop. In terms of Mother’s Day, Mother’s Day span Q1 as well as as well as Q2 and overall performed well for us. We were pleased with our delivery and the Vera Bradley impact in our Mother’s Day performance. And in terms of the month within Q1, there’s nothing really significant to call out there.

Operator: Our next question comes from the line of Mark Altschwager with Baird.

Mark Altschwager: First, I was hoping to get a bit more color on the promotional environment. I believe that this — the 2026 guide assumes a comparable level of promotions to the prior year. But the consumer is clearly more value-seeking today. Just talk us through how you’re balancing brand integrity and AUR versus the promotional response there and then whether there’s any flex on promotion of traffic were to stay soft?

Daniel Heaf: Yes. Thanks for the question. Maybe I’ll start at a high level on our promotional strategy, and then we can maybe ask Eva to dive into a little bit on AUR. Look, promotions have always been part of the Bath & Body Works model. Great value and exciting events brand, and that is not going to change. As I said in November, when we gave a diagnostics over the past several years, we have leaned into more frequent and deeper promotions to prop up the top line. that does drive a short-term response, but over time, it creates diminishing returns and erodes brand equity. So our plan for 2026, it seems broadly similar, year-over-year promotional cadence and depth. We’re not planning a sudden reduction in promos in the year.

The priority, which is exactly where the consumer-first formula is centered, is rebuilding the strength of the consumer proposition. Over time, as we shift towards fewer and more meaningful events built around product story, clearer benefits and more compelling reasons to buy, we want to romanticize the product because of the benefit, not just the discount in our flavor of pricing power, which we will get in our innovation and it’s a proof point, followed innovation and brand relevance. And so that is why the consumer first formula is focused on rebuilding the product superiority in our hero category through efficacy, luxury fragrances, modernized packaging and marketing.

Eva Boratto: Yes, Daniel, I don’t have much to add. I think you covered it all, right? Our — we know the consumer continues to be value seeking. And as Daniel said in his prepared remarks, value isn’t just price. Our mix-adjusted AURs were flat in the quarter. And to your question, right, we are strategic and smart as we execute and have an amazing team here that thinks through this where there are opportunities to be more promotional to drive that traffic and then also — and to create moments and also in the places that we’ll pull back. So that’s a muscle that we execute on here week in, week out. And Daniel’s point about innovation being AUR up, right, it’s an early proof point, it’s one proof point. But on the moisture hand soaps, it was excluded from one of our key promotions, and so we’re really pleased with driving that AUR up as well as the productivity metrics and getting AUR increases is d one of our key metrics that we are tracking and focusing on in the consumer-first formula.

Mark Altschwager: And just a follow-up for Daniel on the CFO transition. Eva has been a key partner in standing up the consumer-first formula and the Fuel for Growth program. So I was hoping you could speak to what’s institutionalized at this point versus what could be impacted during the search and the type of profile you’re prioritizing externally?

Daniel Heaf: Yes. Thanks for the question. We’re going to miss Eva, of course, but Eva’s departure doesn’t change our confidence in the full year guidance that we reaffirm today. Our expectations for the full year are grounded, very detailed operating plans that have been built right across the business and the performance we saw in Q1 and the proof points so that we are on our way. We have a very experienced finance team, strong controls and a disciplined operating cadence so I couldn’t be happier to have Tom [ Javich ] as a very experienced CFO and partners to help us guide the business during this transition. And in terms of the future profile, we’re looking for a CFO who can help us execute the next phase of this transformation: disciplined capital allocation, strong financial planning, operational rigor and the ability to fund the growth while improving the long-term performance of the business.

We’ve got a leading search firm on the case, the search is underway. And we want to make sure that we bring someone in and can quickly establish credibility with all of you and bring the experience and judgment and skills we need to the transformation.

Eva Boratto: And Daniel, can I just emphasize one thing? Really appreciate the question, Mark, and I just want to emphasize the strength of the team underneath me, the experience that they have in this business and elsewhere is really strong, and I have all the confidence that they will continue to work with Daniel as well as the broader leadership team to continue to drive the consumer-first formula forward.

Operator: Our next question comes from the line of Sydney Wagner with Jefferies.

Sydney Wagner: So you cited the double-digit AUR and SKU productivity on the hand soaps. So just wondering, are these results sustaining beyond the initial launch and into replenishment cycles? And then just curious what percent of the assortment now is turning at these improved productivity levels versus legacy product? And then just one more on the appointment of [ Veronique ] as Chief Brand and Product Officer. Just curious if you can talk a little bit more about that role? And if there’s been any changes you’ve seen from product innovation pipeline since for advisory work and kind of what you hope to achieve with that role?

Daniel Heaf: Okay. Thank you. Thank you, Sydney. So yes, we are seeing that the productivity in the AUR is sustaining into replenishment cycle. So that — I think it’s one proof point on the new innovation that we brought to market, and we expect to continue to run this operating playbook, if you will, as we bring new innovation to market. Right now, it’s — we’re talking about 2 new forms that we brought in. So it’s an overall, it’s a small percentage of the assortment. When it comes to [ Veronique ] and her role, so let’s start with the role. The thinking behind this role was to bring the 2 most creative functions of the business together under a single leader to improve consistency and speed of delivery. And we are so lucky to have [ Veronique ] join us.

She is a highly experienced beauty leader with a strong track record at very big beauty firms and also an entrepreneurial mindset that she brings from her own brand. It’s been a pleasure to welcome her to the team in the last few weeks, and teams are responding really well, and I think she had extremely strong and joined up viewed with me on where we see the future of the brand and how we deliver product excellence quickly. So we’re feeling very good about the role and very good about [ Veronique’s ] appointment. Thank you for your question, Sydney.

Operator: Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, our final question this morning comes from the line of Dana Telsey with Telsey Advisory Group.

Dana Telsey: I think, Daniel, one of the things you mentioned in the past is about rationalizing SKU count. Where are you on that journey? How do you think of new versus rationalizing? Is it just the categories that you’re exiting? And as you think about planning for holiday, how do you think of what’s different this year than last year?

Daniel Heaf: Dana, thank you for the question. So rationalizing SKU count, I have a different — maybe a different philosophy to some people on this particular subject, which is we’re not chasing a number here. We’re not trying to get the X percent of our total assortment. What we’re trying to achieve is a consumer response. We had too many SKUs in our assortment, and it was almost for consumers as a paradox of choice with a barrier to conversion. So the rationalization wasn’t about chasing a productivity number, although we do get productivity when we do assortment and we do get focused. It’s about chasing that consumer response. So we’re reducing assortment and we are doing other things like the improvement to store experience and the improved navigation that will deliver late this summer, that’s part of a bigger whole of improving the overall consumer proposition.

And when I think about — I mean, we are testing in some stores a deeper reduction, and we’ll sort of see how that goes as we move into the year. But as I say, we’re not chasing an absolute number. When I think about holiday this year versus last year, it’s going to be meaningfully different. We are expecting a bigger, bolder campaign. We are expecting a greater level of product innovation. And I think it’s exactly as we’ve said in our prepared remarks, it’s where we see the consumer first formula starts to come together where the pieces are being put together at scale in 1 of the most important periods and 1 of the most important commercial period of the year.

Operator: Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, that concludes our question-and-answer session. I’ll turn the floor back to Luke Long for any final comments.

Luke Long: Thank you, everyone. That concludes our first quarter earnings call. We appreciate your time today and continued interest in Bath & Body Works. Have a great day.

Operator: Thank you. This concludes today’s conference. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation.