Gildan Activewear Inc. (NYSE:GIL) Q2 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

So — weaker mix that is flowing through in the back half very definitely. But our cost structure is really improving as we move through the year. And effectively, that will offset it. We get the improvement in margin, as I said. And again, as we go into 2024, we’ll see what happens from a macro perspective. We’ll see what happens from a mix perspective. But because of that strength in cost structure, we feel very, very good that they set up at the end of the year and as we move into ’24.

Stephen MacLeod: Okay. That’s great. Thank you. And then, Glenn, you mentioned that the overall market is down low double-digit, but Gildan was up. You are up 2% in activewear. Can you talk a little bit about where you’re seeing those share gains? Is it partially driven by the fact that you’re so much — you have such a strong position in basics so you’re capturing a trade down or are there any other factors influencing that?

Chuck Ward: Well, Stephen, I’ll take that. This is Chuck. Yes, I think, we’re seeing gains in multiple places. I mean we’re seeing gains in the basics. But we’re still gaining share in the fashion ring-spun area as well. The ring-spun is not as moving as fast as it was up a few quarters ago, but we’re continuing to gain share against those competitors. Also, we’re seeing more in the national accounts that service retail customers. They’re more up mid-single digits as retailers have continued to experience improvement in sell-through and they’re doing continued replenishment.

Glenn Chamandy: And then for — this is — and also maybe just to add to that is where our fashion is maybe not as strong as it was. It’s still high single-digit positive, but our basics are now low single-digits positive as well. So that was a big turnaround from what happened in the last previous quarter. So we’re starting to see people trade down to, obviously, the basics, which is great. And those price differences, there’s probably like 30%, 35% between a basic and a fashion. So it’s just like in the same as the fleece category, people are just trading down and looking for value in the market as we see it. But we’re diagnostic, and it doesn’t — and I think one other key point for us is even though there’s somewhat of a shift in buying preferences from a crew to — from a hood to a crew or a fashion to a basic, we — our manufacturing facilities are able to be very flexible to be able to support whatever selling, right, because it’s all made on the same equipment, which is a key part of our flexibility in our overall manufacturing processes.

So we’ve adapted to these types of changes and we’re continuing to service whatever the customers are buying.

Stephen MacLeod: Great. Thank you.

Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Luke Hannan of Canaccord. Your line is open.

Luke Hannan: Thanks. Good morning, everyone. I just wanted to ask a question on what the promotional environment is like. It sounds like the change in guidance is more related to, as you mentioned, Glenn, the fact that people are trading down. It sounds like volumes are still fairly healthy. I’m just curious to know if you are seeing anything from your competitors on the promotional side of things, whether now with consumers trading down, do you expect there to be a little bit more competitive pressure to be able to capture that customer?

Glenn Chamandy: Well, we’ve seen some pricing action, particularly from some of the brands in the fashion category. However, even after they’ve adjusted some of the pricing, we’re still significantly below them in the tune of 20%, 25% in certain cases, right? So we’re positioned well on price. And with our product portfolio and all the different price points that we have, we think we’re well-positioned that we’ll see our price deteriorate on mix, we won’t see it deteriorate because we’re lowering prices. I mean I think that’s the way to look at how we’re positioned.