Transcript
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 and Body Works First Quarter 2026 Earnings Conference Call. Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. During the question and answer portion, you may ask a question from the phone by pressing star 1. I'll now turn the call over to Luke Long, Vice President of Investor Relations. Luke, you may begin.
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 Barrado, 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 provides 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 mercurially 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 gap financial measure with that I'll turn the call over to Daniel 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 Barton body work to sustainable consistent growth. In the first quarter, net sales declined 3% and adjusted EPS was $0.32, both ahead of expectations, but remained below the standard we expect of our brand. Underlying business trends remained precious and largely consistent with the past several quarters, reinforcing the necessity of our strategy. We are executing with urgency and and remain on track with our transformation roadmap. 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 multi-year plan to return bath and body work 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 products, brands, 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 four strategic priorities. 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 prioritising 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 wins. This was evident in the quarter with the launch of our new moisturising and revitalising hand These products pair our distinctive fragrance with clear consumer benefits, upgraded packaging, focused marketing support and stronger in-store and online presentations. More importantly, this launch reflects the model we are building. – stronger product offerings, clearer benefits, 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 Stoke formulas 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 pays. 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 Luxuries franchise, where we pulled back too substantially on the assortment. We identified this quickly and took action. As of this month, we are back in stock with 10 Everyday Luxuries fragrances, including our top sellers, and we are seeing strong early reads. remain an important long-term franchise. As part of our broader merchandising architecture, we have clarified the role of key franchises and icons with everyday luxuries 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 key seasonal moments. 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 have 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 moments. PEAT 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. 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, better, upgraded vessels, including a pump on our moisturising body wash, higher fragrance loads and more modernised 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 partnerships 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 and body work 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 expressions, 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 to make bath and bodywork worth choosing time and time again. As part of this evolution is how we engage consumers. We are making creators and influencers a more consistent part of our go-to-market playbook, Not as a one-off tactic, but as a way to build relevance and create demand around our most important launches. For example, during our Vera Bradley launch and Mother's Day events, 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 reads across relevant podcast to deepen connection and reinforce our product authority as the market leader in beautiful, high-quality candles at affordable prices. Our approach resonated. The White Barn Utils collection grew approximately 20% in Q1 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 & Bodywork brand. We are in the early stages of transforming Bath & Bodywork 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 two and a half thousand 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 our updates across our entire fleet. Consumers will see a more intuitive in-store experiencing, featuring clearer signage and and product layouts 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 lapped consumers. Later this year, we will relaunch our website with a mobile-first experience, stronger storytelling selling, and a faster, more seamless path to checkout. The site will celebrate our fragrant icons, including beloved scents such as a thousand wishes, giving consumers a richer way to discover and engage with the heroes 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 plans. The channel is helping us reach consumers who are not shopping with us through our own channels, with a meaningful suit 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 platforms, and we are learning thoughtfully, refining, and scaling our presence. Beyond our own marketplace channels, international remains a key pillar of our strategy. In the quarter, retail sales were up double digits. Despite near-term pressure in the Middle East, the business represents a compelling opportunity, with a long runway for high-return, asset-like 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 and bodywork 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 multi-year 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 current 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 in 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 and bodywork 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.
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 shop and our expectations. As Daniel mentioned, the deceleration in performance was largely driven by everyday luxury assortment changes and a mid-shift towards accessories in our Disney Princess 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 percent, 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 impacts 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 eight stores and closed two 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 shift product sales to our Middle East partners 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 percent, reflecting higher store occupancy and deleverage due to sales decline, 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 non-operating expense of approximately $56 million, dollars, a tax rate of approximately 29.3 percent, and weighted average diluted shares outstanding of approximately 203 million. Considering these inputs, we are forecasting second quarter earnings per diluted share of 20 cents to 25 cents. Looking forward to Q3, we expect greater transformation investments affecting both product and market This is consistent with our expectations in our original full-year guidance, which we reaffirmed 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 continued 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 settlements 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.
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 steadying 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 you found us, 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 Gavich 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 our brand including serving as EVP of brand finance we're confident he will provide strong continuity and leadership during this transition with that we'll open the call for questions thank you as a reminder if you'd like to ask a question please press star 1 on our telephone keypad you may press star 2 if you'd like to remove your question from the queue to allow for as many questions as possible, we ask that you each keep to one question and one follow-up.
Thank you. Our first question comes from the line of Ike Boruchow with Wells Fargo. Please proceed with your question.
Hey, good morning, everyone. Daniel, I think my first one's for you. Just on the body care down mid-teens in the first quarter, 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 I'm mainly trying to get at is is that 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 good morning I can thanks for the thanks for the question um let me 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, you know, had 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. You know, 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 two factors. Firstly, we planned Disney Princesses to be bigger in accessories this year. That is where we left demand on the table last year, and the results we delivered show that that was the right thing to do. Also, in everyday luxuries, we have not managed the franchise as effectively as we should have and we pulled black too substantially on that assortment. We recognize that very quickly and we have 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 Mist and Body Cream. And we are already seeing improved results and, you know, we expect Q2 to be meaningfully better in body care. Importantly, though, and this brings us back to the sort of the more substantial strategic point, I think, is, you know, we now have a clear franchise architecture across the business, you know, including defined key growth franchises and fragrance icons. On everyday luxuries, 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 luxuries will be delivered in the back half of the So, you know, in summary, while body care, the performance was absolutely not where we want it to be, you know, we understood the drivers, we took action, and we remain in the – very confident in the category of long-term potential for us.
Got it. Super helpful, Daniel. And then just to follow up, I guess bigger picture, you're now one or two 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 I think you said it brilliantly Ike you know q1 was absolutely consistent with where we expected to be at this stage of our transformation you know as we noted in the prepared remarks the the underlying business remains pressured and we're not calling it an inflection you know it was a beat but nowhere near the potential of this brand, and what gives us confidence are 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 The moisturizing tan soap and white bar neutrals are, you know, 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.
Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Matthew Buffs with JP Morgan. Please proceed with your question.
Great, thanks. 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 own channels of distribution?
Thanks, Matt. Good morning. 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. 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. 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 own 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 this, in the process of cleaning up the marketplace and we put in place quantity limits in both our digital channel and store 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 CatGPT and Claude. So, again, something that we are watching and perhaps an unexpected benefit of the expansion on ProAmazon.
And maybe just a follow-up for Ava. Could you elaborate on the product investments that are pressuring merchandise margins this year and just what you've contemplated, whether it relates to oil from a headwind or markdowns over the balance of the year.
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 much margin deleverage, it's about 40 basis points. Think about that as largely product investment, tariffs and raw material inflation kind of together roughly flat between the two 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, you know, largely it's a little bit of pressure on that crude oil as well as the product investment net of our fuel for growth initiative. B&O deleverages obviously about 90 basis points, which is really driven by the sales decline. And I would just remind you that there are no tariff-free funds included in our guidance, and there's a lot of unknowns out there, and we expect to know more about that in about three months from now.
Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Simeon Siegel with Guggenheim Securities. Please proceed with your question.
Eva, it's been really nice working with you. Wish you the best on your next chapter. Thank you, Ben. You bet. Daniel, you've been with the company for about a year now or a year now. How has your view of the opportunity evolved since you joined? I guess just could you speak to your optimism in the opportunity now versus maybe when you began, 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 would you think about whether you're losing customers versus you're lowering their frequency of shop? Thanks, guys.
Morning, Simeon. 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 one when I did my first earnings call, Bath & Body Works has extraordinary assets. It's a deeply loved brand. It has leadership in growing and attractive categories, large, profitable, and convenient store footprint, highly engaged customer base, and then I'd say that the learning has been the work required to reach our full potential is significant. We need to restart our innovation engine in the hero categories. We need to make the brand more relevant and modernize 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, you know, it hasn't changed. If anything, in the last six 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 responds. 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, you know, one 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.
So Daniel, I'll take the second part of the question around the sales performance over the last several years. And I'll think, you know, 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 price in units, 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.
Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Lorraine Hutchinson. with Bank of America. Please proceed with your question.
Thank you.
When you were answering Ike'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?
I'll sort of go back to the comments I made earlier. I think we're exactly where we expect to be. Again, you know, the underlying trends of the business remain pressured, and we're not calling it an inflection. We do see the positive proof points in the strategy, particularly around white bar neutrals, moisturizing hand soap, and I think we didn't talk about it on the call, but the iconization of Japanese cherry blossom is 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 at Bath & Body Works wants to win, and it's laser-focused on bringing the company back to delivering sustainable and healthy growth as soon as possible.
Yeah, Lorraine, and I'll just add one thing, Daniel, if I could. We're in the early stages of this transformation, and as we provided our guidance three months ago and reaffirmed that today, we believe we've planned the business prudently in line with our current trend. 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.
Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Paul Lejway with Citi. Please proceed with your question.
I'm Ms. Brandon Sheenamon 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.
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've built into our guidance that those continue. As you think about tariffs in particular, you know, 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.
Got it. That's helpful. And then I'm just curious, are you seeing any difference in performance in your store by geography or mall, off-mall locations?
Sure. I'll take that one 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, you know, 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 rate that I would note. And I would say our strongest malls, our high tier malls performed best, those A malls. and the lower-keo malls had the weakest performance.
Hey, Brandon, there's one more strategic point that I think will be worth making as it regards to stores. So, you know, we've talked in previous calls about how consumers have found our stores on occasion overwhelming. You know, 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 improvements 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, you know, we think that will really improve the consumer experience.
Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Anna Andreeva with Piper Sandler. Please proceed with your question.
Hey, great. Thank you so much. This is Noah Halston, on for Ana. Thanks for taking the question. Could you just give some more color on monthly trends you saw in the first quarter? And I'm 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?
Sure, Noah, I'll take that. There's a number of questions there. The exiting of adjacent categories, that was a minimal impact. Those exits were a relatively small percent of the overall shop. In terms of Mother's Day, Mother's Day spanned Q1 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.
Thank you. Our next question comes in line of Mark Altswater with Baird. Please proceed with your question.
Thank you. Good morning. First, I was hoping to get a bit more color on the the promotional environment, I believe that this 2026 guide assumes a comparable level of promotions to the prior year, but the consumer is clearly more value-seeking today. So, just talk us through how you're balancing brand integrity and AUR versus the promotional response there and whether there's any flex on promotion of traffic, where to stay soft.
Yeah, thanks for the question. Maybe I'll start at a high level on our promotional strategy, and then we can maybe I'll even dive into it a little bit on AUR. Look, promotions have always been part of the Barf and Body Works model. Great value and exciting events are central to the brand, and that is not going to change. As I said in November when we gave the diagnostic, 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 assumes 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 strengths of the consumer proposition. Over time, as we shift towards fewer and more meaningful events built around product stories, clearer benefits, and more compelling reasons to buy, we want to romanticize the product because of the benefits, not just the discount. In our playbook, pricing power, which we will get in our innovation and is a proof point, follows innovation and brand relevance. And so that is why the Consumer First Formula is focused on rebuilding the product superiority in our hero categories to efficacy, luxury fragrances, modernized packaging, and marketing.
Daniel, I don't have much to add. I think you covered it all, right? 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 the 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 moisturizing 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 one of our key metrics that we are tracking and focusing on in the Consumer First Formula.
Thank you. 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. Thank you.
Yeah. 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 reaffirmed today. You know, our expectations for the full year are grounded in very detailed operating plans that have been built right across the business, and the performance we saw in Q1, the proof point shows that we are on our way. We have a very experienced finance team, strong controls and a disciplined operating cadence. I couldn't be happier to have Tom Javich as a very experienced CFO and partner 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. Discipline capital allocation, strong financial planning, operational rigour, 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 tape, the search is underway, and we want to make sure that we bring someone in who can quickly establish credibility with all of you and bring the experience and judgement and skills we need to the transformation.
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.
Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Sydney Wagner with Jeffries. Please proceed with your question.
Hi. Thanks for taking our question. So you cited the double-digit AUR and SKU productivity on the hand soaps. Just wondering, are these results sustaining beyond, you know, 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 her advisory work, and kind of what you hope to achieve with that role.
Okay, thank you. Thank you, Sydney. Good morning. So yes, we are seeing that the productivity in the AUR is sustaining into replenishment cycles. So I think it's one proof point on the new innovation that we've 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, you know, we're talking about two new forms that we've 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 two 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 Veroni join us. She is a highly experienced beauty leader with a strong track record at very big beauty firms as 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 has extremely strong and joins up views 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 Thank you for your question, Sydney.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, our final question this morning comes from the line of Dana Telsey with Telsey Advisory Group. Please proceed with your question.
Hi. Good morning, everyone. 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? Thank you.
Hi, Dana. Thank you for the question. So, rationalizing skew count, you know, I have a different, maybe a different philosophy to some people on this particular subject, which is, you know, we're not chasing a number here. We're not trying to get to X percent of our total assortment. What we're trying to achieve is a consumer response. We had too many skews in our storefront, and it was almost for consumers that the paradox of choice was a barrier to conversion. You know, so the rationalization wasn't about chasing a productivity number, although we do get productivity when we reduce the storefront, and we do get focused. It's about chasing that consumer response. So we're reducing the storefront, and we're doing other things, like the improvement to store experience and the improved navigation that we'll deliver later 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 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 start to come together you know where the pieces have been put together at scale in one of the most important periods and one of the most important commercial period of the year.
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.
Thank you everyone that That concludes our first quarter earnings call. We appreciate your time today and continued interest in Bath & Body Works. Have a great day.
Thank you. This concludes today's conference. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for participation.