URBN Reports Record Q2 Sales

PHILADELPHIA, Aug. 21, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Urban Outfitters, Inc. (URBN, Financial), a leading lifestyle products and services company which operates a portfolio of global consumer brands including the Anthropologie, Free People, FP Movement, Urban Outfitters and Nuuly brands, today announced net income of $117.5 million and earnings per diluted share of $1.24 for the three months ended July 31, 2024. For the six months ended July 31, 2024, net income was $179.3 million and earnings per diluted share were $1.89.

Total Company net sales for the three months ended July 31, 2024, increased 6.3% to a record $1.35 billion. Total Retail segment net sales increased 3.1%, with comparable Retail segment net sales increasing 2.0%. The increase in Retail segment comparable net sales was driven by low single-digit positive growth in both digital channel sales and retail store sales. Comparable Retail segment net sales increased 7.1% at Free People and 6.7% at Anthropologie and decreased 9.3% at Urban Outfitters. Nuuly segment net sales increased by 62.6% primarily driven by a 55% increase in average active subscribers in the current quarter versus the prior year quarter. Wholesale segment net sales increased 15.1% driven by a 17.5% increase in Free People wholesale sales due to an increase in sales to department stores and specialty customers, partially offset by a decrease in Urban Outfitters wholesale sales.

For the six months ended July 31, 2024, total Company net sales increased 7.0% to a record $2.55 billion. Total Retail segment net sales increased 4.4%, with comparable Retail segment net sales increasing 3.2%. The increase in Retail segment comparable net sales was driven by mid single-digit positive growth in digital channel sales and low single-digit positive growth in retail store sales. Comparable Retail segment net sales increased 11.5% at Free People and 8.4% at Anthropologie and decreased 11.4% at Urban Outfitters. Nuuly segment net sales increased by 57.2% primarily driven by a 50% increase in average active subscribers in the current period versus the prior year period. Wholesale segment net sales increased 9.2% driven by a 11.9% increase in Free People wholesale sales due to an increase in sales to department stores and specialty customers, partially offset by a decrease in Urban Outfitters wholesale sales.

“We are pleased to report record second quarter sales fueled by strength across all three segments – Retail, Nuuly and Wholesale,” said Richard A. Hayne, Chief Executive Officer. “Equally impressive, four of our five brands delivered record operating profits during the second quarter,” finished Mr. Hayne.

Net sales by brand and segment for the three and six-month periods were as follows:

(1) Anthropologie includes the Anthropologie and Terrain brands.
(2) Free People includes the Free People and FP Movement brands.

For the three months ended July 31, 2024, the gross profit rate increased by 68 basis points compared to the three months ended July 31, 2023. Gross profit dollars increased 8.3% to $493.3 million from $455.6 million in the three months ended July 31, 2023. The increase in gross profit rate was primarily due to higher initial merchandise markups for all segments primarily driven by Company cross-functional initiatives, partially offset by higher Retail segment merchandise markdowns, primarily at the Urban Outfitters brand. The increase in gross profit dollars was due to higher net sales and the improved gross profit rate.

For the six months ended July 31, 2024, the gross profit rate increased by 67 basis points compared to the six months ended July 31, 2023. Gross profit dollars increased 9.1% to $901.7 million from $826.8 million in the six months ended July 31, 2023. The increase in gross profit rate was primarily due to higher initial merchandise markups for all segments primarily driven by Company cross-functional initiatives, partially offset by higher Retail segment merchandise markdowns, primarily at the Urban Outfitters brand, and a deleverage in logistics expenses. The deleverage in logistics expenses was primarily driven by the increased penetration of Nuuly segment sales to total Company sales, as well as transition and start-up expenses related to the additional Nuuly fulfillment facility that opened during the three months ended April 30, 2024. The increase in gross profit dollars was due to higher net sales and the improved gross profit rate.

As of July 31, 2024, total inventory increased by $18.2 million, or 3.1%, compared to total inventory as of July 31, 2023. Total Retail segment inventory increased 3.1%, while Retail segment comparable inventory decreased by 1.3%. Wholesale segment inventory increased by 3.5%.

For the three months ended July 31, 2024, selling, general and administrative expenses increased by $24.7 million, or 7.6%, compared to the three months ended July 31, 2023, and expressed as a percentage of net sales, deleveraged 32 basis points. For the six months ended July 31, 2024, selling, general and administrative expenses increased by $58.6 million, or 9.4%, compared to the six months ended July 31, 2023, and expressed as a percentage of net sales, deleveraged 59 basis points. The deleverage in selling, general and administrative expenses as a rate to net sales for both periods was primarily related to the Urban Outfitters brand not being able to reduce expenses at the same rate of net sales. The dollar growth in selling, general and administrative expenses for both periods was primarily related to increased marketing expenses to support customer traffic growth and increased sales in the Retail and Nuuly segments and increased store payroll expenses to support the Retail segment stores comparable sales growth.

The Company’s effective tax rate for the three months ended July 31, 2024 was 23.0%, compared to 23.2% in the three months ended July 31, 2023. The Company's effective tax rate for the six months ended July 31, 2024 was 23.2%, compared to 24.5% in the six months ended July 31, 2023. The decrease in the effective tax rate for the three and six months ended July 31, 2024 was primarily due to the favorable impact of equity activity in the current year.

Net income for the three months ended July 31, 2024 was $117.5 million and earnings per diluted share were $1.24. Net income for the six months ended July 31, 2024 was $179.3 million and earnings per diluted share were $1.89.

On June 4, 2019, the Company’s Board of Directors authorized the repurchase of 20 million common shares under a share repurchase program. During the six months ended July 31, 2024, the Company repurchased and subsequently retired 1.2 million shares for approximately $52 million. As of July 31, 2024, 18.0 million common shares were remaining under the program.

During the six months ended July 31, 2024, the Company opened a total of 19 new retail locations including: 9 Free People stores (including 7 FP Movement stores), 5 Urban Outfitters stores and 5 Anthropologie stores; and closed 9 retail locations including: 4 Urban Outfitters stores, 3 Anthropologie stores and 2 Free People stores.

Urban Outfitters, Inc. offers lifestyle-oriented general merchandise and consumer products and services through a portfolio of global consumer brands comprised of 263 Urban Outfitters stores in the United States, Canada and Europe and websites; 239 Anthropologie stores in the United States, Canada and Europe, catalogs and websites; 205 Free People stores (including 45 FP Movement stores) in the United States, Canada and Europe, catalogs and websites, 9 Menus & Venues restaurants, 7 Urban Outfitters franchisee-owned stores and 2 Anthropologie franchisee-owned stores as of July 31, 2024. Free People, FP Movement and Urban Outfitters wholesale sell their products through department and specialty stores worldwide, digital businesses and the Company’s Retail segment. Nuuly is a women's apparel subscription rental service which offers a wide selection of rental product from the Company's own brands, third-party brands and one-of-a-kind vintage pieces.

A conference call will be held today to discuss second quarter results and will be webcast at 5:15 pm. ET at: https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/p/o4zr87uy/.

As used in this document, unless otherwise defined, "Anthropologie" refers to the Company's Anthropologie and Terrain brands and "Free People" refers to the Company's Free People and FP Movement brands.

This news release is being made pursuant to the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Certain matters contained in this release may contain forward-looking statements. When used in this release, the words “project,” “believe,” “plan,” “will,” “anticipate,” “expect” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. Any one, or all, of the following factors could cause actual financial results to differ materially from those financial results mentioned in the forward-looking statements: overall economic and market conditions (including current levels of inflation) and worldwide political events and the resultant impact on consumer spending patterns and our pricing power, the difficulty in predicting and responding to shifts in fashion trends, changes in the level of competitive pricing and promotional activity and other industry factors, the effects of the implementation of the United Kingdom's withdrawal from membership in the European Union (commonly referred to as “Brexit”), including currency fluctuations, economic conditions and legal or regulatory changes, any effects of war, including geopolitical instability, impacts of the conflict in the Middle East and impacts of the war between Russia and Ukraine and from related sanctions imposed by the United States, European Union, United Kingdom and others, terrorism and civil unrest, natural disasters, severe or unseasonable weather conditions (including as a result of climate change) or public health crises (such as the coronavirus (COVID-19)), labor shortages and increases in labor costs, raw material costs and transportation costs, availability of suitable retail space for expansion, timing of store openings, risks associated with international expansion, seasonal fluctuations in gross sales, response to new concepts, our ability to integrate acquisitions, risks associated with digital sales, our ability to maintain and expand our digital sales channels, any material disruptions or security breaches with respect to our technology systems, the departure of one or more key senior executives, import risks (including any shortage of transportation capacities or delays at ports), changes to U.S. and foreign trade policies (including the enactment of tariffs, border adjustment taxes or increases in duties or quotas), the unexpected closing or disruption of, or any damage to, any of our distribution centers, our ability to protect our intellectual property rights, failure of our manufacturers and third-party vendors to comply with our social compliance program, risks related to environmental, social and governance activities, changes in our effective income tax rate, changes in accounting standards and subjective assumptions, regulatory changes and legal matters and other risks identified in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update forward-looking statements even if experience or future changes make it clear that actual results may differ materially from any projected results expressed or implied therein.