Ross Stores Reports Results for Fourth Quarter and Fiscal 2024
Announces
Provides First Quarter and Fiscal 2025 Guidance
Fiscal 2024 earnings per share for the 52 weeks ended February 1, 2025 were
Both the fourth quarter and full year results included a one-time benefit to earnings, equivalent to approximately
Jim Conroy, Chief Executive Officer, commented, “Fourth quarter sales and earnings results were at the high end of our expectations. Sales benefited from customers’ positive responses to our improved assortments of quality branded bargains throughout our stores during the critical holiday selling season.”
Mr. Conroy continued, “Fourth quarter operating margin of
Update on Shareholder Payouts
During the recently completed fourth quarter, 1.7 million shares were repurchased for a total price of
The Board of Directors also recently authorized a
Mr. Conroy noted, “We ended the year with
Fiscal 2025 Guidance
Looking ahead, Mr. Conroy said, “While we were pleased with our 2024 results, including the holiday selling period, sales trends began softening later in January and into February. We believe a combination of unseasonable weather and heightened volatility in the macroeconomic and geopolitical environments has negatively impacted customer traffic. Given the lack of visibility we have on these external factors, we believe it is prudent to take a cautious approach in forecasting our business, especially as we start the year.”
Mr. Conroy continued, “For the 13 weeks ending May 3, 2025, comparable store sales are forecasted to be down
Mr. Conroy added, “For the 52 weeks ending January 31, 2026, while we hope to do better, we are planning same store sales of down
Mr. Conroy concluded, “We have an incredibly talented and dedicated team at Ross with deep-rooted off-price experience that helped deliver solid results in 2024. As we move forward, we believe that some of the recent challenges we are seeing could be transitory in nature. As we continue to navigate through a difficult external environment, we will search for opportunities to drive the business and to carefully manage what we can control.”
The Company will host a conference call on Tuesday, March 4, 2025 at 4:15 p.m. Eastern time to provide additional details concerning its fourth quarter and fiscal year 2024 results, and management’s outlook for fiscal 2025. A real-time audio webcast of the conference call will be available in the Investors section of the Company’s website, located at www.rossstores.com. An audio playback will be available at 201-612-7415, PIN #13751804 until 8:00 p.m. Eastern time on March 11, 2025, as well as on the Company’s website.
Forward-Looking Statements: This press release and the related conference call remarks contain forward-looking statements regarding, without limitation, projected sales, costs, and earnings, planned new store growth, capital expenditures, and other matters. These forward-looking statements reflect our then-current beliefs, plans, and estimates with respect to future events and our projected financial performance and operations, and they are subject to risks and uncertainties which could cause our actual results to differ materially from management’s current expectations. The words “plan,” “expect,” “target,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “believe,” “forecast,” “projected,” “guidance,” “outlook,” “looking ahead,” and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements. Risk factors for Ross Dress for Less® (“Ross”) and dd’s DISCOUNTS® include without limitation, uncertainties arising from the macroeconomic environment, including inflation and the price of necessities, high interest rates, housing costs, energy and fuel costs, financial and credit market conditions, recession concerns, geopolitical conditions, and public health and public safety issues that affect consumer confidence, consumer disposable income, and shopping behavior, as well as our costs; unexpected changes in the level of consumer spending on, or preferences for, apparel and home-related merchandise, which could adversely affect us; competitive pressures in the apparel and home-related merchandise retailing industry; our need to effectively manage our inventories, markdowns, and inventory shortage in order to achieve our planned gross margins; changes in
About Ross Stores, Inc.
Ross Stores, Inc. is an S&P 500, Fortune 500, and Nasdaq 100 (ROST) company headquartered in
Ross Stores, Inc. | ||||||||||||||||
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Earnings | ||||||||||||||||
Three Months Ended | Twelve Months Ended | |||||||||||||||
( |
February 1, 2025 | February 3, 2024 | February 1, 2025 | February 3, 2024 | ||||||||||||
Sales | $ |
5,912,279 |
|
$ |
6,022,501 |
|
$ |
21,129,219 |
|
$ |
20,376,941 |
|
||||
Costs and Expenses | ||||||||||||||||
Cost of goods sold |
|
4,343,622 |
|
|
4,375,360 |
|
|
15,260,506 |
|
|
14,801,601 |
|
||||
Selling, general and administrative |
|
837,633 |
|
|
903,087 |
|
|
3,283,127 |
|
|
3,267,677 |
|
||||
Operating income |
|
731,024 |
|
|
744,054 |
|
|
2,585,586 |
|
|
2,307,663 |
|
||||
Interest income, net |
|
(39,741 |
) |
|
(52,188 |
) |
|
(171,568 |
) |
|
(164,118 |
) |
||||
Earnings before taxes |
|
770,765 |
|
|
796,242 |
|
|
2,757,154 |
|
|
2,471,781 |
|
||||
Provision for taxes on earnings |
|
183,981 |
|
|
186,559 |
|
|
666,424 |
|
|
597,261 |
|
||||
Net earnings | $ |
586,784 |
|
$ |
609,683 |
|
$ |
2,090,730 |
|
$ |
1,874,520 |
|
||||
Earnings per share | ||||||||||||||||
Basic | $ |
1.80 |
|
$ |
1.83 |
|
$ |
6.36 |
|
$ |
5.59 |
|
||||
Diluted | $ |
1.79 |
|
$ |
1.82 |
|
$ |
6.32 |
|
$ |
5.56 |
|
||||
Weighted-average shares outstanding (000) | ||||||||||||||||
Basic |
|
326,014 |
|
|
332,399 |
|
|
328,593 |
|
|
335,187 |
|
||||
Diluted |
|
328,519 |
|
|
335,018 |
|
|
330,984 |
|
|
337,433 |
|
||||
Store count at end of period |
|
2,186 |
|
|
2,109 |
|
|
2,186 |
|
|
2,109 |
|
||||
Ross Stores, Inc. | ||||||
Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets | ||||||
( |
February 1, 2025 | February 3, 2024 | ||||
Assets | ||||||
Current Assets | ||||||
Cash and cash equivalents | $ |
4,730,744 |
$ |
4,872,446 |
||
Accounts receivable |
|
144,482 |
|
130,766 |
||
Merchandise inventory |
|
2,444,513 |
|
2,192,220 |
||
Prepaid expenses and other |
|
218,957 |
|
202,706 |
||
Total current assets |
|
7,538,696 |
|
7,398,138 |
||
Property and equipment, net |
|
3,792,403 |
|
3,531,901 |
||
Operating lease assets |
|
3,294,858 |
|
3,126,841 |
||
Other long-term assets |
|
279,375 |
|
243,229 |
||
Total assets | $ |
14,905,332 |
$ |
14,300,109 |
||
Liabilities and Stockholders’ Equity | ||||||
Current Liabilities | ||||||
Accounts payable | $ |
2,126,317 |
$ |
1,955,850 |
||
Accrued expenses and other |
|
626,490 |
|
671,867 |
||
Current operating lease liabilities |
|
703,337 |
|
683,625 |
||
Accrued payroll and benefits |
|
462,284 |
|
548,371 |
||
Income taxes payable |
|
43,666 |
|
76,370 |
||
Current portion of long-term debt |
|
699,731 |
|
249,713 |
||
Total current liabilities |
|
4,661,825 |
|
4,185,796 |
||
Long-term debt |
|
1,515,080 |
|
2,211,017 |
||
Non-current operating lease liabilities |
|
2,764,281 |
|
2,603,349 |
||
Other long-term liabilities |
|
267,911 |
|
232,383 |
||
Deferred income taxes |
|
187,040 |
|
196,238 |
||
Commitments and contingencies | ||||||
Stockholders’ Equity |
|
5,509,195 |
|
4,871,326 |
||
Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity | $ |
14,905,332 |
$ |
14,300,109 |
||
Ross Stores, Inc. | ||||||||
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows | ||||||||
Twelve Months Ended | ||||||||
( |
February 1, 2025 | February 3, 2024 | ||||||
Cash Flows From Operating Activities | ||||||||
Net earnings | $ |
2,090,730 |
|
$ |
1,874,520 |
|
||
Adjustments to reconcile net earnings to net cash provided by operating activities: | ||||||||
Depreciation and amortization |
|
446,788 |
|
|
419,432 |
|
||
Stock-based compensation |
|
156,298 |
|
|
145,490 |
|
||
Gain on sale of property |
|
(61,575 |
) |
|
— |
|
||
Deferred income taxes |
|
(9,198 |
) |
|
(20,821 |
) |
||
Change in assets and liabilities: | ||||||||
Merchandise inventory |
|
(252,293 |
) |
|
(168,725 |
) |
||
Other current assets |
|
(27,319 |
) |
|
(2,261 |
) |
||
Accounts payable |
|
154,664 |
|
|
(65,327 |
) |
||
Other current liabilities |
|
(123,556 |
) |
|
296,980 |
|
||
Income taxes |
|
(27,457 |
) |
|
22,931 |
|
||
Operating lease assets and liabilities, net |
|
12,627 |
|
|
8,330 |
|
||
Other long-term, net |
|
(2,721 |
) |
|
3,941 |
|
||
Net cash provided by operating activities |
|
2,356,988 |
|
|
2,514,490 |
|
||
Cash Flows From Investing Activities | ||||||||
Additions to property and equipment |
|
(720,104 |
) |
|
(762,812 |
) |
||
Proceeds from sale of property |
|
82,642 |
|
|
— |
|
||
Net cash used in investing activities |
|
(637,462 |
) |
|
(762,812 |
) |
||
Cash Flows From Financing Activities | ||||||||
Issuance of common stock related to stock plans |
|
25,085 |
|
|
24,900 |
|
||
Treasury stock purchased |
|
(86,092 |
) |
|
(48,568 |
) |
||
Repurchase of common stock |
|
(1,049,979 |
) |
|
(949,996 |
) |
||
Excise tax paid on repurchase of common stock |
|
(8,798 |
) |
|
— |
|
||
Dividends paid |
|
(488,721 |
) |
|
(454,814 |
) |
||
Payment of long-term debt |
|
(250,000 |
) |
|
— |
|
||
Net cash used in financing activities |
|
(1,858,505 |
) |
|
(1,428,478 |
) |
||
Net (decrease) increase in cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash and cash equivalents |
|
(138,979 |
) |
|
323,200 |
|
||
Cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash and cash equivalents: | ||||||||
Beginning of period |
|
4,935,441 |
|
|
4,612,241 |
|
||
End of period | $ |
4,796,462 |
|
$ |
4,935,441 |
|
||
Reconciliations: | ||||||||
Cash and cash equivalents | $ |
4,730,744 |
|
$ |
4,872,446 |
|
||
Restricted cash and cash equivalents included in prepaid expenses and other |
|
17,087 |
|
|
14,489 |
|
||
Restricted cash and cash equivalents included in other long-term assets |
|
48,631 |
|
|
48,506 |
|
||
Total cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash and cash equivalents: | $ |
4,796,462 |
|
$ |
4,935,441 |
|
||
Supplemental Cash Flow Disclosures | ||||||||
Interest paid | $ |
80,316 |
|
$ |
80,316 |
|
||
Income taxes paid, net | $ |
703,079 |
|
$ |
595,152 |
|
||
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250304266456/en/
Adam Orvos
Executive Vice President,
Chief Financial Officer
(925) 965-4550
Connie Kao
Group Vice President, Investor Relations
(925) 965-4668
connie.kao@ros.com
Source: Ross Stores, Inc.