URBN Reports Record Q1 Sales and Income

Rhea-AI Summary

Urban Outfitters (NASDAQ:URBN) reported record Q1 FY2025 results with net income of $108.3 million and earnings per diluted share of $1.16. Total revenue increased 10.7% to $1.33 billion. The Retail segment saw 6.4% growth, with comparable sales up 4.8%. Anthropologie led brand performance with 6.9% comparable sales growth, followed by Free People at 3.1% and Urban Outfitters at 2.1%. The Subscription segment (Nuuly) showed impressive growth of 59.5%, while Wholesale segment increased 24.2%. Gross profit rate improved by 278 basis points to $489.1 million. The company repurchased 3.3 million shares for approximately $152 million during the quarter. Store expansion continued with 13 new locations opened across brands.

Positive

• Record Q1 net income of $108.3 million, up 75.4% year-over-year
• Total revenue grew 10.7% to record $1.33 billion
• Gross profit rate increased 278 basis points with 19.8% higher gross profit dollars
• Strong subscription segment growth of 59.5% with 52.9% increase in active subscribers
• Wholesale segment sales increased 24.2%
• Positive comparable sales growth across all brands
• Share repurchase program actively returning value to shareholders

Negative

• Inventory levels increased 14.6% year-over-year
• Selling, general and administrative expenses increased by $27.1 million
• Urban Outfitters brand showed lowest comparable sales growth at 2.1%

Insights

Financial Analyst

URBN delivered exceptional Q1 results with record sales and profit, showing strength across all brands and significantly improved margins.

Urban Outfitters has posted a stellar first quarter with record net income of $108.3 million and earnings per diluted share of $1.16, representing a remarkable 75.4% increase in net income compared to the same quarter last year ($61.8 million). Total company revenue grew 10.7% to a record $1.33 billion.

What's particularly impressive is the company-wide growth across all segments: Retail segment sales increased 6.4% with comparable sales up 4.8%, the Subscription segment (Nuuly) surged 59.5%, and Wholesale segment sales jumped 24.2%. All three major brands posted positive comparable sales growth, with Anthropologie leading at 6.9%, followed by Free People at 3.1% and Urban Outfitters at 2.1%.

The gross profit margin expanded significantly by 278 basis points to 36.8%, with 204 basis points of this improvement coming from core operational factors: reduced markdowns at Urban Outfitters, lower delivery expenses, and leverage of store occupancy costs. This resulted in gross profit dollars increasing 19.8% to $489.1 million.

Operating expenses were well-controlled, with SG&A leveraging 65 basis points as a percentage of sales while supporting growth through increased marketing and store payroll. The effective tax rate improved to 21.4% from 23.6% a year ago.

The company also demonstrated confidence in its future through aggressive share repurchases, buying back 3.3 million shares for approximately $152 million during the quarter, leaving 14.7 million shares remaining under its repurchase program.

One area of potential concern is inventory, which increased 14.6% year-over-year to $663.8 million, outpacing sales growth. However, management attributes this to increased sales and early receipts rather than a buildup of excess merchandise.

With expansion continuing (13 new stores opened in Q1) and all brands and segments contributing to growth, Urban Outfitters has demonstrated that its multi-brand, multi-channel strategy is delivering exceptional results in a retail environment that remains challenging for many competitors.

PHILADELPHIA, May 21, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Urban Outfitters, Inc. (NASDAQ:URBN), 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 record net income of $108.3 million and earnings per diluted share of $1.16 for the three months ended April 30, 2025.

Total Company net sales for the three months ended April 30, 2025, increased 10.7% to a record $1.33 billion. Total Retail segment net sales increased 6.4%, with comparable Retail segment net sales increasing 4.8%. The increase in Retail segment comparable net sales was driven by mid single-digit positive growth in both retail store sales and digital channel sales. Comparable Retail segment net sales increased 6.9% at Anthropologie, 3.1% at Free People and 2.1% at Urban Outfitters. Subscription segment net sales increased by 59.5% primarily driven by a 52.9% increase in average active subscribers in the current quarter versus the prior year quarter. Wholesale segment net sales increased 24.2% driven by a 25.6% increase in Free People wholesale sales due to an increase in sales to specialty customers and department stores.

“We are excited to announce record first quarter revenues and profits,” said Richard A. Hayne, Chief Executive Officer. “Our success was driven by positive sales growth and improved profitability across all brands and segments. We believe these results demonstrate the strength of our brands and the effectiveness of our strategy, giving us confidence in URBN’s continued success,” finished Mr. Hayne.

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

	Three Months Ended
	April 30,
	2025				2024
Net sales by brand
Anthropologie	$	569,931			$	526,385
Free People		353,112				318,691
Urban Outfitters		273,505				270,258
Nuuly		124,354				77,942
Menus & Venues		8,599				7,456
Total Company	$	1,329,501			$	1,200,732
Net sales by segment
Retail Segment	$	1,130,510			$	1,062,685
Subscription Segment		124,354				77,942
Wholesale Segment		74,637				60,105
Total Company	$	1,329,501			$	1,200,732

For the three months ended April 30, 2025, the gross profit rate increased by 278 basis points compared to the three months ended April 30, 2024, and gross profit dollars increased 19.8% to $489.1 million from $408.4 million. The gross profit rate benefited from a non-recurring gain of $4.8 million, or 36 basis points, recorded in the current year quarter and store impairment and lease abandonment charges of $4.6 million, or 38 basis points, recorded in the prior year quarter not repeated in the current year quarter. The remaining 204 basis point increase in gross profit rate was primarily due to improved Retail segment markdowns driven by lower markdowns at Urban Outfitters, leverage in delivery expense due to lower carrier costs and a reduction in packages per order, and leverage in store occupancy costs due to the increase in comparable Retail segment net sales. The increase in gross profit dollars was due to higher net sales and the improved gross profit rate.

As of April 30, 2025, total inventory increased by $84.8 million, or 14.6%, compared to total inventory as of April 30, 2024. Total Retail segment inventory increased 13.2% and Retail segment comparable inventory increased 12.6%. Wholesale segment inventory increased 30.6%. The increase in inventory for both segments was due to increased sales and early receipts.

For the three months ended April 30, 2025, selling, general and administrative expenses increased by $27.1 million, or 8.1%, compared to the three months ended April 30, 2024. Selling, general and administrative expenses leveraged 65 basis points as a percentage of net sales compared to the three months ended April 30, 2024. The leverage in selling, general and administrative expenses as a rate to net sales was primarily related to lower litigation expenses in the current year quarter as compared to the prior year quarter. The dollar growth in selling, general and administrative expenses was primarily related to increased marketing expenses to support customer growth and increased sales in the Retail and Subscription segments, as well as increased store payroll expenses to support the Retail segment stores net sales growth.

The Company’s effective tax rate for the three months ended April 30, 2025, was 21.4%, compared to 23.6% in the three months ended April 30, 2024. The decrease in the effective tax rate for the three months ended April 30, 2025, was primarily attributable to the ratio of foreign taxable earnings to global taxable earnings.

Net income for the three months ended April 30, 2025, was a record $108.3 million and earnings per diluted share were $1.16.

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 three months ended April 30, 2025, the Company repurchased and subsequently retired 3.3 million shares for approximately $152 million. During the twelve months ended January 31, 2025, the Company repurchased and subsequently retired 1.2 million shares for approximately $52 million. As of April 30, 2025, 14.7 million common shares were remaining under the program.

During the three months ended April 30, 2025, the Company opened a total of 13 new retail locations including: 9 Free People stores (including 5 FP Movement stores), 2 Anthropologie stores and 2 Urban Outfitters stores; and closed 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 257 Urban Outfitters stores in the United States, Canada and Europe and websites; 241 Anthropologie stores in the United States, Canada and Europe, catalogs and websites; 237 Free People stores (including 68 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 April 30, 2025. 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 primarily 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 first quarter results and will be webcast at 5:00 pm. ET at: https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/p/ebyfjdxo/. 

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, our effective utilization of technological advancements, including in artificial intelligence, 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 such as retaliatory 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.

Contact:		Oona McCullough
		Executive Director of Investor Relations
		(215) 454-4806

(Tables follow)

URBAN OUTFITTERS, INC. Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income (amounts in thousands, except share and per share data) (unaudited)
	Three Months Ended
	April 30,
	2025				2024
Net sales	$	1,329,501			$	1,200,732
Cost of sales (excluding store impairment and lease abandonment charges)		840,437				787,746
Store impairment and lease abandonment charges		—				4,601
Gross profit		489,064				408,385
Selling, general and administrative expenses		360,837				333,761
Income from operations		128,227				74,624
Other income, net		9,646				6,246
Income before income taxes		137,873				80,870
Income tax expense		29,526				19,105
Net income	$	108,347			$	61,765
Net income per common share:
Basic	$	1.18			$	0.66
Diluted	$	1.16			$	0.65
Weighted-average common shares outstanding:
Basic		91,752,408				93,124,568
Diluted		93,475,835				95,000,706
AS A PERCENTAGE OF NET SALES
Net sales		100.0	%			100.0	%
Cost of sales (excluding store impairment and lease abandonment charges)		63.2	%			65.6	%
Store impairment and lease abandonment charges		—				0.4	%
Gross profit		36.8	%			34.0	%
Selling, general and administrative expenses		27.2	%			27.8	%
Income from operations		9.6	%			6.2	%
Other income, net		0.8	%			0.5	%
Income before income taxes		10.4	%			6.7	%
Income tax expense		2.3	%			1.6	%
Net income		8.1	%			5.1	%

URBAN OUTFITTERS, INC. Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets (amounts in thousands, except share data) (unaudited)
	April 30,				January 31,				April 30,
	2025				2025				2024
ASSETS
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	$	189,433			$	290,481			$	173,995
Marketable securities		285,585				319,949				312,558
Accounts receivable, net of allowance for doubtful accounts of $1,964, $1,384 and $933, respectively		93,248				74,014				88,297
Inventory		663,803				621,146				578,990
Prepaid expenses and other current assets		206,990				187,206				219,886
Total current assets		1,439,059				1,492,796				1,373,726
Property and equipment, net		1,346,557				1,331,077				1,304,548
Operating lease right-of-use assets		973,831				942,666				910,965
Marketable securities		365,937				410,208				287,178
Other assets		331,692				342,733				312,285
Total Assets	$	4,457,076			$	4,519,480			$	4,188,702
LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS’ EQUITY
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	$	302,104			$	295,767			$	321,443
Current portion of operating lease liabilities		231,361				227,149				224,100
Accrued expenses, accrued compensation and other current liabilities		495,593				552,763				488,681
Total current liabilities		1,029,058				1,075,679				1,034,224
Non-current portion of operating lease liabilities		909,168				871,209				849,917
Other non-current liabilities		87,043				101,088				142,227
Total Liabilities		2,025,269				2,047,976				2,026,368
Shareholders’ equity:
Preferred shares; $.0001 par value, 10,000,000 shares authorized, none issued		—				—				—
Common shares; $.0001 par value, 200,000,000 shares authorized, 89,614,734, 92,281,748 and 93,379,211 shares issued and outstanding, respectively	9				9				9
Additional paid-in-capital		—				15,067				31,572
Retained earnings		2,460,876				2,503,068				2,175,500
Accumulated other comprehensive loss		(29,078	)			(46,640	)			(44,747	)
Total Shareholders’ Equity		2,431,807				2,471,504				2,162,334
Total Liabilities and Shareholders’ Equity	$	4,457,076			$	4,519,480			$	4,188,702

URBAN OUTFITTERS, INC. Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows (amounts in thousands) (unaudited)
		Three Months Ended
		April 30,
		2025				2024
Cash flows from operating activities:
Net income		$	108,347			$	61,765
Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by operating activities:
Depreciation and amortization			29,554				27,761
Non-cash lease expense			52,805				51,470
Provision for deferred income taxes			13,701				12,735
Share-based compensation expense			7,763				7,599
Amortization of tax credit investment			4,293				4,380
Store impairment and lease abandonment charges			—				4,601
Loss on disposition of property and equipment, net			94				135
Changes in assets and liabilities:
Receivables			(15,036	)			(21,512	)
Inventory			(37,386	)			(29,818	)
Prepaid expenses and other assets			(17,058	)			(37,542	)
Payables, accrued expenses and other liabilities			(54,114	)			36,663
Operating lease liabilities			(59,931	)			(59,686	)
Net cash provided by operating activities			33,032				58,551
Cash flows from investing activities:
Cash paid for property and equipment			(46,158	)			(41,091	)
Cash paid for marketable securities			(117,878	)			(95,799	)
Sales and maturities of marketable securities			203,416				91,081
Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities			39,380				(45,809	)
Cash flows from financing activities:
Proceeds from the exercise of stock options			—				475
Share repurchases related to share repurchase program			(151,935	)			—
Share repurchases related to taxes for share-based awards			(20,241	)			(14,445	)
Tax credit investment liability payments			(4,172	)			(1,341	)
Net cash used in financing activities			(176,348	)			(15,311	)
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents			2,888				(1,757	)
Decrease in cash and cash equivalents			(101,048	)			(4,326	)
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period			290,481				178,321
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period		$	189,433			$	173,995

FAQ

What were Urban Outfitters (URBN) earnings per share in Q1 2025?

URBN reported earnings of $1.16 per diluted share in Q1 2025.

How much did Urban Outfitters' revenue grow in Q1 2025?

Urban Outfitters' total revenue grew 10.7% to $1.33 billion in Q1 2025.

Which Urban Outfitters brand performed best in Q1 2025?

Anthropologie was the best performing brand with 6.9% comparable sales growth, followed by Free People at 3.1% and Urban Outfitters at 2.1%.

How many shares did URBN repurchase in Q1 2025?

The company repurchased 3.3 million shares for approximately $152 million during Q1 2025.

What was Urban Outfitters' Nuuly subscription segment growth in Q1 2025?

The Nuuly subscription segment grew 59.5%, driven by a 52.9% increase in average active subscribers.