Columbia Sportswear Company COLM reported first-quarter 2026 results, with the top line remaining relatively flat compared with the prior year and the bottom line decreasing year over year. However, both revenues and earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate.
COLM’s Quarterly Performance: Key Metrics & Insights
This designer, marketer and distributor of outdoor and active lifestyle apparel, footwear and accessories reported earnings of 65 cents per share, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 35 cents. However, the bottom line decreased 13.3% from 75 cents reported in the prior-year period.
Columbia Sportswear Company Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Columbia Sportswear Company price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Columbia Sportswear Company Quote
The company generated net sales of $779 million, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $756 million. The metric is relatively flat from $778.5 million in the year-ago period. The growth across most international markets was offset by a decline in the United States, caused by a lower Spring 2026 wholesale order book and constrained inventory. The inventory shortfall stemmed from a prior-year decision to reduce the supply of certain winter products in response to anticipated U.S. tariff changes. Net sales decreased 3% at constant currency.
Gross profit decreased 0.3% year over year to $395 million. The gross margin decreased 20 basis points (bps) to 50.7%, mainly due to a 310-basis-point impact from unmitigated incremental U.S. tariffs. This pressure was partially offset by mitigation efforts, including targeted price increases.
SG&A expenses were up 0.8% to $357.1 million from $354.5 million reported in the year-ago quarter. As a percentage of sales, the same increased 30 bps to 45.8%. The increase was mainly caused by higher direct-to-consumer (“DTC”) expenses, partly offset by reduced enterprise technology and supply-chain costs following actions under the company’s Profit Improvement Program. SG&A also included a $6.7 million unfavorable impact from foreign currency translation.
This Zacks Rank #4 (Sell) company reported an operating income of $42 million, down 10% from the year-ago quarter. Operating margin decreased 60 bps to 5.4%.
COLM’s Sales by Channels & Regional Segments
In the United States, net sales declined 10% year over year to $422.5 million, which missed our estimate of $450.1 million. Net sales surged 35% to $145.3 million in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, missing our estimate of $148.4 million. Latin America and Asia Pacific net sales grew 5% year over year to $160.2 million, beating our estimate of $103.3 million. In Canada, net sales increased 7% to $51 million, which lagged our estimate of $52.2 million.
During the quarter, Wholesale channel sales increased 0.3% year over year to $401.1 million, which beat our estimate of $388.9 million. DTC sales went down 0.2% to $377.9 million. Our model expected total DTC sales of $365.4 million for the quarter.
COLM’s Sales by Product Category & Brand
Net sales in the Apparel, Accessories and Equipment category inched down 1% year over year to $623.1 million, which beat our estimate of $607.8 million. Footwear's net sales increased 4% to $155.9 million, which beat our estimate of $146.4 million.
SOREL and prAna brands registered sales declines of 12% and 5% year over year, respectively. Sales for the Columbia brand increased 1% year over year. The Mountain Hardwear brand is relatively flat from the year-ago period.
Other Financial Updates of COLM
The company ended the quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $319.3 million, short-term investments of $216 million and shareholders’ equity of almost $1,582 million. COLM had no debt on its balance sheet as of March 31, 2026. Inventories remained broadly stable at $624 million compared with $623.7 million reported in the year-ago quarter.
For the three months ended March 31, 2026, Columbia Sportswear’s cash used in operating activities was $77.5 million and capital expenditures were $12.4 million.
For the three months ended March 31, 2026, the company repurchased 2,498,685 shares of common stock for a total of $150 million. As of March 31, 2026, $276.5 million remained available under its stock repurchase authorization.
Management announced a regular quarterly cash dividend of 30 cents per share, payable on June 4, 2026, to its shareholders of record as of May 21.
What to Expect From COLM Ahead
For 2026, the company still expects net sales to grow 1% to 3%, implying revenues of $3.43 billion to $3.50 billion, up from $3.40 billion in 2025. Favorable foreign exchange movements are anticipated to contribute roughly 50-100 bps to reported sales growth.
Gross margin is now projected to a range of 50.3% to 50.5% compared with 50.5% in 2025, indicating a contraction of 20 bps. This represents an improvement from the prior outlook of 49.8% to 50%. This outlook incorporates an estimated 200 bps headwind from incremental tariffs before any mitigating actions, reduced from the previous estimate of 300 bps.
Operating margin is now expected to improve modestly between 6.7% and 7.5%, compared with 6.1% in the prior year, implying incremental operating leverage despite margin pressures at the gross profit level. This is an increase from the prior outlook of 6.2% to 6.9%.
Earnings per share are forecasted to range from $3.55 to $4.00, compared with the $3.23 reported in 2025, representing an upward revision from the prior outlook of $3.20 to $3.65.
The company expects second-quarter 2026 net sales of $600 million to $610 million, implying a decrease of 1% to an increase of 1% from $605 million in the prior-year period. Operating margin is projected to be a loss of 4.5% to 5.5% of net sales, compared with an operating loss of 3.9% in the prior-year period.
Loss per share for the second quarter is expected to be in the range of 37 cents to 46 cents, compared with a loss of 19 cents in the comparable period of 2025.
Shares of the company have gained 10.1% in the past three months against the industry’s 7.3% decline.
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Key Picks
Vince Holding Corp. VNCE provides luxury apparel and accessories in the United States and internationally. At present, the company flaunts a Zacks Rank of 1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Vince Holding’s current fiscal-year sales growth of 4.5%, from the year-ago figures. VNCE delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 647.2%, on average.
V.F. Corporation VFC engages in the design, procurement, marketing and distribution of branded lifestyle apparel, footwear and accessories for men, women and children in the Americas, Europe and the Asia-Pacific. It sports a Zacks Rank #1 at present. VFC delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 25.9%, on average.
The consensus estimate for V.F. Corp’s current-quarter EPS indicates growth of 12.2% from the year-ago levels.
Kontoor Brands, Inc. KTB, a lifestyle apparel company, designs, manufactures, procures, sells and licenses apparel, footwear and accessories, primarily under the Wrangler, Lee and Helly Hansen brands. It currently carries a Zacks Rank of 2 (Buy). KTB delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 13.9%, on average.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Kontoor Brands’ current financial-year sales and EPS is expected to rise 9.2% and 15.6%, respectively, from the corresponding year-ago reported figures.
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