Genesco says Q2 bottom line beat expectations

Genesco (NYSE: GCO ) held its second-quarter earnings conference call on Thursday.

Below is the complete transcript from the call.

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Access the full call at Summary Genesco reported significantly better-than-expected bottom line results for Q2 fiscal 2027, driven by improved gross margins, higher full-price selling, and disciplined expense management.

Strategic initiatives include continued store closures, a license transition for the Wrangler launch, and a reduction in discounting at Schuh to enhance long-term profitability.

Journeys achieved its eighth consecutive quarter of positive comparable sales, benefiting from an elevated product assortment and the new 4.0 store format.

Schuh's gross margin improved due to a shift towards full-price selling, despite lower sales, with plans for further strategic growth under new leadership.

Johnston & Murphy continued its momentum with positive sales comps, aided by a successful marketing partnership with Peyton Manning and a shift in consumer fashion trends.

The company anticipates a more challenging sales environment in the second half due to Schuh's strategic adjustments but remains confident in reaching the high end of its EPS guidance range of $2.00 to $2.40.

Genesco's Footwear First strategy is showing tangible results, with ongoing investment in marketing and new store formats to capture a larger share of the teen girl market.

The company received $22 million in tariff refunds, excluded from adjusted results, and is focusing on long-term structural cost savings initiatives.

Full Transcript OPERATOR Good day, everyone, and welcome to Genesco's second quarter fiscal 2027 conference call.

Just a reminder, today's call is being recorded.

I will now turn the call over to Darrell McQuarrie, Senior Director of FP&A and Investor Relations.

Please go ahead, sir.

Darrell McQuarrie, Senior Director of FP&A and Investor Relations Good morning everyone and thank you for joining us to discuss our second quarter fiscal 2027 results.

During today's call, participants expect to make forward-looking statements that reflect our expectations as of today, and actual results could differ materially.

Genesco refers you to this morning's earnings release and the Company's SEC filings, including its most recent 10-K and 10-Q filings, for some of the factors that could cause actual results to differ from the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements made today.

We also expect to refer to certain adjusted financial measures during the call.

All non-GAAP financial measures are reconciled to their GAAP counterparts in the attachments to this morning's press release and in the schedules available on the Company's website in the quarterly results section.

We have also posted a presentation summarizing our results there as well.

With me on the call today is Mimi Vaughn, Board Chair, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Jonathan Collins, Senior Vice President, Finance and Chief Financial Officer.

Now I'd like to turn the call over to Mimi.

Mimi Vaughn, Board Chair, President and Chief Executive Officer Thanks, Darrell.

Good morning everyone and thank you for joining our second quarter fiscal '27 earnings.

Before I get into our results and progress on strategy and initiatives, I'd like to start by welcoming Jonathan Collins, who joined Genesco in early August as our Chief Financial Officer.

Jonathan brings more than 30 years of exceptional financial experience.

His senior leadership roles in major global retail and e-commerce businesses include CFO of Walmart Africa and CAO of India's Flipkart Group, and he was most recently Chief Financial Officer of America's Car-Mart.

Jonathan's public company leadership, multichannel retail experience, and capital markets expertise make him a strong fit for Genesco as we continue executing our footwear first strategy and generating shareholder value.

I'm confident he'll be an excellent partner to me, our leadership team, and the Board as we drive our next phase of growth.

Welcome, Jonathan.

Jonathan's arrival, along with our appointment of Thomas Peterson as President of Schuh following Colin Temple's retirement, which I'll touch on in more detail shortly, reflect our strong belief in the direction we are headed and our determination to keep accelerating our progress.

Turning now to Q2, I'm very pleased to report that we delivered bottom line results that were significantly better than last year and well ahead of our expectations.

With every business achieving gains versus plans, the quarter once again highlights that our strategy is working and our momentum is building.

We've been taking considerable action to respond to changes in a dynamic consumer environment and successfully evolve our business, and Q2 provides clear proof of our continued progress.