Levi Strauss & Co. Price & Performance (LEVI)

Thank you for joining us on the call today to discuss the results for our first quarter fiscal twenty twenty five. Joining me on today's call are Michelle Goss, our President and CEO, and Harmit Singh, our Chief Financial and Growth Officer. We have posted complete Q1 financial results in our earnings release on the IR section of our website, investors.levystrasse.com. The link to the webcast of today's conference call can also be found on our site. We'd like to remind you that we will be making forward looking statements on this call, which involve risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially from those contemplated by our forward looking statements. Review our filings with the SEC, in particular the Risk Factors section of our Form 10 ks for the fiscal year ended 12/01/2024, and the MD and A section of our recently filed Form 10 Q for the factors that could cause our results to differ. Also note that the forward looking statements on this call are based on information available to us as of and we assume no obligation to update any of these statements. During this call, we will discuss certain non GAAP financial measures. These non GAAP measures are not intended to be a substitute for our GAAP results.

Reconciliations of our non GAAP measures to their most comparable GAAP measure included in today's press release. Reconciliation of non GAAP forward looking information to the corresponding GAAP measures, however, cannot be provided without unreasonable efforts due to the challenge in quantifying various items including, but not limited to, the effects of foreign currency fluctuations, taxes, newly imposed US tariffs, any additional responses non US tariff or additional US tariffs and any future restructuring, restructuring related [indiscernible] and any other charges. [indiscernible] being webcast on our IR website, and a replay of this call will be available on the website shortly. Please note that Michelle and Hermit will be referencing organic net revenues or constant currency numbers unless otherwise noted and information provided is based on continuing operations, which excludes $76,000,000 of net revenues related to Docker. Today's call is scheduled for one hour, so please limit yourself to one question at a time to give others the opportunity to have their questions addressed. And now I'd like to turn over the call to Michelle. Thank you, and welcome, everyone, to today's call. I'm pleased to share that 2025 is off to a strong start and our shift to becoming a DTC first company is driving both strategic and financial value.

In q one, we exceeded expectations across sales, margins, and EPS. Driven by the momentum of our strategy. We again achieved high single digit organic net revenue growth up 9%. Direct to consumer continues to be the primary growth driver, up 12% fueled by positive comp growth successful new openings, and strong e com performance. Our wholesale business delivered another quarter of positive growth, up 5%. Our US business further accelerated, up 8%, while international was strong as well, up 9%. And we extended our market leadership with share gains across both women's and men's. I am proud we were able to deliver these strong results while fundamentally changing the way we work as part of our hard pivot towards becoming a best in class omnichannel retailer. Given last week's tariff announcements, we're dealing with a dynamic macro environment. However, I'm confident in our ability to navigate these rapidly evolving times. As an iconic brand with more than a hundred and seventy years of history, we've weathered challenging times before. We have a playbook that begins with leveraging the strength of our brand and our deep connection with consumers. We know, especially during times like these, people turn to the brands they know and trust and prioritize value and quality And that's what Levi's has always stood for.

Today, almost 60% of our revenue is generated outside The US. We have scale with an agile global supply chain, deep vendor relationships, and a strong balance sheet. All of which position us well to navigate this time of uncertainty. I'll now walk you through highlights from the quarter the context of our strategy, Note that all numbers that Harmit and I will reference are on an organic basis and exclude jockers, which as you saw in our release, has been moved to discontinued operations as we explore a sale of the brand. Let's start with our first strategy, being brand led. The Levi's brand was up 8% for the quarter, and continues to reach new levels of strength all over the world. While many brands aspire to be at the center of culture, are firmly there. You can see that through our partnership with the most influential artist of our generation, Beyonce. Since launching Reimagine in September of twenty twenty four, the campaign has generated more than 4,300,000,000 impressions and more than $65,000,000 in estimated earned media value. Continuing to help us drive equity gains with men and women across our market. As another proof point in our ongoing efforts to drive brand heat, this last quarter, the Levi's brand was featured in a complete unknown, a highly celebrated biopic of Bob Dylan starring Timothy Chalamet.

Bob Dylan, known for his love of Levi's, has shaped and defined culture across many decades. To commemorate the film's release, we launched a limited edition collection featuring some of Bob Dylan's wardrobe staples. This example of how we lean into our legacy to spark inspiration for the future is further proof that we're not a heritage brand, but instead a brand with heritage. We are also partnering with Authentic locally influential icons to drive brand heat and anchor the brand at the center of culture across the globe. Earlier this month, we expanded our partnership in India with Punjabi superstar Diljit Dosan, and launched a new campaign in Germany with Stephanie Geisinger, strengthening our appeal with consumers in both of these important markets. And as a testament to the strength of the Levi's brand, we gained market share in men's and women's in the quarter, further solidifying our number one position in denim across both categories. And consistent with our strategy to recruit younger fans to the brand, we also grew share with our 18 to thirty year old target consumer demographic. These consumers transacted a higher AUR and purchased more frequently than our average consumer. Moving to products.

While our history is built on genes, our future will be built around lifestyle, always rooted in denim. For most of our history, we've been known as a men's jeans business, But to achieve our bold aspirations, we need to be more. Over the last couple of years, we have significantly expanded our head to toe offering especially with women, while maintaining our dominance with men. This enables us to further expand our already large total addressable market. And as a result, women's continued to accelerate, growing double digits over the last two quarters and now represents 38% of net revenues. Tops represents more than 20% of our business. Which has more than doubled over the last ten years. Inspired by denim lifestyle, newer categories such as dresses, skirts, and outerwear continue to grow at a faster pace than the rest of the business. And while we're the leader in jeans, our portfolio beyond denim bottoms now comprises 35% of our total sales. As we diversify our product portfolio, we also remain laser focused on our core Levi's bonds business. And in q one, bottoms were up 9%, driven by strength in both men's and women's. The continued success we've achieved in bottoms is attributable to our fit diversification diversification strategy.

We have a style for everyone for every occasion and for any time of year. Loose and baggy fits, which make up roughly 15% of our total bottoms per portfolio, continue to be a significant growth driver. For her, we're building on the trend with new fits, A great example is our launch of the Finch Faggy, available across both DTC and wholesale, which went viral on TikTok and created tremendous interest with search volume surpassing 200,000,000. And with men, we've been focused on expanding this trend through new fit launches, like the five sixty eight loose straight and the five seventy eight baggy. While there's so much buzz around the loose and baggy trend, slim and skinny styles remain a wardrobe staple and comprise more than 20% of both our women's and men's bottoms businesses. We continue to infuse innovation and newness into these styles, with a robust pipeline of new fits, finishes, and fabrics. Our men's classic five eleven slim fit is a great example now across the range of fabric, washes, colors as well as part of our new tech series earning us more space in his closet. As part of our denim lifestyle strategy, tops remain a key growth category for us, And in the quarter, tops grew 7%.

We're seeing stronger growth our direct to consumer channel, up low double digits, where we offer our broadest assortment. There is a long runway for growth in our tops business, and the strong demand we're seeing in our DTC channel give us great confidence that this will scale to be a meaningful part of our business over time. Our pipeline of newness and innovation remains robust. And I'm confident this will continue to drive impact and resonate with our fans. We continue to see an opportunity to further premiumize the brand with the global launch of the Levi's Blue Tab collection. Introduced in Asia earlier this year, Blu Tab paired our iconic Levi's aesthetic with the quality and sensibility of Japanese craftsmanship. Our most elevated expression of denim leadership to date the collection features iconic denim staples along with new tops, skirts, and outerwear. And building on the success of our lightweight denim collection, we're excited to introduce our newest innovation, linen and denim, combining the authentic feel of blue jeans with soft, light linen. Now shifting to our strategy to be DTC first. Our global direct to consumer business delivered another quarter of double digit growth, up 12% and posting its twelfth consecutive quarter of positive comp.

AURs in the channel were up mid single digits as customers are gravitating to more premium products, as well as an intentional reduction in promotion in our stores. DTC productivity actions, including improving the front of house consumer experience, and back of house efficiency, are driving growth across key metrics, including strong conversion and traffic trends fueling significant margin expansion in this channel. I see firsthand how our strategies and actions are driving these results when I walk our stores and get feedback from our team. Our stores today reflect a more robust, head to toe offering compared to ones were mainly a men's denim bottoms destination. And we're now showcasing a broader denim lifestyle assortment through tops, dresses, outerwear skirts, and both denim and nondenim bottoms. Our inventory levels are healthier with better in stock availability, and we're equipping our stylists with enhanced product knowledge and improved selling techniques. The results of all of this work are more productive and profitable doors, increasing our conviction that we can build several hundred more stores in the future. And we are on that path today. In Q1, we continued our retail expansion plan. Notable openings include Rome, Onvia Cola Di Renzo, one of the most renowned shopping streets in Italy, and continued expansion across Mexico and India as we grow our retail footprint in these important markets.

We have abundant opportunity to increase our DTC presence in major markets all around the world including here in The US. Our efforts to accelerate our performance in our ecommerce business are working, with a channel up 16% in Q1, on top of 13% in the prior year. Over the last couple of years, the team has been focused on three core areas to fuel momentum in our econ channel. Including fixing the fundamentals, evolving the assortment, and elevating the consumer experience. Creating a much more premium and engaging destination for the full Levi's experience. We have upgraded the content on our site with higher quality imagery that focuses on our lifestyle assortment and enhanced storytelling. We're featuring more use of videos on our product detail pages which allow our consumers to see our product in motion. And we're seeing a strong response from our consumers with customer satisfaction scores for theUSecom business rising to its highest level ever. Today, just 12% of our total company net revenue, we believe that e commerce represents another significant engine for growth. DTC ended the quarter at 52% of total global net revenues, up two points to last year. Accounting for over half of our total revenue.

A milestone as we transform into a DTC first company. We are also encouraged by the performance in our global wholesale channel, up 5% driven by strong growth in The U. S. U. S. Wholesale exceeded our expectations in the quarter, up 9% in part driven by door expansion and more space with our broadened lifestyle assortment. Our Levi's women's business was a particular bright spot, up 17%. Consistent with our strategy to diversify our channels of business, US department stores now represent just 7% which is less than half of what it was ten years ago. Signature, our value brand, also grew this quarter, up 19% driven by strength in our seasonal fit. And as we look to the balance of the year, we remain prudent as respect global wholesale. We continue to expect the channel to be flat for the full year on an organic basis and this continues to be an important profitable channel for us. Now turning to our third strategy, powering the portfolio. Our international business represents close to 60% of our total business today, up 9% in Q1 driven by growth in Mexico, The UK, France and Germany. International growth remains an important opportunity for us long term, and we continue to believe that we are under penetrated.

Beyond yoga was up 10% in q one, We are continuing to focus on brand building initiatives to drive awareness and profitable growth. Customers are responding to our broadened assortment of color ways and styles, as well as new products like our luxe sleeve collection, expanded outerwear assortment, and our lifestyle status trouser. And comp sales in our small but growing network of stores were positive for the quarter. In closing, we are pleased with our strong start to the year. We recognize that the environment around us continues to have uncertainty, and we're focused on the things we can control. Our first quarter performance demonstrates how our transformation into a best in class lifestyle retailer is accelerating both the top line and the bottom line. Our key strategies are being brand led, DTC first, and powering our portfolio along with our efforts to rewire our company to be faster, and more consumer obsessed are working and are gaining momentum. Our team is focused on executing with excellence, and I'm grateful to our employees around the globe for their commitment to the change underway and for their unwavering dedication to consistently deliver for our fans. I am confident we have the right foundation to capture the opportunity ahead and deliver profitable long term growth all of our shareholders.

And with that, I'll turn it over to Harmony to provide a financial overview of the quarter and our expectations for the year. [indiscernible] Thank you, Michel. We started the year with momentum. Our financial results were better than expected.

And our transformation to a DDC first lifestyle business is making real progress. As you saw in this morning's press release, DOCRS has been reclassified to discontinued operations. As you will notice, while Dockers was a positive contributor to sales, our gross and operating margin structure is higher excluding Dockers thereby improving the structural economic and profitability of our remaining business. Our focus on structural economics is reflected in the fact that net revenues, margins, expenses, and EPS were all better than expected. While global wholesale net revenues were up for the second consecutive quarter our direct to consumer business continues to lead our growth. With net revenues up 12% as we consistently execute the three things that matter most in this channel. What I call a trifecta. Positive comp sales opening high performing stores, and growing ecommerce profitably. Besides the double digit top line growth, our direct to consumer EBIT margins grew 500 basis points in the quarter contributing to the company's overall margin expansion. This is helping drive sustainable sequential progression across our p and l. Q one twenty five organic net revenues accelerated to 9% versus flat in q one twenty three and '24. Gross margin was a record at 62.1 this quarter, versus 58.2 in q one twenty four and fifty six point five in q one twenty three.

Given our expense discipline in q one, we were also able to leverage adjusted SG and A margin by 70 basis points. All of which drove 400 basis points of adjusted EBIT margin expansion to 13.4% versus 9.4% in q one twenty four and eleven point five percent in Q1 twenty three. Now turning to a brief review of our results. 9% top line growth was driven by better than expected performance in both direct to consumer and wholesale channels. Two thirds of the growth was driven by units and a third by higher AURs. Turning to margins, we continue to see expansion in both our gross and operating margins. Gross margin for q one was 62.1% of net revenues, a new record. Gross margin expanded 330 basis points relative to last year driven primarily by the continued benefit of lower product costs favorable channel and brand mix, and higher full price selling. Adjusted SG and A expenses in the quarter were up 2% versus prior to 744,000,000 from higher distribution expenses driven by a transition to a hybrid CPL structure. We were pleased to see our adjusted SG and A rate of 48.7% improved after last quarter's elevated levels leveraging 70 basis points versus prior year.

Gross profit dollars growth outpaced the adjusted SG and A dollar increase, delivering a flow through of 84% driving adjusted EBIT margin expansion of 400 basis points to 13.4%. Adjusted diluted EPS came in at point $38 well ahead of our expectations and up 52% to prior year. We ended the quarter with reported inventory dollars up 7% to the prior year. We feel comfortable with the level and composition of our inventory and have secured the majority of inventory required to meet US orders for quarter two. In the quarter, as planned, we closed 21 net stores as a system. However, this consists of 30 new store openings primarily full price Levi's brand stores and 51 closures. Which were mostly underperforming franchisee stores in China. Our disciplined fleet review process ensures that the doors we are opening are productive. And only the most profitable with the highest return opportunity remain open. In the quarter, we returned 81,000,000 to shareholders. In the form of dividends and share buybacks. Which were up 12% to prior year. In quarter two, we have declared a dividend of 13¢ per an increase of 8% versus prior year. Now let's review the key highlights by segment.

The Americas net revenues were up 11% fueled by double digit growth across both direct to consumer and wholesale. In The US, net revenues were up 8% driven by high single digit growth in both channels. Our business in Mexico was up 6% from increased traffic in our stores as well as e commerce growth. For the segment, strong gross margin and SG and A leverage led to operating margin of 21.7% improving 370 basis points to prior year. Europe was positive for the third consecutive quarter. Net revenues were up 3% in Q1, led by double digit growth in key markets like The UK and Germany. Direct to consumer continued to accelerate this quarter, up 11% supported by comp stores, ecommerce, and more full price sales. While wholesale shipping was down in the quarter, given the transition of our distribution center in Germany we expect wholesale in this segment to return to growth in quarter two. And have strong pre book orders [indiscernible] mid to high single digit for spring and summer. Gross margin expansion drove up operating margin to leverage a 20 basis points versus prior year to 25.6%. Asia net revenues increased 10% compared to prior year.

Direct to consumer net revenues were up 14% led by double digit growth in key markets like Japan, Korea, and Turkey. Our South Asia, Middle East, and Africa business which includes India, was also up double digits this quarter as improved in store retail experiences drove higher UPT and better conversion rates in addition to growth in wholesale. This quarter, our China business was flat to prior year. And we continue to have modest expectations in '25 as our work to reset this market is underway. Operating margin of 18.8% was up 200 basis points to last year, from stronger gross margin. Now turning to our full year and quarter two guidance. We had a strong first quarter, with broad based strength across segments, channels, and categories [indiscernible] a notable beat for the quarter. And we saw solid trends continue through March. However, as you all know, there were changes to the tariff structure announced a few days ago. Given that the situation is fluid, and unprecedented, the impacts are uncertain. We are in the process of scenario planning and determining different mitigation strategies. We recognize this is a quickly evolving macro situation, and we have to see where the dust settles to give you the guidance that is going to be as helpful to you as possible.

For now, our full year outlook remains unchanged and includes no impact from the proposed tariffs.

Our q two outlook remains consistent with our internal plan. The impact of tariffs will have a minimal impact to our margin structure in the quarter, as most of the products for spring early summer is already in The US. As a reminder, Q2 is seasonally a lowest quarter for revenue and margins in the year. For quarter two, we expect organic net revenue growth from continued operations of 3.5% to 4.5%. This excludes approximately two points of foreign exchange headwind and one and a half points attributable to the exit of Tennyson and our footwear business. Which implies being flat to up 1% for the quarter on a reported basis. Gross margin is expected to be up between 80 basis points to a hundred basis points and adjusted EBIT margin is expected to be in the range of five and a half percent to 6%. This translates to an adjusted diluted EPS of approximately 11 to 13¢ which includes around 3¢ headwind from foreign exchange and a higher tax rate versus prior year. With this expectation, our profitability assumptions will be significantly higher up approximately 20% versus h one twenty four. In closing, I will leave you with three thoughts.

First, while the tariffs announced last week, was a significant challenge for us and the industry our business and our brands have endured for hundred and seventy years. Proving our resilience. Today, the Levi's brand is stronger than ever, with diversified global revenue solid margin structure, agile sourcing base, with deep vendor relationships, and a strong balance sheet. We are well positioned to manage through this uncertain time. Second, we delivered strong first quarter results and we're starting the year with momentum. Our new products are resonating, and driving market share gains. We have a robust product pipeline that will fuel growth in our denim, and nondenim business for the rest of '25 and beyond. We're making incredible progress on growing the direct to consumer channel to a longer term goal of 55% of our business while also growing wholesale. Third, we are both transforming our business while delivering strong financial results and improving our structural economics as we continue on a path to becoming a $10,000,000,000 company with 15% operating margins. I will now open up the line for q and a.

Thank you. The floor is now open for questions. If you have a If you have an additional question, please queue up again. If at any point your question has been answered, you may remove yourself from the queue. By pressing star 11 again. Our first question comes from the line of Lauren Vasilescu of BNP Paribas. Your line is open, Lauren. Good afternoon, Michelle and Harmit. Thanks for taking our question. With with tariffs front and center on everyone's mind, can you provide a percentage breakdown of sourcing by key countries for the investors on this call. What are your suppliers saying about providing potential concessions And then on passing some of the tariffs down the value chain, how much and when do you think you can raise pricing? Thank you very much.

Yes, hi, Lauren. Thanks for the question. So let me just take a step back for a minute. And obviously, the news on tariffs is is very new. It's fluid. This was just a couple of days ago and I think we like the industry are getting our arms around it. I would say that as we enter in this period, we are coming from a place of strength. Have momentum on the business, the brand's never been stronger.

And we've achieved significant margin expansion. That said, we have a task force assembled. Assessing the various scenarios. And identifying what levers we have to mitigate. And you've named a couple of them, but I'd first start with the structural changes, cost structure that we can make as part of our transformation initiative. As you know, we've made significant progress. You see it again in Q1 with margin expansion. So we will look there first on how we can accelerate further margin and cost opportunities. Point number two is, yes, we will work with all of our stakeholders. That includes our vendors. It includes our customers. As we assess and look at what opportunities we have. As it relates to our vendors, we've got long, deep relationships with many suppliers around the world. We source from 28 countries 20 of which are countries that we source into The US. I'll speak to some of the countries in a moment. So that is definitely an area that we're investigating, but we're in the very early days on that Laurent, so I'd say more to follow. And then similarly, on pricing. As we look at pricing, we do believe that the brand, especially given the health of the brand, there is pricing power there.

But if we do anything, it'll be very surgical. As you saw this even this past quarter, our average unit retailer AURs were up again. So the consumer is actually increasing prices. They buy up into more premium product. So that's an opportunity. We've also been pulling back, especially in our DTC channel and some promotion. We had more full price selling. So that whole area is an opportunity. So I would just say more to come, but really we're looking at those three areas. The cost structure, kind of the end to end stakeholder and supply chain and then surgical pricing. And then specific to the supply chain, as I said, we have a global long tenured supply chain resource from over 28 countries and the places that we source from are the places you'd expect from the industry, some of the key countries for us, in no particular order, are places like Bangladesh, Cambodia, Egypt, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, those, I'd are our top vendors. But it's broad. And I'd say our supply chain is more agile today. Than it ever has been. We make pivots all the time. We will continue to do so. As we look to address the issues both in the short, medium, and long term.

And I think what we've disclosed, Laurent, into The US from China approximately 1%, into The US from Mexico, approximately 5%, and from Vietnam, in the mid to high single digits, into The US.

Very helpful. Thank you very much for your thoughts.

Thank you.

Thank you. Our next question comes from Dana Telsey from Telsey Advisory Group. Please go ahead, Dana.

Hi, everyone. Nice to see the progress. As you think about inventory levels, Harmit, you planning inventory levels going forward on wholesale orders? What are you seeing from the accounts? And Michelle, given the Beyonce campaign and some of the other activations and collaborations, Women's business, men's business, how you thinking of the denim market growing and what should we be looking at given the linen and denim and new things coming and how you thinking about pricing? Thank you.

Dana, a couple of things. Inventory at the end of q one was up 7%. The composition of the inventory is healthy. And as I mentioned in the prepared remarks, for The US, we have product for spring and summer. And so that's why, you know, we gave a guidance on quarter two. The other thing is our quarter two includes March, and this the the trends in March are stronger than how we exited the, you know, February. So that's that's a perspective. On that business. We've been prudent in inventory planning. You know, as we think about the year, you know, as you think about inventory, the three things, and now the fourth that we're keeping in mind, There was getting product in for spring and summer, largely because the tariff clouds were, you know, there was an overhang even a couple of months ago. The second for Europe is Red Sea disruption. And and and and the and the third was generally know, thinking about about the year. So being very prudent As a reminder for everybody, we sell a lot of coal. Right? So a lot of our product is seasonless. And we can carry it through seasons.

And our balance sheet is fairly strong. We talked about the cash position at the end of the quarter and the access to liquidity. So we are in a good spot in a lot of ways, but we're being prudent. To your question about wholesale orders, global wholesale was up 5%. US wholesale was up 9% organically. This was the second quarter where we have seen both global wholesale and US wholesale up. And, you know, so as we think, and as we'll as we are understanding right now, there's been no change to there's been no change to orders in from wholesale. Customers. Inventory or trade inventory is, you know, very similar to 2019 levels. Just now let me share a little bit of a perspective on wholesale in Europe. Wholesale in Europe was down in quarter one, essentially, as I said, because we are ramping up our distribution center, we expect wholesale to return to growth in quarter two The best indication of wholesale demand in Europe is prebooked. Which for spring and summer is positive and for fall is positive right now. And I think the second question, Michelle, I she asked you about the denim Yes.

So, Dana, thanks for the question. And I think to echo what we said in remarks, we're really pleased with the start of the year and the Levi's brand has never been stronger.

So Levi's brand was up 8% in the quarter, and I think to your question we're seeing gains in both men and women, both in market share and in equity. Specific to the Beyonce campaign, 4,300,000,000 press impressions, more than 65,000,000 in media value alone. But I think importantly, creating a nice tailwind to everything else that we're doing. Specific to, as we think about our transformation, we must preserve and drive the leadership position in men's. But our intention has been to accelerate with women's because we're under shared there. Women's is now 38% of our business Q1 was our fourth consecutive quarter of double digit growth. Like I said, we are now firmly in the number one position market share in The US, and we're growing that, which is really exciting. Women's was up 12% overall, across all channels and geographies. And then you look at DTC, which is really the leading indicator, up 16% in the quarter, and really delivering on that head to toe lifestyle. So as we pivot from jeans to becoming DTC, becoming head to toe, We're seeing that in our DTC results, up 12 we're seeing that in women's and in lifestyle. So like I said, women's up sixteen, and both bottoms and tops growing.

The team is really nailing it in terms of driving trends and fashion fit, diversifying the fit opportunity to strengthen loose and baggy continues. But our core remains strong. Western wear continues to trend. The list goes on. But even in times like these, when it's turbulent, we're going to lean in and please our fans with delivering the highest quality product at the great value and deliver that innovation.

Thank you. Thanks, Dana.

Thank you. Next question comes from Matthew Boss of JPMorgan. Please go ahead, Matthew.

Great. Thanks and congrats on the nice quarter.

Thanks, Matt.

Thank you.

So So Michelle, could you elaborate on key drivers of the 9% organic growth maybe consumer demand and market share trends that you're seeing in The Americas? And Harmit, if you could maybe speak to the cadence of gross margin in the second quarter relative to the back half? Sure.

Great. So I can start. I mean, one of the things, Matt, that we're really proud of the team's efforts this quarter is really across the board. We saw strength.

If you take our geographies as an example, so our total organic revenue is up 9%. We saw strength in The Americas, in Europe, and in Asia. And beyond yoga, I would say, well, as that carries forward another quarter of double digit growth.

The channels, both channels were positive, DGC up twelve, Twelfth quarter of positive growth, I can speak to that in a moment. As well as our wholesale business up 5%. And I'd say, particular strength in US wholesale. And then if I if I really double click under DTC because that, you know, the 9%, clearly the 12% is what's fueling the majority of that. It's now 2% of our business. As you know, our long term goal that we've put out there is to be at least 55%. So we're making great progress. But if you think about DTC and look at some of the the key the KPIs, the key metrics there, as it relates to our owned and operated stores. Positive comp sales. We saw positive traffic. We saw positive conversions, and we saw positive AURs. E commerce up 16%. Again, positive traffic. Conversion, and AURs. And so when you think about this, the growth is healthy and it's sustainable. We're seeing both it coming through volume and units, which accounted for about two thirds of the business, And we're also seeing AURs up, which is about up a third. So this, as we look at the trends, feel like it's it's sustainable.

And it's all coming off of the back of our key strategies. When we say DGC first, denim lifestyle, winning with women, we're seeing that across the board. And then your second part of your question was around market share. And as I think I mentioned even in my earlier remarks, we're really pleased to see the growth we are seeing there, both men's and women's, grew market share in The US this past quarter. Number one in both positions across both genders, And the other piece that we're seeing nice momentum and growth is growing market share with youth, that 18 to thirty year old target customer. As well as the premium consumer.

So there's just a lot to like and a lot of momentum we're seeing across all of our segments of the business.

And Matt, to your question on gross margin, which to me is a great indicator of how the brand's doing, Record gross margins in quarter one at 62.1. So I think the best way to think about it is half is driven by product cost, are not truly just straight vendor negotiation. As part of our transformation efforts, we'll you know, we're taking a hard look at SKUs. We're reduced our SKUs. You know, we're taking a hard look at a assortments that are not as productive. As well as our newer innovations are great margins. So that's one piece of it. And the other half, I would say, is a combination of mix which is higher women's, higher DDC, higher international. Higher full price selling that Michelle referred to. There's a there's a real focus given that our products are hitting home. We drive higher full price selling. And we had favorable effects given our you know, hedging strategy. Similar in for q q two. So q two, we reflect margins would be up 80 to a hundred basis points, again, driven by this. And, of full year basis, a hundred basis points. To your question about cadence, first half versus second half, the first half is really strong.

The second half, because our margin structure was very strong a year ago, the second half would be muted, still up, but you know, much lower than the first half. And, you know, obviously, we're focused on driving more full price selling, It's something that is difficult to predict. That's why, you know, we can't continue to beat margins. I mean, and the other reason that's driving higher is the wonderful DTC business is higher gross margin.

Great color. Best of luck.

Thank you, Matt.

Thank you. Our next question comes from Jay Sole of UBS. Please go ahead, Jay. Great. Thank you so much. Maybe just on the guidance for Q2, can you give us a sense of for that organic net revenue growth, how you see that by region?

Yeah. So similar, Jay, I would say, you know, The US low to mid single digit. As you think about, you know, q two. Europe, probably mid single digit with one difference. Wholesale should return to growth. Given what I indicated in Asia. Again, mid single digit. If you think of channels, DTC, you know, I would say high single digit. And global wholesale, you know, flat to slightly up.

Is the is the general thinking at this stage.

Got it. Alright. Great. Thank you so much.

Thank you, Jay.

Thank you. Our next question comes from Ike Boruchow of Wells Fargo. Please go ahead, Ike. Hey, thanks. Good afternoon, everyone.

Harmit, I think two for you. Just can you walk us through the expense deleverage that looks to be implied in the 2Q after getting pretty good leverage in 1Q. And then it looks like the back half should go back to kind of getting nice leverage to flat. Just what exactly are the spending dynamics kind of taking place in the second quarter? And then bigger picture for you, it sounds like there's no revenue issues for the business at all right now. But at least over the past couple of weeks, might be helpful Could you talk about the brand overseas? I think there's some growing narrative about anti American response to US brands that that there is a risk to what's going on geopolitically. Would love to hear if you're seeing any of that or if there's any noteworthy developments that you've come across in the past couple of weeks. Thank you. Right.

So I'll Ike, I'll I'll try and do this in a speed round Right now, international business is fairly strong. Are not seeing any impact internationally. From our perspective, you know, we've been here for a long, long time. Internationally, you know, as a business, we've been around for, you know, over eighty years. So we're not seeing it You know, we're in friends with the local consumers, connecting really well. And our new product office that Michelle referred to are generally doing well. To your question about the quarter two guidance. So quarter two, just as a reminder, is largely you know, is our lowest, volume quarter just from the seasonality. First quarter has a December holiday. Third quarter has back to school. And the fourth quarter has the beginning of holidays. The second quarter so seasonally, it's the lowest quarter. In terms of SG and A increase, the first quarter was up two. We expect the second quarter to be up three. SG and A as a rate, is in the mid fifties. It was around under 50. We still expect SG and A for the year to be around 50%, and this is prior to any actions that we take, as Michelle referred to, to mitigate actions on tariffs, etcetera.

And the EPS declined relative to last year. Is primarily driven by, foreign exchange and higher tax. You know, even though foreign exchange rates have improved a little from the last quarter, they're very volatile. They go up and down. And so our perspective is FX and higher tax will probably impact EPS adversely by about three, you know, 3¢. But structurally, the business is in good standing. You know, gross margins, you know, we expect to be up, and organic rate to be up three and a half, 4%. You know, think of our reported revenue. Reported revenue in quarter two, I said, is flat to slightly up. And so that's what the deleverage in terms of EBIT percentage.

Yeah. The only thing I would add to what Harmit is saying is just you think about the whole year. We're obviously think about our strategy is to drive the top line. We'll get some leverage there. And drive margin expansion, in gross margin over the year, and in EBIT margin. And as you know, we saw progress from 2024 over 2023, and we've guided the year. To see another level of expansion there as well. All of this, of course, does not yet reflect the tariffs.

Got it. Thanks a lot.

Thanks, Ike.

Thank you. Our next question comes from Chris Nardone of BofA. Please go ahead, Chris.

Great, guys. Good afternoon. Just a couple of follow ups. First, on U. S. Wholesale, can you just clarify whether your guidance is implying positive or negative growth for the remainder of this year?

And then looking out, it sounds like you benefited from expanding into some newer wholesale distribution points in the first quarter. How big is this opportunity over the medium term? And do you need growth in U. S. Wholesale to reach your medium term EBIT margin targets?

Chris, we've had two great quarters in wholesale. US and the team, big shout out to them. They've delivered US wholesale growth in the first two quarters. I indicated, I think, in the earlier question, Q2 globally, we expect wholesale to be flat to slightly up. Our expectation in US wholesale right now, we continue to be prudent. And so we think, you know, a flat number is a good number at this stage. Obviously, we're another quarter under the belt, we'll we'll talk about the the full year from that perspective. On the distribution, you are right. Our opportunities on distribution in The US is primarily around the categories we're growing. DDC think we have an opportunity in women's. We think we we have an opportunity in tops. As you know, you know, after the exit of Denizen, and Target, we are working with our customers in this case, Target, to try and grow our Levi's business, and that's making a difference. So as we think about opportunities of distribution and wholesale, there are opportunities around the company, especially as we grow the categories both gender women and men, as Michelle referred to, and the different categories as pivot to a denim lifestyle company.

Thank you.

Our next question comes from Oliver Chen of TD Cowen. Please go ahead, Oliver.

Thanks, Michelle and Harmit. In the past, what are your thoughts around frameworks around pricing and also when you look at tariffs in the past, what percentage did you absorb versus share with customers in different ways? And as we look forward if you pricing has been something that you've adjusted in the past recently in terms of being prices being too high. So would you take lower margins in terms of offering the consumer a good value I know there's a very dynamic situation here with tariffs and inflation.

Yes, Oliver, I'll take that. Thanks for the question. I mean, think the word you just said is very appropriate, which is very dynamic right now. I mean, we're literally this whole situation is just a couple of days old, as you know, and I think both Harmeet and I mentioned we've got a really talented team right now who's dissecting the problem and looking at all the levers that we have to address the issue, two of which you just hit on, which is we will work with our vendors, with our customers to understand the best way forward. And then pricing is a potential lever. I would say as we think about it, we will very much think about any pricing if we do take pricing very surgically. Number one, one of the things we've seen our consumer do is they're actually driving price up. You saw our AURs again this quarter increase as they gravitate to more premium products. So we expect that to continue There could be more pricing power in our more premium products. So we'll look at that. Promotions, We have been surgically pulling back more in DTC, would say, on promotions and achieving more full price selling.

So that is something that going examine. We can test pricing in our DTC channel. That's something that we can more easily do and understand the elasticity. We have recent experience, for example, in Mexico where we successfully took some price adjustments based on the tariffs there. And then what I would say overall, as we think about the Levi's brand, we address today a broad range of price points. You start at the core of our product, we're at a very accessible price point in that $40.50 dollars range. Then we do compete in the value segment with signature. It's largely offered in some of the mass channels. That's doing really well. We were up 19% this quarter. And then we go high end, all the way from, I'll call it, our tier two, which is in our mainline stores. You're seeing more and more on that of ecom. That's where we're in the $90.100 dollars range. Then even upwards of $200.300 dollars with Tier one and our new blue tab. So I share that in the spirit of we have a lot to work with here. To determine what is going to be our right path forward. But it's going to be really important for us to be super sensitive to the consumer and make sure that we're on the right path.

Okay. And Harmeet, can you get inventory faster, like, now in order to address what's happening? Or what happened with the inventory you have on hand relative to the win and the methodology for inventory valuation that we know about with timing of prices relative to the cost of goods sold Yeah. I mean, Oliver, we're looking at all options right now. You know, I'm sure lot of our partners and vendors are being called. You know? And so we're looking at options. We've been able to successfully air freight you know, in the past when we were chasing product. The fact that we have inventory for spring and summer is a good indication. We're also working on a faster go to market calendar, especially for the newer products. So you know, we're doing everything that we can within our means. And to your question about cost accounting and depending on tariffs it totally depends where tariffs settle. It's such a fluid situation, and so we're working through it.

Okay. Thanks. Best regards. Thanks, Oliver.

Our next comes from Paul Lejuez of Citi. Please go ahead, Paul.

Hey, thanks, guys. Can we tell you're thinking about the various macro backdrop of the major regions that you operate in and also how you're looking at the competitive landscape currently? If you're seeing any changes in terms of promotions, either increasing or decreasing and just sort of what is the the backdrop that that you're you're thinking about by by your major regions? Thanks. Yeah. So the good news, Paul, is Q1 is a good indication of the momentum of the brand. The growth was broad based. All regions were up. Europe was up only three. But on an organic basis, because that was driven by the ramp up in our distribution center. And so as we think across the world, you know, Europe, third consecutive quarter of growth, US, fifth consecutive quarter of growth. Mexico, second consecutive quarter of growth. Asia, up, you know, double digits. So, generally, the momentum is strong from that perspective. Being global and 60% international, I think, will make a difference, at least from that perspective. Consumer, generally resilient across the world. They're responding to our new products. You know, our products offer great value. As Michelle referenced. So we're feeling generally good from that perspective.

Any changes on the promotional front?

Yeah. And promotions, actually, we are tightening promotions. I mean, that's why the focus on full price sales you can see it in margins. So we're not necessarily going the other way at this stage because the consumer is not giving us a reason for a change. And because inventories are generally, in a good spot, there's no reason to push that. Down faster, push price down faster.

Great. Thanks, Harry. Good luck.

Thanks, Paul. [indiscernible] Good afternoon, and thank you for taking our question.

Was hoping that you could talk a little bit more about your playbook should the macro environment worsen the cost structure of your business today? How much is fixed versus variable? And how much additional SG and A leverage can you drive this year to offset higher product costs? If the macro environment worsens materially?

Thank you.

It's all it's all being planned right now, Brooke. I think the best best proxy, unfortunate, but the best proxy recently is is 2020 and '21, which is which was COVID. At that point, our view was fixed and variable. I'd say between sixty five and seventy fixed, the rest variable. You know, and variable also. Ad incentives are variable, for example, but, you know, the last thing you wanna touch, especially when there's so much momentum in the brand. I'll put it there. I think as you think about our stores, very similar cost structure, but even then, we actually grew our store base. You know, we kept adding stores. And so you know, we're thinking through it. We're putting everything on the table. Right now as we think through the three levers, which is cost initiatives without compromising the long term, stakeholder management discussions, which is customers and our vendor partners. And the third is pricing you know, options and initiatives. And so we are looking at all options book. And then we have an international business that's very strong, right, that can also be you know, we can drive some momentum there to offset some softness, if any, in The US.

Great. Thanks so much. Best of luck.

Thank you. Thank you, Brooke. Okay. Well, thanks, everyone, for joining our call today, and we look forward to talking to you next quarter.

Thank you. This concludes today's conference call. Please disconnect your lines at this time.