Consumer/episodic shopping — what are you seeing post-back-to-school in August, and could the softer valleys between events attenuate later in the year?
Episodic shopping continues; Academy ran a positive comp during its earlier back-to-school period, then saw a slight pullback attributed to less Labor Day clearance and hunting season shifting to September (vs August last year). Management is optimistic about the rest of the quarter as it laps soft late-September/October comps.
How much did tariff pricing benefit ticket, and will pricing pressure complete in the back half or spill into 1H 2026?
AURs were up low-to-mid single digits, driving much of the ~1.5% ticket increase. Price increases started creeping in later in summer; management expects to complete most pricing adjustments in the back half ahead of next year, while calling it a fluid environment and expressing confidence in mitigating tariffs and maintaining value.
Guidance — where is the second-half operating leverage coming from (gross margin vs slower SG&A investment), and how are you offsetting tariffs when peers expect margin pressure?
Full-year SG&A deleverage ~100 bps (Q2 was 150 bps, more than all initiative-driven); gross margin guide 34.0%-34.5%. Back-half comp range roughly -4% to +3.5%. Tariff mitigation via factory cost-sharing, sourcing diversification, adjusting unit buys, pulling forward domestic inventory, Revionics markdown optimization, and maintaining a private-brand value spread as trade-down accelerates.
Any color on 3Q vs 4Q comp/SG&A cadence given the wide back-half range and higher new-store openings in 3Q?
No quarterly guidance, but SG&A deleverage should keep moderating toward ~100 bps for the year (290 bps Q1, 150 bps Q2). Expect the business to inflect positive lapping tough late-Sept/early-Oct comps through early November, with softer mid-quarter comps enabling a better back half than first half. At the low end of guidance, incentive comp would be reduced.
Gross margin — how do shrink and e-commerce shipping headwinds play out in the back half, and what share of COGS is now imported?
Q2 down 2 bps: merch margin +40, shrink -20, e-com shipping -10; full-year shrink running down ~5 bps and e-com shipping ~10 bps of headwind. China exposure being cut from teens toward mid-single-digits; sourcing is a moving target with diversified base and multi-country factories. Private-brand (manufactured) goods are ~6%-7% of total COGS; national-brand country mix too dynamic to quote.
Is there any reason the strengthening comp momentum wouldn't continue into the back half?
Not really — dot-com accelerating (10% Q1 to ~18% Q2), new stores moving to mid-single-digit comps, technology (RFID) contributing, Jordan/Nike driving meaningful double-digit growth, 12M+ loyalty members adding ~500k/quarter, and share gains. The main wildcard is consumer health and the macro environment; momentum expected to carry into next year.
Nike and Jordan — detail on performance and exclusivity as the brands add distribution?
Both driving double-digit growth. Jordan launched late Q1 and built into its biggest weeks at back-to-school, with SKU count more than tripled in footwear plus added cleats and backpacks; more expansion into doors planned for next spring. Nike is less about exclusivity than access to better premium product (Vomero 18, P6000, Air Max 270 at $165-$180, Phoenix Fleece apparel) distributed more broadly.
Size of the three income cohorts and inventory/division performance, including ammo?
Cohorts are roughly one-third each (sub-$50k, $50k-$100k, $100k+), with a radical shift as quintiles 4-5 grow and 1-2 frequent less. Inventory units/store up 4.6% (down from 6.5% in Q1), normalizing by year-end. Footwear +3.7%, apparel +3.8%, outdoor +2.5% — tight, broad-based performance; ammo remained one of the most challenged categories (oversupplied, price-sensitive) though slightly better than Q1.