Earnings reports from large retailers show resilience to early tariff uncertainty

Some retail chains fared well in Q1, despite the tariffs. Dick’s Sporting Goods and Costco had solid quarters, but Target struggled.

Dick’s Sporting Goods’s revenue increased 5.2% YoY. Analysts expected revenue to come in around $3.12 billion, but the chain saw revenue reach $3.17 billion in Q1. Comparable sales were up 4.5%. On an earnings call, CFO Navdeep Gupta noted that the company had “no impact from tariffs in Q1.”

Of the future impacts of tariffs, he said: “We are working closely with our manufacturing and brand partners to mitigate potential impact, and we are making continued progress in diversifying our direct sourcing footprint.”

Two weeks earlier, Dick’s announced its acquisition of Foot Locker for $2.4 billion. In its own earnings report, Foot Locker reported that revenue was down 4.5% YoY to $1.79 billion.

Costco slightly beat out Wall Street’s forecast, pulling in an 8% revenue increase for the quarter, for a total of $63.21 billion. The jump was fueled by higher “average ticket prices and more members joining the chain,” per the WSJ—possibly due to the crackdown on membership sharing that started last year. And the brand also saw an increase in same-store sales of almost 6%.

To combat tariffs and hold prices steady, CEO Ron Vachris explained on Costco’s earnings call that the company built up its inventory of summer products (patio furniture, sporting equipment) ahead of the tariff implementation.

Earlier in the month, Costco announced a partnership with buy now, pay later platform Affirm to bring financing options to its customers for big ticket items. The move could be seen as a sales-stabilizing effort, as a recession could tighten consumers’ budgets for expensive purchases.

The big loser of the big box stores was Target, which reported a 2.8% YoY drop in revenue, driven by a boycott due to the rollback of its DEI initiatives, tariffs, and the potential for a looming economic recession that sent customers to alternative stores they believe are cheaper.