Columbia Sportswear Meets Q2 Earnings Estimates, Raises Profit Outlook

Columbia Sportswear Company COLM reported second-quarter 2026 results, with the top line beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate and the bottom line matching the same. Net sales increased year over year. Management raised 2026 profit guidance.

COLM's Quarterly Performance: Key Metrics & Insights

This designer, marketer and distributor of outdoor and active lifestyle apparel, footwear and accessories reported earnings of 52 cents per share. IEEPA tariff refunds boosted earnings per share by 93 cents. On an adjusted basis, it posted a loss of 41 cents per share, in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate. This compares with an adjusted loss of 19 cents per share in the year-ago quarter.

Columbia Sportswear Company Price, Consensus and EPS SurpriseColumbia 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 $614.4 million, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $606 million. The metric increased 2% from 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 a modest decline in the direct-to-consumer brick-and-mortar business. Net sales decreased 1% at constant currency.

Selling, general and administrative expenses increased 2% to $332.2 million. As a percentage of sales, SG&A expanded 30 basis points to 54.1%. Higher DTC costs reflected store impairment charges and the impact of new locations worldwide. These increases were partly offset by lower enterprise technology personnel expenses following prior-year Profit Improvement Program actions.

The company reported an operating income of $30.9 million against an operating loss of $23.6 million a year earlier.

COLM's Sales by Channels & Regional Segments

In the United States, net sales declined 4% year over year to $320.1 million, which beat our estimate of $317.7 million. Net sales surged 10% to $145.1 million in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, beating our estimate of $129.7 million. Latin America and Asia Pacific net sales grew 12% year over year to $125.9 million, beating our estimate of $110.9 million. In Canada, net sales decreased 7% to $25.2 million, which lagged our estimate of $47.8 million.

During the quarter, Wholesale channel sales were flat year over year at $318.4 million, which beat our estimate of $312.8 million. DTC sales went up 3% to $296 million. Our model expected total DTC sales of $293.2 million for the quarter.

Story Continues

COLM's Sales by Product Category & Brand

Net sales in the Apparel, Accessories and Equipment category inched up 1% year over year to $497.4 million, which beat our estimate of $494 million. Footwear's net sales increased 5% to $117 million, which beat our estimate of $112 million.

Sales for the Columbia, prAna and Mountain Hardwear brands increased 1%, 14% and 6% year over year, respectively. SOREL brand registered a sales decline of 14% year over year.

Other Financial Updates of COLM

The company ended the quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $532.3 million, short-term investments of $92.3 million and shareholders' equity of $1,601.6 million. COLM had no debt on its balance sheet as of June, 2026. Inventories declined 6% to $874.8 million.

For the six months ended June 30, 2026, Columbia Sportswear's cash provided by operating activities was $37.5 million and capital expenditures were $25.8 million.

The company did not repurchase shares in the second quarter. As of June 30, 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 Sept. 3, 2026, to its shareholders of record as of Aug. 20.

What to Expect From COLM Ahead

For 2026, the company still expects net sales to grow 1-3%, implying revenues of $3.43-$3.50 billion, up from $3.40 billion in 2025. Favorable foreign exchange movements are anticipated to contribute roughly 30-50 bps to reported sales growth compared with the prior expectation of 50-100 basis points.

The company now expects gross margin to expand 160-180 basis points to 52.1-52.3%, up from the previous guidance of 50.3-50.5% and compared with 50.5% in fiscal 2025. The outlook includes an approximately 180-basis-point benefit from IEEPA tariff refunds recognized in the second quarter.

The company raised its operating margin outlook to 8.5-9.3%, from the earlier forecast of 6.7-7.5% compared with 6.1% last year.

Earnings per share are guided in the range of $4.45-$4.90 compared with the $3.24 reported in 2025, representing an upward revision from the prior outlook of $3.55-$4.00.
The company expects third-quarter 2026 net sales of $929-$943 million, implying a decrease of 1.5% to flat from $943 million in the prior-year period. The company expects an operating margin of 8.1-9.5% compared with 7.1% in the year-ago quarter.

Earnings per share are projected in the range of $1.15-$1.35 compared with 95 cents in the prior-year quarter.

This Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company has gained 0.7% in the past three months compared with the industry's 11.4% growth.Zacks Investment Research

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