Lands' End Q4 2026 Earnings Report

Lands' End EPS Results

• Actual EPS: $0.76
• Consensus EPS: $0.77
• Beat/Miss: Missed by -$0.01
• One Year Ago EPS: N/A

Lands' End Revenue Results

• Actual Revenue: $462.37 million
• Expected Revenue: $471.01 million
• Beat/Miss: Missed by -$8.63 million
• YoY Revenue Growth: N/A

Lands' End Announcement Details

• Quarter: Q4 2026
• Date: 3/19/2026
• Time: Before Market Opens
• Conference Call Date: Thursday, March 19, 2026
• Conference Call Time: 8:30AM ET

Lands' End (NASDAQ:LE) is an American lifestyle apparel and home-products company that designs and sells clothing, accessories, and selected home goods through e-commerce, catalogs, retail stores, and third-party distribution channels. Its offerings include casual apparel, outerwear, swimwear, activewear, sleepwear, luggage, and accessories for women, men, and children.

The company also provides products and services for institutional and corporate customers through its school uniforms and business outfitting businesses. Its home assortment has included bedding, towels, décor, and other household products. Lands' End serves customers primarily in the United States and also reaches selected international markets through its digital and distribution operations.

Founded in 1963 by Gary Comer as a mail-order sailing-equipment business, Lands' End later expanded into apparel and home merchandise. The company is headquartered in Dodgeville, Wisconsin, and its common stock trades on the Nasdaq under the symbol LE.

Lands' End Q4 2026 Earnings Call Transcript

Key Takeaways

• Positive Sentiment: Returned to growth: Q4 delivered 5% comparable sales and mid-single‑digit GMV growth, and full‑year adjusted EBITDA was $102 million, up 10% year‑over‑year.
• Positive Sentiment: WHP joint venture and $300M cash: Lands' End will contribute IP to a JV for which WHP pays $300 million for a 50% stake, plans to use the majority to retire the term loan (leaving the company with 0 term loan debt and materially lower interest expense), and WHP launched a $45/share tender, creating immediate shareholder value and potential upside from WHP’s future monetization.
• Positive Sentiment: Customer and product momentum: New‑to‑brand household acquisition rose ~20% in Q4, driven by marketplace wins (Amazon double‑digit growth), TikTok trends (quarter‑zip), personalization/customization initiatives, and the hire of a CMO to scale brand and digital marketing.
• Negative Sentiment: Cost and tariff pressures: IEEPA tariff headwinds trimmed reported gross margin (~30 bps in Q4) and SG&A rose ~90 bps of revenue due to increased marketing and incentive accruals, reflecting a deliberate short‑term prioritization of growth but ongoing margin/cost risks.

Presentation

[Operator]

Hello and welcome everyone joining the Lands' End fourth quarter and fiscal year-end 2025 earnings call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. Later, you will have the opportunity to ask questions during the question and answer session. To register to ask a question at any time, please press star one on your telephone keypad. Please note this call is being recorded. We are standing by if you should need any assistance. It is now my pleasure to turn the meeting over to Tom Altholz. Please go ahead.

[Tom Altholz, Senior Director of Financial Planning and Analysis at Lands' End]

Good morning, and thank you for joining us this morning for a discussion of our fourth quarter and fiscal 2025 results, which we released this morning and can be found on our website, landsend.com. I'm Tom Altholz, Lands' End Senior Director of Financial Planning and Analysis, and I'm pleased to join you today with Andrew McLean, our Chief Executive Officer, and Bernie McCracken, our Chief Financial Officer. After the prepared remarks, we will conduct a question-and-answer session. Please also note that the information we're about to discuss includes forward-looking statements. Such statements involve risks and uncertainties. The company's actual results could differ materially from those discussed on this call.

[Tom Altholz, Senior Director of Financial Planning and Analysis at Lands' End]

Factors that could contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, those items noted and included in the company's SEC filings, including our annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, and our solicitation recommendation statement filed on Schedule 14D-9 on March 11th, 2026. The forward-looking information that is provided by the company on this call represents the company's outlook as of today, and we do not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements made by us. Subsequent events and developments may cause the company's outlook to change. During this call, we will be referring to non-GAAP measures. These non-GAAP measures are not prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles.

[Tom Altholz, Senior Director of Financial Planning and Analysis at Lands' End]

A reconciliation of non-GAAP financial measures to most directly comparable GAAP measures can be found in our earnings release issued earlier today, a copy of which is posted in the investor relations section of our website at landsend.com. With that, I'll turn the call over to Andrew.

[Andrew McLean, CEO at Lands' End]

Thanks, Tom, and good morning, everyone. The fourth quarter was a turning point for Lands' End as we returned to top-line growth driven by our most significant businesses and capped off a year in which we strengthened the foundation for sustainable, profitable long-term growth. During the quarter, we also announced a transformative transaction with WHP Global, which we're confident builds on that platform and will help deliver compelling value for shareholders. More on that in a moment. Focusing first on our performance, we delivered 5% comp growth driven by strong execution across our owned, licensed, and marketplace businesses. GMV grew by mid-single digits in the fourth quarter, reflecting broad-based momentum and increasing relevance of the Lands' End brand. We're seeing that momentum show up clearly across the business.

[Andrew McLean, CEO at Lands' End]

Our third-party marketplace business grew mid-single digits, led by double-digit growth at Amazon, where our iconic Bedford Quarter-Zip Sweater was the number one pullover on Amazon during Black Friday weekend. Our business in Europe delivered high single-digit comps, reversing a multi-quarter trend as we re-energized our customer file and delivered on our solutions focus. Our school uniform channel sustained double-digit growth, building on another successful back-to-school season. In our U.S. Consumer business, our solutions-based products and franchises continued to resonate. Iconic products, including Christmas stockings and canvas pocket totes, were both up double digits year-over-year, and we saw strength across our weatherproof assortment as well. Increased investment in digital marketing accelerated customer acquisition, delivering measurable results by year-end. We acquired 20% more new-to-brand households in Q4 versus last year, our strongest performance since the pandemic, and ended the year with positive new-to-brand growth overall.

[Andrew McLean, CEO at Lands' End]

We're not just adding customers, we're leveraging the household. Lands' End is increasingly a multi-generational brand, serving grandmother, mother, and granddaughter. We also leaned into brand building in new ways, launching our holiday shop earlier and activating experiences like our chaotically customized New York pop-up, which further helped introduce Lands' End to new and younger customers, driving awareness and engagement across social platforms. Our product franchises continued to differentiate Lands' End, and they're driving profitable growth. As noted, we moved quickly to spot and lead the quarter zip trend that took off on TikTok over the holidays, and it became a number one item across multiple customer touch points. In womenswear, our owning the weather strategy is working. Feather-free outerwear and Drifter sweaters delivered best ever sales and best ever margin fourth quarters. Turning to our adjusted EBITDA.

[Andrew McLean, CEO at Lands' End]

As we closed out the year, we made a deliberate choice to prioritize growth and set the stage for long-term value creation. We delivered $102 million in adjusted EBITDA for the full year, up 10% from last year and in line with our expectations. The key takeaway here is that we executed our strategy, delivered significant growth, maintained a disciplined approach to expenses, and strengthened our financial foundation to generate ongoing momentum. We're well-positioned heading into 2026, and I couldn't be more confident about the opportunities ahead for Lands' End and the value creation potential for our investors. That's important perspective in the context of the transaction we announced with WHP Global. This is a partnership we are executing from a position of strength.

[Andrew McLean, CEO at Lands' End]

This partnership with WHP Global, which includes the creation of a joint venture to monetize and build on our IP through licensing, is compelling for our shareholders and other stakeholders. It is designed to do several things at the same time. Unlock near and long-term value, accelerate brand licensing growth, materially strengthen our balance sheet, and expand our strategic flexibility as the same operating company our customers know and love. The WHP Global team, led by Yehuda Shmidman, has a successful track record licensing and growing a number of diverse and well-recognized brands like ours. We expect their deep expertise will further expand Lands' End into new categories, channels, and internationally, creating incremental, long-term, higher return growth opportunities for Lands' End shareholders.

[Andrew McLean, CEO at Lands' End]

As part of this strategic transaction, Lands' End will contribute its intellectual property to the JV and receive $300 million in cash proceeds from WHP for WHP's controlling 50% stake in the JV. After the transaction closes, we plan to use the majority of the cash proceeds to retire our term loan in full. Let me reiterate, the transaction will leave us with zero term loan debt and markedly reduced interest expense. This immediate balance sheet reset will provide the opportunity to evaluate and execute on potential investments, including investing in our direct consumer and outfitters growth and capital allocation alternatives that drive long-term shareholder value. This is not a sale of the whole company.

[Andrew McLean, CEO at Lands' End]

Under our long-duration license agreement, Lands' End will pay royalties to the JV and in return receive roughly 50% of both our royalty payment and other royalty payments received by the JV net of JV expenses. Additionally, WHP has launched a tender offer to purchase approximately 2.2 million shares at $45 per share, a substantial premium to the pre-transaction trading levels. This purchase of Lands' End stock represents WHP's further commitment to the success of Lands' End platform as a whole, validating our belief in the strength of our business. Finally, there is significant upside potential for Lands' End shareholders to participate in the WHP monetization event, including an IPO or sale of WHP.

[Andrew McLean, CEO at Lands' End]

Specifically, Lands' End may exchange its 50% stake in the joint venture for shares in WHP Global itself at the same valuation multiple as WHP receives as part of its monetization event. This is notable as IP companies like WHP Global historically raise capital at valuation multiples in the mid to high teens, higher than typical retail apparel companies. Overall, this partnership validates both the lasting strength and the tremendous opportunity ahead for the Lands' End brand. We believe this is a compelling outcome for the company and our shareholders, and we look forward to completing the transaction in the coming weeks and continued growth of our brand thereafter. I'll now turn it over to Bernie to discuss our performance in more detail.

[Bernard McCracken, CFO at Lands' End]

Thank you, Andrew. For the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025, total revenue performance was $462 million, an increase of 5% compared to the fourth quarter of 2024. GMV grew mid-single digits%, driven by strong performance in our outfitters, third-party marketplace, and U.S. e-commerce businesses. Gross profit increased by 4% compared to last year. Gross margin in the fourth quarter was 45%, a slight decrease of approximately 30 basis points year-over-year, driven by tariff headwinds, partially offset by our solutions-focused go-to market strategy. When excluding the impact of the unmitigated I-E-E-P-A or IEEPA tariffs, gross margin increased by approximately 140 basis points to 47% compared to the prior year. Our U.S. e-commerce business grew 5% compared to Q4 2024, with record new-to-brand acquisition up 20% year-over-year.

[Bernard McCracken, CFO at Lands' End]

Third-party marketplace revenue grew 4%, led by Amazon, which was up double digits year-over-year. Nordstrom also delivered strong outerwear results. We began to see the benefits from the transformation work in our European e-commerce business as sales grew 9% during the fourth quarter. SG&A expenses increased by $12 million year-over-year. As a percentage of net revenue, SG&A increased approximately 90 basis points, primarily driven by increased marketing spend to drive new customer acquisition and incentive accruals, partially offset by leverage from revenue growth and operational efficiencies. We delivered adjusted EBITDA of $47 million, which represents a 9% increase compared to the prior year. For the fourth quarter, we had adjusted net income of $24 million or $0.76 per share. As Andrew stated, we capped off a year where we strengthened the foundation for sustainable, profitable growth across the company.

[Bernard McCracken, CFO at Lands' End]

For fiscal 2025, we delivered GMV growth in the low single digits%, gross margin increase of approximately 80 basis points to 49%. When excluding the impact of the unmitigated IEEPA tariffs, gross margin expanded by approximately 180 basis points to 50%. Adjusted EBITDA increased by 10% to $102 million, with adjusted EBITDA margin increasing by approximately 90 basis points to 8%. The increase was primarily driven by the expansion of our licensing and Outfitters businesses and continued gross margin expansion. Adjusted net income increased by over 100% to $27 million, with adjusted earnings per share increasing by 46 cents to 86 cents. Moving to the balance sheet. Inventories at the end of the fourth quarter were $269 million compared to $265 million a year ago.

[Bernard McCracken, CFO at Lands' End]

When excluding the impact of IEEPA tariffs on our inventory position, inventory in the fourth quarter decreased 2%. In terms of our debt at the end of the fourth quarter, our term loan balance was approximately $234 million, and we had zero borrowings on our ABL. Turning to the pending transaction. We will use the majority of the $300 million in cash proceeds from the WHP transaction to fully repay our term loan, leaving us with no term loan debt, enhanced liquidity and significantly reduced interest payments. As Andrew noted, this balance sheet transformation will provide more flexibility to the company as we consider and pursue opportunities to enhance shareholder value.

[Bernard McCracken, CFO at Lands' End]

In addition to Lands' End paying royalties to the JV, excess cash generated by the JV will be distributed quarterly to both Lands' End and WHP Global based on ownership split, less expenses of the JV. This includes royalty income from Lands' End and other licensees of the JV. Finally, as a reminder, we have $9 million remaining on our existing share repurchase program. As outlined in our earnings press release and as a result of the previously announced joint venture with WHP Global, we are not providing forward financial guidance at this time. With the closing of the transaction anticipated by the end of our first quarter, we expect to provide financial guidance with the release of our first quarter results. With that, I'll turn the call back to Andrew.

[Andrew McLean, CEO at Lands' End]

Thanks, Bernie. Here's what investors should expect from us in 2026. First, we will maintain our focus on driving profitable customer growth, improving acquisition, retention, and lifetime value through smarter marketing, better personalization, and a stronger digital experience. Second, we'll keep raising the bar on product and innovation, leaning into franchises and solution-oriented assortments that are clearly resonating. Third, we will stay disciplined on costs and execution, continuing to fund growth while building operating leverage. Fourth, we will expand the brand's reach, particularly internationally, through licensing and third-party marketplaces. With WHP's platform and global expertise, we can move faster into new categories and geographies. To support that growth agenda, we're also excited to welcome Sarah Sylvester as Chief Marketing Officer. This is a new role for Lands' End and reflects our commitment to building brand awareness and accelerating growth.

[Andrew McLean, CEO at Lands' End]

Sarah brings more than two decades of marketing leadership experience, most recently at Victoria's Secret Pink, and we're confident she'll make an immediate impact. As Bernie referenced, we're looking forward to discussing our strategy and outlook in more detail on our first quarter earnings call following the close of the WHP transaction. During that enhanced earnings call, we'll walk through our priorities and what we believe is a clear path to long-term shareholder value creation. Let me close with the headline. Lands' End is well positioned in 2026 and beyond, as highlighted by our growing operational and financial strength. Our fiscal 2025 performance, together with the opportunity to deliver outstanding value through the partnership with WHP and our strengthened balance sheet, give us great confidence in the future of this iconic company.

[Andrew McLean, CEO at Lands' End]

In addition to established long-term GMV growth, in 2025, we returned to revenue growth and proved the model across channels. We delivered positive performance across the business, including a 5% comp growth in the most recent quarter, and we did it with momentum coming from multiple engines, Outfitters, marketplaces, and our own digital businesses. Just as important, we strengthened the health of the business. Customer acquisition accelerated. We acquired 20% more new-to-brand households in Q4, and our product-led solutions-based approach continued to win across multigenerational customer segments. Now we're entering fiscal 2026 with a clearer financial profile and more strategic flexibility. With the WHP transaction, we will be well positioned to drive real growth while also investing in our future. We are excited to work with the WHP team and take the Lands' End brand to new levels.

[Andrew McLean, CEO at Lands' End]

We're confident that this transaction and all that it enables will result in a better company for customers, a better company for partners, and importantly, a better company for shareholders. As always, we'll be guided by a fierce adherence to taking actions that improve our earnings power and delivering outstanding shareholder value. Thank you to our teams and customers. With that, we'll take your questions.

[Operator]

Thank you. If you'd like to ask a question, press star one on your keypad. To leave the queue at any time, press star two. Once again, that is star one to ask a question. We'll take our first question from Marni Shapiro with Retail Tracker. Your line is now open.

[Marni Shapiro, Founding Partner at Retail Tracker]

Hey, guys. Congratulations. This is so exciting. Congratulations on the hire of Sarah. I guess, Andrew, I have a big picture question. I know you're going to discuss strategy once the deal closed, but the hire of Sarah is a big deal for Lands' End. From my vantage point, you guys have been very quick on marketing already online, especially, you know, St. Patrick's Day, you were right there with the green set. It was fantastic. I guess, how should we think about it differently? Is this external reach? Is this influencers, events? Could you talk a little bit about where your head is at with that? Just one very quick one on the WHP deal.

[Marni Shapiro, Founding Partner at Retail Tracker]

Will you guys be able to work with them closely to make sure that any deals that they sign align with your brand vision for Lands' End going forward so that they don't go off and do something that's not within what works for the brand? I'm assuming, yes, but just wanna ask the question.

[Andrew McLean, CEO at Lands' End]

Hey, Marni. How's it going?

[Marni Shapiro, Founding Partner at Retail Tracker]

Hey.

[Andrew McLean, CEO at Lands' End]

It's nice to hear from you. Let's start with the WHP question. It's a great question. You know, obviously that came into how we selected our partner. We didn't want to go with any partner. We wanted to go with a partner that was like-minded and saw the world in the same way as us. That made that part of the negotiation really easy that, you know, you're not gonna find the brand distributed through your local car wash kind of thing. We feel good about it. Actually, you know, the message really is one of amplification. You know, we view the partnership with WHP as being one that can really amplify and grow the licensing business that we'd already successfully put in place.

[Andrew McLean, CEO at Lands' End]

Actually, that sort of turns to your next question, which is what Sarah gonna be doing. That's really about amplification. Lands' End had not had a CMO in 10 years, and marketing had been split somewhat between creative and performance. Since I've come in, we've been reuniting that and really getting more focused around a customer. You know, we have our solutions. We're ready for life's every journey, and that puts the customer at the center of everything we do. But underneath, Sarah is some great talent. You know, we brought John Caruso in, and I think,

[Marni Shapiro, Founding Partner at Retail Tracker]

Mm-hmm.

[Andrew McLean, CEO at Lands' End]

You've probably seen the impacts of his work over the last few months as he's joined us. In particular, I can point to the CBK on Insta that we did.

[Marni Shapiro, Founding Partner at Retail Tracker]

Yes.

[Andrew McLean, CEO at Lands' End]

Where, you know, we caught the trend, and we went with it. Same with St. Patrick's Day. Actually, that ripples all the way through our business now where we don't run in silos. We run as a company. If you think about what we did with the quarter zip during the fourth quarter and hit that trend head on, you know, you and I talked, you saw that coming through on the homepage where, you know, we converted the homepage overnight to really reflect, you know, what was in the market. For us, as we bring Sarah in, it's about bringing our existing customer along. They're still incredibly important to us, but adding a new and younger customer and really pulling all the strands together.

[Andrew McLean, CEO at Lands' End]

You know, I've said this from our own licensing business, and I'll say it again from the WHP transaction. When we are distributed widely, more people are seeing the brand. More people will come and see the websites that we run, and I think they'll be more impressed then. You know, as we continue to amplify what we're doing with WHP, we'll amplify what Sarah and her team are doing to really broaden that reach. I looked at the May catalog yesterday. We were doing sign off on that. You're gonna be blown away by it. Some of the changes that we're already starting to put in place are incredible. It's traditional media that we've used. It's newer media. It's a broader reach. It's an amplification story. I'm really excited about this year.

[Marni Shapiro, Founding Partner at Retail Tracker]

Oh, well, congratulations. I would wish you luck, but it looks fantastic. Fantastic. Thanks, guys.

[Andrew McLean, CEO at Lands' End]

Thanks, Marni.

[Operator]

Thank you. We'll take our next question from Dana Telsey with Telsey Advisory Group. Your line is now open.

[Dana Telsey, CEO and Chief Research Officer at Telsey Advisory Group]

Hi. Good morning, everyone.

[Andrew McLean, CEO at Lands' End]

Morning, Dana.

[Dana Telsey, CEO and Chief Research Officer at Telsey Advisory Group]

One of the interesting numbers that you mentioned, Andrew, was the, I think it was 20% new to customer file that you grew the customer base this year. Who were those customers? Is it a different demographic, the same demographic? Does this mean that your overall customer file grow? Then, just, I know you're not giving guidance, but any general themes of puts and takes on margins as we go through the year.

[Andrew McLean, CEO at Lands' End]

Yes.

[Dana Telsey, CEO and Chief Research Officer at Telsey Advisory Group]

Whether it's tariffs, whether it's what's happening with energy prices, and how you're thinking, given the solutions-based offerings, how you're thinking about pricing this year. Just lastly, Europe. Big turnaround in Europe. What are you seeing there? Then the Amazon piece of double digits. You mentioned Nordstrom. I think last quarter you mentioned Macy's. How are those third parties doing? Thank you.

[Andrew McLean, CEO at Lands' End]

Okay. I'm gonna try and hit them all, Dana. I was writing like fury as you're-

[Dana Telsey, CEO and Chief Research Officer at Telsey Advisory Group]

Mm-hmm.

[Andrew McLean, CEO at Lands' End]

Asking those questions.

[Dana Telsey, CEO and Chief Research Officer at Telsey Advisory Group]

Mm-hmm.

[Andrew McLean, CEO at Lands' End]

Yeah. The customer file started growing again. I think that's been really important that we've started to establish you know, a really solid core of customers. I think, you know, as we look at it, we've spent a lot of time segmenting this file and making sure that they get segmented messages, and we can increase that reach. There was a point I made in my commentary, and it was that we're approaching the whole household. That was not a trivial point. That was a really important point where we want to be a broadly distributed brand with real broad reach, and we have product and solutions and franchises to do that. That notion of hitting grandmother, mother, and granddaughter is absolutely key for us. You know, we test it out. We're testing it out physically.

[Andrew McLean, CEO at Lands' End]

We're testing it out in our e-commerce strategies. One of the places that you would have seen it was in our chaotically customized Christmas store, say that fast, in SoHo, where we really were able to welcome, in particular, mothers and daughters. Mother would bring in her tote bag, and we'd embroider that. Granddaughter would come in or daughter would come in and pick up a new tote. The ability to customize, I think, is one of our secret weapons that we're really able to bring to the fore. You know, as we've been through a process over the last year. I think everyone's aware of that. One of the things that came out of it is that we have a real competitive advantage in our ability to customize. Customization is really the future because it's a form of personalization.

[Andrew McLean, CEO at Lands' End]

If you look at the dots that we're joining where we brought Sarah in, we brought John Caruso in, we've upped the intensity of that marketing team. We've been working on our product franchises, and we're putting together a view of a different and a differentiated customer, approaching each segment and giving them more of what they want. You'll see that continue across the year. Now, this year, we'll make a move to Shopify and replace our back end with SAP, and that's gonna give us even more opportunity to drive that customization. Then I think the amplification we get from WHP and the distribution we get will further open us up to a broader array of customers. That customer that's coming in is younger.

[Andrew McLean, CEO at Lands' End]

That customer that's coming in is just as wealthy in their own way, and they have significant opportunity, and we are generating them from all of our businesses. I would be remiss of me not to mention that many of them come in through our school uniforms, and you saw the school uniforms business was strong. It's like that is a great customer to come to us, and that's a forty-something. In terms of the year, there are lots of. We will give full guidance on it. I would say the jumping off point for it is the 102 that we just reported for the year 2025. We expect that we will be building on that. I think we'll look forward to discussing that in more detail.

[Andrew McLean, CEO at Lands' End]

In terms of how we think about the tariffs and the war that's going on, we're not seeing any impact from the war on the business right now in the U.S. We're seeing this in European media outlets, as the notion of fuel shortages, fuel rationing, airline flights being canceled starts to take more grip in Europe, we are seeing some agitation from some of our more economically disadvantaged customer groups. We'll continue to watch that. We haven't seen that in the U.S. It would be, again, remiss of me not to say that we're not watching for it, and we're not gonna take action around it. You know, that's certainly a challenge to come. With regard to tariffs, we've been very aggressive with tariffs. You know, I think that the team's done a wonderful job.

[Andrew McLean, CEO at Lands' End]

We've brought in a new head of sourcing, Matt Del Vecchio. Matt's a very tenured, seasoned, executive joins us from Macy's, J. Crew. I think he's gonna really help us get to grips further with the tariffs so that we can mitigate those in the business. I think you asked me about Amazon being up double digits. I mean, we took a conscious decision to drive Amazon. We see a new customer there. We see a younger customer there, and they're very trend-driven. We're going to continue to follow that customer and do that in a profitable way. We're excited about where the future can go with Amazon and continue to believe in opening up to this notion of convenience.

[Andrew McLean, CEO at Lands' End]

I think if I had to pick out a couple of threads for 2026 overall, you know, clearly we want to stand for our franchises. Clearly, we want to reach beyond our existing customer cohort and reach a younger customer. I think the third part of this is we want to deliver on our promise of convenience. We think convenience is gonna be incredibly important to the customer and something that they will be willing to pay for and at the very least expect. Now, I'm conscious I might have missed some of your questions, Dana, so I'll give you a second to come back to me.

[Dana Telsey, CEO and Chief Research Officer at Telsey Advisory Group]

The only thing, other thing I wanted to know on the European business. Well, you know, you mentioned the European business and the strength there. Anything else on any other wholesale customers to mention? Then, Bernie, just obviously debt repayment, anything we should be thinking about balance sheet as we go through the year? Thank you.

[Bernard McCracken, CFO at Lands' End]

Sure. I think, you know, as we've noted as part of the WHP deal, and when it closes, we will be paying off our long-term debt, which will then, of course, create flexibility, for us to now pursue other opportunities to drive shareholder value through, capital allocation alternatives. We're pretty excited about the flexibility this will give us going forward.

[Andrew McLean, CEO at Lands' End]

Yeah, we'd expect to come out of this and be, you know, a growth company, Dana. I think for Lands' End is unshackled from debt. There is real opportunity for our shareholders out there, and it's our every intention to go get it.

[Dana Telsey, CEO and Chief Research Officer at Telsey Advisory Group]

Thank you.

[Operator]

Thank you. Our next question comes from Eric Beder with SCC Research. Your line is now open.

[Eric Beder, CEO and Senior Research Analyst at SCC Research]

Good morning.

[Andrew McLean, CEO at Lands' End]

Morning, Eric.

[Eric Beder, CEO and Senior Research Analyst at SCC Research]

Can you talk a little bit about what is driving the turnaround in Europe? I know you've changed a lot of things there and, are those pieces of that transferable to potentially the U.S. business or other international businesses?

[Andrew McLean, CEO at Lands' End]

Eric. Good morning. Eric, I've been clear since I came into the business about a couple of things on Europe. One is that I always want it to be more elevated than the U.S. to provide cachet, that we're known as a sophisticated European brand, and that carries through to our customers in the U.S. I think the second part is I always wanted to use it to test out concepts and test ideas that can be carried and transferred back to the U.S. I think that in the fourth quarter, we achieved both of those. We got back to very much a focus on our franchises. Actually, we led that, if you look at the business, with really the reintroduction of our tote bag and the personalization that comes with that to reach wider to the customer cohort.

[Andrew McLean, CEO at Lands' End]

We also reengineered our catalogs and tested out new ideas in those, as well as the notion of, you know, a lot more dynamic content around video versus static images that we've tended to use in the U.S. You'll see transfer of that naturally come back. On the flip side of that, we do have stronger franchises in the U.S. and continue to want those to grow in Europe. A lot of our plans really sort of focus around taking some of those franchises and continue to lean into them. The most obvious one being the one I've just discussed, which is the tote bag, which is so iconic here in America but hasn't really had the legs internationally for us. That can be incredibly powerful once we start to get behind that.

[Andrew McLean, CEO at Lands' End]

We were pleased with a get back to basics in Europe, get focused around the customer in Europe, get focused around personalization in Europe and where we took that. The results came through really strongly for us. We had three, quite frankly, very difficult quarters, followed by a really strong fourth quarter. I appreciate the forbearance of the team in working through that. I think they did a really nice job. Now it's for us to build on that for this year. I think absent war, fuel shortages than anything else that's out there, you know, all things being equal, we can take a good run at that.

[Eric Beder, CEO and Senior Research Analyst at SCC Research]

Great. You know, you brought up some interesting things in terms of personalization. I know that you've leaned into a lot more into Q4, the shops and other pieces. What are the demographics of that customer? Is that a younger customer? How should we be thinking about that? Because I know it's definitely continued into spring, the push into that, beyond just the tote into other apparel categories.

[Andrew McLean, CEO at Lands' End]

Well, I'll finish up on Q4 'cause it's definitely not in the spring. The Christmas stocking sales that we had were absolutely incredible. I mean, to have the Christmas stocking, which it's a nice program for us, but it's not traditionally been a huge program, be a top five program over a holiday was really incredible for us. You know, that's all about personalization. In terms of who we're seeing, you know, we're using our marketing to reach wider than we traditionally have. This isn't about, you know, just getting them for the grandkids. This is about the grandkids themselves coming in and getting more. Actually, the way we met the younger customer is we've widened the amount of embroidery that we can do.

[Andrew McLean, CEO at Lands' End]

You know, our number one image for the fourth quarter was actually a sausage dog. I think that was really cute for us. I think that there was incredible opportunity for us to just expand beyond where we'd been, which was traditionally you'd put mom, dad, grandpa, wherever the kid's name on it. You know, we're now really starting to flex the muscle we have with personalization, and that's been a real competitive advantage for us in 2026 to continue to lean into that. I think you'll see more from us, and you'll see us understand, you know, how we can really bring that to the market. There's good news in there.

[Bernard McCracken, CFO at Lands' End]

Eric.

[Andrew McLean, CEO at Lands' End]

Just to finish. The tote will be ubiquitous. We can, you know, if you look at the Christmas shop that we had, we embroidered cashmere. I think there's very few people doing that right now. I think that's a competitive differentiator as well. Another franchise starts to fall into line on that program with value added to be sort of layered on top. Bernie.

[Bernard McCracken, CFO at Lands' End]

Eric, to add to that, you know, the infrastructure we have the benefit of is from our school uniform and our business to business that built the infrastructure of embroidery capabilities. The rest of the business now gets the benefit in the U.S. business and the marketplace businesses eventually will all benefit from having that. On top of having that younger customer in that uniform business that also we can attract through our personalization.

[Eric Beder, CEO and Senior Research Analyst at SCC Research]

Great. Last one. Can't not mention Outfitters. That was a great quarter. You picked up share from school uniforms, and obviously you picked up some larger B2B clients. What is the potential here, and you know, are we just scratching the surface on where this can go? Thank you.

[Andrew McLean, CEO at Lands' End]

Thank you. Yeah. I've always been a fan of Outfitters. You and I have talked about this quite a lot. I think that Outfitters, once we got it firmly in its lane and behind the franchises where it can excel, the sky has become the limit. You know, our teams just got back from a sourcing trip in India with one of our major airline partners, and they couldn't be happier about the breadth that we're able to offer, and the opportunity that we're creating for their employees.

[Andrew McLean, CEO at Lands' End]

You know, I'll say it again because it's worth noting the amplification that you get from having, you know, 100,000 airline employees who are, you know, somehow connected to the brand of Lands' End is really powerful and widens the reach of where we can go. I would continue to watch this space. I would continue to look for us to add major partners throughout the year. You're absolutely right. I think this can power through because you remember, and it's worth saying, because we don't talk about it that much, you know, we sign long-term contracts. You have. It's very sticky business. The switching costs tend to be quite high, or the barriers to switching tend to be quite high. Once you lock in, you could have them for many, many years. I think there's a real power in what's almost a subscription business.

[Bernard McCracken, CFO at Lands' End]

I think it's also important to note, Eric. Being a differentiator in any industry is important. In that industry work, we tend to be the only one bringing a brand to the game. That has proved very successful with our large consumer business and our larger partners, as they want to do well for their employees, and they wanna bring a brand name to that employee and make them feel proud of what they wear.

[Eric Beder, CEO and Senior Research Analyst at SCC Research]

Great. Thank you, and good luck the rest of 2026. It'll be a fun year.

[Andrew McLean, CEO at Lands' End]

Great. Thanks. Take care.

[Bernard McCracken, CFO at Lands' End]

Thanks, Eric.

[Operator]

Thank you. Our final question comes from Steve Silver with Argus Research. Your line is now open.

[Steve Silver, Senior Equity Research Analyst at Argus Research]

Thanks, operator. Thanks for taking my questions, and congratulations on all the recent events. Guys, you talked about recently the goal of the company to modernize its infrastructure and its software platforms and suggested that maybe some of those decisions might have been put on hold while you were under the strategic review last year. I'm just curious as to whether any of those activities have now started since the deal was announced or if they're just waiting until the deal closes and really what the timeline for implementation might look like just to really get updated with these systems.

[Andrew McLean, CEO at Lands' End]

We will have replaced our existing backend infrastructure with SAP before we go into peak later this year, and we will have moved our front end of the consumer business onto Shopify. Again, that's gonna happen before peak. During the process that we went through over the last year, you know, we stopped pending the outcome of that. We didn't stop. Well, we stopped across the company. We didn't refrain from continuing the desktop work that was, you know, key to making sure that we stayed on time.

[Andrew McLean, CEO at Lands' End]

As we announced the transaction with WHP, you know, we restarted the sort of heavier lifting to make sure that we could be timely to, be in place before we get to peak. We feel good about where we're at. There's always risk associated with it in these sort of big projects, but I think they're really important for the company. We're well along. We feel good about it. I think the opportunity to sort of further leverage our infrastructure that they provide is not just an SG&A gain. It's also a revenue and margin gain for us as well.

[Steve Silver, Senior Equity Research Analyst at Argus Research]

That's helpful. Great. One more, if I may, and there's probably very little you can say about it at this point. Given the prospect of eliminating the term loan and really giving the company a flexibility that it hasn't had in quite some time, is there any, like, low-hanging fruit in terms of strategic opportunities for growth? Andrew, you mentioned that you're gonna be looking at Lands' End now as being more as a growth company. Is there anything even just category-wise that you're thinking, just in terms of what some of those opportunities might be to invest in growth?

[Andrew McLean, CEO at Lands' End]

I don't blame you for asking, Steve, but we're gonna have an extended call. We're gonna have an extended Q1 call, and we'll look forward to sharing with you then. It's the obvious question. You're right to ask it. We'll look forward to our next call.

[Steve Silver, Senior Equity Research Analyst at Argus Research]

Fair enough. Thanks again, and congratulations.

[Andrew McLean, CEO at Lands' End]

Thanks, Steve.

[Operator]

Thank you. This does bring us to the end of our question and answer session, as well as Lands' End fourth quarter and fiscal year-end 2025 earnings call. We appreciate your time and participation. You may now disconnect.

Participants

Executives

• Andrew McLean, CEO
• Bernard McCracken, CFO
• Tom Altholz, Senior Director of Financial Planning and Analysis

Analysts

• Dana Telsey, CEO and Chief Research Officer at Telsey Advisory Group
• Eric Beder, CEO and Senior Research Analyst at SCC Research
• Marni Shapiro, Founding Partner at Retail Tracker
• Steve Silver, Senior Equity Research Analyst at Argus Research