LightInTheBox Q1 2026 Earnings Call Transcript

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Provided by Quartr
May 12, 2026

Key Takeaways

  • Positive Sentiment: LightInTheBox reported its eighth consecutive profitable quarter and a record Q1 profit of $1.2 million, up sharply from $0.1 million a year ago.
  • Positive Sentiment: Revenue grew 11% year over year to $52 million, marking the company’s second straight quarter of top-line growth after earlier declines.
  • Positive Sentiment: Branded apparel remained a major growth driver, rising over 81% year over year and increasing to 24% of total revenue from 15% a year earlier.
  • Neutral Sentiment: Gross margin stayed stable at 65%, while operating expenses as a percentage of revenue improved to 63% from 65%, helped by lower G&A spending.
  • Positive Sentiment: Management said the company is seeing continued turnaround momentum and expects 2026 to be another record-setting year, supported by cost control and its ongoing share repurchase program.
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Earnings Conference Call
LightInTheBox Q1 2026
00:00 / 00:00

There are 5 speakers on the call.

Speaker 2

Hello, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for standing by for LightInTheBox's first quarter 2026 earnings conference call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. After management's prepared remarks, there will be a question-and-answer session. Today's conference call is being recorded. I will now turn the call over to your host, Ms. Serena Huang. Please go ahead, Serena.

Speaker 3

Thank you, operator. Hello, everyone, and welcome to LightInTheBox first quarter 2026 earnings conference call. The company's earnings results were released via news file services earlier today and are available on the company's IR website at ir.ador.com. On the call from LightInTheBox today are Mr. Jian He, CEO, and Mr. Su Hai Ji, CFO. Mr. He will provide an overview of the company's Q1 highlights, followed by Mr. Ji, who will go over its financial results. Following our prepared remarks, we will open a call to questions. Before we proceed, please note that today's discussion may contain forward-looking statements made under the Safe Harbor Provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from the company's current expectations.

Speaker 3

To understand the factors that could cause results to materially differ from those in forward-looking statements, please refer to the company's Form 20-F filed with the SEC. The company does not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements except as required under applicable law. Please also note that LightInTheBox earnings press release and this conference call include discussions of unaudited GAAP financial measures as well as unaudited non-GAAP financial measures. Please refer to the company's earnings press release, which contains a reconciliation of the unaudited non-GAAP measures to the unaudited GAAP measures. Now, I'd like to turn the call over to LightInTheBox CEO, Mr. He. Please go ahead.

Speaker 1

Good morning and good evening, everyone. Thank you for joining LightInTheBox first quarter 2026 earnings call. We are pleased to report an exciting first quarter results. Continuing the turnaround from last year, we achieved our eighth consecutive profitable quarter and a record first quarter profit of $1.2 million since 2022. This compared with just the profit of $0.1 million in the first quarter of last year. Please note that Q1 is typically our weakest period due to the seasonality of our business. Q2 picks up significantly as the season goes into spring and the summer. Q3 may come down a little and the Q4 picks up again to get ahead of Christmas.

Speaker 1

We are also proud of the fact that Q1 marked our second consecutive quarter of year-over-year revenue growth, with revenues returning to double-digit growth, increasing by 11% to $52 million. Our branded apparel business continued to gain strong momentum, growing over 81% year-over-year and already accounting for 24% of total revenue, up from 15% in the first quarter of 2025. This result reflects the continued successful execution of our strategy of evolving the LightInTheBox online platform into a consumer lifestyle company. By offering highly customized products that create deep emotional resonance for festivals, holidays, and special occasions, combined with our brand matrix strategy across women's fashion, golf apparel, and light party jerseys. We are driving stronger engagement in the customer loyalty. In summary, we had a very good head start for 2026. We sustained profitability.

Speaker 1

This claimed cost control and our ongoing share repurchase program. We believe we are well positioned to pursue continued revenue and profit growth as well as greater shareholder value through the rest of 2026. With that, I will now hand the call over to Su Hai to go through our financial results.

Speaker 4

Thank you, Mr. He. Good morning and good evening, everyone. Before we go over our financials, please note that unless otherwise stated, all figures are presented in US dollars. As our CEO mentioned in his remarks, we delivered excellent first quarter results in 2026. In the first quarter, our total revenues were $52 million, up 11% year-over-year. Compared to the year-over-year decrease in the first 3 quarters of last year, this marked our second consecutive top-line growth. We have successfully engineered a sustained business turnaround, not only on profit, but also on revenues. The first quarter gross profit was $34 million, up 10% year-over-year. Gross margin remained relatively stable at 65%. Total operating expenses in the first quarter increased 7% year-over-year to $33 million, of which fulfillment expenses increased by 5% to $4 million, reflecting the growth in top-line revenues.

Speaker 4

Selling and marketing expenses increased by 13% to $25 million, while general and administrative expenses decreased by 15% to $4 million. Total operating expenses as a percentage of revenue decreased from 65% to 63%. Our net income in the first quarter reached $1.2 million, compared to just $0.1 million in the same quarter last year, marking a record first quarter profit since 2022. Overall, we had a remarkable turnaround year in 2025 and are continuing the progress and momentum going into 2026, as reflected in our Q1 results. We remain confident that 2026 will be another successful record-setting year. This concludes my remarks, and we're now open to your questions. Operator, please continue.

Speaker 2

Thank you. If you wish to ask a question, please press star one on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. If you wish to cancel your request, please press star two. If you're on a speakerphone, please pick up the headset to ask your question. Once again, please press star one on your telephone if you wish to ask a question. We'll now pause a moment to allow for any questions to register. There are no questions at this time. I'll now head back to Hanhua Wang for closing remarks.

Operator

Thank you once again for joining us today. If you have further questions, please feel free to contact LightInTheBox investor relations through the contact information provided on our website. Have a great day.

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