Kontoor Brands Q2 2026 Earnings Report

Kontoor Brands EPS Results

• Actual EPS: $1.06
• Consensus EPS: $1.05
• Beat/Miss: Beat by +$0.01
• One Year Ago EPS: $1.33

Kontoor Brands Revenue Results

• Actual Revenue: $584.29 million
• Expected Revenue: $586.95 million
• Beat/Miss: Missed by -$2.67 million
• YoY Revenue Growth: -11.20%

Kontoor Brands Announcement Details

• Quarter: Q2 2026
• Date: 8/12/2026
• Time: Before Market Opens
• Conference Call Date: Wednesday, August 12, 2026
• Conference Call Time: 8:30AM ET

Kontoor Brands (NYSE:KTB) is a global apparel company best known for its Wrangler and Lee denim and lifestyle brands. Established as an independent, publicly traded company in May 2019 following a spin-off from VF Corporation, Kontoor leverages a legacy that dates back to 1889 with the founding of Lee and to 1947 with the introduction of the Wrangler brand. The company focuses on designing, manufacturing and distributing premium, casual and workwear apparel, including jeans, pants, shorts, shirts, jackets and complementary accessories.

Kontoor Brands operates a diversified sales model that combines wholesale partnerships with leading retailers, distribution through e-commerce channels and select direct-to-consumer formats. Its product portfolio spans men’s, women’s and children’s categories, with an emphasis on fit, comfort and functionality. The company also collaborates with licensed partners for footwear, accessories and lifestyle products that extend the core denim brands into adjacent markets.

Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, Kontoor Brands serves customers across North America, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific. The company works with a network of manufacturing and sourcing partners located around the world, while maintaining regional offices in key markets to support localized marketing, sales and supply chain operations.

Under the leadership of President and Chief Executive Officer Scott Baxter, Kontoor Brands has pursued initiatives aimed at driving digital innovation, enhancing sustainability practices in its supply chain and expanding its brand presence through targeted marketing campaigns. The company’s executive team brings deep experience in apparel, retail and consumer goods, positioning Kontoor to continue building on its heritage and global footprint.

Kontoor Brands Q2 2026 Earnings Call Transcript

Key Takeaways

• Positive Sentiment: Second-quarter performance exceeded expectations: revenue rose 31% in the first half to $1.2 billion, adjusted gross margin expanded 590 basis points to 52.2%, and adjusted EPS increased 36% to $2.12.
• Positive Sentiment: Helly Hansen is progressing ahead of plan, with pro forma revenue up 12% in the first half and operating margin expanding to approximately 7%; the brand also generated positive operating profit in its seasonally smallest quarter for the first time in the company’s recent history.
• Positive Sentiment: Kontoor raised its 2026 adjusted gross margin outlook to 49.8%-50.0% and EPS outlook to $5.25-$5.35, while expecting more than $900 million in total capital returns, including a planned $400 million accelerated share repurchase after the Lee divestiture closes.
• Positive Sentiment: Wrangler continued to gain market share, with 17 consecutive quarters of share gains, 20% first-half growth in female, strong Western performance, and 12% second-quarter DTC growth; management expects mid-single-digit growth in the second half.
• Negative Sentiment: Retail partners remain cautious, with Wrangler retail inventories down high-single to low-double digits in some areas, while tariff assumptions remain conservative and the company still must eliminate roughly $40 million of stranded Lee-related costs over 12 to 18 months.

Presentation

[Operator]

Greetings. Welcome to the Kontoor Brands second quarter 2026 earnings conference call. At this time, all participants will be in listen-only mode. A question and answer session will follow the formal presentation. If anyone should require operator assistance during the conference, please press star zero from your telephone keypad. Please note this conference is being recorded. At this time, I'll now turn the conference over to Erinn Murphy, Vice President, Global Head of Finance and Operations, Helly Hansen, and Corporate Investor Relations. Thank you. You may begin.

[Erinn Murphy, VP, Global Head of Finance and Operations, Helly Hansen, and Corporate Investor Relations at Kontoor Brands]

Thank you, operator, and welcome to Kontoor Brands second quarter 2026 earnings conference call. Participants on today's call will make forward-looking statements. These statements are based on current expectations and are subject to uncertainties that could cause actual results to materially differ. These uncertainties are detailed in documents filed with the SEC. We urge you to read our risk factors, cautionary language, and other disclosures contained in these reports. Amounts referred to on today's call will be on an adjusted dollar basis, which we clearly define in the news release that was issued earlier this morning and is available on our website at kontoorbrands.com. Reconciliations of GAAP measures to adjusted amounts can be found in the supplemental financial tables included in today's news release. These tables identify and quantify excluded items and provide management's view of why this information is useful to investors.

[Erinn Murphy, VP, Global Head of Finance and Operations, Helly Hansen, and Corporate Investor Relations at Kontoor Brands]

Unless otherwise noted, revenue growth rates referred to on this call will be in constant currency, which exclude the translation impact of changes in foreign currency exchange rates, and reported results and our outlook are stated on a continuing operations basis unless otherwise noted. Joining me on today's call are Kontoor Brands Chief Executive Officer and Chairman, Scott Baxter, and President and Chief Financial Officer, Joe Alkire. Following our prepared remarks, we will open the call for your questions. Scott?

[Scott Baxter, CEO and Chairman at Kontoor Brands]

Thanks, Erinn, and thank you all for joining us. I am pleased to share our second quarter results and the progress we have made advancing our strategic priorities. Through the first half of the year, we've elevated the portfolio, positioned the company to accelerate revenue and profit growth, and increased our capital allocation optionality. Simply said, we've reached an inflection point in our value creation journey driven by our primary initiatives. Build Wrangler momentum from a position of strength and sharper focus following the Lee divestiture, integrate and accelerate Helly Hansen, and finish Project Genius strong. To accelerate our ambitions, I am pleased to share that Joe has been appointed to an expanded role of President and CFO. He knows our business and has been instrumental in driving our transformation. Let's begin with Helly Hansen. In June, we celebrated our one-year anniversary together.

[Scott Baxter, CEO and Chairman at Kontoor Brands]

When we announced the transaction, the goal was clear: drive greater value for our shareholders and structurally increase our TSR potential. To ensure we deliver on our commitment, we established a value creation framework built on four pillars. Accelerate revenue growth, achieve mid-teens operating margin, increase capital allocation optionality, and establish Kontoor as an employer of choice. How are we doing? First, revenue is tracking ahead of our acquisition plan, with results exceeding our expectations in every quarter under our ownership. This has continued into the first half of 2026, with pro forma reported revenue growing at a low double-digit rate compared to our high single-digit outlook. We have had opportunities to grow faster, but we are committed to doing this the right way by creating a healthy foundation that supports years of sustainable growth.

[Scott Baxter, CEO and Chairman at Kontoor Brands]

We are making investments in talent and separating the sport and workwear commercial organization under Bora's leadership. These are distinct businesses with their own set of opportunities. In North America, we are creating two GMs to drive increased focus. We will replicate this globally over time. This is something the Helly Hansen team has discussed for years, and under Kontoor, we are making it happen. Second, expand operating margin. Through the first half of 2026, operating margin expanded approximately 600 basis points to 7%, driven by gross margin expansion and expense synergies. This is our multi-brand platform in action. We are leveraging our supply chain and technology platforms to provide greater scale advantages for both organizations while driving greater back-end efficiency. At the same time, better inventory management is increasing the mix of full price selling on our digital platform, resulting in higher AURs and reduced promotional activity.

[Scott Baxter, CEO and Chairman at Kontoor Brands]

This is an area where we add great expertise and has been a meaningful contributor to improved profitability. We remain committed to expanding operating margin while increasing investment capacity. Over the last 12 months, we have done just that. As we move to the second half of the year, we will deploy these resources to drive accelerating growth. Third, increase capital allocation optionality. Last year, Helly Hansen generated $100 million in cash from operations, driven by improved profitability and net working capital. We are ahead of our planned deleverage path, allowing for greater optionality even earlier than expected. Year to date, we have returned more than $130 million to shareholders, including $75 million of share repurchases. And finally, establish Kontoor as the employer of choice in the industry. Attracting and retaining top talent will ensure long-term success. We continue to be impressed by the Helly Hansen organization.

[Scott Baxter, CEO and Chairman at Kontoor Brands]

There is depth at all levels. At the same time, we are investing in both existing and new parts of the organization to support accelerating growth.

[Scott Baxter, CEO and Chairman at Kontoor Brands]

We are very encouraged by the talent pipeline and recently hired a GM of North America to lead our sport business. We look forward to introducing him at our investor day next month in Norway. By every measure, our first year together exceeded our expectations. We are on track to complete the majority of integration activities by year-end, apart from the systems migration, but we know the most exciting days are still ahead of us. Turning to Wrangler. For the first half of 2026, global revenue increased approximately 3% on a reported basis, in line with our expectations. It starts with building on the momentum we've created in our core bottoms business. We have incredible opportunities in female, direct-to-consumer, and non-denim categories, but we will not lose sight of Wrangler's identity.

[Scott Baxter, CEO and Chairman at Kontoor Brands]

In the second quarter, as measured by Circana, we drove over 100 basis points of share gains in our core bottoms business. With female, our success continues. First half revenue grew 20%, with trends accelerating in the second quarter. Our investments in talent, product development, design, and demand creation are working. Lee spoke as the number one female style at select specialty retailers, and new collaborations and brand activations are elevating the brand in the marketplace. Within Western, first half revenue grew low double digits. Western sits at the heart of Wrangler's DNA, and we have never been stronger. To support this momentum, we will continue to invest behind our product innovation and demand creation platforms to solidify our position as the authority in the category. Turning to Lee. The divestiture is progressing well.

[Scott Baxter, CEO and Chairman at Kontoor Brands]

We have cleared a number of important milestones and are on track to complete the transaction in the fourth quarter. Our teams are working well together, and the process with Authentic Brands Group has been smooth and efficient. I want to thank the Lee organization and Authentic Brands Group for their professionalism and dedication to supporting the brand during this important transition. We intend to use the majority of net proceeds from the divestiture to fund a new $400 million ASR, with the remainder to voluntarily pay down debt and further strengthen our balance sheet. This is a hallmark of our operating model and will further support strong returns for our shareholders. Finally, let me provide an update on Project Genius. While we could not have predicted the challenges the industry would face over the last few years, we push ourselves to take initiative from our front foot.

[Scott Baxter, CEO and Chairman at Kontoor Brands]

We launched Project Genius to create investment capacity to accelerate growth while expanding profitability. We are in the final stretch and are firmly on track to exceed $100 million in gross savings. Genius has been essential to the operational agility we have demonstrated over the last few years. Importantly, it has solidified a continuous improvement mindset within our culture that will yield benefits for years to come. Before turning it over to Joe, let me underscore the confidence I have in this team and our ability to achieve our 2026 plan. We are entering the second half of the year focused on our largest priorities: build Wrangler momentum from a position of strength and sharper focus following the Lee divestiture, integrate and accelerate Helly Hansen, and finish Project Genius strong. These are the initiatives that will generate results going forward and deliver strong returns for our shareholders.

[Scott Baxter, CEO and Chairman at Kontoor Brands]

As we move beyond 2026, we have adopted an always-on cost excellence mindset that will enable us to continue to fund our growth initiatives as we continue to transform our business. We are off to a strong start in 2026, and I would like to thank our global teams for their continued dedication and steady execution. Joe?

[Joe Alkire, President and CFO at Kontoor Brands]

Thanks, Scott, and thank you all for joining us today. Before I begin, let me say how honored I am to step into this expanded leadership role as the President and CFO of Kontoor. I am energized by the opportunity ahead and deeply grateful to the talented people across the organization whose commitment to excellence has positioned Kontoor to compete and win. I look forward to continuing to partner closely with Scott and the executive leadership team as we build on our strong foundation and pursue the next horizon of growth. Since late last year, our leadership team has been developing a comprehensive strategy centered around Kontoor's next chapter, one focused on accelerated, highly profitable growth, strong cash generation, and an enhanced TSR algorithm. Our growth and transformation agenda is bold and builds on our strong foundation of operational discipline, execution excellence, financial rigor, and capital stewardship.

[Joe Alkire, President and CFO at Kontoor Brands]

Our strategy will be enabled by a more robust set of enterprise capabilities, including consumer insights, DTC excellence, product innovation, demand creation, and technology, which, along with our talented team and winning culture, will be key ingredients to drive the success of our growth ambitions. We plan to unveil more details about our strategy in a series of upcoming events, starting with the Helly Hansen Investor Day, September 2nd in Norway. Building from the strong foundation that has been established since becoming a public company, we are increasing our investment on our largest growth opportunities and driving more clarity around the roles we expect each brand to play in our portfolio moving forward. Wrangler is our balanced grower. The mandate is clear: protect and build on the core business while accelerating growth in female, DTC, and adjacent non-denim categories.

[Joe Alkire, President and CFO at Kontoor Brands]

To support accelerated growth, we are leaning into brand building and other growth-enhancing investments while maintaining strong profitability and durable cash generation. It is imperative we continue to protect and drive our core male bottoms business, which is foundational to the brand and our economic engine. Last month, we launched Toughlite, our newest material innovation for our iconic cowboy cut jean. Wrangler Toughlite jeans are up to 20% lighter without sacrificing performance and are positioned at a premium price point. Within female, our business stands at approximately 10% of total revenue today, despite female comprising over 50% of the U.S. denim market. The growth opportunity in female is massive, and seizing our share of the market requires new capabilities, investment, and an evolved operating model.

[Joe Alkire, President and CFO at Kontoor Brands]

Going forward, we are choosing to operate the female business separately from men's to intentionally drive the focus, investment, and growth opportunity we see in this aspect of our business. We recently appointed a dedicated GM for the female business and are investing in and elevating our talent in the areas of product development, design, merchandising, and marketing. Building on the success of our full-price store in the stockyards of Fort Worth, Texas, we are beginning to develop a focused retail fleet in the heartland of Wrangler country. During the quarter, we secured two additional locations in Texas, both slated to open in early 2027. We will test, learn, and scale our full-price DTC opportunity as we establish a true omni-channel brand experience for the Wrangler consumer, while also investing to supercharge our digital business through improved capabilities in AI, site experience, and an expanded loyalty program.

[Joe Alkire, President and CFO at Kontoor Brands]

Turning to Helly Hansen. Helly is our growth engine, and we are accelerating growth in both the U.S. and the Alps region in Europe, while expanding into a four-season brand by winning in outdoor and disrupting the workwear market, two categories with significant white space relative to where we are today. Within sport, we intend to accelerate investment in geographic, category, and channel expansion. Under the highly capable Helly leadership team, we are bolstering the organization with more meaningful investments in the commercial and product teams. As Scott mentioned, we recently hired a GM for North America, a critical leadership role the Helly business has lacked for years. In the second half of 2026, we have also identified incremental opportunities to invest behind demand creation as we scale brand awareness, particularly in the U.S., where our aided awareness is around 30% and well below our peers.

[Joe Alkire, President and CFO at Kontoor Brands]

Winning in the outdoor category is about extending our authority beyond ski and sailing and competing year-round. Consumers already give Helly Hansen credit for high-performance gear and protection, and we believe we can extend this proposition into the technical outdoor category. We are building the product and innovation roadmap, thoughtfully expanding distribution, and investing in storytelling to claim that territory. Workwear is one of the most compelling growth opportunities in the entire Helly Hansen portfolio. We have built a large and profitable European business, and there is significant runway to grow in the U.S. Structural tailwinds in workwear are fueled by higher participation in skilled trades, the rising cost of higher education, and stricter workplace safety standards. As Scott mentioned, we are choosing to separate sport and workwear into distinct organizations to drive more focus and better align resources against this global opportunity.

[Joe Alkire, President and CFO at Kontoor Brands]

From a profitability perspective, we are committed to improving Helly's operating margin into the mid-teens through a combination of gross margin expansion, operating expense leverage, and synergies. We are leveraging our multi-brand platform as well as Project Genius and seeing better than expected profitability as a result. In the second quarter, Helly's seasonally smallest quarter, we saw notable profit improvement and delivered positive operating profit well ahead of both our expectations and what the brand has been able to deliver historically. As an enterprise to fund our commitment to drive brand building and growth-enabling investments across our portfolio, we have established an always-on cost excellence program to create the capacity for these investment dollars in our P&L. This program builds on the success of Project Genius and provides another layer of investment capacity and earnings power moving forward.

[Joe Alkire, President and CFO at Kontoor Brands]

Simply stated, our strategy will deliver accelerated revenue growth, fund the investments required while expanding profitability and continuing to drive strong cash generations. Moving on to where we are in the Lee divestiture process. We are on track to close the transaction in the fourth quarter. All work streams are progressing well, and we have clear line of sight to offset the approximate $40 million of stranded costs over a 12- to 18-month period. Upon the closing of the transaction, we expect to enter into a $400 million accelerated share repurchase agreement and expect to use the remainder of our proceeds for voluntary debt payments as we work to exit 2026 with a net leverage ratio below 1.5 times. These strong capital deployment tools will bolster our earnings power in 2027 and beyond and will help offset near-term dilution from the lost earnings contribution of Lee.

[Joe Alkire, President and CFO at Kontoor Brands]

Over a 12- to 18-month period, we continue to expect the divestiture of Lee to be immaterial to earnings per share. We look forward to delivering what we believe is a great outcome for ABG, the Lee business, and Kontoor. Before I review the specifics of our second quarter results, I want to take a moment to reflect on our performance for the first half of the year. Revenue of $1.2 billion was at the high end of our previously communicated first half outlook, reflecting an increase of 31% compared to prior year. Adjusted gross margin of 52.2% was well above the high end of our previously communicated outlook of 50.5%, reflecting an increase of 590 basis points compared to prior year. Adjusted EPS of $2.12 increased 36% compared to prior year.

[Joe Alkire, President and CFO at Kontoor Brands]

We delivered these results while also investing more into our brands and strategic priorities relative to what was initially contemplated in our plan. The divestiture of Lee is on track. The fundamentals of our business are strong, and we are raising our full year outlook based on the strength we have seen in our business year to date and our confidence and visibility as we enter the second half of the year. Now let's review our second quarter results in more detail. Starting with Wrangler. Global revenue increased 1%, driven by 12% growth in DTC. In the U.S., revenue increased 1%, driven by 9% growth in DTC, as wholesale was relatively flat. Growth was broad-based, driven by double-digit growth in female and western. As measured by Circana, we gained market share in our men's and women's bottoms business, our 17th consecutive quarter of share gains.

[Joe Alkire, President and CFO at Kontoor Brands]

Notably, our bottoms business has remained resilient, with POS up 3% year to date through July, despite ongoing macro volatility and conservative inventory management among our largest retail partners. Our overall POS trend remains consistent with what we've seen over the past 12 to 24 months. Wrangler international revenue increased 8%, driven by 27% growth in DTC and 4% growth in wholesale. Wrangler is well-positioned to deliver another year of broad-based growth in 2026, including mid-single digit growth in the second half of the year, adjusted for the 53rd week impact in 2025. Turning to Helly Hansen. Global revenue of $114 million increased 6% compared to prior year on a pro forma basis, exceeding our expectations. Through the first half, global revenue increased 12% on a reported pro forma basis, with underlying constant currency growth in the mid-single digit range.

[Joe Alkire, President and CFO at Kontoor Brands]

Sport was $70 million, and growth was strongest in the U.S., the Nordics, and the Alps region in Europe. Growth was led by healthy order book conversion, solid at-once demand in e-commerce. Workwear was $37 million, with growth across the U.S. and the Alps region in Europe. While small today, our workwear e-commerce business was particularly robust in the second quarter. Moving to China. As a reminder, Helly Hansen's revenue results exclude the direct contribution of the China joint venture with our partner, Youngor Group, as the results are not consolidated under the equity method of accounting. Second quarter results were strong, with revenue increasing close to 70%, along with further improvement in profitability. Including the revenue of the China JV, Helly Hansen global revenue increased at a mid-teen rate on a pro forma basis. While still early, the acquisition of Helly is off to a great start.

[Joe Alkire, President and CFO at Kontoor Brands]

We are driving strong benefits as a more synergistic brand owner and expect the business to be a significant contributor to revenue and earnings growth in the years ahead, but more on that at our Investor Day in early September. Moving to the remainder of the P&L. Adjusted gross margin increased 710 basis points to 53.8% compared to prior year, driven by the benefits from Project Genius, a stronger gross margin contribution from Helly Hansen, and the favorable impact of channel mix, product mix, and pricing. SG&A expenses were $221 million, or 37.8% of revenue. The increase in SG&A expenses was driven by the impact of a full quarter of Helly Hansen expenses compared to prior year. Increased investment in direct-to-consumer, demand creation, and technology, partially offset by the benefits from Project Genius. Adjusted EPS was $1.6, an increase of 13% compared to prior year.

[Joe Alkire, President and CFO at Kontoor Brands]

This includes a $0.06 loss per share from Helly Hansen, well ahead of our expectations. Turning to the balance sheet. Inventory at the end of the second quarter was $526 million, down 3% compared to prior year, driven primarily by inventory reductions in Helly Hansen. We remain pleased with the quality and composition of our inventory. We finished the quarter with net debt of $1.1 billion and $58 million of cash on hand. Our $500 million revolver remains undrawn. During the quarter, we repurchased $50 million of common stock. Year to date, we repurchased $75 million of common stock at an average price of $75 per share. We ended the quarter with $700 million remaining under our existing share repurchase authorization. As previously announced, our board declared a regular quarterly cash dividend of $0.53 per share. Moving to tariffs. The global trade environment remains dynamic.

[Joe Alkire, President and CFO at Kontoor Brands]

Following the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act does not authorize tariffs, the United States Court of International Trade ordered U.S. Customs and Border Protection to refund IEEPA duties previously paid. As a reminder, during the first quarter of 2026, we recognized a net receivable of $54 million for IEEPA tariffs previously paid. In July of 2026, we started to receive IEEPA refunds and thus far have received cash of approximately $23 million in the third quarter. We expect to receive the remaining IEEPA refunds by the end of fiscal 2026. In May 2026, the U.S. Court of International Trade ruled that Section 122 tariffs were also invalid, and these tariffs expired in July of 2026. Year to date, our financial results include the previously paid and expensed tariffs under Section 122.

[Joe Alkire, President and CFO at Kontoor Brands]

We have not recorded a receivable related to Section 122 tariffs and continue to monitor ongoing litigation related to the potential recovery of these tariffs. Effective July 2026, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative implemented new Section 301 tariff rates of between 10% and 12.5% on products imported from the majority of our current trading partners. The majority of the countries we source goods from remain at the 10% level, with the exception of China and Vietnam, which are now at 12.5%. As a reminder, our imports from Mexico to the U.S. remain exempt under USMCA based on currently available information. Our 2026 outlook continues to assume a 15% reciprocal tariff rate for the second half of 2026. On an adjusted basis, the company has excluded any impacts of the 2025 related IEEPA tariffs in its 2026 outlook. Now let's review our updated outlook.

[Joe Alkire, President and CFO at Kontoor Brands]

Revenue is expected to be in the range of $2.66 billion to $2.71 billion, consistent with our prior outlook. For the second half of 2026, we expect revenue to be in the range of $1.46 billion to $1.51 billion, reflecting mid-single-digit growth for both Wrangler and Helly Hansen, excluding the impact of the 53rd week in 2025. As a reminder, the 53rd week in 2025 impacted Wrangler's revenue growth by eight percentage points in the fourth quarter.

[Joe Alkire, President and CFO at Kontoor Brands]

Full year adjusted gross margin is expected to be in the range of 49.8% to 50%, representing an increase of 330 to 350 basis points compared to prior year. This compares to the prior outlook range of 48.3% to 48.5%. Our updated gross margin outlook reflects stronger than expected year to date results and a stronger contribution from Helly Hansen. Full year adjusted SG&A expenses are expected to increase approximately 23% compared to prior year.

[Joe Alkire, President and CFO at Kontoor Brands]

This includes the impact of a full year of Helly Hansen expenses. Our updated outlook also includes approximately $25 million of incremental brand building and other growth enabling investments as compared to our prior outlook. Adjusted operating income is now expected to be in the range of $413 million to $420 million, including $25 million of incremental investment, representing an increase of 15% to 17% compared to prior year. This compares to our prior outlook range of $411 million to $418 million. Full year adjusted EPS is now expected to be in the range of $5.25 to $5.35, reflecting growth of between 27% and 29% compared to prior year. Our updated outlook includes approximately $0.36 of incremental investments as compared to our prior outlook of $5.15 to $5.25. As a reminder, our outlook includes the impact of approximately $0.55 of unmitigated expenses that were previously allocated to the Lee business.

[Joe Alkire, President and CFO at Kontoor Brands]

For the full year, we anticipate an effective tax rate of approximately 20%, reflecting tax synergy benefits as we integrate Helly Hansen into our global tax platform. We expect our diluted average share count to be approximately 55.5 million. Our outlook does not include the impact of any future share repurchases, including those from the expected proceeds of the planned divestiture of Lee. Finally, we continue to expect another year of strong cash generation. Total cash from operations is expected to approximate $450 million, including the expected contribution from the Lee business now reported in discontinued operations. Our outlook assumes voluntary term loan payments of $225 million, excluding additional voluntary debt payments with a portion of the expected proceeds from the planned divestiture of Lee. We're tracking ahead of our original deleverage plan and anticipate returning to less than 1.5 times net leverage by the end of 2026.

[Joe Alkire, President and CFO at Kontoor Brands]

For the full year, including the use of proceeds from the divestiture of Lee, we expect to return more than $900 million of capital through a combination of share repurchases, dividends, and voluntary debt payments. Before opening it up for questions, a few closing comments. As we look ahead, we are sharpening our portfolio focus and investment on our largest growth opportunities. The increase in our 2026 outlook reflects the strength we have delivered in our business year to date and our visibility as we enter the second half of the year. As we move beyond 2026, I am confident we are on a path to unlock the full potential of Kontoor Brands and create significant value for our shareholders in the years to come. This concludes our prepared remarks, and I will now turn the call back to the operator.

[Operator]

Thank you. We will now be conducting a question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question at this time, you may press star one from your telephone keypad and a confirmation tone will indicate that your line is in the question queue. You may press star two if you would like to remove your question from the queue. For participants using speaker equipment, it may be necessary to pick up your handset before pressing the star keys. One moment please for our first question. Thank you. The first question is from the line of Matthew Boss with J.P. Morgan. Please proceed with your questions.

[Matthew Boss, Analyst at J.P. Morgan]

Thanks, and congrats on a nice quarter.

[Scott Baxter, CEO and Chairman at Kontoor Brands]

Thank you, Matt. Nice having you on the call.

[Matthew Boss, Analyst at J.P. Morgan]

Thanks. Scott, Wrangler accelerated this quarter on a two-year basis, and the inflection to mid-single digit growth in the back half of the year as you cited. Helly exceeded expectations in the first half of the year, and I think lead times you've cited point to second half opportunity for you to control, or greater control of that brand. Could you just elaborate on the brand building investments and the opportunity you see to accelerate the total portfolio top and bottom-line growth into the back half of this year and multi-year?

[Scott Baxter, CEO and Chairman at Kontoor Brands]

Sure, no problem. First though, I would like to acknowledge Joe's promotion and a congratulations to Joe. It's wonderful for our company, wonderful for our shareholders, and so well-deserved. Congratulations, Joe. Outstanding.

[Joe Alkire, President and CFO at Kontoor Brands]

Thank you, Scott.

[Scott Baxter, CEO and Chairman at Kontoor Brands]

Thank you. Matt, we're really pleased with the progress we're making on both brands. We did accelerate, so thanks for the comments. A lot of the confidence from a back half standpoint, I'm going to share with you, but I also want to point out that we have a lot of confidence in 2027, in our long range plan. We've got a lot of actions that we've taken, and some of the things that are happening, for instance, in the back half and into next year are for Wrangler. They have got strong new customers, one of those being Lowe's Home Improvement. So really excited about that. Helly Hansen will be showing up this year at Dick's Sporting Goods in the House of Sport for the first time.

[Scott Baxter, CEO and Chairman at Kontoor Brands]

As you know, Dick's is a significant outdoor retailer, so really great for the Helly brand here in North America, because as everyone remembers, that was one of the reasons why we bought the brand, to expand in North America. So, a great start there. I am really pleased with our continued progress in Western with Toughlite as a new example of some innovation in Western. The business is strong there. We continue to have great relationships and continue to lead in both men's and women's in Western, so very exciting. D2C is doing well. Our women's business has been growing very significantly, and we have got a great new product introduction with Beast Boat that has been around for a little while now but continues to accelerate. Great product innovation from the team.

[Scott Baxter, CEO and Chairman at Kontoor Brands]

With Helly, we have got Crew and Lifa Merino, two big platforms that we are reinvigorating going into next year. But Matt, I will tell you the single most important thing for me, which I think is going to be incremental to our business, and I am really excited about this, is that we in Q4 are going to be focused on one denim brand only. So, after the spin-off of Lee, we are going to turn all of our attention. We have an excellent team that is going to be focused on growing, investing, and making sure that Wrangler continues to grow to its full potential. I think that is incredibly exciting, and that is right around the corner, and we are investing in that right now to make sure that really accelerates going forward. Joe, anything to add?

[Joe Alkire, President and CFO at Kontoor Brands]

No. I think you covered it, Scott.

[Matthew Boss, Analyst at J.P. Morgan]

That is great color. Joe, first I will add my congrats on your promotion. Second, just as we think about visibility, what is your visibility today to mid-single digit back half revenues at Helly based on order books and real-time sell-throughs? What have you embedded in the back half relative to the front half, if in any improvement? Can you just walk through drivers of further profit improvement in the back half of the year at Helly Hansen?

[Joe Alkire, President and CFO at Kontoor Brands]

Yeah, sure. Thanks, Matt. I appreciate the comments. Look, based on the confidence and the visibility we have into the second half of the year, really for both brands, we raised the outlook. We raised the outlook on the back of stronger gross margin, just as we continue to execute really well on that front. We took the opportunity to invest at least a portion of that upside back into both brands to accelerate growth into 2027 and beyond as we continue to build momentum in both brands, as Scott mentioned. In terms of where those dollars are going, again, in both brands, and it is into the areas that you would expect. Data and analytics, consumer insights, demand creation, and talent. Talent on the product side, in Wrangler, for example, in the female area. We said we hired a GM of North America for Helly.

[Joe Alkire, President and CFO at Kontoor Brands]

These key hires will begin to have an impact as we move into 2027. In terms of the profitability improvement, our visibility is pretty high. We are now bought from an inventory standpoint into the back half of the year. We have got good visibility into the forecast for both brands, and our investment dollars are committed. From here, it is really about execution. We have not embedded an improvement in the overall environment in the back half, so the growth that we have planned is really where we have good visibility into, for example, expanded distribution at Wrangler and what we can see on the Helly side in terms of order book and the distribution expansion.

[Matthew Boss, Analyst at J.P. Morgan]

Great color. Best of luck.

[Joe Alkire, President and CFO at Kontoor Brands]

Thanks, Matt.

[Operator]

The next question is in the line of Ike Boruchow with Wells Fargo. Please proceed with your questions.

[Ike Boruchow, Analyst at Wells Fargo]

Hey. Morning, everyone. Congrats to Joe, and congrats to everyone on the quarter. I guess two from me. First, I wanted to dive into Helly a little bit more, in a more detailed way for the second quarter. Maybe this is for Joe. The profit of $2 million. It seems pretty impressive given the seasonality of the business. Can you just give more context how notable that is to you? Basically, what was that on a pro forma basis? Maybe the last time the brand made a profit in the second quarter. Just curious, because that seems like a notable change from a seasonality perspective.

[Joe Alkire, President and CFO at Kontoor Brands]

Yeah. Thanks, Ike. Again, thanks for the comment. Look, while small, it is a pretty big deal. I do not know when the last time, if ever, the Helly business generated positive operating profit in its seasonally smallest quarter. Certainly, a combination of factors drove that. Most notably on the gross margin side, the business is really beginning to benefit from our platform, sourcing, logistics, planning, procurement. We have got a lot more operational discipline in the business right now in terms of inventory quality and composition. That is greatly improved. We are selling through more full price. We are being less promotional. There has been a lot of work done in that area, as well as pricing. Then you have got synergy.

[Joe Alkire, President and CFO at Kontoor Brands]

A lot of the work that we have done with the team over the past year, these synergies are starting to manifest in the P&L, which is also giving us the opportunity to invest more back in the business. The profitability improvement is meaningful. It was meaningful for the first half. It will be meaningful for the second half. The mid-teen operating margin target that we put out there, fair to say we have got more confidence in that, and you will see the specifics of how we see that evolving over the next few years in a few weeks at the Investor Day.

[Ike Boruchow, Analyst at Wells Fargo]

Got it. Okay, and then a bigger picture question. A lot of moving parts have occurred this year. While the core business is clearly outperforming, that said, I kind of want to address the go-forward plans because I think there is some confusion with the investor base. I think several months ago, when the Lee sale was announced, you guys said there really wasn't any reason why 2027 street EPS needed to change. At the time, the street was a little above $7. Today, they are a little below $6.50. So, I honestly just want to ask you to address the discrepancy, and how you are viewing 2027 EPS power at a high level, given all the changes in the model taking place.

[Joe Alkire, President and CFO at Kontoor Brands]

Yeah. Sure. Thanks, Ike. Look, we are not updating the long-term algorithm today or providing specific 2027 guidance, but I appreciate the significance of the moving parts to the story, and let me try to give you a high-level framework as to how to think about 2027 and into 2028. So you have got baseline continuing operations EPS that now is in the range of $5.25 to $5.35 for 2026. That is burdened by about $0.55 of expenses that were previously allocated to the Lee business. We have said we expect to offset those costs over a 12 to 18-month period. The planning for those actions is already well underway. That started before we even announced transaction. So that takes you to about $5.80 to $5.90. From there, through strong capital deployment, we believe we can offset the $0.90 of operating earnings that Lee is contributing today.

[Joe Alkire, President and CFO at Kontoor Brands]

The $400 million ASR will be a part of that. That will start immediately upon closing. Then we talked about the debt repayment. So, that bridges you back to $6.70 to $6.80 pro forma kind of run rate EPS. Then from there, we can drive more accelerated growth in the Wrangler and the Helly brands. So, all that to say, this is why we keep highlighting. We expect the divestiture of Lee to be immaterial to EPS on a 12 to 18-month basis.

[Ike Boruchow, Analyst at Wells Fargo]

Very helpful. Thanks, Joe.

[Operator]

The next question's from the line of Jonathan Komp with Baird. Please proceed with your questions.

[Jonathan Komp, Analyst at Baird]

Yeah. Hi, good morning. I want to follow up on gross margin. Could you maybe highlight some of the areas you're seeing success driving stronger gross margin inflection year-over-year, and contributing to the raised guidance? Then, just on the full year guidance range, it looks like, second half consolidated is implied quite a bit below the first half. That's maybe a little bit different than the historical seasonality. Could you maybe just share some of the factors you're embedding in the second half implied gross margin?

[Joe Alkire, President and CFO at Kontoor Brands]

Sure. I'll take that, Jon. For 2026, we now have a gross margin outlook of over 300 basis points, in the 49.8% to 50% range. That's about 150 basis points above our prior outlook. Relative to the prior outlook, the stronger gross margin is really driven by Helly. That's probably the single largest driver of the increase, along with increased visibility into the second half of the year. From a year-over-year perspective on a full year basis, there's some pretty meaningful puts and takes within our gross margin evolution. We expect Helly to be accretive by more than 100 basis points. We've got Project Genius and the benefits of mix, both channel mix, product mix, to drive more than 200 basis points of expansion combined. From a product cost standpoint, we expect the product cost environment to be fairly muted.

[Joe Alkire, President and CFO at Kontoor Brands]

The impact of tariffs, some of the inflation we've seen more recently is largely offset by some of the pricing actions that we've taken, along with other mitigating actions. As you look to the back half, we now have about 140 basis points of gross margin expansion embedded in the outlook. That's really driven by accretion from Helly and mix. The moderation relative to the first half is really driven by the fact that we're now starting to lap the full benefits of Project Genius and the impact of tariffs. But longer term, the overall gross margin algorithm is unchanged. Structural mix Helly cost excellence initiatives, which we alluded to, that'll drive the expansion while we neutralize any other inflationary impacts through price and other efficiency initiatives.

[Scott Baxter, CEO and Chairman at Kontoor Brands]

Joe, just a quick comment in there to Jonathan. I would be remiss if I didn't call out our product and design teams at both Helly and Wrangler. The product that they're making, what they're doing, how they're listening to the consumer, the consumer team, it's just outstanding. So, congratulations to that group, because it doesn't work without great product, and we are producing great product.

[Jonathan Komp, Analyst at Baird]

That's great. Then, I'm sure we'll hear a lot more in a few weeks, but just from a conceptual standpoint, as we think about Helly Hansen and growth beyond 2026, do you think there's still a meaningful period that's needed to drive acceleration on the top line? Should we expect to see those drivers start to line up in 2027? Just any kind of directional color to help shape our expectations. Thanks again.

[Scott Baxter, CEO and Chairman at Kontoor Brands]

Yeah, I think we haven't really pivoted from the reasons why we bought the company, where we saw opportunity, from the categories that we can enter and of course, the geographic areas that we can enter. What we do see is that we're going to manage the business appropriately. There was a comment in, I guess, our release today. We talked about the fact that we could have driven more business, but we've been really smart about where and how we're driving that business. So, I think that's really important because we've learned a lot of lessons from the past.

[Scott Baxter, CEO and Chairman at Kontoor Brands]

What I would tell you is that we've got this set up for a long-term growth algorithm going forward, and we continue to see opportunities in all those markets that we enter, in all those categories that we enter going forward, and also much stronger distribution with key winners in those categories. So, we really like how this looks going forward, not just on a end of 2026, 2027, but on a nice five-year algorithm going forward.

[Joe Alkire, President and CFO at Kontoor Brands]

Yeah, Jon, look, we're confident we're in the early innings of a multi-year growth acceleration for this brand as it continues on its path to becoming the next billion-dollar plus brand. You're going to see the specifics of how we see that evolving in the next couple of weeks. Growth will accelerate in 2027. We're starting to see the order book come together for the first half of 2027, and the indications are pretty solid. It's important to remember that when we bought the business, given the lead time, 2026 was largely set. So, the growth that you're seeing now is really what the team has been able to drive on their own.

[Joe Alkire, President and CFO at Kontoor Brands]

With the benefit of a year plus of working with that team, we now have the ability to impact more of the future trajectory of the brand, and you'll start to get a better sense for what that means.

[Jonathan Komp, Analyst at Baird]

Great, and looking forward to meeting that team. Thank you.

[Operator]

Our next question is from the line of Adrienne Yih with Barclays. Please proceed with your question.

[Adrienne Yih, Analyst at Barclays]

Great. Good morning. Congratulations, Joe, on the promotion or the additional responsibilities. Well deserved. Staying on the topic of Helly Hansen, I am wondering if you can give us a little sneak peek or a little bite of what we are going to see in a couple of weeks. Exceeded expectations, again, you are talking about sort of more legacy innovation that is driving that. It is doing it across sport workwear in all geographies. Can you sort of unpack the biggest upside drivers of how you see category geo, and also more detail on the timing of wholesale, how many doors, what is the opportunity on the three-year horizon for that? Thank you so much.

[Scott Baxter, CEO and Chairman at Kontoor Brands]

We are really excited about that. It is going to be an outstanding meeting. I think the thing that I am most excited about is you are going to meet the team. You are going to see the people that are really making this happen. That is a team that has been around for a really long time together, and they work really well together. Then within that, we have embedded some talent from our organization and from the outside to give it a little breath of fresh air going forward. So, you are going to meet a team that is highly energized with great investment going in. You are going to see incredible product, and you are going to see the future of what we think product is going to look like. Then you are going to hear about our channel diversification.

[Scott Baxter, CEO and Chairman at Kontoor Brands]

You are going to hear about how we are thinking about geographies and categories and the growth rates we are thinking about. I think the day is set up to be outstanding. Also, we are going to take you into D2C, one of our stores in Oslo, so you can see how we make it all work there. So, really a good day. We are looking forward to having you out there. But I think you will come away very impressed with the talent that you see, the team that you meet, the product that you see. Then we will go ahead during that time and give you a little bit more specificity around some of the metrics.

[Adrienne Yih, Analyst at Barclays]

Okay. Can you give a little bit more details on the preexisting back half? What is the timing of entering into Dick's? How many doors? Have you already had the upfront buy? Is that forward front-loaded into the current quarter? Any timing on that?

[Scott Baxter, CEO and Chairman at Kontoor Brands]

We will give you an idea. The product is on its way. It actually gets set, and it will be in stores in October. You will see it in the House of Sport in 18 doors in the House of Sport, our first time. That will give you an idea. I hope that answers your question.

[Adrienne Yih, Analyst at Barclays]

Yep. Joe, just on following up on inventory. Inventory was down 3% year-on-year, despite the strength. We are hearing from a lot of brands that there is a little bit of conservatism by the retail channel partners. Is that sufficient to drive, to allow for upside? Are you planning on doing a lot of replenishment? It sounds like not necessarily. Just if you can qualify that between DTC and wholesale and perhaps by brand. Thank you very much.

[Joe Alkire, President and CFO at Kontoor Brands]

Hi, Adrienne. Again, thanks for the comment. Look, our inventory was down 3% year-over-year despite 19% revenue growth. The majority of that increase, really all of that increase was driven by continued improvement in the Helly brand. You will recall that the network and capital opportunity for Helly was one of our big value drivers, and we have in fact gotten after that pretty quickly. On the Wrangler side, our own inventory is relatively flat. Our inventory is in really good shape. We are very pleased with the quality. We are very pleased with the composition. The brands are a little different. Helly is more order book driven, and we buy to the order book that we see. We do not speculate. Wrangler is a little more replenishment driven and our manufacturing helps us in that regard, just given the short lead time.

[Joe Alkire, President and CFO at Kontoor Brands]

We agree with the sentiment, though, that from an environment standpoint, retailers remain incredibly cautious with how they are approaching their inventory and their forward inventory commitments. We make our buys accordingly.

[Adrienne Yih, Analyst at Barclays]

Fantastic. Great job. Best of luck.

[Operator]

Next question is from the line of Mauricio Serna with UBS. Mauricio, with your question.

[Mauricio Serna, Analyst at UBS]

Great. Good morning. Thanks for taking our questions and congrats, Joe, on the expanded role. I just was wondering first to start with Wrangler, and could you talk about what you're seeing quarter to date on that business? I know you talked about POS but just was wondering also just high level what you're seeing on the wholesale environment, just given for the last quarter, the growth was relatively flattish on U.S. wholesale for that brand. And how are you thinking about the opportunity maybe for the DTC growth of that brand. Sorry, the wholesale growth of that brand to catch up to the very good DTC trends that you're seeing, you've seen in the last couple of quarters. Thank you.

[Joe Alkire, President and CFO at Kontoor Brands]

Scott, why don't you go ahead and start with the quarter date, and I'll do the DTC.

[Scott Baxter, CEO and Chairman at Kontoor Brands]

I can start. So yeah, Mauricio, on the wholesale side of the business, POS for Wrangler in our bottoms business increased at a low to mid-single digit rate in the second quarter. That's consistent with the performance we saw in the first quarter and really the trends that we've seen over the past 12 to 24 months. So really no change on the POS front. That said, we do continue to see volatility week to week and month to month. We've been fighting through that for a couple of years now. But the overall trend line has been pretty consistent. Wrangler continues to gain share and perform very well at retail.

[Scott Baxter, CEO and Chairman at Kontoor Brands]

Despite the solid POS performance and continued share gains and the consistency of POS, retailers just remain very cautious with respect to inventory management and their forward inventory commitments. As I said, which does impact our sell-in quarter to quarter. Inventory levels at retail, for example, were down high single, if not low double digits in certain parts of the market. So, we would continue to characterize inventory at retail as suboptimal. We have not assumed in our forward growth plans that POS improves or inventory at retail improves from current levels. That is an approach that we have consistently taken to our outlook, and I think has served us really well. Mauricio, from a D2C standpoint, we have a store in Austin, excuse me, a store in Fort Worth, Texas.

[Scott Baxter, CEO and Chairman at Kontoor Brands]

We have delivered a formula that really works for the Wrangler brand in that store, and we feel really confident as far as rolling out that formula. So, we have signed two more leases in Texas, be opening in the first quarter of 2027, and we will continue that rollout going forward. One, maybe two stores a quarter until we get it built out to where we are comfortable. As we look at the landscape, we have got years of growth there and we have got a formula that really works. Wrangler has got great momentum, as you can imagine, and we are being really thoughtful about where we are starting that rollout in one of our biggest markets, if not our biggest market in Texas. So, we see a really good horizon relative to how we grow, how many stores we grow, and a healthy investment behind it.

[Scott Baxter, CEO and Chairman at Kontoor Brands]

We really have a formula right now that really works for us.

[Mauricio Serna, Analyst at UBS]

Got it. Just a quick follow-up. Was that like the reason why you expect the Wrangler business to accelerate to mid-single digits in the back half because of DTC? Or what is driving that acceleration?

[Joe Alkire, President and CFO at Kontoor Brands]

Yeah. The majority of the growth in the back half is really driven by the new distribution that we can see, right? We already have that inventory committed. Scott mentioned Lowe's. There is a few other places where we have got good visibility at this point in the year. We do expect growth in female to continue, growth in D2C to continue. The Western business continues to perform really, really well. Those are really the drivers of the mid-single digit growth. Like I said, from a POS inventory perspective, we have not assumed any meaningful improvement.

[Mauricio Serna, Analyst at UBS]

Got it. And one last quick one on Helly Hansen. Maybe could you talk a little bit more, give more details on the growth rate that you saw by channel in the quarter on a pro forma basis? Just thinking about the back half, I think you are guiding for mid-single digit growth. I think previously the idea was going to be high single digits. Just trying to understand anything that is changed on that front. Thank you.

[Joe Alkire, President and CFO at Kontoor Brands]

No change to the outlook for Helly for the full year. We said high single digit growth on a reported basis. We have got low double-digit growth, I think about 12% in the first half, which implies mid-single digit growth in the second half. That is really driven by currency in terms of the reported deceleration in the growth rate from a constant currency standpoint. The growth rates are pretty similar first half to second half in that mid-single digit range.

[Mauricio Serna, Analyst at UBS]

And the growth rates by channel, if you have any details on that.

[Joe Alkire, President and CFO at Kontoor Brands]

We've not talked about that level of specificity, but I will say growth has been fairly broad-based for the brand globally, whether that's geographically, product category, channel, sport, workwear. Growth is pretty balanced for the brand.

[Mauricio Serna, Analyst at UBS]

Thank you.

[Operator]

Next question comes from the line of Bob Drbul with BTIG. Please use your questions.

[Jake Katsikas, Analyst at BTIG]

Hey, guys. This is actually Jake Katsikas on for Bob. Thanks for taking my question. Wrangler and International had a nice quarter. Just curious if you could unpack which markets are kind of outperforming your expectations, and where do you believe Wrangler has the greatest white space opportunity over the next several years. Thank you.

[Joe Alkire, President and CFO at Kontoor Brands]

Thanks, Jake, for the question. Right now, it is really kind of a North American story. Canada and Mexico, the product is doing really well. The business is really strong, and also our Western business is really strong in both of those markets too, which is very helpful and really good for the brand, as you can imagine. Europe was flattish to down right now, and we expect that to turn relative to the year coming in because we are going to have a focus on that brand versus having two brands going forward. But more of a North American story.

[Jake Katsikas, Analyst at BTIG]

Great. Thank you.

[Joe Alkire, President and CFO at Kontoor Brands]

Yeah.

[Operator]

Thank you. The next question is in the line of Brooke Roach with Goldman Sachs. Please proceed with your question.

[Brooke Roach, Analyst at Goldman Sachs]

Good morning, and thank you for taking our question. Scott, Joe, I was hoping you could provide some guardrails on how you are thinking about the pacing and the drivers of mitigating that cost overhang from the Lee business within the 12- to 18-month period. What are the biggest opportunities? How quickly can you achieve them, and how should we think about your ability to improve the underlying business margin profile in addition to this cost mitigation? Thank you.

[Joe Alkire, President and CFO at Kontoor Brands]

Yeah. Hi, Brooke. I can start. We've got about $0.55 of expenses that were previously allocated to Lee that have now been reclassified to continuing operations. There does appear to be some confusion on what those expenses are. These are overhead and other direct costs that were historically allocated to the Lee business, the majority of which ABG or their operating partners will have to build and support on their own. Or we may provide support via a TSA type of arrangement for some period of time. But these are expenses necessary to operate the business. We expect to mitigate these costs moving forward through a combination of restructuring and other mitigating cost actions. As I mentioned earlier, the planning for that has been well underway. That will start really upon close. We've got plans in place to begin to attack those costs.

[Joe Alkire, President and CFO at Kontoor Brands]

We will get out of those over a 12- to 18-month period. We need a little bit of time to solidify our plans just as we continue to work with ABG on the separation and how much support they are going to need. We are committed to making sure that this transition goes as smoothly as possible. But we are very confident in our ability to get out of these stranded costs.

[Scott Baxter, CEO and Chairman at Kontoor Brands]

Brooke, I would just add that we are world-class at this. We've got an incredible amount of experience on our team in M&A. I will tell you, in this process, there's nothing more important than experience, and we are really good at this part of this. We've just had a lot of times at the plate relative to how many times we've done it, and we understand what to do. So, I have a high level of confidence in the team.

[Operator]

Thank you. At this time, we've reached the end of our question and answer session. I will turn the floor back to Scott for closing remarks.

[Scott Baxter, CEO and Chairman at Kontoor Brands]

I just wanted to say thank you to everybody for participating in the call today. Really appreciate your interest in our company. Again, congratulations to Joe, and we will look forward to catching up with you again next quarter. Take care, everyone, and thanks again.

[Operator]

This will conclude today's conference. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect your lines at this time and have a wonderful day.

Participants

Executives

• Erinn Murphy, VP, Global Head of Finance and Operations, Helly Hansen, and Corporate Investor Relations
• Scott Baxter, CEO and Chairman
• Joe Alkire, President and CFO

Analysts

• Matthew Boss, Analyst at J.P. Morgan
• Ike Boruchow, Analyst at Wells Fargo
• Jonathan Komp, Analyst at Baird
• Adrienne Yih, Analyst at Barclays
• Mauricio Serna, Analyst at UBS
• Jake Katsikas, Analyst at BTIG
• Brooke Roach, Analyst at Goldman Sachs