Latest news with #HarmitSingh
Miami Herald
3 days ago
- Business
- Miami Herald
Levi's reveals how it will beat tariffs ahead of holidays
It's hard to keep track of what's happening with tariffs these days, probably because it seems as if there's been a new tariff-related strategy revealed every week. For a few months, it seemed like President Donald Trump was bluffing on tariffs, but as of today, it looks like he's serious, and the president's decisions are transforming business decisions and trade around the world. Don't miss the move: Subscribe to TheStreet's free daily newsletter He said he plans to raise tariffs on some of America's biggest trade partners, including the European Union, Brazil, South Korea, Japan, Mexico, Vietnam, the UK, and Thailand. If the tariffs go into effect on August 1 - the date the president announced - the average tariff rate will increase to 20.6%. This is the highest rate since 1910 and is higher than the Smoot-Hawley tariffs, which worsened the Great Depression, according to the Yale Budget Lab July 14, 2025 report. This is all happening as retailers plan for the looming 2025 holiday shopping season. On its July 10, 2025, earnings call, Levi Strauss & Co. (LEVI) revealed how the company plans to offset tariff-driven cost pressures. Image source: Shutterstock The company is "taking a hard look at productivity in our assortments," strategically eliminating low-volume SKUs to streamline operations, Levi's CFO Harmit Singh said on the earnings call. Levi's will reduce less-popular styles and colors, which will ensure tighter inventory and reduce the need for markdowns. A leaner product mix will reduce the need for steep holiday discounts, company leadership said. CEO Michelle Gass emphasized the brand's broader shift - from denim bottoms to a full head-to-toe lifestyle brand, highlighting strength in direct-to-consumer, Europe growth, and product expansion. She also said the company is doing its part and "absorbing some of the costs" related to tariffs. Levi's SKUs reduction is about flexibility as much as pruning. Singh noted the company's move to a "common assortment," enabling faster product deployment across markets and greater agility in responding to changing demand patterns. Related: Levi's makes harsh decision on workers amid alarming retail trend The company reported its 13th consecutive quarter of direct-to-consumer growth. Levi's second-quarter performance surpassed expectations, in part thanks to sales of wide-leg jeans for women, which have been trending for the last couple of years. Revenue reached $1.45 billion (a 6% YoY rise), and the quarterly adjusted earnings of $0.22 per share outperformed Wall Street's $0.13 estimate. The momentum allowed the company to raise its fiscal-year guidance. It now anticipates 1–2% revenue growth and EPS in the $1.25–$1.30 range, up from prior forecasts of flat or slight declines. Threatened tariffs make shipping costs a major concern. Levi's estimates that the tariffs on one container of product could tack tens of thousands of dollars onto cost. Levi's is also diversifying its supply chain. The company sources heavily from Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia, Egypt, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, with China representing just about 1% of its U.S. imports. Related: Another struggling mall retail chain closing more stores This helps buffer against geopolitical tariffs and positions the company better in an uncertain trade landscape. The market rewarded these moves. Following its quarterly results, Levi's stock jumped over 7% in pre‑market and after‑hours trading. Dana Telsey, a research analyst who covers retail, described the results as "impressive" during the Q&A portion of the call, citing the successful shift toward a direct‑to‑consumer model and streamlined offerings. Levi's move reflects a broader retail trend: more focused product lines. Levi's is optimizing inventory toward consumer favorites - like those wide-leg jeans and nostalgic women's styles, e.g., "jorts" and "quiet Western" looks. The company is finding ways to minimize tariff impacts and keep in step with evolving fashion trends. This dual focus on efficiency and style gives Levi's a competitive edge. Related: Levi's CEO has stern warning for customers The Arena Media Brands, LLC THESTREET is a registered trademark of TheStreet, Inc.
Business of Fashion
4 days ago
- Business
- Business of Fashion
Levi Strauss Limits Selection for Holiday Shopping Season Due to Tariffs
Levi Strauss has a simple strategy to deal with US tariffs: stop offering less-popular styles during the holiday shopping season so they can avoid having to offer discounts to move inventory. The leading maker of jeans and other denim clothes on Thursday lifted its annual profit and revenue forecast, projecting strong demand for new styles and collections including dresses, skirts and wide-legged jeans even as shoppers are economising due to the climbing prices of most goods. 'We are taking a hard look at productivity in our assortments,' Levi Strauss' Chief Financial Officer Harmit Singh told Reuters, cutting styles and colors that are not selling, and making way for new product. 'And so, we're reducing our markdowns.' Other companies including toymaker Hasbro are also cutting less-popular lines. That approach has been used before in difficult times such as the pandemic, by Nike for instance. Levi Strauss is focusing on a 'common assortment' of products, meaning it is producing similar or identical merchandise in various markets, Singh said. This gives Levi Strauss the 'flexibility and the agility to move product around the world,' he said. US president Donald Trump's tariffs on countries including China, Cambodia, Vietnam and Bangladesh have forced companies to rethink supply chains and import strategies as goods are often subject to layered tariffs. It could cost tens of thousands of dollars more to clear a shipping container of jeans at customs. This will boost retail prices for shoppers, especially during the crucial holiday shopping period. Levi's operating margin for the latest quarter rose 7.5 percent from 1.5 percent a year earlier. Analysts cheered the company's decision to tightly control stock-keeping units, or SKUs, an industry term for inventory. 'Levi's move to reduce non-productive SKUs is a smart and sustainable strategy,' said Angeli Gianchandani, adjunct instructor at New York University's School of Professional Studies. 'Nike pursued a similar strategy through its 'fewer, bigger, bolder' approach, which helped simplify assortments ... Brands like Coach and Uniqlo have also benefited from editing down to focus on hero products.' Hasbro said in April that the toymaker was doing a 'significant amount of SKU reduction' and importing fewer items from China as a defence against tariffs. Hasbro CEO Christian Cocks said: 'We are changing what the SKU mix looks like inside of the aisles for the US so that we can favour India-based SKUs, which maybe are older SKUs but are tried and true.' Smaller vendors who sell on Amazon are cutting SKUs to offset the impact of paying tariffs and commission fees, and offering sales on discounting events like Black Friday and Cyber Monday, analysts said. E-commerce marketing consultancy Front Row, which works with beauty and haircare brands including Unilever's Tatcha and Procter & Gamble's Ouai, said some of its clients reduced the number of products offered for Amazon's 98-hour Prime Day. US retailers drove $7.9 billion during July 8, making the first 24 hours of Prime Day the highest e-commerce shopping day so far this year, according to Adobe Analytics. 'A lot of our brands are considering less SKUs,' Front Row senior vice president of commercial operations Alexandra Carmody said. 'They're trying to figure out how to optimise the 20 percent of their assortments that make up 80 percent of their sales.' Bogg Bag, which sells $80 plastic totes at Dick's Sporting Goods and on Amazon, is rolling back the number of items that will be on physical and virtual shelves this US holiday shopping season to focus on the best-selling items, chief executive Kim Vaccarella said. By Arriana McLymore, Anuja Bharat Mistry; Editors: Sayantani Ghosh, David Gregorio Learn more: Levi Sees Robust Revenue Growth Mostly Offsetting Tariff Impact The results suggest that efforts to branch into new products and categories — part of the company's focus on what it calls 'head-to-toe denim lifestyle' — are paying off.
Bloomberg
7 days ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
US India in Trade Deal Talks, Levi CFO Talks Tariffs Impact
On Bloomberg Businessweek Daily, Tim Stenovec and Norah Mulinda discuss the latest on US trade negotiations including a possible interim trade deal with India that may reduce its proposed tariffs to below 20%, people familiar with the matter said, putting the South Asian nation in a favorable position against its peers in the region. They also spoke with Levi Strauss CFO Harmit Singh, who said he expects momentum and consumer resilience to overcome tariff uncertainty. On today's episode, Ann Miletti, head of equity investments at Allspring Global Investments, Harmit Singh, Chief Financial and Growth Officer of Levi Strauss & Co., for the CFO Briefing with Bloomberg News Senior Editor Nina Trentmann. Bloomberg News Senior White House Correspondent Josh Wingrove and Bloomberg News National Security Reporter Nick Wadhams also joined. (Source: Bloomberg)
Yahoo
11-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Levi's Q2 beat: Company has 'lots of momentum,' CFO says
Levi Strauss & Co. (LEVI) stock is surging after the company beat second quarter earnings expectations and raised its full-year forecast. Levi's CFO and growth officer Harmit Singh joins Market Catalysts to explain how the company plans to manage the impact of tariffs. To watch more expert insights and analysis on the latest market action, check out more Market Catalysts here. Levi stock climbing today. Your shares are up around 11% right now after the jeans maker raised its full year forecast and beat second quarter expectations with revenue up 6% from a year ago. Joining me now is Harmit Singh, Levi's chief financial and growth officer. Harmit, strong quarter here raising full-year guidance despite an expected 25 to $30 million hit from tariffs. How do you plan to effectively mitigate that impact? Sure, Allie. Uh, thanks for having me. Um, as you noted, we had a standout quarter. We beat top line, bottom line and raised full year guidance. Um, a special shout out to the teams around the world for what I call delivering the magic of the end, which is, you know, growing our top line and bottom line, growing direct to consumer and wholesale, men and women, tops and bottoms. And uh, and so we feel really good. We're uh, had three consecutive quarters of high single digit growth, beating expectations. So we are entering the second half with strong momentum. And this is the momentum, and we feel really good about the fact that strategies are working that enables us to manage through the uncertainty. Tariff situation is fluid. We took a position which is our guidance assumes an additional 30% on imports into the US from China, an additional 10% uh, of tariffs on uh, imports into the US from the rest of the world. And so our view is A, the momentum, B, the fact that we're competitively positioned. Uh, so as an example, 60% of our revenues are outside the US. Our sourcing base is very well diversified and uh, and we believe given the momentum, the teams can do a few things to kind of offset and mitigate this. So we know we're working with our vendors uh, to price the second half as well as the first half of next year. Two thirds of our growth is driven by higher volume, so that gives us a competitive advantage. We're also in the process of driving higher full price sales because our products are working. We're targeting some minimal pricing actions. And so a combination of all these factors, we believe will allow us to mitigate the uncertainty.
Yahoo
11-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Levi Strauss reports 6% rise in Q2 revenue and raises FY25 outlook
US-based clothing retailer Levi Strauss & Co has reported net revenues of $1.4bn for the second quarter (Q2) of 2025, a 6% increase on a reported basis and 9% on organic basis. Levi Strauss' direct-to-consumer channel reported an 11% net revenue increase on a reported basis from Q2 2024, while its wholesale reported net revenues were up by 3% against the same period. The company's Levi's brand saw a 9% increase globally on an organic basis. Levi Strauss' gross margin saw a 140 basis points increase to 62.6%, primarily due to lower product costs and a favourable channel mix. The company reported net income from continuing operations of $80m - a considerable increase from the $17m registered a year previously. The company's adjusted net income was $89m, and its adjusted diluted earnings per share (EPS) increased to $0.22. Levi Strauss & Co CEO and president Michelle Gass stated: 'We delivered another strong quarter, reflecting broad-based strength across the board — clear evidence that our strategic agenda is gaining traction. 'We're entering the second half of 2025 from a position of strength as our ambition to transform into a denim lifestyle brand and best-in-class DTC [direct-to-consumer] retailer becomes our reality. Levi's is a brand that has a rich 172-year heritage and remains a global icon. As we look ahead, Levi's has an even bolder future with a bigger legacy — and quarter by quarter, we're building it.' Levi Strauss has updated its fiscal 2025 guidance, assuming US tariffs on imports from China remain at 30% and from the rest of the world at 10% for the remainder of the year. The forecast considers only the ongoing business activities, as the Dockers brand has been reclassified under discontinued operations. Levi Strauss anticipates reported net revenue growth to increase by three percentage points to 1% to 2%, up from a previous estimate of a decrease of 1% to 2%. Organic net revenue growth projections have also been raised by one percentage point to 4.5% to 5.5%, from 3.5% to 4.5%. Adjusted diluted EPS has been raised by $0.05 to $1.25 to $1.30, up from $1.20 to $1.25. Levi Strauss & Co chief financial and growth officer Harmit Singh said: 'Given our strong H1 and continued momentum across the business—and despite higher tariffs—we are raising our full-year revenue and EPS expectations. 'The continued inflection of our financial performance is a direct result of our laser focus on the core Levi's brand and our DTC-first strategy. We are fundamentally becoming a company with a higher growth rate, higher margin profile, stronger cash flows and higher returns on invested capital.' In May, Levi Strauss & Co agreed to divest its Dockers brand to Authentic Brands Group for a base sum of $311m. "Levi Strauss reports 6% rise in Q2 revenue and raises FY25 outlook" was originally created and published by Retail Insight Network, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site. Erreur lors de la récupération des données Connectez-vous pour accéder à votre portefeuille Erreur lors de la récupération des données Erreur lors de la récupération des données Erreur lors de la récupération des données Erreur lors de la récupération des données
