Off-price retail company Burlington Stores (NYSE: BURL) reported Q1 CY2026 results topping the market’s revenue expectations, with sales up 14.1% year on year to $2.86 billion. Guidance for next quarter’s revenue was better than expected at $3 billion at the midpoint, 0.7% above analysts’ estimates. Its non-GAAP profit of $2.01 per share was 11.4% above analysts’ consensus estimates.
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Burlington (BURL) Q1 CY2026 Highlights:
- Revenue: $2.86 billion vs analyst estimates of $2.78 billion (14.1% year-on-year growth, 2.7% beat)
- Adjusted EPS: $2.01 vs analyst estimates of $1.80 (11.4% beat)
- Adjusted EBITDA: $276.3 million vs analyst estimates of $263 million (9.7% margin, 5% beat)
- Revenue Guidance for Q2 CY2026 is $3 billion at the midpoint, roughly in line with what analysts were expecting
- Management raised its full-year Adjusted EPS guidance to $11.63 at the midpoint, a 3.8% increase
- Operating Margin: 9.5%, up from 5.9% in the same quarter last year
- Free Cash Flow was -$227.3 million compared to -$438.6 million in the same quarter last year
- Locations: 1,242 at quarter end, up from 1,115 in the same quarter last year
- Same-Store Sales rose 6% year on year (0% in the same quarter last year)
- Market Capitalization: $20.5 billion
Michael O’Sullivan, CEO, stated, “We are pleased with our strong performance in the first quarter. Adjusted EPS grew 26% versus the first quarter of last year, which represented our 14th consecutive quarter of double digit EPS growth. This track record demonstrates our ability to consistently convert sales into operating margin expansion thereby driving strong earnings flow-through.”
Company Overview
Founded in 1972 as a discount coat and outerwear retailer, Burlington Stores (NYSE: BURL) is now an off-price retailer that has broadened into general apparel, footwear, and home goods.
Revenue Growth
A company’s long-term sales performance can indicate its overall quality. Any business can put up a good quarter or two, but many enduring ones grow for years.
With $11.92 billion in revenue over the past 12 months, Burlington is a mid-sized retailer, which sometimes brings disadvantages compared to larger competitors benefiting from better economies of scale. On the bright side, it can still flex high growth rates because it’s working from a smaller revenue base.
As you can see below, Burlington grew its sales at a decent 10.2% compounded annual growth rate over the last three years as it opened new stores and increased sales at existing, established locations.
This quarter, Burlington reported year-on-year revenue growth of 14.1%, and its $2.86 billion of revenue exceeded Wall Street’s estimates by 2.7%. Company management is currently guiding for a 11% year-on-year increase in sales next quarter.
Looking further ahead, sell-side analysts expect revenue to grow 8.7% over the next 12 months, a slight deceleration versus the last three years. Still, this projection is eye-popping given its scale and implies the market is baking in success for its products.
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Store Performance
Number of Stores
A retailer’s store count often determines how much revenue it can generate.
Burlington operated 1,242 locations in the latest quarter. It has opened new stores at a rapid clip over the last two years, averaging 10.4% annual growth, much faster than the broader consumer retail sector. This gives it a chance to become a large, scaled business over time.
When a retailer opens new stores, it usually means it’s investing for growth because demand is greater than supply, especially in areas where consumers may not have a store within reasonable driving distance.
Same-Store Sales
The change in a company's store base only tells one side of the story. The other is the performance of its existing locations and e-commerce sales, which informs management teams whether they should expand or downsize their physical footprints. Same-store sales is an industry measure of whether revenue is growing at those existing stores and is driven by customer visits (often called traffic) and the average spending per customer (ticket).
Burlington’s demand has been spectacular for a retailer over the last two years. On average, the company has increased its same-store sales by an impressive 3.5% per year. This performance along with its meaningful buildout of new stores suggest it’s playing some aggressive offense.
In the latest quarter, Burlington’s same-store sales rose 6% year on year. This growth was an acceleration from its historical levels, which is always an encouraging sign.
Key Takeaways from Burlington’s Q1 Results
We were impressed by Burlington’s optimistic EPS guidance for next quarter, which blew past analysts’ expectations. We were also glad its revenue outperformed Wall Street’s estimates. Zooming out, we think this quarter featured some important positives. The market seemed to be hoping for more, and the stock traded down 2.3% to $318.70 immediately following the results.
Big picture, is Burlington a buy here and now? If you’re making that decision, you should consider the bigger picture of valuation, business qualities, as well as the latest earnings. We cover that in our actionable full research report which you can read here (it’s free).
