Burlington StoresBURL

01The company opened 91 new stores (inclusive of 12 relocations) during the six month period ended August 1, 2026, bringing store count to 1,287 stores in 47 states, Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico Net sales from 149 net new stores opened since the end of the second quarter of Fiscal 2025 contributed $451.7 million to the six-month sales increase The company estimates it will spend approximately $445 million net of landlord allowances for store expenditures during Fiscal 2026 The company acquired leases through bankruptcy proceedings, incurring $11.8 million in pre-opening costs during the six month period

02Burlington's 'chase' buying model—holding significant reserve inventory and purchasing in-season opportunistically—enables it to respond to demand signals faster than full-price retailers while extracting better vendor terms, creating a structural merchandise margin advantage.

03Gross margin as a percentage of net sales increased to 46.2% during the three month period ended August 1, 2026 compared with 43.7% in the prior year period Gross margin improvement was primarily driven by $55.5 million of tariff refunds as well as improved merchandise margin SG&A as a percentage of net sales decreased to 34.0% from 35.2% primarily driven by improvements in occupancy, selling supplies, legal reserve, and product sourcing costs Adjusted EBITDA increased $129.6 million to $375.3 million during the second quarter

04Burlington's value positioning creates a counter-cyclical demand buffer: economic stress on consumers drives trade-down behavior into off-price, while easing inflation helps their core low-income customer, making the business resilient across macro scenarios.