Five Takeaways From Our Latest Earnings Release

On Tuesday, we released our second-quarter financial results which showed strong year-to-date revenue growth for the company. Here are five takeaways:

1. Our second-quarter revenue grew by 6 percent and our year-to-date revenue by 5 percent* based on broad-based growth across regions and channels. Based on our strong performance, we’ve raised our revenue growth guidance for the year.
2. Women’s has become a $1 billion business for us. Specifically, it grew by 24 percent this past quarter alone. That marks the eighth consecutive quarter of growth since we relaunched our women’s line in 2015.
3. Europe is hot. Revenue was up 20 percent this quarter, making it our strongest region for growth. All European markets grew, delivering double-digit revenue growth in men’s, women’s and across all channels. Women’s alone in Europe increased by a whopping 46 percent this quarter, and tops sales overall jumped up by 48 percent.
4. Tops are top. Overall, tops has proven to be big business for us, up 39 percent from last year. This business was the largest driver of our year-over-year increase in total units sold. In particular, our Levi’s® Batwing T-shirt continues to be a runaway success, with more than 3 million sold worldwide in the first half of this year. To put that into context, in Europe — in our retail network alone — we sold one white Batwing tee every 17 seconds during an average week this quarter. Fun fact – this year marks the 50^thanniversary of the Batwing logo.
5. Our direct-to-consumer business is resonating. Our strong execution in retail and ecommerce drove our direct-to-consumer business, which expanded by 13 percent in reported dollars in the second quarter.

As Chip Bergh, president and chief executive officer of Levi Strauss & Co., put it, “Our business is more diversified than ever before, driven by disciplined execution of our long-term growth strategies, and investments in product innovation and the consumer shopping experience. Our strong year-to-date growth reinforces the benefits of a more balanced portfolio as our women’s, tops, direct-to-consumer and international businesses delivered solid results, despite a slight decline in the U.S. wholesale business.”

Read the full press-release at levistrauss.com.

*Reported dollars