Bath & Body Works Topped Wall Street Sales Estimates in Q2, but Is Still Not Getting Enough Consumers Through Its Doors

Bath & Body Works Topped Wall Street Sales Estimates in Q2, but Is Still Not Getting Enough Consumers Through Its Doors

Kathryn Hopkins

Wed, August 26, 2026 at 6:51 PM GMT+3 3 min read

• BBWI -1.32%
• ULTA -0.57%

Bath & Body Works sales slipped 2.3 percent in the second quarter, but the retailer topped analysts' estimates on both the top and bottom lines.

Still, Daniel Heaf, chief executive officer of Bath & Body Works, told WWD the company is not performing to its full potential.

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While he continues to implement his strategy of improving its digital capabilities and expanding distribution with the likes of Amazon and Ulta Beauty, the firm's fleet of stores in the U.S. and Canada are not attracting enough customers.

"We're not performing to our own potential," he said in an interview. "But transformations like this take time, and we are exactly where we expected to be. If I think about what we've done over the quarter, I'm really pleased with how the team executed, and we're starting to see that in more tangible evidence. The body care sequential improvement was great. The digital business returned to growth. It's been many years of decline while the rest of the industry has been growing their channel. Amazon more than tripled in the quarter. The macro now is how do we get those proof points to scale in the back half."

Digital sales grew 3 percent during the quarter, returning to growth for the first time in five years, but sales in stores fell 5.4 percent and Heaf acknowledged that the retailer needs to drive more foot traffic.

"We're increasing our marketing in the back half, so you can see Bath & Body Works active in marketing in a way that it never has been before. Then we're going to do more at the lease line. We have 50,000 amazing store associates. They can do more to greet, to introduce the consumer to Bath & Body Works, to create disruption in the mall, so that consumers choose Bath & Body Works, and we earn that visit," he said.

As for his current read on the consumer, he believes that while they haven't stopped spending, they are much more cautious and deliberate in their purchases.

The company reported net sales of $1.5 billion for the quarter ended Aug. 1, a decrease of 2.3 percent compared to a year earlier, but above analysts' estimates of $1.49 billion.

Adjusted earnings per diluted share were 62 cents, around 2.5 times greater that Wall Street forecasts.

The company narrowed its full-year 2026 guidance of net sales to a decline between 4 and 2.5 percent compared to $7.3 billion in fiscal 2025.

At the same time, it raised its full-year 2026 earnings per diluted share guidance to between $3.13 and $3.33 compared to $3.11 in fiscal 2025.

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