Preliminary brief— based on press release only. Full analysis including management tone and Q&A will be added when the transcript is available.

TJX · Q2 2026 Earnings

TJX Companies

Reported August 20, 2025

30-second summary

TJX put up Q2 GAAP EPS of $1.10 against a $0.97–$1.00 guide (+10% above the high end), a +4% consolidated comp vs. +2–3% guided, and a pretax margin of 11.4% vs. a 10.4–10.5% guide — a 90bps beat on the metric management had explicitly framed last quarter as the tariff-impact trough. The supposedly hardest quarter of the year was the easiest, and management raised every full-year metric: EPS to $4.52–$4.57 (from $4.34–$4.43), comp to +3% (from +2–3%), and pretax margin to 11.4–11.5% (from 11.3–11.4%). The signal: tariff mitigation is working better than management itself guided three months ago.

Headline numbers

EPS

Q2 FY2026

$1.10

Revenue

Q2 FY2026

$14.40B

+7.0% YoY

Gross margin

Q2 FY2026

30.7%

Key financials

Q2 FY2026

Metric	Q2 FY2026	YoY	Q1 FY2026	QoQ
Revenue	$14.40B	+7.0%	$13.11B	+9.8%
EPS	$1.10	—	$0.92	+19.6%
Gross margin	30.7%	—	29.5%	+120bps

Guidance

Guidance is issued for both next quarter and the full year. Both may appear below.

Actuals vs prior guidance

Metric	Period	Prior guide	Actual	Δ	Result
EPS	Q2 FY2026	$0.97 to $1.00	$1.10	+$0.10 above high end of guide	Beat
Revenue	Q2 FY2026	not specified	$14.401 billion	No prior guide available for direct comparison; +7% YoY growth demonstrated	Beat
Comparable Sales Growth	Q2 FY2026	+2% to +3%	+4%	+1 percentage point above high end of guide	Beat
Pretax Profit Margin	Q2 FY2026	10.4% to 10.5%	11.4%	+90 basis points above high end of guide	Beat

New guidance

Metric	Period	Guide	YoY
Revenue	FY2026	$59.3 to $59.6 billion	—
EPS	Q3 FY2026	$1.17 to $1.19	—
Revenue	Q3 FY2026	$13.7 to $14.8 billion	—
Comparable Sales Growth	Q3 FY2026	+2% to +3%	—

Changes to prior guidance

Metric	Period	Prior guide	New guide	Δ	Result
EPS	FY2026	$4.34 to $4.43	$4.52 to $4.57	+$0.09 to +$0.14 raise at both ends of range (midpoint +$0.16 or +3.7%)	Raised
Comparable Sales Growth	FY2026	+2% to +3%	+3%	+1 percentage point raise at low end; high end unchanged	Raised
Pretax Profit Margin	FY2026	11.3% to 11.4%	11.4% to 11.5%	+0 to +10 basis points (low end unchanged, high end +10bps)	Raised
Share Repurchase Authorization	FY2026	$2.0 to $2.5 billion	Withdrawn — no replacement	—	Withdrawn

Segment performance

Q2 FY2026

Segment	Q2 FY2026	YoY
Marmaxx (U.S.)	$8.841B	+5.0%
HomeGoods (U.S.)	$2.286B	+9.0%
TJX Canada	$1.381B	+11.0%
TJX International (Europe & Australia)	$1.893B	+13.0%

Platform metrics

Q2 FY2026

Segment	Q2 FY2026
Comparable Sales Growth	+4%
Store Count	5,134
Total Square Footage (millions)	134.4
Inventory per Store YoY Growth	+10%

Profitability

Q2 FY2026

Segment	Q2 FY2026
Pretax Profit Margin	11.4%
SG&A as % of Sales	19.5%
EPS Growth YoY	+15%
Operating Cash Flow (H1)	$2.185 billion

Management tone

Narrative arc: Q1 "Tariff trough ahead, plan reaffirmed" → Q2 "Trough quarter blown past; raising everything."

Three months ago management was operationally specific but tonally measured — Q1 framed Q2 as the most tariff-impacted quarter and built an explicit hedge mark-to-market reversal into the back-half story. This quarter the language shifted hard. Management opened with "I am extremely pleased with our outstanding second quarter performance and our above-planned sales, profit margin, and earnings per share results" and used "extremely confident" or "convinced" multiple times in prepared remarks. That is markedly different from the conditional cadence of the Q1 release, where most forward statements were guarded by "we expect to be able to offset" language. The shift signals that mitigation strategies management was still proving out in May are now considered settled execution.

The tariff narrative itself has been re-cast. In Q1 management framed mitigation as a plan to be executed — "we expect to be able to offset" — with vendor relationships and selective retail adjustment as the levers. This quarter the framing is past-tense and confident: "we are very pleased with our mitigation strategies, which allowed us to offset the tariff pressure we saw in the second quarter." The Q3 pretax margin guide of 12.0–12.1% — even with the year-over-year decline acknowledged — is the analytical proof that management believes the tariff overhang is now baseline-able, not a quarterly drag.

The inventory commentary shifted from defensive to offensive. Q1 framed +7% per-store inventory as "hand-to-mouth buying" with "strategically delayed upfront commitments" — explicitly conservative. This quarter, with inventory per store at +10%, management said "we've been buying into the excellent opportunities for quality branded merchandise we've been seeing in the marketplace." Same metric, opposite framing: in Q1 it was a hedge against tariff uncertainty; in Q2 it's a lean-in to opportunity created by competitor weakness.

Market share language also escalated. Q1 treated it as an incremental tactical benefit of the model. This quarter management said "we are convinced that we have a long runway ahead to capture additional market share worldwide" and quantified it: "1,800 plus stores in just our current countries and Spain." That's a structural claim, not a quarterly observation, and it suggests management sees the current full-price retail softness as a multi-year setup rather than a cyclical window.

Recurring themes management leaned on this quarter:

Consistent comp sales growth across all divisions driven by customer traffic increasesMerchant availability and buying flexibility as core competitive advantageTariff mitigation strategies successfully offsetting inflationary pressuresMarket share capture opportunity in softened retail environmentLong-term store growth potential with 1,800+ unit runway across existing and new marketsTalent depth and off-price expertise as unmatched competitive differentiator

Risks management surfaced:

Foreign exchange headwinds on international translation (partially mitigated)Tariff pressure and assumption that current tariff levels remain in placeMacro and retail environment volatilityExpense timing reversals expected in Q3 (previously benefited Q2)Net interest income pressure (negative impact of 10 basis points on margins)

Answers to last quarter's watch list

Q2 pretax margin lands within the 10.4–10.5% guide — Pretax margin came in at 11.4%, a 90bps beat above the high end of the guide. Not just within guide; effectively above the FY pace. Management cited successful tariff mitigation, favorable markdowns, and flat merchandise margin despite tariff headwinds.

Resolved positively

Marmaxx comp acceleration above consolidated +3% — Marmaxx comp was +3%, in line with consolidated +4% but below the +5% comp Marmaxx posted in the prior-year Q2. The segment did not lead consolidated growth as the bull case required, though segment profit margin still expanded 10bps to 14.2%. Status: Resolved mixed.

Inventory per store trajectory — Up from +7% in Q1 to +10% in Q2, with balance sheet inventory up 14%. Management explicitly framed this as opportunistic — "buying into the excellent opportunities for quality branded merchandise" — rather than receipt build. Consistent with the thesis that tariff disruption is loosening availability.

Resolved positively

HomeGoods margin and comp sustainability — HomeGoods comp accelerated to +5% (from +2% in the prior-year Q2), with segment profit margin up 90bps. Both comp and margin sustainability confirmed at the print.

Resolved positively

Change to the $2.0–$2.5B repurchase pace — Repurchase authorization was reaffirmed at $2.0–$2.5B for FY26, with $1.1B already executed in H1. Status: Resolved — no change.

What to watch into next quarter

Q3 pretax margin lands within or above the 12.0–12.1% guide — this is the metric that would confirm tariff mitigation is structural, not a one-quarter execution win. A miss back below 12% would suggest Q2's beat had non-recurring help (favorable markdowns, expense timing — management flagged Q3 expense reversals as a known headwind).

Whether comp guide upside continues to compress — Q3 comp guided to +2–3% vs. Q2 actual +4%, and FY raised to a point estimate of +3%. If Q3 comp prints +4% again, FY guide will look conservative; if it lands at +2%, management's "long runway" market-share language will face its first real test.

Inventory per store at +10% — does the company harvest the build or extend it? A further step-up (to +13–15%) signals management is doubling down on availability opportunities; a deceleration toward Q1's +7% suggests the buying window is closing.

International segment durability — Q2's +13% reported revenue growth is FX-aided (+7% constant-currency, +5% comp). Watch for whether Q3 sustains the underlying constant-currency double-digit growth or normalizes; a fade would suggest Q2 had outsized FX or one-time benefits.

Marmaxx comp re-acceleration — Q2's +3% comp underperformed both consolidated +4% and the prior-year Marmaxx +5%. With Marmaxx ~61% of revenue, a Q3 acceleration here is needed to support the raised FY +3% comp.

Sources

TJX Companies Q2 FY2026 Earnings Press Release, filed 2025-08-20. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/109198/000010919825000051/tjxq2fy26earningspressrele.htm
TJX Companies Q2 FY2026 Earnings Call — CEO Ernie Herrman and CFO John Klinger prepared remarks and Q&A with Matthew Boss, Brooke Roach, Lorraine Hutchinson, John Kernan, Paul Lejuez, Dana Telsey, Alex Straton, Adrienne Yih, Michael Binetti, and Marni Shapiro.
Tapebrief Q1 FY2026 brief — prior quarter guide baselines for comparison.

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