Pool products retailer Leslie’s (NASDAQ: LESL) reported Q1 CY2026 results topping the market’s revenue expectations, with sales up 4.3% year on year to $184.7 million. The company’s full-year revenue guidance of $1.18 billion at the midpoint came in 1.7% above analysts’ estimates. Its non-GAAP loss of $5.36 per share was 21.5% below analysts’ consensus estimates.
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Leslie's (LESL) Q1 CY2026 Highlights:
- Revenue: $184.7 million vs analyst estimates of $162.8 million (4.3% year-on-year growth, 13.5% beat)
- Adjusted EPS: -$5.36 vs analyst expectations of -$4.41 (21.5% miss)
- Adjusted EBITDA: -$26.82 million (-14.5% margin, 25.6% year-on-year growth)
- The company reconfirmed its revenue guidance for the full year of $1.18 billion at the midpoint
- EBITDA guidance for the full year is $65 million at the midpoint, above analyst estimates of $60.03 million
- Operating Margin: -20.4%, up from -27.3% in the same quarter last year
- Free Cash Flow was -$60.62 million compared to -$55.76 million in the same quarter last year
- Locations: 950 at quarter end, down from 1,020 in the same quarter last year
- Same-Store Sales rose 6.6% year on year (-6.7% in the same quarter last year)
- Market Capitalization: $14.07 million
PHOENIX, May 13, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Leslie’s, Inc. (NASDAQ: LESL), the largest and most trusted direct-to-customer brand in the U.S. pool and spa care industry serving residential customers and pool professionals nationwide, today announced its financial results for the fiscal second quarter 2026. “Our comprehensive transformation plan delivered measurable results in the second quarter as we position Leslie’s for sustainable profitable growth. Second quarter performance demonstrated the effectiveness of our strategic initiatives, with revenue growth of 4.3%, comparable sales increase of 6.6% and total customer count growth of 8% year-over-year. The early success of our ‘Price Drop’ initiative, launched in March, drove strong transaction growth and customer engagement in the quarter. Importantly, we have funded our price investments through controlled spending and successful cost optimization efforts supporting gross margin expansion in the quarter,” said Jason McDonell, Chief Executive Officer.
Company Overview
Named after founder Philip Leslie, who established the company in 1963, Leslie’s (NASDAQ: LESL) is a retailer that sells pool and spa supplies, equipment, and maintenance services.
Revenue Growth
Examining a company’s long-term performance can provide clues about its quality. Any business can experience short-term success, but top-performing ones enjoy sustained growth for years.
With $1.22 billion in revenue over the past 12 months, Leslie's is a small retailer, which sometimes brings disadvantages compared to larger competitors benefiting from economies of scale and negotiating leverage with suppliers.
As you can see below, Leslie's struggled to generate demand over the last three years. Its sales dropped by 7.8% annually as it closed stores and observed lower sales at existing, established locations.
This quarter, Leslie's reported modest year-on-year revenue growth of 4.3% but beat Wall Street’s estimates by 13.5%.
Looking ahead, sell-side analysts expect revenue to decline by 3.3% over the next 12 months. it’s tough to feel optimistic about a company facing demand difficulties.
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Store Performance
Number of Stores
The number of stores a retailer operates is a critical driver of how quickly company-level sales can grow.
Leslie's operated 950 locations in the latest quarter. Over the last two years, the company has generally closed its stores, averaging 1.1% annual declines.
When a retailer shutters stores, it usually means that brick-and-mortar demand is less than supply, and it is responding by closing underperforming locations to improve profitability.
Same-Store Sales
A company's store base only paints one part of the picture. When demand is high, it makes sense to open more. But when demand is low, it’s prudent to close some locations and use the money in other ways. 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).
Leslie’s demand has been shrinking over the last two years as its same-store sales have averaged 5.8% annual declines. This performance isn’t ideal, and Leslie's is attempting to boost same-store sales by closing stores (fewer locations sometimes lead to higher same-store sales).
In the latest quarter, Leslie’s same-store sales rose 6.6% year on year. This growth was a well-appreciated turnaround from its historical levels, showing the business is regaining momentum.
Key Takeaways from Leslie’s Q1 Results
We were impressed by how significantly Leslie's blew past analysts’ gross margin expectations this quarter. We were also excited its EBITDA outperformed Wall Street’s estimates by a wide margin. On the other hand, its EPS missed. Zooming out, we think this quarter featured some important positives. The stock traded up 32.1% to $1.90 immediately after reporting.
Leslie's put up rock-solid earnings, but one quarter doesn’t necessarily make the stock a buy. Let’s see if this is a good investment. 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).
