J.Jill Q1 sales fall 6% amid margin pressure and tariff costs

J.Jill (NYSE:JILL) reported a 6% decline in net sales for the first quarter of fiscal 2026, falling to $144.4 million from $153.6 million in the year-ago period.

The company’s total comparable sales, which encompass both store and direct-to-consumer channels, dropped 8.7% over the same period.

Direct-to-consumer sales, representing 45.6% of total revenue, decreased 8.3% compared to the prior year.

Gross profit for the quarter fell to $98.7 million, down from $110.4 million in Q1 FY2025, while gross margin contracted to 68.3% from 71.8%.

The company attributed part of the margin pressure to approximately $4.7 million in incremental net tariff costs.

Operating expenses decreased slightly to $89.7 million from $91.1 million in the prior-year quarter, but SG&A as a percentage of net sales rose to 62.1% from 59.3%.

Operating income declined to $8.8 million from $19.1 million, with operating margin narrowing to 6.1% from 12.4%.

Adjusted income from operations was $10.9 million, down from $21.5 million in the prior year.

Interest expense decreased to $1.9 million, while interest income fell slightly to $0.3 million.

The company also recorded an income tax provision of $2.5 million, compared with $5 million in Q1 FY2025, pushing the effective tax rate to 35.2% from 29.8%.

Net income for the quarter was $4.7 million, down from $11.7 million a year earlier.

Diluted earnings per share stood at $0.31, versus $0.76 in the same period of FY2025.

Adjusted net income per diluted share was $0.45 compared to $0.88 previously.

Adjusted EBITDA decreased to $16.7 million from $27.3 million, with margins falling to 11.6% from 17.8%.

Meanwhile, during the quarter, J.Jill opened one new store and closed two, bringing its total store count to 255, up from 249 a year earlier.