CitiTrends Announces Fourth Quarter and Fiscal 2025 Results
SAVANNAH, Ga.--( BUSINESS WIRE)--Citi Trends, Inc. (NASDAQ: CTRN), a leading off-price value retailer of apparel, accessories and home trends primarily for Black families in the United States, today reported results for the fourth quarter and full year ended January 31, 2026. For purposes of comparison, unless otherwise stated, metrics in this release are compared to the 13-week quarter and 52-week full year ended February 1, 2025.
Chief Executive Officer Comments
Ken Seipel, Chief Executive Officer, said: “Our fourth quarter results cap a transformational year for CITITRENDS. We delivered 8.9% comparable store sales growth in Q4, or 15.3% on a two-year basis, marking our sixth consecutive quarter of positive comps. For the full year, comparable store sales increased 9.7%, reflecting strong customer traffic and broad-based growth across our stores, geographies, and merchandise categories. This momentum has continued into 2026, with Q1 quarter-to-date comparable store sales trending in the high-single digits.
Fiscal 2025 was about strengthening the foundation of the business and building the operational infrastructure needed for sustained profitable growth. We expanded net income by $48.4 million compared to fiscal 2025 to $5.2 million, expanded adjusted EBITDA* by $26 million year-over-year to $11.8 million, improved gross margin by more than 200 basis points, and delivered meaningful SG&A leverage. We believe these results validate the strategic actions we have taken to refocus the business on the Black customer – the center of everything we do, to sharpen our merchandise assortments, and to improve operational execution across the company.
In fiscal 2026, our priorities are: consistent execution, sales flow through to profit and accelerated growth. For the year, we are targeting mid to high-single digit growth in total sales and continued margin expansion, and we expect to position the company to deliver adjusted EBITDA* of $34 million to $38 million this year, which more than doubles our profit performance from fiscal 2025.
With improving traffic trends, stronger operational discipline, and a clear path forward, we believe CITITRENDS is well positioned to continue driving profitable growth and shareholder value.”
Financial Highlights – Fourth Quarter 2025
Financial Highlights – Full Year 2025
Capital Return Program Update
In the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025, the Company did not repurchase any shares of its common stock. During fiscal 2025, the Company repurchased 250,555 shares of its common stock at an aggregate cost of $6.3 million. At the end of fiscal 2025, $40.0 million remained available under the Company’s share repurchase program.
Fiscal 2026 Outlook
Beginning in 2026 the Company will update its definition of adjusted EBITDA and adjusted SG&A to include an addback of equity-based compensation expense because equity-based compensation is a non-cash expense that the Company does not use to assess core profitability. The Company believes excluding equity-based compensation will improve comparability and provide greater transparency of cash generated from operations.
For reference, in fiscal 2025 this expense was $1.0 million in Q1, $1.5 million in Q2, $1.5 million in Q3 and $1.4 million in Q4, totaling $5.4 million for the year. In fiscal 2026, equity-based compensation expense is expected to be in the range of $5.5 million to $6.0 million. The adjusted EBITDA and adjusted SG&A information provided within this “Fiscal 2026 Outlook” section, including prior year results, have been adjusted to reflect this change.
The Company’s outlook for fiscal 2026 compared to fiscal 2025 is as follows:
Investor Conference Call and Webcast
CITITRENDS will host a conference call today at 9:00 a.m. ET. The live broadcast of CITITRENDS’ conference call will be available online at the Company’s website, cititrends.com, under the Investor Relations section, beginning today at 9:00 a.m. ET. The online replay will follow shortly after the call and will be available for replay for one year.
The live conference call can also be accessed by dialing (877) 407-0779. A replay of the conference call will be available until March 24, 2026, by dialing (844) 512-2921 and entering the passcode, 13756478.
During the conference call, the Company may discuss and answer questions concerning business and financial developments and trends that have occurred after quarter-end. The Company’s responses to questions, as well as other matters discussed during the call, may contain or constitute information that has not been disclosed previously.
*Non-GAAP Financial Measures
The historical non-GAAP financial measures discussed herein are reconciled to their corresponding GAAP measures at the end of this press release. The Company is unable to provide a full reconciliation of the forward-looking non-GAAP financial measures above without unreasonable effort because it is not possible to predict certain of the adjustment items with a reasonable degree of certainty. This information is dependent upon future events and may be outside of the Company’ control and its unavailability could have a significant impact on its financial results.
About CITITRENDS
Citi Trends, Inc. is a leading off-price value retailer of apparel, accessories and home trends primarily for Black families in the United States. The Company operates 592 stores located in 33 states. For more information, visit cititrends.com or your local store.
Forward-Looking Statements
All statements other than historical facts contained in this news release, including statements regarding the Company’s future financial results and position, business policy and plans, objectives and expectations of management for future operations and capital allocation expectations, are forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that are subject to material risks and uncertainties. The words “believe,” “may,” “could,” “plans,” “estimate,” “expects,” “continue,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “expect,” “upcoming,” “trend,” “guidance,” “outlook” and similar expressions, as they relate to the Company, are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain such language. Statements with respect to earnings, sales or new store guidance, including under the section “Fiscal Year 2026 Outlook” and our ability to deliver on such financial outlook are forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are subject to the finalization of the Company’s quarter-end financial and accounting procedures, are not guarantees of future performance or results, and are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties, some of which cannot be predicted or quantified. Actual results or developments may differ materially from those included in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors which are discussed in our Annual Reports and Quarterly Reports on Forms 10-K and 10-Q, respectively, and any amendments thereto, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, uncertainties relating to general economic conditions, including inflation, energy and fuel costs, unemployment levels, and any deterioration whether caused by acts of war, terrorism, political or social unrest (including any resulting store closures, damage or loss of inventory) or other factors; changes in market interest rates and market levels of wages; the imposition of new taxes on imports, new tariffs and changes in existing tariff rates; the imposition of new trade restrictions and changes in existing trade restrictions or trade relationships; impacts of natural disasters such as hurricanes; uncertainty and economic impact of pandemics, epidemics or other public health emergencies; transportation and distribution delays or interruptions; changes in freight rates; the Company’s ability to attract and retain workers; the Company’s ability to negotiate effectively the cost and purchase of merchandise inventory risks due to shifts in market demand and to manage inventory shrinkage; the Company’s ability to gauge fashion trends and changing consumer preferences; consumer confidence and changes in consumer spending patterns; competition within the industry; competition in the Company’s markets; the duration and extent of any economic stimulus programs; changes in product mix; interruptions in suppliers’ businesses; risks related to cybersecurity, data privacy and intellectual property; temporary changes in demand due to weather patterns; seasonality of the Company’s business; the results of pending or threatened litigation; delays associated with building, remodeling, opening and operating new stores; and delays associated with building, and opening or expanding new or existing distribution centers. Any forward-looking statements by the Company, with respect to guidance, the repurchase of shares pursuant to a share repurchase program, or otherwise, are intended to speak only as of the date such statements are made. Except as required by applicable law, including the securities laws of the United States and the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Company does not undertake to publicly update any forward-looking statements in this news release or with respect to matters described herein, whether as a result of any new information, future events or otherwise.
Fourth Quarter
2025
2024
2023
$
230,393
$
211,172
$
215,179
(138,463
)
(127,326
)
(130,997
)
(80,033
)
(77,451
)
(74,527
)
(4,937
)
(4,491
)
(4,850
)
(252
)
(701
)
(873
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482
—
—
7,190
1,203
3,931
605
531
1,070
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)
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7,708
1,653
4,923
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)
(15,830
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$
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$
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$
3,551
$
0.91
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$
0.43
$
0.88
$
(1.71
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$
0.42
8,113
8,314
8,238
8,411
8,314
8,380
$
819,962
$
753,079
$
747,941
(495,320
)
(471,036
)
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)
(313,171
)
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10,960
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8,057
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$
66,092
$
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113,515
122,640
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221,775
214,148
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$
100,693
$
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27,934
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172,675
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—
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—
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