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Gap stock falls as retailer misses sales expectations, warns tariffs will impact profits

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Gap stock falls as retailer misses sales expectations, warns tariffs will impact profits


Gap stock fell in extended trading on Thursday after the company warned tariffs will impact its profits moving forward.

When Gap last reported results in May, it said it expected tariffs to cost between $100 million and $150 million on a net basis, but on Thursday, it said those costs are now going to be between $150 million and $175 million. 

Its full-year operating margin is expected to be between 6.7% and 7%, down from 7.4% in the previous fiscal year, reflecting a tariff impact between 1 percentage point and 1.10 percentage points.

In its current quarter, its expecting its gross margin to be down between 1.5 and 1.7 percentage points, driven by tariff costs.

Beyond tariffs, the specialty apparel company behind Old Navy, Athleta, Banana Republic and its namesake banner delivered mixed results in its fiscal second quarter. Here’s how Gap performed in the quarter compared with what Wall Street was anticipating, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG:

  • Earnings per share: 57 cents vs. 55 cents expected
  • Revenue: $3.73 billion vs. $3.74 billion expected

The company’s reported net income for the three-month period that ended Aug. 2 was $216 million, or 57 cents per share, compared with $206 million, or 54 cents per share, a year earlier. 

Sales rose to $3.73 billion, up slightly from $3.72 billion a year earlier. Sales came in lower than expected and so did comparable sales. During the quarter, comparable sales rose 1%, weaker than the 1.9% rise that analysts had expected, according to StreetAccount.

While Gap, Banana Republic and Old Navy all saw comparable sales rise during the quarter, Athleta dragged down the company’s overall performance with comps down 9%. 

“Clearly, Athleta is a powerful brand in the active space, being the number five brand in the space, but we’re disappointed in the quarter. We have moved away, if you will, from really distinctive performance roots,” CEO Richard Dickson told CNBC in an interview. “We’ve paid a lot of attention, trying to court a new customer, and ultimately didn’t have enough offerings for our core customer. As we balance that out, we’ve been very transparent to say it’s a year of reset for us.” 

Last month, Gap announced that Maggie Gauger, a longtime veteran of Nike, had been tapped as Athleta’s next CEO — the third top executive hired to helm the brand in the last two years. 

The company reaffirmed its fiscal 2025 net sales growth outlook and is continuing to expect revenue to grow between 1% and 2%, in line with estimates of 1.6%, according to LSEG. For the current quarter, Gap is expecting sales to grow between 1.5% and 2.5%, better than the 2% that analysts had estimated, according to LSEG.

To offset the impact of tariffs, Gap is doing what other companies are doing: working with its suppliers, adjusting its sourcing, diversifying its supply chain and taking targeted price increases where appropriate. 

Notably, the company said it doesn’t expect the annualization of tariffs to cause any further declines in operating income in 2026. 

“As it relates to pricing, we’re making targeted adjustments with pricing, as we always do. There isn’t anything that we’ve done that is substantially different,” Dickson said. “We focus on making sure that we’re presenting to our consumer the right value proposition, and ultimately want to make even more sure that we’re sustaining the momentum and market share gains that our playbook has been performing.” 

Just over two years into Dickson’s tenure as Gap’s CEO, the company is in a far different position. It’s seen six straight quarters of comparable sales growth, it’s sitting on a $2.2 billion cash pile and its brands are back at the center of culture and conversation. 

Recently, Gap launched its “Better in Denim” campaign featuring Katseye and Kelis’s 2003 hit “Milkshake.” Dickson said the campaign has been a standout success, delivering 20 million views in the first three days, 400 million total views and 8 billion impressions. It’s also the No. 1 search on TikTok, Dickson said. 

“We could all acknowledge that Gap moved from what was a clothing retailer just a couple years ago, that was overly promotional and didn’t have necessarily a strong voice from a merchandising perspective to consumers, and now today, it is a pop culture brand that’s telling great stories, driving great merchandising initiatives and arguably shaping culture with some of the programs and products and marketing campaigns,” Dickson said. “This is proving that Gap is a powerful pop culture brand, and this is also what our playbook looks like when you get it right.” 

The campaign highlights the efforts Gap is taking to stay competitive in the crucial denim category, especially with Levi’s recent partnership with Beyoncé and American Eagle‘s campaign with Sydney Sweeney. At a time when consumers are pulling back on nice-to-have products like new clothes and accessories, retailers have had to do more to cut through the noise and ensure they’re resonating with consumers. 

Still, as the company continues to make strides in its turnaround plan, Wall Street has come to expect a lot, and Gap has had to work harder to beat expectations. 

During the quarter, its gross margin came in at 41.2%, behind expectations of 41.9%, according to StreetAccount. 

Here’s a closer look at how each brand performed: 

Old Navy: Gap’s largest and most important brand saw sales of of $2.2 billion, up 1% compared with last year. Comparable sales were up 2%, compared with expectations of up 2.2%, according to StreetAccount.

Gap: The namesake banner saw net sales of $772 million, up 1% compared with last year. Comparable sales were up 4%, compared with expectations of 4.1%, according to StreetAccount. Its the seventh consecutive quarter of comparable sales growth.  

Banana Republic: The safari-chic, business essentials brand saw net sales of $475 million, down 1% compared with last year. Comparable sales were up 4%, far ahead of expectations of 0.2%, according to StreetAccount.  

Athleta: The athleisure brand saw sales of $300 million, down 11% compared to last year. Comparable sales were down 9%. The brand’s new CEO is looking to reverse that slump and reconnect with Athleta’s core consumer. 



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Oil price at two-year high after Qatar minister warns all Gulf production could stop

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Oil price at two-year high after Qatar minister warns all Gulf production could stop



Energy Minister Saad al-Kaabi says oil could hit $150 a barrel if the Iran conflict continues over the coming weeks.



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Us India Oil Waiver: ‘Releases the pressure on other refineries’: US says India’s Russian oil waiver is a short-term step to stabilise global prices – The Times of India

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Us India Oil Waiver: ‘Releases the pressure on other refineries’: US says India’s Russian oil waiver is a short-term step to stabilise global prices – The Times of India


The United States has said its decision to grant India a temporary waiver to purchase certain Russian oil supplies is a short-term move aimed at stabilising global crude prices amid supply disruptions linked to tensions in the Middle East.US energy secretary Chris Wright said the measure is intended to quickly bring oil stored in floating reserves into the global market and ease immediate supply constraints.

US Allows India To Buy Russian Oil As Allies Offer Gas Supplies Amid Iran War And Hormuz Tensions

Speaking to ABC News Live, Wright said large volumes of Russian crude are currently stored in tankers around southern Asia and that Washington had encouraged India to buy these cargoes.“We need to get oil on the market in the short term. In the long term, supplies are abundant. There’s no worry there,” Wright said, adding that the temporary step was necessary as oil prices were rising due to constraints in shipments passing through the Strait of Hormuz.“As oil gets bid up a little bit because of those constraints coming out of the Straits of Hormuz, we’re taking a short-term action to say all this floating Russian oil storage that’s around southern Asia,” he said.Wright said the US had asked India to absorb those cargoes. “We’ve reached out to our friends in India and said, ‘Buy that oil. Bring it into your refineries.’ That pulls stored oil immediately into Indian refineries and releases the pressure on other refineries around the world,” he added.He stressed that the waiver does not represent a shift in Washington’s stance toward Moscow. “This is no change in policy towards Russia. This is a very brief change in policy just to keep oil prices down a little bit better than we could otherwise,” Wright said.Earlier in the day, US treasury secretary Scott Bessent announced a 30-day waiver allowing Indian refiners to purchase Russian oil cargoes stranded at sea.“To enable oil to keep flowing into the global market, the treasury department is issuing a temporary 30-day waiver to allow Indian refiners to purchase Russian oil,” Bessent said in a post on X.

Indian refiners step up purchases

Following the waiver, Indian refiners have begun purchasing large volumes of Russian oil floating in Asian waters, reported news agency PTI, citing sources.The companies have snapped up around 20 million barrels of crude, mostly from non-sanctioned entities, though they are seeking legal clarity on whether the exemption also allows purchases from sanctioned firms.The US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control has issued a licence permitting the delivery and offloading of Russian crude loaded on vessels before March 5, 2026, with transactions allowed until April 4, 2026.The move comes as the widening West Asia conflict disrupts energy shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, through which nearly 40–50 per cent of India’s crude imports typically pass.India, which holds reserves covering roughly 25 days of crude demand, has turned to Russian cargoes at sea to ensure domestic fuel supplies remain stable. Indian refiners had already been importing about one million barrels of Russian oil per day in recent months.Industry estimates cited by PTI suggest around 15 million barrels of Russian crude are currently floating in the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, while additional cargoes are waiting near Singapore and other routes that could reach Indian ports within weeks.Analysts say the waiver provides short-term relief for India’s energy security, though competition from other buyers, particularly China, may limit the volume of additional Russian oil available.



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Stock markets tumble as oil prices surge in biggest weekly gain since 2020

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Stock markets tumble as oil prices surge in biggest weekly gain since 2020



Global stock markets have continued to take a hammering as oil prices rocketed in their biggest weekly gain for six years, with no sign of a swift resolution to the conflict in the Middle East.

London’s FTSE 100 Index slumped 1.6% lower at one stage before closing about 130 points, or 1.2%, lower at 10,284.75 on Friday.

Declines were compounded by heavy falls on Wall Street, with the S&P 500 and Dow Jones indexes down about 1.1% after European markets had closed.

Gloomy jobs data in the US were adding to market woes, and there were similar declines across Europe as the Dax in Germany and France’s Cac 40 were both 1.5% down at one stage, before paring back some of the losses to close 0.9% and 0.7% lower, respectively.

By Friday evening, benchmark Brent crude prices shot up by as much as another 10% to 94 US dollars a barrel, reaching levels not seen for three years, after Kuwait reportedly joined Qatar and said it was beginning to halt energy production.

The sharp gains since the US-Israel war with Iran began on Saturday mean oil prices have risen by more than 25% so far this week – the biggest weekly gains since early 2020 at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Comments from US President Donald Trump that there would be no end to the conflict until an “unconditional surrender” of the Iranian regime has further dashed hopes of a de-escalation.

Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB, said: “There is not much to stop (oil) from hitting 100 dollars per barrel in the near term.

“Until the oil price stabilises it’s hard to see how stock markets and bond prices can recover.”

She cautioned over further stock market falls next week.

“If the war continues to escalate over the weekend, we think that markets will continue to sell off, especially after the rapid increase in oil prices today,” she said.

UK Government borrowing costs have also risen sharply this week due to inflation fears.

The yields on 10-year government bonds, also known as gilts, have jumped from 4.27% at the start of the week to 4.62% on Friday, with fears that soaring fuel and energy bills will put paid to further interest rate cuts.

“The rapid repricing of monetary policy expectations and the UK’s history of high energy prices means that UK gilts are particularly vulnerable to this energy price spike,” Ms Brooks said.



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