Earnings call transcript: Inditex Q2 2025 sees steady growth amid tech investments

Inditex, the parent company of Zara, reported its Q2 2025 earnings, showcasing a moderate increase in sales and income. Total sales rose 1.6% to €18.4 billion, while net income grew by 0.8% to €2.8 billion. According to InvestingPro data, the company maintains strong financial health with an overall score of 2.47 (FAIR), reflecting its robust market position as a prominent player in the Specialty Retail industry. The company’s EBITDA increased by 1.5% to €5.1 billion, with a gross margin reaching 58.3%. Despite these positive results, the stock price remained unchanged at €42.55. Based on InvestingPro’s Fair Value analysis, the stock appears to be trading near its fair value. Notable strengths include the company’s 24-year track record of consistent dividend payments and its strong cash position relative to debt. The company is optimistic about its future, with plans for significant expansion and technological integration.

Key Takeaways

• Sales increased by 1.6% to €18.4 billion.
• Inditex’s net income grew by 0.8%.
• The company rolled out new technology and expanded its product lines.
• Inditex plans significant expansion in the U.S. market.
• The stock price remained stable post-earnings announcement.

Company Performance

Inditex demonstrated steady performance in Q2 2025, with sales and net income showing modest growth. The company’s integrated store and online business model continues to drive its performance, supported by its global diversification and innovative product offerings. Inditex’s expansion into new markets and technology investments are key factors contributing to its growth.

Financial Highlights

• Revenue: €18.4 billion, up 1.6% year-over-year.
• Net income: €2.8 billion, an increase of 0.8%.
• EBITDA: €5.1 billion, up 1.5%.
• Gross margin: 58.3%.
• Operating expenses: increased by 2.2%.

Outlook & Guidance

Inditex expects a 5% annual gross space growth through 2026 and plans to invest €1.8 billion in ordinary capital expenditure in 2025. With a beta of 0.92 and historically low price volatility, as highlighted by InvestingPro analysis, the company offers stability-focused investors an attractive opportunity. InvestingPro subscribers have access to 10+ additional key insights and detailed financial metrics that can help evaluate the company’s growth potential. The company is focusing on expanding its presence in the U.S. market and optimizing store operations. Inditex also announced a dividend of €0.84 per share, payable on November 3, 2025.

Executive Commentary

Óscar García Maceiras, CEO, emphasized the company’s unique model, stating, "We have a unique model that permits us to build upon the increasing levels of differentiation." CFO Andrés Sánchez highlighted the importance of physical stores, saying, "It’s difficult to think of online growth without the physical store presence." Both executives expressed confidence in the company’s broad-based growth across all regions.

Risks and Challenges

• Tariffs and foreign exchange fluctuations pose potential challenges.
• Market saturation and competition in the retail sector.
• Economic uncertainties could impact consumer spending.
• Technological integration and supply chain optimization require significant investment.
• Environmental regulations may affect operational costs.

Inditex’s Q2 2025 earnings reflect its strategic investments and market expansion efforts, positioning the company for continued growth. As the company navigates complex market conditions, its focus on innovation and technology integration remains pivotal to sustaining its competitive edge. The company’s current P/E ratio suggests premium pricing relative to near-term earnings growth, though its strong financial metrics and market position continue to attract investor interest. For a comprehensive analysis of Inditex’s valuation and growth prospects, investors can access the detailed Pro Research Report available on InvestingPro.

Full transcript - Industria de Diseno Textil SA (ITX) Q2 2025:

James O’Shaughnessy, Investor Relations, Inditex: Good morning to everyone today. A warm welcome to all those taking part in our half-year 2025 results presentation. My name is James O’Shaughnessy, Investor Relations. The presentation today will be led by Inditex’s CEO, Óscar García Maceiras, our CFO, Andrés Sánchez, and Gorka Garcia-Tapia, Director of Investor Relations. Following the presentation, we will have a Q&A session commencing with the questions received over the phone, followed by questions received on the webcast platform. Let’s take the disclaimer as read. Over to you, Óscar.

Óscar García Maceiras, CEO, Inditex: Good morning. Welcome to our results presentation. It’s good to be with you all today. In the first half of 2025, we have again achieved a solid performance with satisfactory sales in a complex market environment and keeping strong levels of profitability. The phasing execution accomplished by our teams demonstrates the strength of Inditex’s business model. This business model continues to be driven by our unique fashion proposition and increasingly optimized customer experience, our focus on sustainability, and the quality and commitment of our teams. These factors continue to enhance our competitive differentiation. Our spring/summer collections have been well received by customers. We had a satisfactory sales growth of 1.6%. Sales in constant currency increased by 5.1%. It’s evident from the figures we are providing this morning that the execution of the business model has also been strong, reflected in the good gross margin performance and by disciplined cost control.

At the bottom line, net income increased 0.8% to €2.8 billion. This satisfactory performance has continued going into the second half of the year. Store and online sales in constant currency between the 1st of August and the 8th of September grew 9%. Our diversified presence across 214 markets, in conjunction with a relatively low market penetration in most of these markets, underpins our belief in the significant global growth opportunities we have ahead of us. This confidence comes from the fact that we have a unique model that permits us to build upon the increasing levels of differentiation we have seen in recent years. Now, let’s move to Andrés to go over the numbers.

James O’Shaughnessy, Investor Relations, Inditex: Thanks, Óscar. As you have seen in the report released early this morning, Inditex executed in a very consistent manner in the first semester of 2025. Sales performed well at +1.6%. Furthermore, by actively managing our supply chain, we have been able to generate a very good gross margin performance. In line with what we saw in the first quarter results, operating expenses in the first half have been closely monitored. EBITDA, in turn, increased 1.5% to reach €5.1 billion. Net income grew by 0.8% to €2.8 billion. On the top line, I’ll point out that sales reached +1.6% to reach €18.4 billion. In constant currency, that translates to +5.1%. We saw consistent growth in sales in our integrated model across both channels. At current exchange rates, we expect a -4% top-line currency impact for the full year 2025.

We enjoy a presence in 214 markets, as well as a low market share in the vast majority of these markets. It should also be pointed out that the sector as a whole continues to be very fragmented. It is due to these factors that we see continued growth for Inditex over the medium to long term. In constant currency, all geographical areas had a positive sales evolution. In the first half of 2025, gross profit increased 1.5% to reach €10.7 billion. The gross margin reached 58.3%. This gross margin performance serves as a demonstration of the good execution of the business model over the period, despite a challenging market environment. Based on the data we have at our disposal right now, for the full year 2025, we expect a stable gross margin of ±50 basis points.

As you can see throughout the half-year, we have been able to maintain firm control over operating expenses across the business. Operating expenses increased 2.2% in the first six months of 2025. It is worth highlighting that the PBT margin came in at 19.6%. Operating working capital remains negative as a result of the business model. The development of operating working capital is very much aligned with the performance of the business over the period, as you would expect. In conjunction with the satisfactory operating performance we have seen in the first semester, Inditex’s inventory as of July 31 was 3% higher. It is important to note that the closing inventory at the end of the trading period was of high quality. As you can see from this slide, we continue to generate very strong levels of cash flow. Funds from operations increased 5% to €3.7 billion.

Capital expenditure reached €1.3 billion, reflecting the ordinary and extraordinary investments in 2025, focused on ensuring future growth. Cash flow in the period was impacted by the calendar of payments coming from the normalization of supply chain conditions over the last year relating to the Red Sea. Now, over to you, Gorka.

Gorka Garcia-Tapia, Director of Investor Relations, Inditex: Thank you, Andrés. As Óscar and Andrés have alluded to already, we are content with the performance of the group in the first half of 2025 and with the overall execution of the model over the period. The global rollout of the optimization program continues to take place. As per usual, we are, of course, referring to new store openings, refurbishments, enlargements, and absorptions. It may interest you to know that sales in constant currency have been positive across all concepts over the period. To give you a taste of what we’ve been doing in the first six months of this year, Inditex opened stores in 35 different markets all across the globe. Each of the concepts, with no exception, are participating in the global growth plan. We continue to expand our concepts into new markets. Stradivarius entered Austria in July with a store in Vienna.

Tomorrow, 11th of September, Oasis opens its first store in the Netherlands in Amsterdam Kalverstraat. Finally, Manchester Trafford Centre is a good example of our active store optimization program. Taking advantage of a large real estate opportunity, Zara and Pull&Bear there have all relocated to new stores with larger footprints, while Bershka has opened its first store in the mall. We’ll go into more detail as to some of these activities shortly. Now, back to you, Óscar.

James O’Shaughnessy, Investor Relations, Inditex: Thank you, Gorka. Our objective has always been to continually strengthen and reinforce the key pillars of our highly integrated business model. As has always been the case, our first priority is to enhance the appeal of our commercial proposition. After all, it is the creativity, innovation, design, and quality of our collections that will determine our success going forward. Thanks to our more than 700 designers and our prototype teams, every meticulous detail in the design process is taken care of, enabling us to offer the highest quality fashion to customers in all corners of the globe. The end result of our unique approach is the integration of the physical with the online experience in a seamless manner that permits us, across multiple formats, to rapidly react to changing fashion trends and offer the latest collections.

With our integrated store and online model, our teams have been able to take advantage of the growth opportunities we see across all channels, concepts, and markets. Underlining this consistent level of growth are the new openings, the enlargements, and the refurbishments of stores in the very best locations, expanding into new cities and into new territories, and launching new services that enhance the customer’s shopping experience. As Gorka has already mentioned, in August, Zara relocated to a new store in Manchester Trafford Centre, which has dedicated spaces for our collections, including Zara Athletics, which offers customers a sportswear fashion footprint. Another example is the recent reopening of our store in Madrid Serrano.

This iconic location includes our third The Apartment, a new way of interacting with our customers, also available in Compostela-Coruña and Rue du Bac Paris, that offers the premium part of our Zara and Zara Home collections in a highly curated way. The rollout of the SoftTag program at Zara was completed last year. This program adds to the existing in-store technology ecosystem with click-and-collect silos, assisted checkouts, and drop-off points and sorters. We are using this as a springboard for the further integration of the online platforms with our increasingly digitalized stores for the years to come. The technology is being rolled out currently in Bershka and Pull and Bear. Within the Bring Your Bag initiative, and thanks to the reuse of shopping bags by our customers, we have reduced their consumption in our stores by 49%.

In addition, we are investing the equivalent full amount raised from charging for recycled paper bags and envelopes in environmental projects in over 30 countries, in partnership with nonprofit organizations such as Conservation International and WWF. Recently, we have formalized a new program in collaboration with the international environmental organization, OZON Conservancy, aimed at the protection of marine ecosystems and biodiversity. This agreement includes the removal of more than 450 tons of plastics from beaches and areas of high environmental value, the collection of nets and fishing gear abandoned in the oceans, and the promotion of zero-waste projects for the collection and recovery of waste. With a view to Inditex’s long-term growth potential, in the current year, we are planning investments that will scale our capabilities, generate efficiencies, and increase our competitive differentiation.

The growth of annual gross space in the period 2025 to 2026 is expected to be around 5%. Over this same time period, Inditex expects net space to be positive, along with strong online sales. For 2025, we estimate ordinary capital expenditure of approximately €1.8 billion. We continue to focus the ordinary capital expenditure on our global store base, the online platform, and the rollout of technology programs aimed at enhancing the level of integration. As we have already shared in recent results presentations, given our view on Inditex’s strong long-term growth opportunities, we are in the process of executing the logistics expansion plan set for 2024 and 2025. This two-year extraordinary investment program, focusing on the expansion of the business, allocates €900 million per year to increase logistic capacities in each of the 2024 and 2025 financial years. The logistics expansion plan is on track.

The Zaragoza II Distribution Centre is now up and running. Our centers have the highest standards of sustainability and cutting-edge technology. We focus on productivity and team well-being. In July, Inditex invested in Tecker Robotics, a startup developing AI-driven logistics automation. A brief reminder on the dividend. The final dividend payment for 2024 of €0.84 per share will be made on the 3rd of November 2025. I would like to finish with a comment on our current performance. Autumn/winter collections continue to be very well received by our customers. Store and online sales in constant currency increased 9% between the 1st of August and the 8th of September 2025 versus the same time period of 2024. Thank you all for attending this results presentation. That concludes our presentation for today. We would be happy to answer any questions you may have. The telephone Q&A session starts now.

If you would like to ask a question, please press star five on your telephone keypad. If you wish to withdraw your question, please press star five again. We request that you limit yourself to only one question per turn so we can maximize the number of participants in the session. If you have further queries, you may press star five again after the next person’s question has been addressed. Please ensure your phone is not on mute. The first question comes from Geoff Lowery from Redburn (Europe) Limited. Go ahead, Geoff.

Geoff Lowery, Analyst, Redburn (Europe) Limited: Good morning, team. It’s not often that Inditex comments on markets, but you’ve used the interesting phrase of complex. Can you help us understand more exactly what you mean by that? Is it what you’re seeing from the consumer? Is it a comment on supply chain or tariffs? Just help us understand a little bit more, please. Thank you.

Andrés Sánchez, CFO, Inditex: Thank you, Jeff. When we’re talking about market and challenging conditions, we’re really talking about the market as a whole. For example, the tariffs and the trade wars and the consequence of the FX swings that we’ve seen over the period. We’re really just highlighting that in any case, what we are also liking to mention is the fact that as you’ve seen the performance of the group in the quarter and the resulting gross margin, which we think is a good reflection of the strong execution of the unique business model that we have, we’ve been able to somehow overcome all of those headwinds. Thank you.

James O’Shaughnessy, Investor Relations, Inditex: The next question comes from Ann Crichlow from Berenberg. Go ahead, Ann.

Ann Crichlow, Analyst, Berenberg: Thank you for that question. Good morning. I have a question on Bershka because I believe it’s stepping up expansion at this point. I’m just wondering if there are any regions or countries where you think Bershka wouldn’t be relevant, and which countries and regions are the focus for store openings in the short to medium term. Thanks.

Andrés Sánchez, CFO, Inditex: Great. Thank you, Ann. I mean, with regards to Oysho, you know, we’ve talked about the fact that it already has an international presence. It originated with more focus in its heritage markets of Spain, Portugal, and also Mexico. Currently, it has presence in 18 markets, and we are testing Oysho in a series of other markets. We’ve also reported today, as you’ve seen in the note, that Oysho currently has 210 stores versus last year’s store count, which was about 198 stores. We’re just growing as we are with all concepts, with a lot of opportunities that we see on a project-by-project basis. Thank you.

James O’Shaughnessy, Investor Relations, Inditex: The next question comes from Monique Pollard from Citi. Go ahead, Monique.

Ann Crichlow, Analyst, Berenberg: Hello, morning. Thank you for taking my question. My question is just coming back to this point of, you know, the strength of the gross margin in the second quarter or stability over the first half. I guess, you know, as you point out, given the headwinds from the tariffs, etc., that has come in quite a bit better than expected. Just wondered if you could talk a bit about what you have done to manage the tariff impact, you know, if there have been some consumer-focused price increases in the US, negotiations with suppliers, etc.

Andrés Sánchez, CFO, Inditex: Hi, thank you, Monique. Great. With regards to tariffs, first of all, I’d like to say that the current environment is difficult to predict, and we’re, of course, continuously monitoring the situation, and it’s quite fluid. We generally feel that as a company, we have three key tools at our disposal, and I think we’ve talked about this in the past. First of all, you have to consider that we are a global company, and therefore we have a lot of experience related to tariff regimes and changes of tariff regimes. The second one is one point that we always highlight, that we have a very broad-based diversification, both in terms of sales as well as in the sourcing. I think this is a great advantage for us to manage all of these issues.

Finally, of course, the flexibility of the business model, which is also leveraged on that proximity sourcing that we always highlight. With regards to the tariffs in the U.S. specifically, we have a stable pricing policy that we’re always talking about. Of course, all pricing activity, be it in the U.S. or any other geography, is primarily driven by commercial decisions, not financial ones. What we try to do in every market is maintain our relative position. With all that in mind, we’re quite confident with regards to the gross margin guidance for the year of plus minus 50 basis points. Thank you.

James O’Shaughnessy, Investor Relations, Inditex: The next question comes from Sreedhar Mahamkali from UBS. Go ahead, Sreedhar.

Various Analysts, Analysts, UBS, BNP Paribas Exane, Jefferies LLC, RBC Capital Markets: Good morning. Thanks for taking my question. I guess if you could talk a little bit about online versus stores, clearly the last couple of years online has been growing considerably faster than stores. Do you think that that needs to continue? As a result of the space growth we see this year, is it a good proxy for the medium term as well, please? Thank you.

Andrés Sánchez, CFO, Inditex: Great, thank you, Sreedhar. As you know, we have a fully integrated business model. The reason I mention this is because it’s difficult to think of online growth without the physical store presence. You really have to see it as a whole and not try to separate both channels. For us, really, we feel that it is one a consequence of the other. If you think of, for example, online sales without a store or store sales without online, it’s difficult for us because of that fully integrated business model. What you should consider is that we continue growing and we see great opportunities of growth in both channels, in all markets, and throughout all concepts. Thank you.

James O’Shaughnessy, Investor Relations, Inditex: The next question comes from Warwick O’Keynes from BNP Paribas Exane. Go ahead, Warwick.

Various Analysts, Analysts, UBS, BNP Paribas Exane, Jefferies LLC, RBC Capital Markets: Thanks, Jeff. Morning, everyone. Perhaps you could just talk a bit more about the growth in the Americas region in the half, and in particular, just going back to March 2023, when you said that you’d have at least 30 expansion projects in the U.S. over three years. Are you on track to meet that number? Thank you.

Óscar García Maceiras, CEO, Inditex: Thanks for the question. The growth of the group is broad-based across all regions and concepts. As you know, the US is a very relevant market for us, and we continue to see opportunities to keep on executing that strategy of selective growth in the market. In 2025, we remain very active in the US. In June, for instance, we relocated to a new flagship store in LA, the Grove, with significantly more space and upgraded customer experience. Some additional projects have already been executed, including another opening in Boston, Cambridge Side Mall, or relocations, New York, Hudson Yards. More projects for the rest of the year will be new openings, Las Vegas, foreign shops in Caesar’s, our new Zara Men stand-alone store in Costa Mesa, or enlargements like Boston Newbury or Austin, Texas.

For 2026, we are planning very relevant initiatives, refurbishments in iconic stores like New York, Fifth Avenue, new openings, for instance, the 400 Post Street, our new flagship store in San Francisco, or the opening of the store in Charlotte that will imply the opening of our estate number 26 with stores in the US. Of course, all of them combined with a solid, very solid performance of our online platform in the States. We keep on exploring new opportunities for sure in the market for our different formats. Thank you.

James O’Shaughnessy, Investor Relations, Inditex: The next question comes from James Robert Grzinic from Jefferies LLC. Go ahead, James.

Various Analysts, Analysts, UBS, BNP Paribas Exane, Jefferies LLC, RBC Capital Markets: Thank you, James. Morning all and congratulations. Just had a quick one. I appreciate your guidance around gross margin, but I was wondering, when I think about the timing of supply chain cost deflation, FX tailwind building on sourcing, product cost deflation, should I be thinking that these start properly building in the current autumn-winter ranges that are hitting the stores now? I’d be curious on your thoughts about that dynamic and the timing of that, please.

Andrés Sánchez, CFO, Inditex: Great. No, that’s a good question. I think from our perspective, what we see is that, in general, the demand of our collection has always been driven by the ability of us to be able to execute the business model. That’s how we’re thinking about the second half of the year. I get your point with regards to, for example, FX, but you have to also consider that though we do have sourcing in US dollar, we have somewhat of a natural hedge on the sales side as well, which is what gives us a little bit of confidence when we’re talking about a stable gross margin of plus minus 50 basis points. Thank you.

James O’Shaughnessy, Investor Relations, Inditex: The next question comes from Richard B. Chamberlain from RBC Capital Markets. Go ahead, Richard.

Various Analysts, Analysts, UBS, BNP Paribas Exane, Jefferies LLC, RBC Capital Markets: Thanks, James. Morning, guys. I just had a question on working capital, please. I wondered if you could just explain the drivers of the working capital outflow that you’ve seen in the first half in the cash flow statement, in particular the change in current liabilities. It’s an €811 million cash outflow by the looks of it in the first half. Thanks a lot.

Óscar García Maceiras, CEO, Inditex: Thank you for your question. As we have explained during the presentation, this decline was driven primarily by the normalization of our supply chain conditions over the last year related to the Red Sea. This has led to more normal payments during the period compared to the same period of last year. As we had explained during the fiscal year 2024 results, this would also explain why inventory levels have also fluctuated over the last two years. A slight shift in timing. This impact will normalize next year. Thank you.

James O’Shaughnessy, Investor Relations, Inditex: We’re going to move over to the webcast questions now. There are a couple of questions, a few questions we’ve had today. The first of which relates to the new flagship store in Manchester. You recently opened a new flagship store in Manchester. Can you give us some color on this and your general view on the UK, please?

Óscar García Maceiras, CEO, Inditex: Thanks for the question. The UK is, of course, a very relevant market for us. We continue to see very good opportunities to keep on growing both for Zara and the other concepts in different locations. After recent relevant projects in cities like Liverpool or Birmingham and our recent flagship stores for Pull&Bear, Massimo Dutti, and Oasis in Oxford Street, London, we have taken advantage of a large real estate opportunity in Manchester Trafford Centre, as we mentioned during the presentation. This opportunity is allowing us to expand our Zara store over 40%, relocate Pull&Bear, open Bershka, and in the coming months, also to relocate our Stradivarius store. The experience of our customers has significantly improved as we are offering our different collections with the state-of-the-art technology that includes silos for online orders and returns and assisted checkout areas.

For 2026, we will continue to be very active in the UK with plans, for instance, to refurbish some of our iconic stores in London, such as our Zara stores in Bond Street and Brompton Road. Thank you.

James O’Shaughnessy, Investor Relations, Inditex: Thank you, Óscar. The next question on the webcast platform relates more to the younger concepts. Can you explain why some of the younger concepts have been growing quite so strongly recently and provide some color? Thank you.

Óscar García Maceiras, CEO, Inditex: Thank you. We are happy with the performance of our different concepts, of course, including Zara. Our other concepts are performing very well with the ambition of further diversifying our customer base and our product offering. We continue to see additional good opportunities to expand their presence in new markets. We have just mentioned during our presentation two examples: the arrival of Stradivarius and Oasis to Austria and the Netherlands with the opening of our new stores in the Nau Centrum, Vienna, and Kalverstraat, Amsterdam. Another example is Denmark for Bershka that is about to open its first store in that market after having very positive feedback in recent openings of the first stores in Sweden and India.

James O’Shaughnessy, Investor Relations, Inditex: The next question relates more to the technology systems within the stores. Can you provide some more detail on the store technology ecosystem, including sorters, please?

Óscar García Maceiras, CEO, Inditex: As we have mentioned during the call, we are executing many projects to improve the customer experience in our stores thanks to the rollout of SoftTag technology. Some of these projects involve customer-facing technology like assisted checkouts, click-and-collect, and drop-off points. Customers’ feedback, as I have just mentioned with the example of Manchester Trafford, has been very positive with an increasing level of adoption in the different markets. We are also introducing technology that impacts and improves the experience of our team behind the scenes in the stores. One of these technologies which we are rolling out in the stores are our sorters that support some processes that are key in order to make as quick as possible available to customers products that are temporarily outside the commercial floor in the stock rooms or fitting rooms or when new products arrive.

James O’Shaughnessy, Investor Relations, Inditex: The next question on the webcast platform relates to the trading update. We’ve obviously had a good trading update of 9% going into the second half of the year. Can you provide some color on this, please?

Óscar García Maceiras, CEO, Inditex: Thanks for the question. It’s obvious that we are seeing a positive evolution throughout the year. First quarter plus 4% in constant currency, second quarter plus 6% in constant currency. This morning, we are providing a trading update for the first five weeks of the third quarter plus 9% that reflects an acceleration of the sales. We remain confident about the year ahead and, as always, focused on increasing the differentiation of the business model. The results that we have announced this morning demonstrate the strength of the model that, as we mentioned, in a complex environment, keeps with high levels of profitability.

James O’Shaughnessy, Investor Relations, Inditex: Thank you. That concludes the webcast questions for today.

Óscar García Maceiras, CEO, Inditex: Thank you to all of those participating in the presentation today. For any additional questions you may have, please get in touch with our Investor Relations Department, and we will welcome you back in December for the nine-month 2025 results.

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