Ross Stores put a figure on its tariff refunds, and the figure is two thirds of the margin gain it just reported

Two hundred and fifty three million dollars.

That is what Ross Stores says refunded tariffs contributed to a quarter in which operating profit reached $1.1bn, and it is the disclosure that separates this release from most of the ones filed around it. The company puts the benefit at about $0.60 of the $2.66 it earned per diluted share, and at 405 of the 610 basis points by which operating margin improved. Strip the refund out and margin rose 205 basis points, against a plan the company says called for 130 to 150.

Sales for the 13 weeks to 1 August were $6.26bn, up from $5.53bn. Comparable store sales rose 10 percent, which Ross attributes primarily to customer traffic rather than to larger baskets. Net earnings were $851.3m against $508.0m, and diluted earnings per share were $2.66 against $1.56, and against the company's own guidance of $1.85 to $1.93.

Where the money actually shows up

The refund lands in cost of goods sold, and the accounts show it plainly. Sales rose 13.3 percent. Cost of goods sold rose 3.6 percent, from $4,002.2m to $4,145.2m, which moved it from 72.4 percent of sales to 66.2 percent. Selling, general and administrative costs went the other way as a share of the total, edging up from 16.1 percent to 16.2 percent, so the whole of the margin story sits in one line of the statement of earnings.

Walmart filed its own quarterly release the same morning. That document refers to tariff refunds in six separate places, in the group gross profit bullet, in the operating income bullet, in the outlook, in the Walmart U.S. segment, in the Sam's Club segment and in the chief financial officer's quoted paragraph, and it attaches a dollar figure to none of them. Two retailers, the same refunds, one number between them.

The guidance says the refund does not repeat

Ross raised its full-year earnings per share range to $8.61 to $8.77, and stated that the range still includes the $0.60 recognised in the second quarter. The second half is guided at $1.75 to $1.83 for the third quarter and $2.17 to $2.26 for the fourth. That is $3.92 to $4.09 with no refund inside it. Comparable store sales are expected up 6 to 7 percent and then 4 to 5 percent, against what the company calls significantly more challenging year-over-year comparisons.

The store estate keeps growing. Forty seven locations opened during the quarter, 35 Ross and 12 dd's DISCOUNTS, and the full-year opening plan has been raised to 115. There were 2,328 stores at the end of the period, against 2,233 a year earlier.

Buybacks ran to 1.4 million shares for $319m in the quarter, under the two-year $2.55bn authorisation approved in March. The company says it remains on track to repurchase $1.275bn during fiscal 2026.