Ross Stores, Inc. (ROST) Q2 2027 Earnings Call Transcript

Ross Stores, Inc. ( ROST ) Q2 2027 Earnings Call August 20, 2026 4:15 PM EDT Company Participants James Conroy - CEO & Director William Sheehan - Executive VP & CFO Michael Hartshorn - Group President, COO & Director Conference Call Participants Matthew Boss - JPMorgan Chase & Co, Research Division Lorraine Maikis - BofA Securities, Research Division Corey Tarlowe - Jefferies LLC, Research Division Charles Grom - Gordon Haskett Research Advisors Paul Lejuez - Citigroup Inc., Research Division Michael Binetti - Evercore ISI Institutional Equities, Research Division Alexandra Straton - Morgan Stanley, Research Division Brooke Roach - Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., Research Division Mark Altschwager - Robert W. Baird & Co. Incorporated, Research Division Irwin Boruchow - Wells Fargo Securities, LLC, Research Division Jay Sole - UBS Investment Bank, Research Division Dana Telsey - Telsey Advisory Group LLC Adrienne Yih-Tennant - Barclays Bank PLC, Research Division Krisztina Katai - Deutsche Bank AG, Research Division Aneesha Sherman - Bernstein Institutional Services LLC, Research Division Marni Shapiro - The Retail Tracker Robert Drbul - BTIG, LLC, Research Division Presentation Operator Good afternoon, and welcome to the Ross Stores Second Quarter 2026 Earnings Release Conference Call.

[Operator Instructions] As a reminder, this conference is being recorded.

Before we get started, on behalf of Ross Stores, I would like to note that the comments made on this call will contain forward-looking statements regarding expectations about future growth and financial results, including sales and earnings forecasts, new store openings and other matters that are based on the company's current forecast of aspects of its future business.

These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from historical performance or current expectations.

Risk factors are included in today's press release and in the company's fiscal 2025 Form 10-K and fiscal 2026 Form 10-Q and 8-Ks on file with the SEC.

Now I'd like to turn