This article first appeared on GuruFocus .
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Revenue:Q2 sales increased by 3% year-over-year to an all-time high of SEK537 million; local currency growth was 2%.
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Adjusted EBIT:SEK34 million in Q2, up from SEK32 million last year, with an adjusted EBIT margin of 6.4% (up from 6.2%).
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Gross Profit:Increased slightly year-over-year to SEK231 million, with a gross margin of 43.1% (down from 43.7%).
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Overhead Costs:SEK75 million, broadly unchanged from SEK74 million last year, decreasing slightly as a share of sales to 14%.
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Transformation Costs:Approximately SEK6 million absorbed during the quarter, primarily related to external consultants and temporary parallel systems.
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Cash Position:SEK319 million in cash, with an additional SEK150 million credit facility and no cash amounts drawn at the end of the quarter.
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Inventory:SEK505 million, down slightly from SEK522 million last year.
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Private Brand Share:35% over the last 12 months, unchanged from the previous quarter and compared to 37% a year ago; private brand sales were SEK638 million.
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In-Freight Costs:SEK21 million in the quarter, corresponding to 4% of revenues, unchanged from the same quarter last year.
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Last 12 Months Adjusted EBIT:SEK61 million, corresponding to a margin of 3.3%.
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Release Date: August 21, 2026
For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript .
Positive Points
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Adjusted EBIT improved to SEK34 million in Q2 2026, with margin up to 6.4% from 6.2% year-over-year.
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Sales reached an all-time high of SEK537 million in Q2, growing 3% year-over-year despite operational disruptions.
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Strong financial position with SEK319 million in cash and an undrawn SEK150 million credit facility.
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Pierce 2.0 transformation has driven a 90% increase in sales per white-collar FTE, demonstrating scalability.
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Expansion into new markets and verticals (mountain bike, scooter) shows promising early results with minimal additional resources.
Negative Points
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WMS transition caused significant operational challenges, including a two-day sales backlog and reduced availability, impacting Q2 sales and costs.
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Gross margin declined to 43.1% from 43.7% due to mix effects and active pricing strategy.
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Private brand share fell to 35% from 37% a year ago, with growth slower than targeted due to product portfolio changes.
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Transformation costs of approximately SEK6 million in Q2 and expected to continue, delaying full EBIT improvement.
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E-commerce platform rollout is behind schedule, with larger markets delayed to December/January to avoid disrupting Black Friday sales.
Q & A Highlights
Q: Could you provide more details on why the negative effects from the warehouse management system (WMS) transition will continue into Q3, and what remains to be done during the quarter? A: Goran Dahlin (CEO): There are two main factors. First, it takes time to ramp up productivity and functionality with a completely new WMS, as operators need to learn the new system. Second, we had a significant backlog in both outbound and inbound orders. While the outbound backlog is almost cleared, the inbound backlog is still affecting product availability and causing stockouts, which will take time to resolve.
Q: What are the main growth drivers for the upcoming expansion phase, and are the new localized websites and scooter/bike categories still too small to be significant? A: Goran Dahlin (CEO): The primary growth driver is defending and growing our established markets, supported by continued online conversion and an expanding rider base. While the new markets and verticals (mountain bike and scooter) are still young, they have shown very promising initial results and are expected to become important contributors to long-term growth.
Q: Can you give guidance on when private label products might return to growth? A: Goran Dahlin (CEO): We target returning to our desired growth rates for private labels during Q1-Q2 next year. The slower growth is due to being too aggressive in removing products and the challenges of introducing new products, which are treated as new by search engines and customers even if they replace existing items. We are seeing early recovery in products we launched first.
Q: Would it be possible to quantify the impact of the WMS transition on Q2 results, particularly regarding the revenue backlog? A: Fredrik Kjellgren (CFO): The primary impact was on the topline, with a backlog of about two days' worth of sales affecting revenue recognition. Additionally, there were impacts on product availability and extra costs, partly included in transformation costs and partly reflected in warehouse productivity within variable costs. We advise using run rates for the cutoff effect between quarters.
Q: Can you clarify the timeline for the full rollout of the new e-commerce platform? A: Goran Dahlin (CEO): Yes, we expect the e-commerce platform rollout to be fully completed in Q1 2027. We are deliberately waiting to launch the larger established markets until December and January to protect the critical Black Friday sales period.
Q: Which are the large markets that will be migrated to the new e-commerce platform in December and January? A: Goran Dahlin (CEO): We are not specifying which markets, but they are our largest markets.
Q: Can you provide any indication of the growth or absolute sales figures for the mountain bike and scooter verticals? A: Goran Dahlin (CEO): It is still very early, and we are not providing specific quantifications. However, we are very satisfied with the promising start of these new verticals.
Q: How is the hiring progressing for the new multi-vehicle verticals, and are you expanding personnel in that area? A: Goran Dahlin (CEO): We do not need to hire new personnel for this. Our operating model is highly scalable, requiring very little additional resources. For example, the mountain bike category is managed by half a person, with 20% of a purchaser's and 20% of a product data manager's time. We also use AI translations, which allows us to enter new markets with minimal extra effort.
For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript .
