Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) Q2 2023 Earnings Conference Call August 17, 2023 4:15 PM ET

Company Participants

Barbara Rentler - Chief Executive Officer

Adam Orvos - Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

Michael Hartshorn - Group President and Chief Operating Officer

Conference Call Participants

Matthew Boss - J.P. Morgan

Lorraine Hutchinson - Bank of America

Mark Altschwager - Baird

Chuck Grom - Gordon Haskett

Paul Lejuez - Citigroup

Adrienne Yih - Barclays Capital

Brooke Roach - Goldman Sachs

Dana Telsey - Telsey Advisory Group

Alex Straton - Morgan Stanley

Marni Shapiro - Retail Tracker

Laura Champine - Loop Capital Markets

Edward Yruma - Piper Sandler

Aneesha Sherman - Bernstein

Corey Tarlowe - Jefferies

Krista Zuber - TD Cowen

Jay Sole - UBS

Operator

Good afternoon and welcome to the Ross Stores Second Quarter 2023 Earnings Release Conference Call. The call will begin with prepared comments by management, followed by a question-and-answer session. [Operator instructions]

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 2022 Form 10-K and fiscal 2023 Form 10-Q and 8-Ks on the file with the SEC.

And now I'd like to turn the call over to Barbara Rentler, Chief Executive Officer.

Barbara Rentler

Good afternoon. Joining me on our call today are Michael Hartshorn, Group President, Chief Operating Officer; Adam Orvos, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer; and Connie Kao, Group Vice President, Investor Relations.

We'll begin our call today with a review of our second quarter 2023 performance followed by our updated outlook for the second-half and fiscal year. Afterwards we'll be happy to respond to any questions you may have.

As noted in today's press release, we are pleased with our second quarter results with both sales and earnings well above our expectations. Along with easing inflationary pressures, customers responded well to our improved value offerings throughout our stores. Total sales for the period were $4.9 billion, up from $4.6 billion last year, while comparable store sales rose 5%.