Caleres, Inc. (NYSE:CAL) Q1 2024 Results Earnings Conference Call May 30, 2024 11:00 AM ET
Company Participants
Logan Bonacorsi - Vice President of Investor Relations
Jay Schmidt - President and Chief Executive Officer
Jack Calandra - Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Conference Call Participants
Ashley Owens - KeyBanc Capital Markets
Dana Telsey - Telsey Advisory Group
Mitch Kummetz - Seaport Global
Operator
Good morning and welcome to Caleres First Quarter 2024 Earnings Conference Call. My name is Christine, and I will be your conference coordinator. [Operator Instructions] As a reminder, this conference is being recorded.
At this time, I will turn the call over to Logan Bonacorsi, Vice President of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.
Logan Bonacorsi
Good morning. And thank you for joining our first quarter 2024 earnings call and webcast.
A press release with detailed financial tables as well as our quarterly slide presentation are available at caleres.com.
Please be aware that today's discussion contains forward-looking statements, which are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially due to various risk factors, including, but not limited to, the factors disclosed in the company's Form 10-K and other filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Please refer to today's press release and our SEC filings for more information on risk factors and other factors which could impact forward-looking statements. Copies of these reports are available online.
In discussing the results of our operations, we will be providing and referring to certain non-GAAP financial measures. You can find additional information regarding these non-GAAP financial measures, as well as others used in today's earnings release, on our presentation on the Investors section of our website.
The company undertakes no obligation to update any information discussed in this call at any time.
Joining me on the call today are Jay Schmidt, President and CEO, Jack Calandra, Senior Vice President and CFO. We will begin this morning's call with our prepared remarks, and thereafter, we will be happy to take your questions.
I would now like to turn the call over to Jay. Jay?
Jay Schmidt
Thank you, Logan. And good morning, everyone. I'm pleased to report that Caleres started the year in strong fashion, delivering solid financial results, making important progress against key strategic initiatives and investing carefully and deliberately for the long term.
In total, we achieved earnings per share of $0.88, exceeding our expectations and providing a solid foundation for the year. While our first quarter sales were slightly below our expectations, declining less than 1% year-over-year, we generated stronger-than-expected gross margins, which led to bottom line strength. In fact, the consolidated gross margin of 47% represented a first quarter record for the company.