A：The financial highlights of V.F. Corporation's fourth quarter and full year fiscal 2026 include a return to sales growth of 3% for the year, with 70% of the business growing. The company expanded operating margins to 10 basis points in the fiscal year. They paid off over half of their net debt, excluding lease liabilities, reducing it from $5 billion to $2.7 billion. Additionally, the company made strong progress on growth, cost management, and the balance sheet, which led to a reinforced financial position while increasing investment in brand building and product creation.

A：The North Face brand is performing strongly, with revenue up significantly and expanding margins. It grew despite an evolving macro environment, especially in the Americas, where it accelerated growth. The brand plans to continue category growth, market share growth, expansion into new categories, and elevation to more premium versions of existing products. These strategies are expected to drive future growth and leverage the brand's cultural relevancy.

A：The new multi-year strategic partnership between The North Face and Vans is significant as it marks the first time Vans has sponsored athletes across all major events, including the World Cup and Olympic Winter Games. The partnership underlines Vans' commitment to elite mountain and adventure sport athletes and will allow the brand to be prominently featured on the world stage, enhancing its performance credentials.

A：The Timberland brand has shown solid growth, with a 2% increase in the quarter. The brand's DTC channel grew 8%, driven by full price stores. The Premium Boot is a key driver of the brand's momentum, alongside the boat shoe which is experiencing growth across all regions with significant potential ahead. The brand is focusing on both continuing the success of the iconic boot and introducing innovation in the rest of the footwear assortment, as well as resetting the apparel proposition to create a better head-to-toe expression. The brand is also focusing on women's business and driving energy through collaborations, seeding, and partnerships. The plans also include expanding the brand's reach with new full price stores and an improved operating model.

A：In its fourth quarter, Vans achieved a decrease of 5% globally, but notably in the Americas, the DTC channel grew significantly. The brand's performance is attributed to product innovation and brand energy advancements. For fiscal year 2027, Vans expects a second consecutive year of growth and strong progress toward its mid-term operating margin goal. Although the first quarter is traditionally small for the year and has no impact on annual guidance, the company remains confident in its forecasting abilities and is reinstating annual guidance. The brand expects a mid-single-digit decline for the full year and a stronger back half compared to the front half. Despite challenges in the wholesale business, the focus remains on accelerating DTC and developing a robust global wholesale growth engine.

A：The company expects to see more growth and better margins, continuing the pattern set in the past two years, and plans to grow in fiscal year 27 with continued profitable growth.

A：The main focuses of the company's turnaround strategy include finding gross margin, controlling inventory, and generating top line growth, with all three progressing in parallel to fuel further growth and strong EBITDA.

A：The progress in gross margin expansion has been attributed to strengthening the product creation engine and inventory planning capabilities, resulting in better decisions across the business. This has driven a stronger mix of higher-margin products, targeted pricing actions, and sharper markdowns.

A：Structural savings, amounting to more than 225 million excluding Dickies, have been a significant achievement as they represent sustainable cost reductions not reliant on temporary measures. These savings have been realized through actions to simplify the organization, drive efficiencies, and optimize digital and technology expenses.

A：The company's strategic approach involves segmenting consumer demand to make clear choices about where each brand should focus and when. This commitment to understanding consumer demand shapes the design and curation of relevant experiences for consumers, aiming to deliver the right products at the right time.

A：Speed is a critical enabler in the company's growth strategy. The ability to act quickly, such as in the faster development of products and more efficient operations, has allowed the company to bring new products to market sooner and to better align with consumer demand, ultimately driving improved performance and brand energy.

A：The company's priorities moving forward include continuing to expand gross margins, maintaining cost discipline, and accelerating growth across its brands. The company is encouraged by the momentum seen in the business, and ongoing efforts are directed towards gross margin expansion and efficient growth management.

A：To address external challenges, the company is leveraging scale with carriers and partners to drive cost discipline across the supply chain, consolidating materials across brands, reviewing pricing strategies, and closely monitoring sourcing and logistics. The company has contingency plans in place and operates with extreme flexibility to manage potential impacts from tariffs.

A：Future growth opportunities in fiscal year 24 include the potential for outsized growth in the DTC channel leading to higher profitability and fixed cost leverage. The company is also focusing on top line growth with an efficient marketing approach, and incremental optimization opportunities from AI across its brands and corporate functions.

A：The company projects another year of growth and operating margin expansion as it advances towards medium-term targets. Revenue is expected to be up in the range of $Ed to $Ed in constant dollars by brand. It anticipates continued growth at The North Face, Timberland, and Ultra, driven by ongoing investments in product and marketing. It expects Van to deliver moderating declines for the year with improving trends in H2 relative to H1.

A：The North Face, Timberland, and Ultra are expected to continue their growth trajectory, while Van is expected to deliver moderating declines for the year as a whole, with an improvement in trends in H2 relative to H1.

A：The first half of the year is expected to show slower top-line trends due to the slowdown in the Middle East and Europe due to the war, company-specific trends, and timing shifts in wholesale, which can have a disproportionate effect, especially in Q1.

A：Vans feels positive about the direction of the business in the Americas, with underlying momentum translating into tangible improvements, particularly in DTC where it leads to recovery. For the full year, Vans expects a decline in the mid single digits compared to a decline of minus phi in Ed and down Hood in fiscal Ly.

A：The company is making additional investments in inventory support to drive top-line growth, and as a result, inventory is expected to be up year over year. This is an intentional decision to invest behind the brands, and they still see overall inventory in the long term heading lower, with inventory days expected to be flat this year and lowering moving forward.

A：For the first quarter, the reported number for Vans is expected to be slightly lower than what was experienced in the first quarter of this year, primarily due to some demand pulling forward some orders into the first quarter.

A：The term refers to the process of rebuilding the demand and order flow into the business distribution channels, which has been a focus area for the company as part of its recovery strategy.

A：The retail performance has improved significantly due to better traffic and conversion rates. The execution at retail has improved with the appointment of a new leader in the fourth quarter, who re-energized the team and focused on execution. The positive performance is expected to continue in the rest of the world as the new leader takes over and brings their performance into the wholesale business in the US over time.

A：The projected free cash flow for this fiscal year is flat to up compared to the previous year, which had a free cash flow of $405 million. This year's projected free cash flow includes a $100 million cash benefit from the termination of the pension, which is not expected to be repeated yearly. Excluding the pension benefit, the projected free cash flow is $305 million, which is an improvement over the previous year's actual free cash flow of $405 million.

A：The expected free cash flow for fiscal year 26 is flat to up compared to the previous year. The actual free cash flow for fiscal year 26 turned out to be $90 million more than the guidance of flat to up, resulting in a total of $495 million.

A：The impact of the pension termination on the company's free cash flow was a cash benefit of about $100 million. This one-time cash benefit is included in the company's free cash flow calculation for this fiscal year.

A：The company's investment in CapEx (Capital Expenditures) for this year is on the growth in price, which is part of the investment discussed for the Timberland growth. This investment is in line with the company's strategy to maintain or improve cash flow compared to the previous year despite these investments.

A：The projected growth for The North Face is at a revenue side about Lycra hood point to growth. This growth is expected to somewhat mitigate the impact of the conflict in the Middle East and contribute to a better financial picture.

A：The strategy for The North Face's growth involves laying a lot of groundwork for long-term sustainable growth across multiple categories around the world. The company is planning for growth to accelerate in the future, but specific timelines were not committed to during the discussion.

A：The strategy for a particular shoe style that is only available in wholesale partners involves testing different ideas quickly and scaling them. The approach includes testing a specific style in wholesale partners, observing the velocity and conversion, and then replicating the results across other channels like DTC stores and online.

A：The decline in wholesale sales in the fourth quarter was related to lower distressed sales. The exact amount of that decline was not specified in the transcript. However, it was mentioned that this decline had an impact on the company's inventory and sales in the beginning of the current fiscal year. The trend of lower distressed sales is suggested to be a positive sign for the company's financial health.

A：Marketing expenses are expected to continue to be strongly invested in, with a slight possibility of reducing them in the future. The company plans to maintain marketing expenses at the high end of the upper quartile of the industry, given their current positive response and results, but eventually, there is a vision to bring those expenses down.

A：Vans is focusing on great product marketing and commercial execution, launching new products that generate significant interest and heat for collaborations, and bringing high-quality products to a broader market. They're also concentrating on strong brand building and low phone marketing that converts into sales.

A：The person who has taken over the Americas region is not named, but it is mentioned that he has done an exceptional job of raising the caliber of play in the region, and his team, including Jacques, has raised the execution level in stores and e-commerce, resulting in better-looking and more responsive websites that sell well.

A：Vans has observed opportunities in the customer base evolution with particular attention to women and a segment known as 'I think we came of age.' The company has doubled down on marketing to this demographic with positive results. They've also broadened their media buy to reach older users and have very specific targets while opening up a bit to ensure awareness among a broader group that wants to buy their products.

A：Vans has taken out $225 million on a run-rate basis, but some of it has been offset by specific and decisive investment decisions and inflation. They expect estimated leverage this year but prefer not to specifically discuss the overall numbers. However, they do see opportunities for gross margin dollars and F dollars going forward.