Aug 13, 2026 earnings call — Rapid store expansion and strong revenue growth
Total revenue increased 39% year-over-year to MXN 26 billion in the second quarter.
Revenue $1.5B (est $1.4B) · EPS $-0.19 (est $-0.16)
Key quotes
"We have, in addition to the one we opened in Q2, in the past few weeks, we opened an additional two distribution centers, and we expect to open a third one within Q3."
"Total revenue reached MXN 26 billion in the second quarter, up 39% year-over-year."
"On the matter of G&A investment, it has much, much less to do with improving salaries and benefits to employees and much, much more to do, and that's where the core value is, in adding talent and densifying talent in across the board critical areas."
Analyst Q&A 11
gross margin drivers and logistics
Q (Andrew Ruben · Morgan Stanley): What drove the quarter's gross margin improvement, specifically commercial margins and lower transportation costs, and how should we think about forward gross margin outlook?
A: Management said the margin improvement is the sum of many small improvements across SKUs: better scale, input conditions, manufacturing, logistics and price optimization. They expect the trend to likely continue as they scale, but percent margin may be passed to price; the key metric is MXN dollar margin growth. On transportation, they cited ongoing transportation cost optimization and better-managed pre-operating expenses for the DC opened in Q2, while noting they opened additional DCs and expect potential logistics pressure when adding DCs.
"As you know, it is a dynamic process in a sense that this is a sum, what you are seeing here is a sum of the gross margins of all the SKUs we currently carry." — Anthony Hatoum (CEO·CHAIR)
same-store mix and ERP update
Q (Bob Ford · BofA): How much of same-store growth is ticket versus traffic and item count per transaction, how much from new SKUs, and what's the status and deployment plan for the ERP rewrite?
A: Two-thirds of same-store sales growth is explained by volume and one-third by price, with mix contributing to the price component; category growth varies and they remain conservative adding SKUs. The ERP phase 1 is in testing and going quite well; AI tools accelerated programming and they have brought forward and added features, so the project is on track. They also said the new POS will be more potent and logistics backside is an opportunity as they scale.
"We have about two-thirds of the growth is explained by volume." — Anthony Hatoum (CEO·CHAIR)
new store format and ramp-up
Q (Joseph Giordano · JPMorgan): What percentage of new stores use the upgraded format, what's the sales uplift, and how fast are new stores ramping compared with prior vintages?
A: They said 100% of new stores open under the upgraded format because it performs better than older stores. Older stores still perform well, and the newer format has stronger performance; ramp-ups are tracking in line with the updated unit economics they set in Q4 and the 2026 vintage is evolving well. Overall, they are pleased with store performance and consistent ramp behavior.
"Yeah, 100% of our new stores open under the new format." — Anthony Hatoum (CEO·CHAIR)
distribution centers and efficiencies
Q (Ulises Argote · Santander): You opened close to 280 stores with only one additional DC in H1—was that temporal, and are you serving more stores per DC more efficiently?
A: They are on track with openings and every new DC increases footprint and improves transportation efficiency. This quarter benefited from transportation optimization and smarter pre-opening expense management for the DC opened in Q2. They are opening 3 additional DCs in Q3 and may add more; that could put some pressure on logistics expense in Q3 but in the longer run these DCs become more efficient.
"For the back half of the year, yes, we're opening 3 additional ones in Q3." — Eduardo Pizzuto (CFO)
World Cup impact and G&A level
Q (Héctor Maya · Scotiabank): Did the World Cup help same-store sales, and will the higher G&A investment pace in Q2 continue into the second half?
A: They said the World Cup did not have a relevant impact on sales and it was hard to tease out any effect. On G&A, they won't give formal guidance but expect to continue investing in talent and suggested something similar to Q2, saying "3%ish of revenue" would be a fair short-term assumption. They view talent investment as value-creating and plan to continue it in the back half of the year.
"So I think it's fair to assume and expect something very similar to what happened in Q2." — Eduardo Pizzuto (CFO)
areas to hire and cardless test result
Q (Irma Sgarz · Goldman Sachs): Which parts of the organization will you add talent to, versus retention/incentives, and what did you learn from the cardless test and any margin impact?
A: The cardless test had a non-material impact and is only an experiment, not a signal of expansion. G&A investment is focused on adding and densifying talent in purchasing, logistics, systems and specialty areas where a single hire can create large value; hires must contribute significantly more than their cost. They said talent additions are ongoing with no preset limit, but hires are evaluated on value contribution.
"You'll see it in purchasing, you'll see it in logistics, you'll see it in systems, you'll see it in specialty areas where one person can have a dramatic impact on creating value for the company." — Anthony Hatoum (CEO·CHAIR)
store size and parking plans
Q (Jorge Izquierdo · BTG Pactual): As basket size grows, how will store size and parking needs change going forward?
A: They're very comfortable with the current new-generation store size. Whether parking is added depends on how suburban or urban a location is — urban sites make parking difficult, while if a site has parking they will include it. So store size will stay as currently designed and parking is added only when the location allows and needs it.
"I think at this stage, we're extremely comfortable with the current store size that you're seeing in the new generation of stores." — Anthony Hatoum (CEO·CHAIR)
working capital and new categories
Q (Antonio Hernández · Actinver): As you introduce or pilot new categories, how should we expect working capital to change?
A: Their philosophy is to only carry items with very high rotation and strong value, so new items must meet that principle. Therefore there should be no material impact on working capital from new categories. They noted inventory days have been improving and are below 20 days, which is what to expect going forward.
"If we consider that into your question, then there should be no impact on working capital because we always look for items with very fast rotation." — Eduardo Pizzuto (CFO)
same-store momentum and competition
Q (Jo Thomas · HSBC): Is the two-year acceleration best for modeling future same-store growth, and what are you seeing on competitive intensity from rivals like FEMSA?
A: On competition, they see nothing new beyond what they've already seen and the market is already very competitive, with room for several players to thrive in discount. For same-store growth, small increments matter: "all we need to do is sell one more item per customer" to materially increase same-store sales, and they expect further natural increases as their offering improves but advise conservatism. Their approach won't change in response to observed competition.
"All we need to do is sell one more item per customer, and you can see that number significantly increasing." — Anthony Hatoum (CEO·CHAIR)
customer growth and real estate availability
Q (Isabella Lamas · UBS): How much growth is from new customers vs share-of-wallet gains, what initiatives increase items per transaction, and is real estate availability good to accelerate expansion?
A: There are no constraints on real estate and the runway in Mexico is tremendous, so they haven't seen limits on sites. Growth has been a mix of new customers and increased wallet share; newer store vintages capture customers faster and both new customers and faster ramp-ups help growth. They also stressed that existing SKU portfolio still has room to increase penetration without adding many new SKUs.
"The runway's tremendous in Mexico for us, so we haven't seen any constraints on that front." — Anthony Hatoum (CEO·CHAIR)
gross margin one-offs and stock options
Q (Froylan Mendez · JPMorgan): Was the quarter's gross margin affected by any one-offs or seasonality, and will there be any mechanisms to avoid disorderly option sales after the restriction period ends?
A: On stock options, they do not expect a rush to sell and said mechanisms are already in place to ensure any sales by employees happen in an orderly and timely way. On gross margin, they don't see seasonality; gross margin can be volatile quarter-to-quarter by SKU, but the longer-term trend is positive and the focus is on MXN gross margin increasing healthily. They reiterated past guidance not to extrapolate a single quarter's margin as definitive for full-year trends.
"Yeah, no, again, we don't see seasonality in our gross margins, really." — Anthony Hatoum (CEO·CHAIR)