GigaCloud (GCT) Q1 2026 Earnings Transcript

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Date

Thursday, May 7, 2026 at 8 a.m. ET

Call participants

• Chief Executive Officer — Lei Wu
• President — Iman Schrock
• Chief Financial Officer — Erica Wei

Takeaways

• Revenue -- $359 million, up 32%, showing sustained top-line growth amid industry softness.
• Earnings Per Share (EPS) -- $1.04, up 53%, reflecting both net income growth and share buybacks.
• GMV (Gross Merchandise Value) -- $1.7 billion on a trailing 12-month basis, reflecting 17% growth and increased buyer engagement.
• Active Third-Party Sellers -- Increased 19% to 1,377, expanding marketplace product assortment.
• Active Buyers -- Rose 25% to 12,473, supporting the marketplace's broader demand base.
• Service Revenue -- $117 million, up 24%, driven by broader marketplace adoption and increased packaging, warehousing, and related services (offset by lower ocean service revenue).
• Product Revenue -- $243 million, up 7%, with U.S. product revenue at $126 million (15% growth, of which $14 million was inorganic via acquisition and 2% was organic) and European product revenue at $103 million, up 80%.
• European GMV -- Up 83% on a quarterly basis, with 3P volume up over 500% year over year, led by a still predominantly 1P model.
• Product Margin -- 31.3%, up 3.8%, driven by price increases and lower shipping costs.
• Service Gross Margin -- Increased 250 basis points sequentially, supported by holiday season surcharges, but declined 7.3% year over year due to lower ocean spot rates and higher delivery costs.
• Total Company Gross Margin -- 23.9%, up from 23.4%, reflecting slight improvement despite service margin pressure.
• Sales and Marketing Expense -- $31 million, accounting for 9% of revenue, driven by channel commissions and expansion-related staffing.
• General and Administrative Expense -- $10 million, comprising 3% of revenue, falling from 5% as warehouse utilization improved and administrative expenses declined.
• Net Income Margin -- 10.6%, with net income at $38 million, up 12%.
• Operating Cash Flow -- Negative $22 million, attributed to inventory build for the summer season and the New Classic acquisition's less-favorable initial terms.
• Liquidity -- $364 million, including cash, restricted cash, and short-term investments; company remains debt-free.
• Share Buybacks -- $114 million cumulative, with 38% of the latest $111 million plan executed and $68 million authorization remaining.
• Guidance -- Next-quarter revenue expected in the $365 million to $390 million range, with management confident in mitigating recent Vietnam flood impacts.
• New Classic Acquisition -- Integration underway, not operated as standalone, with near-term revenue pressure noted (standalone down ~20%) but long-term focus on margin-accretive growth and broader U.S. market penetration.
• Strategic Model -- Management reiterated commitment to profitable growth, flexible execution, and expanding both organically and via selective M&A.
• Regional Expansion -- European operations anchored in Germany and the U.K., with plans to expand fulfillment infrastructure and broaden country coverage as 3P growth accelerates.

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Risks

• Pressure on service gross margins explicitly attributed to "lower ocean spot rates" and rising delivery costs, with management adding that challenges in shipping capacity may persist for "the coming few quarters."
• Standalone performance of newly acquired New Classic dropped approximately 20%, reflecting both broader U.S. industry challenges and short-term acquisition integration disruption.
• Negative operating cash flow of $22 million driven by large inventory builds ahead of seasonally important quarters and less favorable initial terms related to New Classic.
• Floods in Vietnam at the end of 2025 created "some delays and short-term supply chain disruptions" for outdoor inventory, though management expects to manage through these effects.

Summary

GigaCloud Technology (NASDAQ:GCT) reported revenue and EPS growth above 30% and 50%, respectively, as its marketplace expanded both GMV and participation despite a soft U.S. furniture sector. Europe delivered disproportionate growth, with regional product revenue rising 80% and 3P GMV increasing more than 500%. The integration of New Classic marks another step in the company’s inorganic growth strategy, though its revenues declined 20% prior to acquisition and near-term headwinds remain. Gross margins improved modestly overall, but the company faces ongoing pressure in service margins due to logistics costs and continues to operate with negative operating cash flow as inventories are built for future demand. With $364 million in liquidity and share buybacks remaining a stated capital allocation priority, the company offered revenue guidance of $365 million to $390 million next quarter while acknowledging temporary supply chain impacts from recent Vietnam floods.

• As previously shared, while service margins tend to decline during periods of low ocean shipping rates, product generally benefited from such lower with the 2 having an offsetting.
• Management confirmed the European marketplace remains primarily 1P but is shifting toward 3P as volume grows, requiring infrastructure expansion aligned with anticipated demand.
• Short-term disruption following acquisitions was compared to the prior Noble House case, where margins and profitability improved post-integration, suggesting deliberate patience and process discipline.
• The SFR model’s risk mitigation was cited as helping drive market share gains in a contracting overall furniture sector.

Industry glossary

• GMV (Gross Merchandise Value): The total dollar value of transactions processed through a marketplace platform over a given period.
• SFR Model: GigaCloud’s Seller Fulfilled Retail model, which allows sellers or the company to fulfill orders directly, increasing supply chain flexibility and efficiency.
• 1P/3P: "1P" refers to first-party sales (company-owned inventory), while "3P" refers to third-party sellers transacting through the platform.

Full Conference Call Transcript

Lei Wu: Thank you, operator, and hello, everyone. Our first quarter results highlight the resilience of our business model and the effectiveness of our strategy. During the quarter, industry conditions remain under pressure with the U.S. furniture industry estimated to be down single digit year-over-year. While the U.S. remains a critically important market for us, our performance reflects the power of diversification. Driven by the disciplined execution across multiple fronts, we've delivered more than 30% year-over-year revenue growth and more than 50% EPS growth, proof of a sound strategy and consistent disciplined execution, all guided by a long-term view of where we're headed.

The long-term view is our comp, and it keeps us focused on what works, building multiple growth vectors while staying agile and responsive as conditions evolve. That approach continued to deliver across both what's driving us now and what we are building for the future. And the future we're building is clear, a truly channel-agnostic marketplace that serves every corner of the big and bulky industry, whether online or offline, domestic or international, spanning categories and borders, wherever our customers choose to do business. Europe continues to be a powerful proof point, delivering growth today and demonstrating our model scales. What works here works abroad.

Our success in Europe is a strong validation of our strategy, reflecting the value of long-term strategic positioning, thoughtful investment, and the ability to effectively localize. At the same time, we're building for the future. The acquisition of New Classic adds a new and promising growth vector to our platform. While integration is on track and the New Classic has already deepened our capabilities by broadening our offering, its full contribution lies ahead. We're approaching it deliberately confident that with time and the disciplined execution, these new capabilities position us to better serve more corners of the industry in the long run. We remain optimistic about the future. Our strategy is clear. Our platform is stronger than ever.

Our team is executing with discipline, speed, and purpose. That optimism comes from knowing exactly where we're headed, and we're building towards that goal every day through organic expansion and strategic M&A, creating a stronger, more diversified ecosystem without losing agility. Now I will turn the call to Iman for discussion of our ongoing operational progress.

Iman Schrock: Thank you, Larry, and hello, everyone. Our marketplace delivered another quarter of strong growth, further reinforcing its expanding relevance and increasing scale. GMV rose 17% year-over-year on a trailing 12-month basis ended March 31, 2026, to $1.7 billion, reflecting both higher transaction activity and expanding buyer engagement. Our marketplace ecosystem continues to strengthen with active third-party sellers growing 19% to 1,377, broadening product assortment for our buyers, while active buyers increased 25% to 12,473, reinforcing the platform's value proposition. These results reflect a healthy, well-balanced marketplace with strong momentum. Our open-ended ecosystem and tech-enabled supply chain drive efficiency and help manage risk, especially in uncertain conditions.

We remain focused on execution, operating lean, moving quickly and maintaining discipline to support long-term growth. Although the U.S. market remains highly volatile due to the industry-wide headwinds and ongoing policy uncertainty, we delivered 12% U.S. marketplace GMV growth on a quarterly basis. This performance was not driven by sector growth. It came from continued market share gains enabled by our SFR trading model and disciplined execution. Moving beyond the U.S., Europe continues to emerge as a powerful growth vector and a clear example of our scalable execution-driven model. Overall, marketplace GMV in Europe grew 83% on a quarterly basis, driven by the same disciplined approach we successfully applied domestically here in the U.S.

As we've shared before, our playbook for new markets remains consistent, lead with 1P to establish the market and attract buyers, then layer in 3P by leveraging buyer demand, creating scale efficiencies and reinforcing the value inherent in our strategy. Europe is still early in that journey with volume today primarily driven by 1P. However, 3P momentum is building rapidly with quarterly GMV growth of more than 500% year-over-year. That's the power of scaling a proven model. And we are complementing that organic growth with deliberate strategic initiatives, such as our recent acquisition of New Classic to deepen our reach within the industry and strengthen our presence across a broader range of channels.

With New Classic, we have the opportunity to meaningfully deepen our penetration in servicing brick-and-mortar retailers, a massive segment of the furniture industry with significant runway for growth. All of this is in service of our long-term goal of building the foundational infrastructure that powers the industry wherever business happens. As Larry shared in his year-end letter to the shareholders, this vision of becoming the industry's infrastructure is exactly where we're headed. And with every move, we'll get closer. Integration of New Classic is underway and proceeding as planned. We're approaching it with the same discipline and patience that has served us well in the past because we know that getting this right matters than getting it fast.

Right now, our teams are focused on the foundational work, aligning processes, integrating systems, building relationships with New Classic clients to ensure a smooth transition and developing new product assortments that are better tailored to the channels New Classic opens up for us. Consistent with our approach to previous acquisitions, we do not intend to run New Classic as a stand-alone company. Instead, we will fully integrate New Classic into our platform and manage it as a part of our broader portfolio, unlocking greater efficiency through scale and shared resources. The full value will take time to unfold, but we're confident the long-term payoff deeper market reach and more complete offering will be significant.

As we've shared many times before, our focus is on profitable revenue. Unprofitable revenue is simply not our model. One of our core strengths is the ability to pivot quickly when conditions change. We don't chase revenue for the sake of revenue. So when tariffs reshaped the landscape in 2025, we moved decisively. We made an intentional decision to exit certain lower-margin product categories in the domestic market, such as steel furniture, where the economics no longer made sense. That decision put near-term pressure on U.S. revenue, but it was the right call to protect our bottom line integrity. Now with New Classic, we have a clear path to recapture and grow from there.

Through New Classic's strong brick-and-mortar relationship, we expect to drive margin-accretive revenue in the U.S. market over time, reinforcing our long-term profitability while being disciplined on what we're willing to chase. That's how we grow, not just for the quarter, but for the long run. Now it is my pleasure to turn the call over to Erica for a discussion of our first quarter financials.

Erica Wei: Thank you, and hello, everybody. A quick reminder before we get into our financial results. All figures I cover today are rounded and unless otherwise noted, comparisons are against the same period last year. First quarter, we drove sustained profitable growth, a challenging backdrop. Revenue grew 32% to $359 million from first quarter, while earnings per share grew 53% to $1.04. Breaking our results down further. Service revenue increased 24% to $117 million as more industry participants turn to our marketplace.

Packaging, warehousing and other services revenue double digits, partially offset by lower ocean service revenue due to reduced ocean spot rates in Q1 of 2026 compared with that of Q1 2023 and reduced ocean volume for the after tariff changes that occurred in April 2025. From a margin perspective, service gross margins increased 250 basis points sequentially -- primarily hold of holiday season surcharges in the first quarter. On a year-over-year basis, service margin declined by 7.3%, mainly driven by lower ocean spot rates and also impacted by higher delivery and revenue. Turning to the product side. Product revenue rose 7% to $243 million as we saw growth across all regions.

In the U.S., product revenue totaled $126 million, up 15% from last year's first quarter even against a challenging backdrop. Within that 15%, 2% of the increase represented organic growth, while approximately $14 million was attributable to inorganic growth with the acquisition. That said, on a stand-alone portfolio basis, meaning New Classic performance to the same quarter last year before we acquired it on January 1. New Classic was down approximately 20% year-over-year. This -- factors, the difficult U.S. industry environment we've been navigating and some near-term disruption as we integrate New Classic operations into our own.

This pattern is familiar to us, saw the same with our last acquisition, Noble House, which experienced a similar short-term decline before we streamlined operations, removed redundancies and applied our platform efficiencies. It's settled, Noble House not only recovered top line-wise, but also delivered improved margins and stronger profitability. That's the long-term view in action. Patience through the noise conviction Comparable trajectory with New Classic short-term followed by long-term margin-accretive growth. In Europe, product revenue grew 80% year-over-year to $103 million as we continue to observe strong demand. Product margins were 31.3% this quarter, up 3.8% year-over-year, driven primarily by price increases as we capitalized on strong demand and benefited from lower ocean shipping costs.

As previously shared, while service margins tend to decline during periods of low ocean shipping rates, product generally benefited from such lower with the 2 having an offsetting. On a sequential basis, product margins declined 80 points due to expected seasonality with the first quarter generally being our softest. Total company gross margin grew to 23.9% for Q1 of 2026 from 23.4% last year quarter. From a standpoint, sales and marketing costs for Q1 were $31 million or 9% of total revenue compared to last year. The increase was primarily higher channel commission spend and staffing costs associated with earning expansion.

General and administrative costs totaled $10 million or 3% of total revenue, down from 5% from last year's first quarter, reflecting increased warehouse utilization rates and lower professional and administrative expenses. This brings net income to 10.6% with net income of $38, 12% year-over-year, on a per share basis, EPS was up 53% year-over-year, driven by increased net income and amplified by a reduction in average weighted shares due to buybacks. We used $22 million in operating cash flows in the first quarter as we built up more inventory for the summer selling season in the second quarter. Total liquidity, inclusive of equivalents, restricted cash, and short-term investments totaled $364 million.

Importantly, we remain debt-free with a disciplined capital allocation strategy. This strategy includes return capital to shareholders through continued buybacks and strategic acquisitions that support long-term growth objectives. As of date, our cumulative share buybacks across all plans totaled approximately $114 million. We have completed 38% of our latest $111 million plan announced in August of 2025, with $68 million in remaining authorizations for future buybacks. Before we wrap up, a note on the second quarter. The flooding that took place in Vietnam towards the end of 2025, the worst in decades, resulted in some delays and short-term supply chain disruptions for our outdoor season inventory.

Looking ahead, we remain confident in our ability to manage through these temporary disruptions and expect revenue in the $365 million to $390 million range. Operator, we are now ready to begin the Q&A session.

Operator: [Operator Instructions]. And our first question comes from Thomas Forte from Maxim Group.

Thomas Forte: So one question and one follow-up. And first off, congratulations on another strong quarter. So Larry, as you scale the business, how should we think about your strategic M&A efforts and your interest in acquiring larger assets as the business gets bigger?

Lei Wu: Yes. Thank you for the question. Yes, we are continuously looking for the opportunity that this could potentially help us to build a broader product line or any opportunities to help us to really improve our technology capability to better service the customer. Yes, we are definitely looking.

Thomas Forte: Excellent. And for my follow-up, how should we think about how rising oil prices affect your business?

Lei Wu: Yes. Right now, I think -- okay.

Erica Wei: Go ahead, Larry.

Lei Wu: Yes, you can go ahead.

Erica Wei: Thanks for the question, Thomas. So I think rising oil prices definitely has an impact in terms of the immediate impact would be delivery cost, both on the ocean and ground front, right? And then there's obviously the general indirect impact to both the consumers, the earlier parts or the manufacturing stage of the supply chain. However, it's not fundamentally different from many of the disruptions we've seen in the past, simply a form of cost increase. It could be logistics. It could be -- ultimately, we do try to stay very, very [indiscernible]. So we're quite confident in terms of navigating such increases.

Operator: And our next question comes from Ryan Meyers.

Ryan Meyers: First one for me. The business is obviously accelerating and performing very well despite what you guys consider a difficult macro environment. The question is, what do you think is really just driving your guys' ability to consistently outperform sort of the broader furniture and large parcel market right now?

Erica Wei: Good question, Ryan. I think it ultimately comes down to the marketplace. So the marketplace that's driven by the SFR model, which is a little bit different from maybe what most folks are used to in the industry. It does truly give participants a little more flexibility, a little more efficiency and tries to help folks manage risk, especially inventory risk a little better. So as we gain more recognition, a little more exposure, we see more and more joining the marketplace looking for those benefits. And you can see this through our GMV numbers.

Ryan Meyers: Okay. Got it. And then just briefly a question on inventory and operating cash flow. It was obviously down for the year, and it looks like you guys had a big inventory build. What should we be aware of in terms of that inventory build and the purpose of that?

Erica Wei: Yes. So the majority of that was in preparation for the Q4 season. So I'm sure you're well aware that Q2 is a pretty season for us because of our outdoor. So that was for the inventory buildup. On top of that, there is also a little bit of increased spend due to the acquisition. New Classic has slightly -- the terms of buying are not as favorable as GigaCloud right out of the gate, but obviously, that will change over time.

Operator: And our next question comes from Matt Koranda from ROTH Capital Partners.

Matt Koranda: It's Joseph on for Matt. I just wanted to see if you guys could talk about a little bit here on gross margin profitability, kind of piggybacking on Tom's initial question. As we think about elevated energy levels, you said in your prepared remarks kind of you have some giveback in services gross margins and increased product gross margins as we're thinking about the impact of higher energy levels. But anything else kind of you guys can highlight for us there in terms of the impact of services in the -- as of the last couple of quarters? And how should we be thinking about service gross margins as we look into 2026?

Erica Wei: Thank you for the question. So for the quarter that just passed, Q1, I think we saw product margins improve year-over-year and about compared to Q4. So there's a lot of -- that's a result of both us capitalizing on continued demand and pricing appropriately, plus there's also the benefit of spot rates, ocean spot rates, particularly going down in 2025. On the service front, we have the opposite effect. We have decreased service gross margin because of that reduced ocean spot rate. So there's a bit of a natural hedge going on between the 2 service -- sorry, the 2 revenue lines.

Moving ahead, assuming spot rates in terms of logistics will be increasing, the 2 lines might move the other direction, but still in an offsetting manner.

Matt Koranda: Got it. Okay. I appreciate the color there. And then as we kind of integrate new Classic is with 1Q being the first consolidated quarter, just any thoughts here on the time line? Are we expecting the business to kind of slowly ramp just as we saw Noble House within that 12 to 18-month range? Should we -- should that be accelerated or lagging that time line? Just any preliminary thoughts there?

Erica Wei: Yes. So I think during our last call, we had communicated roughly 6 quarters, which is similar to the Noble House case in terms of integration efforts. and we believe that is still the case. We're on track for that schedule. So in the beginning, we'll probably see a little bit of disruption, similar with Noble House as we are focusing on integrating the foundation and getting the portfolio set up for success in the future. And then once we get through that phase, we'll see things going in the opposite direction and going back to growth.

Matt Koranda: Got it. Okay. And then just a final question here. Just could you give us some thoughts on capital allocation? I know the biggest bucket being share buybacks with you guys having a little bit over $60 million in share buybacks left on your authorization between -- and also between international expansion and M&A. Just kind of rough cut thoughts on how we should be thinking about capital allocation in the near term or longer term?

Erica Wei: Yes. Thank you. You're absolutely right. Those are our 2 main focal points in terms of capital allocation. We've been doing the share buybacks for a while now, and that's something that will continue to be an important part of our plan. In terms of strategic acquisitions, that is also something that we have planned for the future. It just won't necessarily be immediately right now since we are focused on integrating New Classic the right way.

Operator: And our last question comes from Rommel -- I'm sorry, Dionisio from Aegis Capital.

Rommel Dionisio: I wonder if you could provide a little more color, please, on the strength in Europe. Obviously, you're making continued progress in growth in that market. Could you just talk about it on a regional basis? Is Germany the key driver there? Or is it some other markets? And also, as you grow so quickly in that market, might that require any infrastructure spend, whether it be warehouses or so forth?

Erica Wei: Yes. Thank you for the question. So we are doing quite well in Europe. I think there's a few elements to think about here. First off, the model has been tested and performed well in the U.S. and it's a little -- perhaps a little faster when we're scaling things up in Europe as well. On top of that, the difference between the U.S. market and Europe market. Europe is a market that is significantly more fragmented than the United States. More different -- more channels, more vendors, more differences in terms of countries, what folks want. As of right now, we are operating out of Germany and the United Kingdom in Europe in terms of warehousing.

However, our product delivery or ultimate sales is not limited to those 2 regions. Germany is kind of the centralized driver right now, but we are already covering many different countries such as France, Italy, for example, Spain. Moving ahead, given the speed of growth and how much volume, especially the anticipated growth coming from the 3P side, yes, I do think we will be planning for more fulfillment centers in that region.

Lei Wu: This is Larry. There's one call of out I want to add to what Erica already shared about the service margin. Actually, the pressure of the margin numbers just -- not only coming from ocean shipping, but also come from the ground service we're providing to our customer just because the challenge we're seeing from the economy that just because of the rebound in the capacity that we're seeing everybody in the shipping industry that we will see the pressure that we've been seeing will continue probably for the coming few quarters. That's just something I want to add.

Operator: Thank you. And this does conclude today's conference. We appreciate your participation. You may disconnect your lines at this time, and have a wonderful day.

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