After the presentation of the Spanish fashion group Inditex’s business figures for the first quarter of 2026 on Wednesday, FashionUnited looks beyond the new record sales and profits and analyzes the company’s specific development at the start of the year. The Zara parent company started the new financial year with a general improvement in its key economic indicators.
In the first quarter of 2026, Inditex achieved sales of 8.75 billion euros. This represents year-over-year growth of 5.75 percent and represents the highest sales the company has ever achieved in a first quarter. The cost of goods in the same period – from February 1st to April 30th – amounted to 3.39 billion euros. Although this is also a record for a first quarter, costs rose more slowly than sales at just 3.95 percent. In the same quarter of 2025, the cost of goods was 3.26 billion euros.
Due to this development, Inditex recorded a gross profit of 5.36 billion euros at the end of the first quarter. This is the highest the company has ever achieved in the first three months of a financial year. The gross profit was 6.92 percent higher than the 5.01 billion euros in the same period last year.
These metrics demonstrate Inditex’s improved operational efficiency and resulted in a gross margin of 61.2 percent. This key metric increased 60 basis points from the gross margin of 60.6 percent in the first quarter of 2025. This marked a new record for the first quarter. Since the 2022 financial year, the company has consistently achieved gross margins of over 60 percent at the beginning of the year. However, this mark has not yet been reached for a full financial year. At the end of the 2025 financial year, the gross margin was 58.3 percent, having peaked at 62.2 percent in the third quarter.
Higher financing from supplier
A look at the development of current assets shows that Inditex closed the first quarter of 2026 with an inventory of 3.81 billion euros, an increase of 0.55 percent. At the same time, receivables from the company from retail stores and franchisees fell to 1.07 billion euros (minus 5.49 percent). In contrast, liabilities to creditors, especially suppliers, rose to 10.84 billion euros (plus 3.75 percent).
As a result, the company ended the quarter with a negative net working capital of 5.96 billion euros. This value was 7.85 percent higher than the 5.52 billion euros at the end of the first quarter of 2025 and at the same time 42.75 percent higher than the 4.17 billion euros at the end of the 2025 financial year.
Regarding the other key financial indicators for the first quarter of 2026, earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) increased to 2.57 billion euros (plus 7.31 percent). The EBITDA margin rose from 28.9 to 29.3 percent. The operating result (EBIT) grew to 1.76 billion euros (plus 7.0 percent), which improved the EBIT margin from 19.8 to 20.1 percent.
106 fewer branches
At the end of the first quarter, Inditex had a total of 5,456 stores. This represents a net reduction of 106 locations compared to the 5,562 branches at the same time last year. Of this net loss, only four stores occurred in the first quarter of 2026. The company closed the 2025 fiscal year with a total of 5,460 stores.
In detail and in a year-on-year comparison, almost all Inditex chains reduced their branch networks. The only exception was Lefties, which expanded its network to 217 branches (plus eight). In contrast, Zara recorded a decline to 1,495 stores (minus 50), while Zara Home had 376 locations (minus twelve). Pull&Bear (792 branches, down twelve), Massimo Dutti (509 branches, down 19) and Bershka (851 branches, down four) also reduced their branch networks. The same applies to Stradivarius with 837 branches (minus one) and Oysho with 379 branches (minus 16).
Inditex states that optimization projects were implemented within the branch networks of the various chains in 44 markets in the first quarter. This included renovations, relocations, new openings and mergers. The majority of the regular investments of 2.3 billion euros promised for 2026 will be used for these measures. The company had already announced this in March when it presented its results for the 2025 financial year.
With these investments, Inditex expects to further increase the productivity of its stores. As part of the optimization strategy, the company expects gross sales area growth of around five percent in 2026.
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