Five Below, Inc. FIVE delivered strong ticket growth during fiscal 2025, reflecting improving customer spending patterns and the success of its merchandising and pricing initiatives. During the fourth quarter, comparable sales increased 15.4% year over year, supported by 8% growth in comparable ticket and 7% growth in comparable transactions, demonstrating balanced momentum between higher traffic and larger basket sizes.
The company’s evolving pricing strategy played a significant role in driving ticket expansion. Five Below successfully introduced products at higher price points such as $7, $10 and $15 while continuing to maintain strong value perception among customers. Management noted that shoppers responded positively to the expanded assortment because the products delivered compelling relative value and were merchandised naturally within core shopping categories rather than being isolated.
Trend-driven merchandising also supported stronger customer spending. Viral products, collectibles, beauty items, toys and licensed merchandise helped increase basket sizes across stores. The company’s enhanced ability to respond quickly to social media trends and amplify viral demand through digital marketing channels improved customer engagement and encouraged incremental purchases.
Operational improvements further strengthened ticket growth. Five Below invested in better in-stock levels, improved replenishment processes and additional labor support during peak shopping periods. These efforts ensured stronger product availability and a smoother shopping experience, allowing the company to convert higher traffic efficiently into larger transactions and stronger sales productivity.
Management expects ticket growth to remain an important contributor to comparable sales in fiscal 2026. The company indicated that average unit retail expansion and ticket growth trends seen during the fourth quarter are expected to continue into the first quarter, reinforcing confidence in the sustainability of customer spending momentum.
FIVE’s Price Performance, Valuation & Estimates
FIVE, which competes with Bath & Body Works $BBWI, Inc. BBWI and Build-A-Bear Workshop BBW, has seen its shares rally 104.6% in the past year compared with the industry’s growth of 8.2%. Meanwhile, shares of Bath & Body Works have declined 39.2% and Build-A-Bear Workshop has dipped 8%.
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From a valuation standpoint, Five Below is trading at a forward 12-month price-to-sales ratio of 2.23X, up from the industry average of 1.58X. FIVE is trading at a premium to Bath & Body Works (with a forward 12-month P/S ratio of 0.50) and Build-A-Bear Workshop (0.83).
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The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Five Below’s fiscal 2026 earnings implies year-over-year growth of 19.5%, whereas the same for fiscal 2027 indicates an uptick of 14.3%. Estimates for fiscal 2026 and 2027 have been revised upward by two cents each, respectively, in the past seven days.
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Five Below currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
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