Item 2. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

For purposes of the following discussion, unless noted, all references to "the quarter” and “the first quarter” are for the three fiscal months (13 weeks) ended May 2, 2026 or May 3, 2025.

This Form 10-Q contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as "believes," "anticipates," "plans," "may," "intends," "will," "should," "expects," and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include certain statements under Management's Discussion and Analysis and may include comments about our future sales or financial performance and our plans, performance and other objectives, expectations or intentions, such as statements regarding our liquidity, debt service requirements, planned capital expenditures, future store initiatives, adequacy of capital resources and reserves, and the impact of macroeconomic events, including inflation, consumer behavior, and changes in global trade policies, such as tariffs, and our response to such events. Forward-looking statements are based on management’s then-current views and assumptions and, as a result, are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. Any such forward-looking statements are qualified by the important risk factors, described in Part I Item 1A of our 2025 Form 10-K and in Part II Item 1A of this Form 10-Q, or disclosed from time to time in our filings with the SEC, that could cause actual results to differ materially from those predicted by the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements relate to the date initially made, and we undertake no obligation to update them. Certain amounts set forth below may not foot or crossfoot due to rounding.

Executive Summary

Kohl's is a leading omnichannel retailer operating 1,151 stores and a website (www.Kohls.com) as of May 2, 2026. Our Kohl's stores and website sell moderately-priced proprietary and national brand apparel, footwear, accessories, beauty, and home products. Our Kohl's stores generally carry a consistent merchandise assortment with some differences attributable to local preferences and store size. Our website includes merchandise which is available in our stores, as well as merchandise that is available only online.

Key financial results for the first quarter include:

Our Strategy

Kohl's remains committed to driving long-term shareholder value by providing our customers with great product, great value, and a great experience. We have three key initiatives to achieve this: we offer a curated, balanced assortment that fulfills needs across all customers, we are reestablishing Kohl’s as a leader in value and quality, and we are delivering a frictionless experience to customers across our omnichannel platforms.

Net sales includes revenue from the sale of merchandise, net of expected returns and deferrals due to future performance obligations, and shipping revenue.

Net sales decreased 1.7% in the first quarter of 2026 compared to the first quarter of 2025.

Comparable sales decreased 1.1%. Comparable sales is a measure that highlights the performance of our stores and digital channel by measuring the change in sales for a period over the comparable, prior-year period of equivalent length. Comparable sales includes all store and digital sales, except sales from stores open less than twelve months, stores that have been closed, and stores that have been relocated where square footage has changed by more than 10%.

Digital sales increased 4.0% and digital penetration represented 26% of net sales compared to 24% in the first quarter of 2025. We measure the change in digital sales by including all sales initiated online or through mobile applications, including omnichannel transactions which are fulfilled through our stores. We measure digital penetration as digital sales over net sales. These amounts do not take into consideration fulfillment node, digital returns processed in stores, and coupon behaviors.

Comparable sales and digital penetration measures vary across the retail industry. As a result, our comparable sales calculation and digital penetration may not be consistent with the similarly titled measures reported by other companies.

Other revenue includes revenue from credit card operations, third-party advertising on our website, unused gift cards and merchandise return cards (breakage), and other non-merchandise revenue.

Other revenue decreased $15 million due to lower revenue from our credit card operations. This was driven by lower late fees and finance charges partially offset by lower write-off activity.

Cost of merchandise sold includes the total cost of products sold, including product development costs, net of vendor payments other than reimbursement of specific, incremental, and identifiable costs; inventory shrink; markdowns; freight expenses associated with moving merchandise from our vendors to our distribution centers; shipping expenses for digital sales; terms cash discount; and amounts due to Sephora for their share of operating profits under the Sephora arrangement. Our cost of merchandise sold may not be comparable with that of other retailers because we include distribution center and buying costs in selling, general, and administrative expenses while other retailers may include these expenses in cost of merchandise sold.

Gross margin is calculated as net sales less cost of merchandise sold. For the first quarter of 2026, gross margin was 39.9% of net sales, an increase of 4 basis points to last year. The increase was caused by merchandise mix with increased proprietary brand penetration, partially offset by elevated shipping costs driven by our digital sales increase of 4% year over year.

Selling, General, and Administrative Expense

SG&A includes compensation and benefit costs (including stores, corporate, buying, and distribution centers); occupancy and operating costs of our retail, distribution, and corporate facilities; freight expenses associated with moving merchandise from our distribution centers to our retail stores and among distribution and retail facilities other than expenses to fulfill digital sales; marketing expenses, offset by vendor payments for reimbursement of specific, incremental, and identifiable costs; expenses related to our credit card operations; and other administrative revenues and expenses. We do not include depreciation and amortization in SG&A. The classification of these expenses varies across the retail industry.

Many of our expenses, including store payroll and distribution costs, are variable in nature. These costs generally increase as sales increase and decrease as sales decrease. We measure our expenses as a percentage of revenue and changes in this percentage compared to the prior year. If the expense as a percent of revenue decreased from the prior year, the expense "leveraged." If the expense as a percent of revenue increased over the prior year, the expense "deleveraged."

The following table summarizes the changes in SG&A by expense type:

SG&A expenses decreased $19 million, or 1.6%, to $1.1 billion. As a percentage of revenue, SG&A deleveraged by 15 basis points. The decrease in SG&A expenses was driven by lower corporate and other costs, primarily from reduced credit expenses.

Depreciation and amortization was $174 million, relatively flat to the first quarter of 2025.

Net interest expense decreased due to a gain on extinguishment of debt related to the open market repurchases of long term debt completed in the first quarter of 2026 and no outstanding balance on the revolving credit facility. The reductions were partially offset by interest on our 2030 notes, issued in the second quarter of 2025.

Income Taxes

In both periods, the effective tax rate results in a net benefit for income taxes on a pre-tax loss. The impact of the 2026 and 2025 net unfavorable tax items, when compared to a pre-tax loss, results in decreasing the tax rate from the statutory rate.

Inflation, Global Economic Conditions, and Trade Policies

We expect that our operations will continue to be influenced by general economic conditions, including food, fuel and energy prices, higher unemployment, wage inflation, and costs to source our merchandise, including tariffs. During 2025, the U.S. government utilized the IEEPA to impose additional tariffs on a broad range of imports, including certain consumer goods. While these actions did not have a material impact on our 2025 and year-to-date 2026 results, the global trade environment remains fluid. On February 20, 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling in Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump striking down certain tariffs previously imposed under IEEPA. While this ruling may lead to potential refunds for duties paid during 2025 and the first quarter of 2026, the availability, timing, and amount of such refunds remain uncertain and subject to further legal and administrative developments. Following this decision, the U.S. administration invoked Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 to impose new tariffs on imports, effective February 24, 2026. These Section 122 tariffs are currently subject to legal challenge; in May 2026, the U.S. Court of International Trade issued a ruling finding the tariffs unlawful, although this ruling is currently stayed pending appeal. We continue to pay these duties while monitoring the legal developments. Further tariff-related actions may increase merchandise costs, affect merchandise availability, and impact our operational results.

The Company paid approximately $190 million in IEEPA tariffs between February 2025 and February 2026. We submitted claims seeking approximately $140 million in refunds of previously paid IEEPA tariffs as part of the Phase 1 CAPE tariff refunds. We continue to monitor developments regarding subsequent administrative phases for our remaining entries.

To mitigate the impact of these tariffs, the Company took proactive measures to reduce our exposure to tariffs by leveraging our diverse factory network to move production, adjusting orders based on pricing elasticity analyses, and working closely with our supplier and vendor base to proactively manage any impacts, with the goal of continuing to drive value to our customers. There can be no assurances that such factors will not impact our business in the future.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

Capital Allocation

Our capital allocation strategy is to invest to maximize our overall long-term return and maintain a strong balance sheet. We follow a disciplined approach to capital allocation based on the following priorities: first, we invest in our business to drive long-term profitable growth; second, we pay a quarterly dividend; third, we will capitalize on opportunities to further reduce our debt and overall leverage when appropriate; and fourth, we return excess cash to shareholders through our share repurchase program.

We will continue to invest in the business, as we plan to invest approximately $350 to $400 million in capital expenditures in 2026 towards our strategic priorities. On May 20, 2026, our Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.125 per share. The dividend will be paid on June 24, 2026 to all shareholders of record at the close of business on June 10, 2026. During the first quarter of 2026, we reduced our outstanding debt by $50 million aggregate principal through repurchases of various notes on the open market. We are not currently planning any share repurchases.

Our period-end Cash and cash equivalents balance increased to $429 million from $153 million in the first quarter of 2025. Our Cash and cash equivalents balance includes short-term investments of $273 million and $7 million as of May 2, 2026 and May 3, 2025, respectively. Our investment policy is designed to preserve principal and liquidity of our short-term investments. This policy allows investments in large money market funds or in highly rated direct short-term instruments. We also place dollar limits on our investments in individual funds or instruments.

The following table presents our primary uses and sources of cash:

Operating Activities

Our operating cash outflows generally consist of payments to our employees for wages, salaries and other employee benefits, payments to our merchandise vendors for inventory (net of vendor allowances), payments to our shipping carriers, and payments to our landlords for rent. Operating cash outflows also include payments for income taxes and interest payments on our debt borrowings.

Operating activities used $74 million of cash in the first quarter of 2026 compared to $92 million in the first quarter of 2025. The decrease in cash used in operating activities is due to the timing of payments and inventory receipts year over year.

Investing Activities

Our investing cash outflows include payments for capital expenditures, including investments in new and existing stores, improvements to supply chain, and technology costs. Our investing cash inflows are generally from proceeds from sales of property and real estate.

Investing activities used $84 million in the first quarter of 2026 compared to $108 million in the first quarter of 2025. The decrease in cash used in investing activities was primarily driven by our reduced capital expenditure plans for fiscal 2026.

In 2026, we anticipate capital expenditures of approximately $350 to $400 million as we continue to invest in our business, including enhancing omnichannel capabilities.

Financing Activities

Our financing strategy is to ensure adequate liquidity and access to capital markets. We also strive to maintain a balanced portfolio of debt maturities, while minimizing our borrowing costs. Our ability to access the public debt market has provided us with adequate sources of liquidity. Our continued access to these markets depends on multiple factors, including the condition of debt capital markets, our operating performance, and our credit ratings.

During the first quarter of 2026, Moody's revised their outlook to positive.

As of May 2, 2026, our corporate credit ratings and outlook were as follows:

The interest rate on our 3.375% notes due May 2031 is subject to a coupon adjustment provision within the notes that can cause the interest rate to step up if our long-term debt is downgraded to below a BBB- credit rating by S&P Global Ratings or Baa3 by Moody’s Investor Service, Inc., which has occurred in recent years. In total, the interest rate on the notes due May 2031 has increased 175 basis points since their issuance due to the coupon adjustment provision within the notes.

The majority of our financing activities generally include proceeds from and/or repayments of borrowings under our revolving credit facility and long-term debt, dividend payments, and repurchases of common stock. Financing cash outflows also include payments to our landlords for leases classified as finance leases and financing obligations.

Financing activities used $87 million of cash in the first quarter of 2026 and generated $219 million of cash in the first quarter of 2025.

Cash dividend payments were $14 million ($0.125 per share) in both the first quarter of 2026 and the first quarter of 2025.

In the first quarter of 2026, we had no net activity on our $1.5 billion credit facility, compared to net borrowings of $255 million in the first quarter of 2025. Borrowings outstanding under the revolving credit facility, recorded as short-term debt, were $0 as of May 2, 2026, and $545 million as of May 3, 2025.

Also in the first quarter of 2026, we reduced our outstanding debt by $50 million aggregate principal through repurchases of various notes on the open market.

There was no cash used for treasury stock purchases in the first quarter of 2026 or 2025. Share repurchases are discretionary in nature. The timing and amount of repurchases are based upon available cash balances, our stock price, and other factors. As we continue to solidify our balance sheet and improve our business results we will look at resuming share repurchases in the future.

Key Financial Ratios

Key financial ratios that provide certain measures of our liquidity are as follows:

Our working capital and inventory levels typically build throughout the fall, peaking during the November and December holiday selling season.

The increases in our working capital and current ratio are driven by decreased borrowings under the revolving credit facility, the repayment of $353 million of our 4.25% notes that matured following the first quarter of 2025, and an increase in cash and cash equivalents.

Debt Covenant Compliance

Our senior secured, asset based revolving credit facility contains customary events of default and financial, affirmative and negative covenants, including but not limited to, a springing financial covenant relating to our fixed charge coverage ratio and restrictions on indebtedness, liens, investments, asset dispositions, and restricted payments. As of May 2, 2026, we were in compliance with all covenants.

Contractual Obligations

There have been no significant changes in the contractual obligations disclosed in our 2025 Form 10-K.

Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements

We have not provided any financial guarantees arising from arrangements with unconsolidated entities or persons as of May 2, 2026.

We have not created, and are not a party to, any special-purpose or off-balance sheet entities for the purpose of raising capital, incurring debt, or operating our business. We do not have any arrangements or relationships with entities that are not consolidated into our financial statements that are reasonably likely to materially affect our financial condition, liquidity, results of operations, or capital resources.

Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires us to make estimates and assumptions that affect reported amounts. Management has discussed the development, selection, and disclosure of its estimates and assumptions with the Audit Committee of our Board of Directors. There have been no significant changes in the critical accounting policies and estimates discussed in our 2025 Form 10-K.