Baby Bunting leaps +28% after delivering bub-sized earnings bounce back

Baby Bunting’s (ASX:BBN) FY25 results are in, and Australian investors clearly believe they’ve smashed it out of the park – the stock has soared a mammoth +28% higher in Friday’s morning session.

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The numbers do look quite good: The Australian baby retail giant reported a statutory NPAT of $9.5 million, a tidy +462% increase on the prior year. (Not bad for a year when most retailers were feeling the pinch.)

Total sales hit a record $521.9 million, up +4.7% on last year, the company said.

And while many in retail have been struggling with margins, Baby Bunting has pulled off a stunner: Gross margin came in at 40.2%, smashing their FY25 target and jumping +34% versus the same FY24 period.

“We’re pleased to deliver a strong FY25 result, with our profit landing at the top end of our guidance range, and a record sales figure, validating the effectiveness of our strategy,” said Baby Bunting’s chuffed CEO, Mark Teperson.

“In a challenged consumer environment, we’ve delivered 34% of improvement in gross margin, reflecting our disciplined execution,” he added.

The “Store of the Future” revamp proved a big part of the retailer’s success story through FY25. Three stores were refurbished, and they’ve already delivered a 28% sales uplift, plus stronger gross margins.

“The Store of the Future program has so far exceeded our expectations; we’re excited about rolling our new design out across our network,” underscored Teperson.

The business is also seeing strong traction in exclusive and private label products, now making up 47.1% of total sales (up 11%).

That’s a win for both margin and brand stickiness. And with 828,000 active customers (up 4.5%), the customer base is continuing to grow. Debt has come down as well, the retail company reported, with net debt now sitting at $4.6 million; a solid improvement from $13 million last year.

While there’s no final dividend, the focus looks clear: Invest for growth.

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And, with the first six weeks of FY26 already showing +4.8% total sales growth, it looks like Baby Bunting’s just getting started.

BBN has been trading at $2.37 in early afternoon trade.

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