Nike's $986M Leads Wave of Footwear IEEPA Tariff Refunds

Nike booked $986 million in IEEPA tariff refunds across fiscal 2026 — $302 million received in the quarter ended May 31 and $684 million expected by mid-July — making it the largest disclosed beneficiary in footwear so far. The refunds stem from reciprocal duties imposed last year under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled illegal in February. Companies applied; Customs and Border Protection has been paying out steadily since.

The sums are material. Across the sector's latest disclosures, they moved gross margins by hundreds of basis points and earnings per share by double-digit cents. What does this change for sourcing teams? For one to two quarters, reported margins flatter reality — and several retailers are already spending the windfall on price.

Where the money landed

• Nike: The $986 million was booked as accounts receivable and an earnings benefit, adding 52 cents per share in the fourth quarter and helping the company beat Wall Street expectations.
• Steven Madden: $92.1 million received for the quarter ended July 30, including $3.1 million in interest. CFO Zine Mazouz said roughly $1 million remains outstanding and the refunds were used "to pay down debt."
• Academy Sports + Outdoors: $83.7 million in the quarter ended Aug. 1. Gross margin rose to 40.4 percent from 36.0 percent; adjusted EPS of $2.31 beat consensus of $2.08. CFO Carl Ford said the refund added 6 cents of EPS and the retailer has "received substantially all tariff refunds."
• Caleres: $57.4 million for the quarter ended Aug. 1 — $55.6 million as a reduction in cost of sales, $1.8 million as interest income in other income.
• Dick's Sporting Goods: $59 million plus $2.1 million interest, with $57 million at Dick's and $2 million at Foot Locker. CFO Navdeep Gupta said the funds were reinvested "to remain competitively priced and help offset ongoing fuel, supply chain and other inflationary cost pressures."
• Deckers: $46.0 million plus $3.0 million interest in the September quarter. Reported diluted EPS of $2.31 beat the expected $1.76–$1.83 range; excluding refunds, EPS was $2.03, or 11.5 percent growth rather than the headline 27 percent.
• Genesco: $22.5 million — $21.8 million refund plus $700,000 interest — with none assumed in full-year guidance. CFO Jonathan M. Collins called the proceeds "non-operating in nature" earmarked for "growth investments and returns to shareholders."
• Boot Barn: $2.2 million recognized in cost of goods sold in the quarter ended Sept. 26, after $14.7 million in the first quarter.
• On Holding: 52.6 million Swiss francs ($63.7 million) of U.S. refunds. Gross margin was 72.6 percent, or 66.9 percent excluding them.
• Weyco Group: $1.8 million in the June quarter plus $17.5 million in July — $18.6 million total against claims of $19.3 million. The remaining $1.2 million, filed in October, awaits CBP determination and is not yet recognized.
• Shoe Station Group: the small end of the scale, roughly $1.2 million expected in the second half, with claims filed in July and more to come.

Refunds or pricing rebates?

Because retailers generally cannot trace which customer paid which duty, the money does not flow back to consumers directly. Some are routing it there anyway. Academy CEO Steven Lawrence told investors the company completed a "thorough review and have adjusted pricing across many of our private brand products," restoring pre-tariff pricing that has "already stimulated demand, driven traffic and delivered value."

Boot Barn quantified the carry-through. CFO James Watkins said merchandise margin is now expected at about 52.3 percent of sales, a 140-basis-point increase year over year, "including 70 basis points from tariff refunds." First-quarter refunds added 38 cents to diluted EPS; the third quarter should see a $700,000, or 2-cent, benefit. Full-year benefit: $17.8 million.

Crocs took the opposite tack on optics, excluding nearly $64.1 million of refunds from its reported 60.3 percent gross margin expansion to show underlying performance — though reported diluted EPS of $4.52 versus adjusted $3.69 suggests the refunds padded results either way.

The one-time nature is the point. Genesco excludes refunds from guidance; Academy and Dick's say collections are substantially complete. Companies that baked the gains into margin or EPS beats without disclosure now face the harder quarter-ahead comparison.

Expect the refund tailwind to fade from footwear income statements by early fiscal 2027 — and expect analysts to start asking what margins look like without it.