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Ralph Lauren shares are in the red today despite topping earnings expectations for the first quarter. Our own Brian Sozzi standing by at the luxury retailer's New York City headquarters and showroom. He's got more on the latest report. Hey Soz.

Hey Julie. What's going on? Yeah, tough assignment, but I'm glad I signed up for it. Hanging out here in that headquarters and showroom for Ralph Lauren. Really in the in the mood, I think, from being in here a half an hour, for a great martini. Going to have to grab one after this segment. But really, uh, like you mentioned, shares of RL on the Yahoo Finance platform, under a little bit of pressure here despite a lot of wins in the company's most recent quarter. Here are a couple three top takeaways, at least that I saw from the company's earnings call and earnings release. Europe and Asia, right out of the gate. Those results very, very strong in both of those countries, much stronger relatively speaking, compared to many other players that have reported from the retail space so far. So that was the first takeaway. Number two, gross margins and operating profit margins up year-over-year. Another big win for Ralph Lauren. I think it speaks to a I think it's a really interesting sign, Julie, when a power retailer in a very promotional environment can grow its profit margins. And then you look at perhaps one reason why. Inventory levels down 13% year-over-year. Immediately signals to me, company's not dealing with any inventory challenges. Its channels are probably stuffed with a lot of full-price merchandise. Always good to see. And last but not least, if you were going to ding the company on anything, it was mixed results out of the North America business. Same-store sales in the physical stores up 3%, e-commerce down 4%, but that wholesale business, those sales down 30% as Ralph Lauren pulls out of a lot of I would say department store doors that don't make a lot of sense. Don't really fit with the company's vision for the future. And look, let's just face the facts, department stores continue to bleed traffic as people go online. A lot of department stores out there just don't do a good job presenting merchandise. So Ralph Lauren continues to clean up a lot of doors that no longer make a lot of sense. But Julie, I I have to say, you know, sitting in this headquarters, you were reminded of uh this is just a different company. What you don't see off camera, I'm looking at a photo of Ralph Lauren, who is the executive chairman chairman of the company, maybe from the '70s. I'm sitting next to a book, titled, next to me, Ralph Lauren, A Way of Living. This is a company, uh still in many respects, founder-led. He is in the trenches. He's still designing. Of course, the CEO is Patrice Louvet, who I'm going to talk to very shortly. But there's just something special about this company, Julie, and that's why historically Ralph Lauren shares have traded at a premium relative to many other apparel companies out there.

Well, but I think the big question, Soz, is are they going to be immune to the consumer headwinds that are so clearly emerging here? We're hearing from it about it from a lot of companies. We've yet to get into, really in earnest, the retail earnings season, as you know, but I expect we're going to be hearing a lot of it. I mean, you know, Disney's not in retail. Well, they're sort of in retail. They sell a lot of merchandise. But you know, when you hear that the parks are are taking a little bit of a hit and people are worried about prices, you have to think that that's going some of that is going to make its way to retail.

You're right, uh Julie. Of course, Disney, a big seller of all merchandise. Who doesn't want a new stuffed Mickey doll to put in their house? Sign me up for one of those, Julie. I'm down for one of those. But look, to your point, my day started talking to Disney CFO Hugh Johnston, and he told me, "Brian, consumers are watching every penny." That's my story. Go to yahoofinance.com. I encourage everyone, the millions of people that watch Yahoo Finance, to read that story, because I think that really explains some of the weakness we're seeing uh out of a Disney. But I just heard your conversation with Lyft CEO. He didn't want to come out and say uh that consumers are pulling back or resisting against prices, but look, Julie, I heard a little bit of caution in his voice, and I think the reality is if there's anything we're getting out of this earnings season over the past few weeks, the consumer has started to pull back. Are they falling off a cliff? No, but they're not spending to the extent they were three to six months ago.

Brian Sozzi. Thank you, buddy. Appreciate it.