Helen of Troy plans to put “the vast majority of tariff refunds” back into the business, chief executive G. Scott Uzzell said in the company’s fiscal second-quarter earnings release on Oct. 8. The Hydro Flask maker, whose brands also include OXO, Vicks and Braun, paid $80.5 million in struck-down tariffs, according to its quarterly report, and expects to keep only a small slice of the refund.
The company’s 10-Q for the quarter ended Aug. 31, 2026 puts the figure in one sentence: “During fiscal 2026 and 2027, we paid IEEPA tariffs totaling $80.5 million.” IEEPA is the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, the law the Supreme Court ruled on in February. Helen of Troy’s fiscal year ends on the last day of February, so the payments straddle two of its years: the year that ended Feb. 28, 2026, and the current one that began March 1.
The question for anyone who owns the stock, or simply buys the products, is how much of the $80.5 million actually comes back and what the company does with it. The answer in the earnings release is a split: Helen of Troy plans to reinvest about 83% to 88% of the refunds in growth and keep an estimated $10 million to $14 million before taxes.
Helen of Troy’s $10 million to $14 million estimate of refunds it keeps will move as each new refund phase pays out, and the company reports on it every quarter.
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From $80.5 million paid to $10 million to $14 million kept
Two filings use the same $80.5 million for two related things, and the difference matters. The 10-Q reports the tariffs the company paid. The earnings release describes “the estimated pre-tax benefit from Phase 1, Phase 2 and Phase 3 tariff refunds totaling approximately $80.5 million.” In other words, the company expects the refunds, once all three phases pay out, to match what it paid in.
That is a gross, pre-tax figure. Helen of Troy says it plans to “strategically reinvest approximately 83% to 88%” of it, which leaves an estimated pre-tax net benefit of about $10 million to $14 million for the fiscal year. The release puts the after-tax effect on earnings at roughly $0.30 to $0.45 a share.
The quarter in which $26.9 million came back
The second quarter shows the pattern at work. Helen of Troy recorded gross pre-tax tariff refunds of $26.9 million in the three months to Aug. 31, “of which approximately $23 million was reinvested in the quarter.” That leaves a net of only a few million dollars, about $4 million, from a quarter that carried a $26.9 million credit.
The 10-Q gives the cash side. For the six months ended Aug. 31 the company says it collected $25.3 million in tariff refunds, and it has collected all of its Phase 1 refunds. It recognized reductions to cost of goods sold of $26.9 million for the quarter and $28.7 million for the six months. A receivable for tariff refunds, still to be collected, totaled $4.3 million at the end of August.
Three phases at Customs and Border Protection
The refunds are paid in stages by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the agency that collected the duties. The 10-Q lays out the sequence. CBP launched Phase 1 of the process for submitting IEEPA refund claims on April 20, 2026. Phase 2 followed on June 29, 2026.
Phase 3 has a framework but no start date for submissions. “CBP has established the framework for Phase 3 of the IEEPA refund claims process, and the Company was notified in August 2026 of its eligibility to participate,” the 10-Q says. Helen of Troy “plans to start filing Phase 3 refund claims after CBP begins accepting submissions.” Until that happens, part of the $80.5 million sits outside the cash the company has actually received.
The court ruling that opened the door was the Supreme Court’s, dated Feb. 20, 2026 by the law firm A&O Shearman, which summarizes it as holding that the IEEPA does not authorize the president to impose tariffs. The 10-Q adds a second step, a March 4, 2026 ruling by the Court of International Trade on importers’ right to refunds.
An outlook that moved up with the refunds in it
The refunds are built into the raised forecast. For the fiscal year ending in February 2027, Helen of Troy now expects GAAP diluted earnings of $3.63 to $4.26 a share, up from $3.57 to $4.18. Adjusted diluted earnings are now $3.60 to $4.15 a share, up from $3.25 to $3.75, a much larger lift at the low end.
Sales guidance went the other way at the edges. Consolidated net sales are expected at $1.768 billion to $1.822 billion, a range of down 1.0% to up 2.0%, narrowed from $1.759 billion to $1.831 billion. The company assumes tariff rates in place as of September 2026 stay in effect for the rest of the year.
The quarter itself was modest. Net sales were $440.9 million, up 2.1% from $431.8 million a year earlier. Adjusted diluted earnings were $0.79 a share against $0.59, while the GAAP figure was $0.19. The release lists the company’s brands as OXO, Hydro Flask, Osprey, Vicks, Braun, Honeywell, PUR, Hot Tools, Drybar, Curlsmith, Revlon and Olive & June.
What the company said about spending the money
Uzzell’s wording in the release is the closest thing to a promise to customers or investors. He said the company would reinvest the vast majority of tariff refunds “while allowing a portion to support near-term earnings and liquidity.” The release does not tell shoppers that prices will fall, and it does not name which brands or products get the reinvestment. It describes the spending as growth investments.
Following the refund phases from the filings
The two documents above are the best free tracking tools. Helen of Troy’s earnings exhibit lists the outlook and the refund assumptions in the same place, and the 10-Q’s note on tariff refunds updates the cash collected each quarter.
Three items will say whether the plan is working: the date CBP starts taking Phase 3 submissions, the size of the receivable that follows, and whether the $10 million to $14 million estimate moves. If the estimate rises, more of the refunds are being kept. If it falls, more is going into reinvestment.
The anchor for all of it is the 10-Q’s own sentence on what was paid: $80.5 million across fiscal 2026 and 2027, with $25.3 million collected so far.
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This article was produced with AI assistance and reviewed by The Financial Wire’s editorial team.
Warren Cohen is a finance writer based in Phoenix, Arizona, covering personal finance topics including credit, banking, and beginner investing. He earned his degree in business administration from Arizona State University and began his career working in consumer finance, where he gained direct experience with lending and credit systems. He now writes for personal finance websites and fintech platforms, focusing on clear, practical content that helps readers make informed financial decisions.
