After several years of collapsing sales, store closures and mounting losses, Leslie’s, Inc. may finally be showing signs of stabilization — although many inside the pool industry remain unconvinced the turnaround will last.

In its latest earnings report — the company’s second-quarter fiscal 2026 report released May 13 — the national pool and spa retailer reported that total sales increased 4.3 percent year-over-year to approximately $185 million.

Comparable-store sales — a retail metric measuring only stores that have remained open at least one year — rose an even stronger 6.6 percent.

The company also reported an 8-percent increase in foot traffic during the quarter, with more shoppers visiting Leslie’s stores or website.

For Leslie’s, these numbers represent one of the first meaningful pieces of positive news the company has reported in quite some time.

Just months ago, Leslie’s appeared to be in serious trouble.

In December 2025, the company announced plans to close roughly 80 to 90 underperforming stores nationwide and shut down a distribution center in Illinois as part of a sweeping restructuring effort.

Around the same time, Leslie’s reported major losses, wrote down nearly $184 million in assets and carried out a 1-for-20 reverse stock split after its stock price collapsed.

The company’s stock had briefly traded near $30 a share during the pandemic backyard-spending surge. Roughly$600adjustedforthelater1:20 reverse split had fallen to distressed levels of $1.65 by the end of 2025. At the same time, complaints from customers, pool professionals, and former employees became increasingly common online.

Critics described understaffed stores, inexperienced employees, sparse inventory, rising prices, and deteriorating customer service.

Many in the pool industry openly questioned whether Leslie’s business model was beginning to fail.

Part of the problem was that Leslie’s expanded near the peak of pandemicdriven pool spending, just before consumer demand began normalizing. Like many retailers during the COVID-era swimming pool boom, Leslie’s appeared to bet heavily that elevated consumer demand would continue.

But by 2023 and 2024, as consumer spending normalized, the company suddenly found itself operating in a much more difficult retail environment — one with softer demand, tighter household budgets and significantly heavier price competition.

Inflation increased operating costs while Amazon, Walmart and other retailers continued forcing prices lower.

Leslie’s occupies a difficult middle ground within the pool industry.

The company depends heavily on residential pool owners while simultaneously competing against online sellers, mass retailers, independent pool stores, and local pool professionals.

After months of store closures, inventory reductions and aggressive discounting, the company may now be operating at a size better matched to current consumer demand.

The significance of last quarter was not just the sales increase itself, but the fact that several other business indicators improved as well. According to the company, foot traffic rose, comparable-store sales increased, gross margins improved, and inventory declined by more than 20 percent year-overyear.

Management also said more shoppers who entered stores ultimately made purchases following aggressive “Price Drop” promotions launched earlier this year.

“Our improving trends in customer traffic and sales demonstrate the early success of our strategic actions,” Leslie’s President and CEO Jason McDonell said during the company’s May 13 earnings announcement.

Investors and pool-industry observers reacted strongly to the report.

Leslie’s shares surged roughly 145 percent following the earnings release, climbing from a lowly $1.43 to as high as $3.50 in trading between May 13 and 14, although the stock still remained far below its pandemicera highs.

Even so, skepticism inside the pool industry remains widespread.

Discussion among pool professionals on social media reflected a mix of cautious optimism, dark humor, and outright skepticism. Some described the mid-May stock surge as a possible sign of recovery, while others dismissed it as a temporary “dead cat bounce” or speculated about eventual bankruptcy, liquidation, or acquisition.

At the same time, some industry members pointed to the improved sales figures and revenue growth as evidence that the company may finally be stabilizing after several brutal quarters.

But a single improved quarter does not erase the scale of Leslie’s recent problems.

Leslie’s remains deep in the middle of a major turnaround effort. The retailer is still far smaller and financially weaker than it was during the height of the pandemic spending surge, and many of the structural problems facing the business — including competition, customer retention, and changing consumer behavior — have not disappeared.

The company also continues reporting net losses overall.

In its fiscal second-quarter report, Leslie’s posted a net loss of approximately $19 million, although that represented an improvement from the larger losses reported during earlier phases of the company’s downturn.

Still, after several quarters of what increasingly looked like a downward spiral, Leslie’s latest earnings report may represent the first genuine indication that the company has accomplished something that seemed uncertain only months ago: It may finally have stopped the bleeding.