Furniture retailers have spent years waiting for the housing market to revive demand for sofas, beds, and other big-ticket home purchases. That rebound remains elusive, but some of the industry's biggest players are finding growth anyway. Wayfair reported second-quarter net revenue of $3.5 billion, up 7.5% from a year earlier, while U.S. revenue jumped 8.7%.
Orders increased 6%, active customers rose 3.3%, and the online furniture retailer generated $301 million in free cash flow. Executives were also quick to point out that this was the company's strongest U.S. revenue growth of the post-COVID period. The performance stands out because the broader furniture industry has barely returned to growth.
Meanwhile, Wayfair estimated that the second quarter marked the first period of flat-to-slightly positive year-over-year U.S. category growth since 2021, with demand disproportionately coming from higher-income consumers. Wayfair's U.S. business, by comparison, expanded nearly 9%. The divergence is creating clear winners and losers in the furniture industry, which is facing weak housing turnover, tariff-related costs, and increasingly uneven consumer spending.
Furniture purchases are closely tied to housing activity, and the latest data show the market is still struggling to sustain a recovery. U.S. existing-home sales fell 1.7% in July from the previous month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.06 million, according to the National Association of Realtors. The weak housing market has already spilled into furniture retail.
Dollar General copies Costco's playbook with a discount twist Pepsi and Coca-Cola bet big on soda Americans say they want Iconic supermarket chain closes more stores and facilities As TheStreet previously reported, elevated mortgage rates and home prices have pushed housing turnover near historic lows, leaving fewer consumers shopping for new couches, dining tables, and other big-ticket furnishings. Wayfair similarly cited "depressed housing turnover" when describing the operating environment on its earnings call. Yet CEO Niraj Shah said the company has maintained a high-single-digit spread between its U.S. growth and the broader category since last fall.
Bank of America sees that outperformance continuing. Analyst Michael McGovern said Wayfair's loyalty program, physical-store expansion, and move upmarket together are driving market-share gains despite a tepid home-furnishings industry. BofA now expects Wayfair to return to double-digit revenue growth in the fourth quarter.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
