Build-A-Bear's E-Commerce Jump: Early Signal for Long-Term Gains?

Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc.’s BBW second-quarter fiscal 2025 results offered an insight into how its e-commerce operation is becoming a growth lever. The company reported a 15.1% rise in consolidated e-commerce demand in the quarter, outpacing its overall revenue growth of 11.1%. Management attributed this digital momentum to the favorable timing of new product launches and effective marketing execution, including social campaigns tied to seasonal collections such as the Fruit Stand assortment and the expanding Mini Beans line.

The jump underscores how Build-A-Bear’s digital investments and social media strategies are paying off. CEO Sharon Price John described the brand’s digital transformation as central to its ongoing strategy, highlighting stronger engagement across platforms like TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. These efforts are targeting not only its traditional family base but also the fast-growing “Kidult” demographic, which engages online and drives demand.

Unlike many retailers that rely on promotional activity to sustain online sales, Build-A-Bear achieved this e-commerce lift while reducing discounting and expanding gross margin. This suggests healthier pricing power and improved customer engagement. The company’s ability to blend storytelling, trend-based product drops and omnichannel fulfillment appears to be reinforcing its brand presence.

Although digital sales still represent a smaller portion of total revenues, the quarter’s acceleration signals that Build-A-Bear’s e-commerce platform has evolved from a pandemic necessity into a strategic revenue driver. It builds upon impressive historical growth, where “Web Demand” grew approximately 110% between 2019 and 2024.

A Look at the Big Box Walmart and Target

Walmart Inc. WMT continues to demonstrate strong momentum in digital retail, with e-commerce sales rising 25% in the second quarter of fiscal 2026. Walmart U.S., Walmart International and Sam’s Club all delivered more than 20% growth, underscoring broad-based strength. Walmart’s strategy of using store-fulfilled delivery, where nearly one-third of orders arrive within three hours, is proving highly effective. 

Target Corporation TGT reported modest digital comparable sales growth of 4.3%. The figure masks underlying strength in its long-term digital initiatives. Target’s same-day delivery, powered by Target Circle 360 and Drive Up, grew more than 25%. While smaller than the growth seen at Walmart, Target’s focus on leveraging its stores for rapid fulfillment reinforces the industry-wide trend.

What the Latest Metrics Say About Build-A-Bear

Build-A-Bear stock has surged 73.4% over the past year, outperforming the industry’s growth of 10.3%.
 

From a valuation standpoint, Build-A-Bear's forward 12-month price-to-earnings ratio stands at 14.16, lower than the industry’s ratio of 18.46. BBW carries a Value Score of B.
 

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Build-A-Bear's current financial-year sales and earnings per share implies year-over-year growth of 7.4% and 6.9%, respectively. 
 

Costco currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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