What About Bob’s?: IPO Teardown

What About Bob’s?: IPO Teardown

Bob’s Discount Furniture (ticker: BOBS) is set to IPO on the NYSE on February 5, 2026. Given the current tariff environment, which is creating meaningful uncertainty for furniture retailers, I wanted to understand their exposure. Using Daloopa’s data sheet combined with Claude’s MCP integration, I pulled together a comprehensive P&L model with a geographic revenue breakdown, sourcing exposure, and a full tariff scenario analysis, all in under 10 minutes, which would normally have taken a day of arduous work.

The Investment Question

Bob’s is a value-focused furniture retailer operating 206 showrooms across 26 states. Their prices are on average 10% below their value-focused peers. The company’s “Everyday Low Prices” strategy depends heavily on imported furniture, thus making tariff policy a critical variable. The S-1 discloses ~73% of cost of goods sold comes from imports. But what does that actually mean for margins under different tariff scenarios?

The P&L- Growth Returns After Weak 2024

Daloopa’s data sheet pulled the historical financials directly from the S-1, organizing quarterly and annual data into a clean model. Here’s what the recent performance looks like:

The story here is solid: comps have turned positive in 2025 (+14.6% in Q3), margins are stable around 46-47% gross, and operating leverage is starting to show. Since 2010, they have posted a 9% CAGR, almost 7% above the home furnishings industry.

Geographic Revenue Mix

Bob’s footprint is concentrated in the Northeast and Midwest, which matters for understanding regional economic sensitivity:

They have 5 distribution centers so expansion likely continues in these areas to reach their target of 500 stores by 2035.

The revenue story is clean and compelling but what about the tariff impact on margin especially given the recent October 2025 on “certain upholstered wooden furniture”?

The Tariff Exposure: This Is Where It Gets Interesting

Using the Daloopa MCP with Claude, I mapped the sourcing exposure based on S-1 disclosures. Having exited China entirely in early 2025, Bob’s now sources from Vietnam, the US, and other Asian countries:

Sourcing Mix (2025)

Bob’s completed their transition out of China at the start of 2025, significantly reducing their tariff exposure. Now 63% of their sourcing comes from Vietnam, 27% from the US and 10% from other Asian countries such as Malaysia, Thailand and Cambodia. However, the recently imposed tariff on “certain upholstered wooden furniture” adds another layer of complexity. This category-specific tariff started at 25% in October 2025 and is scheduled to increase to 30% in January 2027. It is unclear what these certain furniture items are and whether they will be stacked.

Tariff Scenario Analysis

I modeled three scenarios based on current policy discussions and potential escalation paths:

Quantified Impact

Here’s what each scenario means for Bob’s P&L (based on 2024FY cost structure):

Key Takeaway: In the base case, tariffs would compress gross margins by approximately 900 basis points, reducing gross profit by roughly a fifth. That’s the difference between a ~47% gross margin and a ~38% gross margin. Significantly better than before their China exit, but still material for a value retailer competing on price.

Investment Implications

• Pricing Power Question: Can Bob’s pass through tariff costs to value-focused consumers? The “Everyday Low Prices” positioning makes this difficult meaning they will likely assume some margin hit as tariffs on Vietnam and other Asian countries evolve.
• Supply Chain Optionality: With 63% Vietnam concentration and complete exit from China, Bob’s has significantly de-risked their supply chain from the most punitive tariff environment.
• Comp Momentum vs. Macro Risk: Strong +14.6% comps show operational execution albeit off a very weak comparable, but tariff headwinds could overwhelm operating improvements.
• IPO Timing: Filing ahead of potential tariff escalation suggests management sees the current window as optimal, which itself is a signal.

Why Daloopa’s Data Sheet and Claude MCP Made This Possible

This analysis would have taken hours to build from scratch, parsing the S-1, structuring the P&L, mapping geographic segments, building sourcing assumptions, and creating the scenario matrix. Daloopa’s data sheet and the Claude MCP integration did the heavy lifting in minutes, pulling structured data directly from the filing and enabling rapid scenario modeling.