About Gary Friedman
During an April 2025 earnings call, Friedman reacted in real-time after being notified that RH's stock had fallen roughly 25% following the announcement of new tariffs and the company's earnings report. He stated that the stock "got killed because of" the tariffs and noted that the company's sourcing from China was disclosed in its 10-K filing, saying "it's not a secret." Friedman expressed that he felt worse for manufacturers and people invested in China who had "move manufacturing, move their lives." He also characterized the company's large inventory as a positive, saying "we happen to have a huge amount of inventory now," despite acknowledging that "the worst thing you could possibly have is inventory."
Friedman has previously described RH's strategy as focused on long-term vision rather than short-term noise, stating the company does not have a marketing department but a "truth group" and does not maintain accounts on Instagram, Pinterest, or TikTok. He has emphasized the company's expansion into physical experiences, including restaurants, guesthouses, and a private jet, which he said are part of building an "ecosystem that elevates RH as a thought leader, a tastemaker, and a placemaker." He has also discussed the company's significant share buybacks, saying "we only bet on ourselves" and that "history would prove that we are generally, directionally right when we make bets of that size."
Source: AI-verified profile updated from Gary Friedman's recent appearances.
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Transcript (17 segments)
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Host0:00
Because the interest costs on the deficit, on the debt are going to.
Come down last night in the middle of this whole thing.
Do we have that sound built.
Yeah.
So Gary Friedman's on the call and apparently is notified in the middle of the call that his stock was down 25%. Take a listen.
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Gary Friedman0:17
In this race. And I like how. Sports are stock now. I mean. I guess I guess. You know. The stock went down. You know, based on some of the numbers we reported, and then it got killed because of tariffs. Oh, really? Oh, okay. I just looked at the screen. I had to look at it. You know, it got hit when I think the tariffs came out. And you know, everybody can see in our 10-K where we're sourcing from. So it's not a secret. You know, we're not trying to disguise it by putting everything in an Asia bucket. You know, so you can kind of figure it out and do the math. I think the people I feel worse for right now is all the manufacturers in China, or you know, people who are invested there. You know, move manufacturing, move their lives.
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Host1:05
To your initial point. Yeah. I mean, now he does talk about something that is kind of ironic. And anyone who's in the furniture business knows that the worst thing you could possibly have is inventory. Too much inventory. But last night he turned that into a positive. He said, listen, we happen to have a huge amount of inventory now. There are a lot of people who say, listen, he bought back a lot of stock with debt, so therefore he's in trouble. I don't know.
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Analyst1:27
Right, do I? All right. Do I buy my Nike sneakers now because they're emptying out inventory before the price goes up.
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Host1:34
You buy them at TJX.
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Analyst1:35
That's my point.
About my three months from now. You buy an iPhone.
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Host1:37
Right now before the price goes. Yes.
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Analyst1:38
Yes, yes you do. You buy an iPhone? Yes. And you buy a car. You buy a car because the price.
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Host1:43
You buy a car now.
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Analyst1:45
Because Q1 auto sales were like a multiyear high, we're running almost 18 million.
Annual March was the high until we see April and April's going to be probably the biggest month.
And then we're just going to.
