Conferencia de resultados del T2 de 2026 de Tiendas 3B (TBBB): Los ingresos aumentan un 39%, las ventas en mismas tiendas crecen un 20%

Puntos clave

• Tiendas 3B (TBBB) reportó unos ingresos en el T2 de 2026 de 26.000 millones de MXN, un 39% más interanual, mientras que las ventas en mismas tiendas aumentaron un 20%.
• La empresa abrió 155 tiendas netas durante el trimestre, cerrando junio con 3.624 tiendas. Su base de tiendas se amplió un 20% en los últimos 12 meses, con 593 aperturas netas.
• El EBITDA reportado alcanzó los 960 millones de MXN. Excluyendo la compensación basada en acciones no monetaria, el EBITDA ajustado aumentó un 44% hasta los 1.600 millones de MXN.
• El flujo de caja operativo del primer semestre aumentó un 119% interanual hasta los 4.300 millones de MXN. La directiva señaló que el modelo de capital de trabajo estructuralmente negativo sigue financiando íntegramente la expansión orgánica.
• Aproximadamente dos tercios del crecimiento de las ventas en mismas tiendas procedieron del volumen y un tercio del precio; la mezcla aportó la mayor parte de la contribución del precio y la inflación interna se mantuvo baja.
• La directiva advirtió sobre la posible presión sobre los gastos logísticos en el T3 debido a la apertura de tres centros de distribución, aunque espera que estas instalaciones mejoren la eficiencia a largo plazo.

Datos financieros clave

Rendimiento operativo y del negocio

Tiendas 3B abrió 155 tiendas netas en el T2, elevando su total a 3.624 a 30 de junio de 2026. La empresa también sumó un centro de distribución durante el trimestre, ampliando su red a 21 regiones.

Todas las tiendas nuevas se están abriendo bajo el formato mejorado, que incluye una superficie algo mayor y más capacidad de refrigeración. La directiva afirmó que la cohorte de tiendas de 2026 se está desarrollando en consonancia con sus proyecciones de rentabilidad unitaria y que las nuevas tiendas están captando clientes más rápidamente durante su desarrollo inicial.

El crecimiento de las ventas en mismas tiendas siguió estando impulsado predominantemente por el volumen. La directiva atribuyó este desempeño a las mejoras en la propuesta de valor, un mayor reconocimiento de marca, la fidelidad de los clientes y una mayor cuota de gasto. Las categorías existentes siguieron creciendo, mientras que las categorías más recientes se expandieron más rápidamente desde bases más pequeñas.

La empresa se mantiene cautelosa respecto a la adición de SKU. Los nuevos productos deben demostrar una alta rotación y un sólido valor, mientras que los artículos menos productivos pueden retirarse. Los días de inventario se mantienen por debajo de 20 y la directiva no prevé que las nuevas categorías tengan un efecto significativo en el capital de trabajo.

La mejora del margen bruto reflejó ganancias incrementales en todo el portafolio de productos, incluyendo mejores condiciones de compra y fabricación, mejores condiciones de insumos, eficiencias logísticas y la optimización continua de precios. La directiva enfatizó que el margen bruto puede fluctuar trimestre a trimestre según el SKU, mientras que la ganancia bruta monetaria a largo plazo sigue siendo la métrica clave.

Tiendas 3B está probando la Fase 1 de su nuevo sistema ERP. La directiva señaló que las herramientas de IA han acelerado la programación, lo que permite adelantar el trabajo planificado y añadir funcionalidades. El sistema de punto de venta actualizado está diseñado para admitir potenciales servicios adicionales para los clientes a lo largo del tiempo.

Previsiones de la directiva

La empresa no proporciona orientaciones formales para las métricas de gastos comentadas. Sin embargo, la directiva indicó que los gastos de administración a corto plazo podrían mantenerse alrededor del 3% de los ingresos, a medida que Tiendas 3B continúa invirtiendo en talento en las áreas de compras, logística, sistemas y otras funciones especializadas.

Se habían abierto dos centros de distribución en las semanas previas a la conferencia telefónica, y se esperaba un tercero dentro del T3. La directiva advirtió que la apertura de tres centros de distribución durante el trimestre podría generar presión sobre los gastos logísticos a corto plazo, aunque prevé una mayor eficiencia con el tiempo.

La directiva indicó que el porcentaje de margen bruto debería mejorar en general a medida que avancen la escala y la ejecución, pero que con el tiempo podría estabilizarse al trasladar más ahorros a los clientes mediante precios más bajos. Espera que el margen bruto monetario siga siendo la métrica de progreso más importante.

Riesgos y aspectos a vigilar

• Los costes logísticos del T3 podrían verse presionados por el despliegue acelerado de centros de distribución.
• El margen bruto podría seguir siendo volátil entre trimestres, ya que los precios y la rentabilidad se gestionan a nivel de SKU individual.
• La inversión continuada en talento podría limitar el apalancamiento de los gastos de administración a corto plazo, aunque la directiva prevé que los gastos de ventas sigan siendo la fuente principal de apalancamiento operativo.
• La actividad de la competencia sigue siendo un foco de atención para los analistas. La directiva señaló que no ha observado un cambio significativo por parte de FEMSA y que no planea modificar su estrategia.

Puntos destacados del turno de preguntas de los analistas

Ventas en mismas tiendas: La directiva indicó que aproximadamente dos tercios del incremento del 20% procedieron del volumen y un tercio del precio. Una mejor mezcla de productos impulsó la mayor parte del componente de precio, mientras que la inflación se mantuvo baja. El crecimiento sigue procediendo tanto de nuevos clientes como de un mayor gasto por parte de los clientes existentes.

Expansión de tiendas: La directiva no observa restricciones inmobiliarias en México y calificó de sustancial el margen de expansión. No anunció una aceleración en el ritmo de apertura de tiendas.

Nuevo formato de tienda: Todas las ubicaciones nuevas utilizan el formato mejorado. La directiva señaló que estas tiendas tienen un desempeño superior al de los formatos anteriores, al tiempo que las tiendas existentes también siguen obteniendo buenos resultados.

Red de distribución: Los nuevos centros de distribución amplían la cobertura geográfica y pueden reducir los gastos de transporte con el tiempo. Una mejor gestión de los costes de preapertura benefició al T2, pero tres aperturas en el T3 podrían presionar temporalmente los gastos logísticos.

ERP y punto de venta: Las pruebas de la Fase 1 avanzan según lo previsto por la directiva. El desarrollo asistido por IA ha acelerado la programación, mientras que la nueva plataforma de punto de venta está diseñada para ofrecer una mayor funcionalidad y opciones de cara a futuros servicios al cliente.

Efecto de la Copa Mundial: La directiva señaló que la Copa Mundial no tuvo un impacto relevante en las ventas.

Prueba de tienda sin tarjetas: Una prueba en la que se eliminó la aceptación de tarjetas de crédito y débito tuvo un impacto insignificante. La directiva declaró que la prueba no indica que este enfoque vaya a ampliarse.

Transcripción completa de la conferencia de resultados

Transcripción completa de la conferencia de resultados

Comentarios de la dirección

Operator

Good morning, everyone. My name is Daniela, and I will be your conference operator. Welcome to Tiendas 3B's Second Quarter 2026 Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] Also note that this call is for investors and analysts only. Questions from the media will not be taken nor should the call be reported on.

Any forward-looking statements made during this conference call are based on information that is currently available to us. Today, we are joined by Tiendas 3B's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Anthony Hatoum, and Chief Financial Officer, Eduardo Pizzuto. I will now turn the call over to Anthony. Please go ahead.

Kamal Hatoum

Good morning, and thank you for joining us today. I will begin with a review of our operating results for the quarter and will be followed by our CFO, Eduardo Pizzuto, who will provide an overview of our financial performance. We will conclude with our Q&A session.

We delivered another strong quarter, sustaining and even building on the momentum we achieved in the first quarter. Here are the key highlights from our second quarter results. We opened 155 net new stores during the quarter, bringing our total store count to 3,624 as of June 30, 2026. Over the last 12 months, we've opened 593 net new stores. We also opened one new distribution center, expanding our network to 21 regions as of the end of June.

Same-store sales grew 20% compared to the second quarter of 2025. Total revenue increased 39% year-over-year to MXN 26 billion. Reported EBITDA reached MXN 960 million. Excluding noncash share-based compensation, EBITDA increased 44% to MXN 1.6 billion. For the first half of the year, cash flow generated from operating activities reached MXN 4.3 billion, representing 119% growth compared to the first half of 2025.

Let's now turn to our operational performance. As I mentioned, we opened 155 net new stores during the second quarter. Over the last 12 months, we've opened 593 net new stores, representing 20% growth in our store base compared to June 2025. Our expansion strategy remains unchanged. We continue to balance densifying our presence in existing regions while selectively expanding our footprint in others.

Our revenue growth remained exceptionally strong, and we believe 3B continues to be amongst the fastest-growing retailers globally. Total revenue reached MXN 26 billion in the second quarter, up 39% year-over-year. Same-store sales increased 20%, reflecting another quarter of outstanding performance. This strong growth continues to be driven by ongoing improvements to our value proposition, increasing brand awareness and growing customer loyalty.

Our same-store sales performance continued to significantly outperform the market. During the quarter, we maintained a gap of more than 20 percentage points versus ANTAD, while our internal inflation remained very low. I will now pass the microphone to Eduardo.

Eduardo Pizzuto

Thank you, Anthony. Good morning, everyone. Sales expenses as a percentage of revenue decreased by 56 basis points to 10% year-over-year in the second quarter of 2026. Most of the expense lines showed operating leverage, including labor.

Admin expenses, excluding share-based payment, increased by 57 basis points year-over-year. As seen in previous quarters, admin expenses reflect our continued investment in talent and expansion into new regions to support our accelerated growth. In the second quarter of 2026, admin expenses reflects a onetime cash expense of MXN 37 million related to the equity follow-on offering in May 2026.

With respect to the share-based payment expense, these are noncash and already reflected in our fully diluted share count. Additional details are available in the appendix of this earnings release, where we also provide projections for this noncash expense.

EBITDA for the second quarter of 2026, excluding noncash share-based payment expense, increased 44% to MXN 1.6 billion, driven by strong sales growth, improved gross margin and operational efficiencies. The adjusted EBITDA margin increased by 21 basis points year-over-year. EBITDA in the second quarter of 2026 includes a onetime cash expense of MXN 37 million related to the equity follow-on offering in May 2026. Excluding this impact, the adjusted EBITDA margin in the second quarter of 2026 was 6.2%. As you know, we don't drive to an EBITDA. It will naturally continue to increase over time, driven by our disciplined execution.

Our business model generates strong operating cash flow through our structurally negative working capital model. As of June 2026, adjusted negative working capital reached MXN 10.2 billion compared to MXN 7.1 billion in 2025, excluding IPO and follow-on proceeds. This represents approximately 11.2% of total LTM revenue, also excluding IPO and follow-on proceeds. Our operating cash flow fully funds our organic expansion.

I will now turn the call back over to Anthony for final remarks.

Kamal Hatoum

Thank you all for joining us today and for your continued interest in Tiendas 3B. We delivered a strong first half of 2026 with consistent and solid execution across our key operating and financial metrics. Our high-growth business model has continued to demonstrate its resilience across different economic environments. It delivers attractive unit economics, generates strong cash flow and becomes even more competitive as we scale. We remain confident in the significant long-term growth opportunity for Tiendas 3B.

Thank you, and we will now open the call for your questions.

Operator

[Operator Instructions] Our first question comes from Andrew Ruben at Morgan Stanley.

Preguntas y respuestas

Andrew Ruben

I'm interested to understand a bit more about the gross margin performance. And just thinking about some of the drivers. You mentioned stronger commercial margins. So trying to understand what might have changed, if anything, quarter-on-quarter there. And then second, the lower transportation costs. I think this is the first time you've mentioned that in a while despite the DC buildout. So trying to understand these drivers, how much they contributed and how that pertains to any forward outlook on gross margin would be very helpful.

Kamal Hatoum

I'll take the gross margin question, Andrew. As you know, it's a dynamic process in the sense that this is a sum -- what you're seeing here is a sum of the gross margins of all the SKUs we currently carry. In large part, let's say, the main driver, as we scale, we are much more efficient in terms of buying or in terms of manufacturing a good. We get better input conditions. We improve the logistics of moving that good over. And that fundamentally basically gives you a bigger pie that, if it's a private label product, you've divided in a very equitable way with your producer. And then you turn around and you say, "Okay, now I have a bigger pie. Let's decide at what price do we put it?" And it's mostly a very ongoing adjustment of prices, where we try to optimize volumes and dollar margin.

And then we sum it all up, and you see that, yes, it's improved, but it's the result of all these little improvements that we see across the whole portfolio. Will the trend continue? Very likely, you'd see this improving as we scale and as we are just getting better at what we do. There comes a point where in terms of percent margin, you're basically passing more into price than necessarily retaining it. But end result, the most important thing to look at is the dollar margin generated. And as long as this continues to grow healthily as we see it here, we're all very happy.

Eduardo Pizzuto

I'll take the second portion, Andrew. In terms of transportation expenses, I guess, overall, there's no doubt that as we continue to grow and gain scale, we become more efficient in all our operating line items. Specifically on logistics for Q2, 2 things played in our favor. One is we have ongoing efforts to optimize our transportation costs, not only for new regions but all of our regions. And the second one is specifically for the distribution center that we opened in Q2, we did a better job in managing the preoperating expenses of this region. So of course, that is something that we will apply in future regions.

And I'll take advantage of your question just to give you an update on distribution centers. We have, in addition to the one we opened in Q2, in the past few weeks, we opened an additional 2 distribution centers, and we expect to open a third one within Q3. So for a total of 3 DCs in Q3. The reason I mention this is because we might see some pressure probably in logistics expense just because we're adding 3 additional new distribution centers.

Operator

Our next question comes from Bob Ford at Bank of America.

Robert Ford

Again, congratulations as well. With respect to same-store sales, how much of the growth is ticket versus traffic? And how should we think about the year-on-year improvements that you're seeing in terms of item counts per transaction? And then I was also curious, you've got some phenomenal innovation. How much of that growth is coming from new SKUs?

And additionally, could you give us a little update on the progress with the ERP rewrite? There's been a revolution in programming over the last 12 months. How is that speeding up development or maybe allowing you to run a little leaner than you expected? And should we think about -- or how should we think about deployment, both in terms of functionality in the system as well as any complementary changes you may need in logistics or the point-of-sale?

Kamal Hatoum

Bob, good to hear from you and many questions. Let me start with the first one regarding to where is the same-store sales growth coming from. We have about 2/3 of the growth is explained by volume, 1/3 is explained by price. And within price, the large impact is coming from better mix. We remain with a very low amount of inflation in our price number.

There was a second part to your question that was talking about categories and category growth. When we look at all our current categories, they're all growing at various rates, but they're all growing. When we look at maybe 1 or 2 commodity categories where we're relatively well penetrated, they're still growing but possibly at a slightly slower pace than, let's say, newer categories that just entered, which you very rightly saw, we have a couple of new categories which, starting from a low base, are growing quite rapidly and successfully.

We've been extremely careful about introduction of new products or categories. As you know, we like to keep our SKU count on the low side. It brings a lot of benefits to us. So every time we put in an SKU, we have to make sure that it does rotate, that it's highly accepted. And many times, we just drop an SKU that's less attractive. And this will continue. I don't see a stop to that. And as you know, our stores can handle a significantly higher number of SKUs, but we're extremely conservative in introducing new ones.

One last part to your question is, 3B is a platform, and we've said that many times. We touch a client very frequently. And this client not only needs groceries. So then you can basically say whatever this client needs is something that you can potentially offer as long as you don't violate your core principles.

On the second part of your question, which had to do with our ERP, I'm very pleased with the progress on our new ERP system. We are testing Phase 1, and I think it's going quite well. AI tools have definitely accelerated our ability to program. And what I've noticed, though, is that we've just brought forward a lot of stuff that we had planned to do a little bit later. And we've even added more features that we thought we would put in a bit later. So net-net, we're on track, and it's coming quite well. There was a last part to your question, but maybe I missed it.

Robert Ford

Yes, it was actually kind of plugging into maybe you're signaling this when you talk about the broader platform opportunity. But I was asking you a little bit, too, about how you're thinking about complementary changes to the supply chain or the point-of-sale systems and just trying to get a better sense for the calendar of deployment and maybe the functionality that we'll expect over time.

Kamal Hatoum

Yes. I mean there's no doubt that in this new generation of ERP that you're seeing, our point-of-sale is a much more potent point-of-sale that has the ability to deliver more than just ringing up a product. And that's the whole idea of giving us optionality to offer more services to the client down the road. And in terms of logistics, again, as you get bigger, suddenly, you have many more doors opening for optimizing your logistics. As you know very well, we don't do much on the backside of logistics, and that's quite an interesting opportunity for us to explore.

Operator

Our next question comes from Joseph Giordano at J.P. Morgan.

Joseph Giordano

Anthony, so I want to explore a little bit -- Eduardo, sorry -- to explore a little bit the upgraded store format you guys have been talking about. So it's a little bit larger, more doors for refrigerated goods. So I'd like to understand like what's the percentage of new stores that are coming under the new format, if it's 100%. And second, what's the typical sales uplift we are seeing from those locations? And last, if I may, like how should we think about the ramp-up? So it looks like the ramp-up of the new stores are much faster than in previous vintage.

Kamal Hatoum

Joe, good to hear from you. Yes, 100% of our new stores open under the new format. We'd like to try and keep as much format discipline as we can going forward. And there's no doubt that we chose this upgraded format because it has much better performance than our older stores. Having said that, our older stores are still performing extremely well. Eduardo, do you want to touch on the others?

Eduardo Pizzuto

Yes. I would just add, you asked also on the ramp-ups, Joe. And what I can say is that, we're very happy to see how these stores are performing. So if you remember, we updated our unit economics analysis in Q4. So it's pretty much trending against what we had projected. And the same thing with pretty much all our stores are tracking in the direction that we had expected. So there's no news there other than the ramp-ups continue to be very consistent, and we're very happy with the evolution of our 2026 vintage.

Operator

Our next question comes from Ulises Argote at Santander.

Ulises Argote Bolio

I had kind of a follow-up to a point you made earlier, Eduardo, but you guys opened close to 280 stores in the first 6 months of the year, and this came with only one additional distribution center. So just wanted to get some color if this is more related to some temporality effects there on the opening of distribution centers. And you already said Eduardo, there will be 3 new ones on the quarter, but I wanted to get a sense there if you're finding any efficiencies being able to serve a broader store base from each distribution center given what we saw in the first half of the year. Appreciate any thoughts there.

Eduardo Pizzuto

Ulises, thank you. We are on track in terms of our openings as what we had planned in the beginning of the year. As we've discussed in previous calls, every time we open a new distribution center, we, of course, benefit from 2 things: one is we continue to increase our footprint in the country; and the second one is we do become more efficient because our transportation expenses get benefited from that.

We've seen that in the -- in pretty much all our DCs that we have opened. So for the back half of the year, yes, we're opening 3 additional ones in Q3. If we see opportunities to open more in the back half of the year, we might do so. And again, it's because at the end, we become more efficient.

There was a second portion of your question.

Ulises Argote Bolio

No, I think it was just to understand if there was kind of any temporality into what we saw in the expansion on the first half with just one DC being added.

Eduardo Pizzuto

Yes. As I mentioned earlier, we were benefited this quarter by those 2 factors that I mentioned, transportation expense and the fact that we were smarter in the preopening expenses for the region that will be applied for the next regions that we open. But just a heads up on -- as I said, might be some pressure on logistics expense in Q3 just because we're opening 3 additional DCs. But in the longer run, eventually, these will become even more efficient. So nothing very different from what you've seen in the past.

Operator

Our next question comes from Héctor Maya at Scotiabank.

Héctor Maya López

Congrats on the strong results. Just wondering if you saw any tailwind from the World Cup? And if so, how much do you think it contributed to same-store sales? And also, I wanted to know how you are thinking about the increase in the pace of G&A investments in the second half or if the level we saw in Q2 could be a good run rate?

Kamal Hatoum

No, World Cup did not have a relevant impact on our sales. I mean it was even hard to tease out anything, if at all.

In terms of G&A expenses, Eduardo, you have a better handle on that?

Eduardo Pizzuto

Sure. I think it's -- Héctor, as you know, we don't guide on these metrics. But I think it's fair to assume that -- and we will continue to invest in talent just because we are convinced that it drives value, strong value actually. So we will continue to do so for the back half of the year.

So I think it's fair to assume and expect something very similar to what happened in Q2. So let's say, 3-ish percent of revenue. I think that would be -- in the short term, that would be a fair assumption.

Operator

Our next question comes from Irma Sgarz at Goldman Sachs.

Irma Sgarz

Yes, just picking up on that G&A point, as you've made clear on your previous answer, you're looking to continue to invest in talent. Can you just be a little bit more explicit in terms of like where -- which areas of the organization you're looking to add talent? Obviously, you've brought some important people on to the team sort of market facing over the last 12 months. But I'd be curious to just hear a little bit more on the backend part that we don't maybe directly see which areas of the organization you're looking to add. Or is this more sort of retention of talent and incentives and employee value proposition that you're investing in there on the G&A side?

And then just curious, I know it's a bit in the nitty-gritty, but I know you're testing in some stores to go cardless and I know you have a lot of cash expenses actually or cash transactions in your stores, but just curious if you could tease out for us what you've learned there and if there's any meaningful sort of margin gain from that or even incremental margin gains that you envision?

Kamal Hatoum

Let me start with the last question. What you're referring to is the cardless exercise is a test where we've basically taken out credit cards and debit cards to see what happens. And I can just give you a very high-level answer saying that nonmaterial impact. But it's a test, and it doesn't mean we're going to expand it. And at 3B, at any point in time, you're going to find several tests running on different topics, but they all have the same kind of objective with either trying to generate more revenue or reduce costs or reduce risk. And it's always something where we're trying to create more value for the customer. So that's on that.

On the matter of G&A investment, it has much, much less to do with improving salaries and benefits to employees and much, much more to do, and that's where the core value is in adding talent and densifying talent in across the board critical areas. So you'll see it in purchasing, you'll see it in logistics, you'll see it in systems, you'll see it in specialty areas where one person can have a dramatic impact on creating value for the company. We're very aware that it adds to the G&A number, but we're also much more than convinced that it's a very valuable investment with very high return.

Irma Sgarz

And perhaps, should we -- as we think about '27, should we think of that as an ongoing process?

Kamal Hatoum

You meant -- you said fresh, right?

Irma Sgarz

No, in terms of talent.

Kamal Hatoum

Yes, talent is an ongoing process. And at this point in time, there is no limit to adding talent. But again, for us, it's if we do add, for example, one new person, whatever they cost, what are they going to contribute? And the answer always has to be significantly more than what they're going to cost us, and it's been the case so far.

Irma Sgarz

So the dilution that we should think about to the operating leverage should come more still through the selling expense line?

Kamal Hatoum

Exactly. Exactly.

Operator

Our next question comes from Jorge Izquierdo at BTG Pactual.

Jorge Izquierdo Lobato

Congrats on the results. I have a quick one regarding store size going forward. As basket size increases, how are you thinking about store sizes and the need to have parking availability in the future?

Kamal Hatoum

Interesting question. I think at this stage, we're extremely comfortable with the current store size that you're seeing in the new generation of stores. And then the addition of parking or not boils down very simply to how suburban or urban are you. In urban areas, very difficult to have parking. So that sort of limits your ability to do so. But as soon as there is a need for parking and you've opened the store where there is parking, then absolutely, we're putting parking.

Operator

Our next question comes from Antonio Hernandez at Actinver.

Antonio Hernandez

Congrats on your results. Just a quick one regarding working capital. Well, as new categories are being introduced or even piloted, how should we see working capital going forward? There's, of course, an improvement, but how much should we weigh in these new categories?

Eduardo Pizzuto

Antonio, thanks for your question. Let me take a step back. Our overall philosophy, as you know, is we only carry items that have very high rotation. So by definition, what we look for in a new item, new category, whatever that is, is that it complies with that principle, not only high rotation, but an amazing value.

So if we consider that into your question, then there should be no impact on working capital because we always look for items with very fast rotation. And so there should be no material impact on working capital. In fact, if you look at our trends over the past, let's say, a few years, you'll see that we've been improving -- slightly improving our inventory days. So it's below 20 days. So that's what we should expect going forward. So no changes really on that front.

Operator

Our next question comes from Joe Thomas at HSBC.

Joseph Thomas

Congratulations on the strong results. A couple of things, please. Firstly, same-store sales, as you pointed out, it was plus 20% on a comp of plus 17% from last year. And so if you look at this on a 2-year basis, there is a real meaningful acceleration. Given that the improvement is coming from -- it sounds like it's coming from volume more than anything else, is that sort of 2-year momentum the best way to think about how to model this out into the future and the sort of performance that can be maintained?

And secondly, I had a question on competition because we're hearing a lot of noise in the market, including from FEMSA, about their rollouts. And I just wondered what you're seeing about the -- what you're seeing in terms of the competitive intensity in the hard discounting space and what it is that you're doing to stay ahead of that competition specifically.

Kamal Hatoum

Let me take that last one. Regarding to FEMSA, we don't see anything more than what we've already seen. It's good to keep in mind that we already operate in a very competitive market, and that's been the case now for many years. And I continue to believe that the market potential in Mexico is significant and that there is room for several players to thrive in the sector that we call discount. So from our side, nothing new, nothing that will change what we're doing at all. We continue to do what we're doing, and I think that's going to continue to work extremely well.

With regards to same-store sales growth, if you go back to some of the discussions we've had with the market earlier, it doesn't take much in our case to see an increase in same-store sales. All we need to do is sell one more item per customer, and you can see that number significantly increasing. And so we see that increase in number of products we sell to a given existing customer as something that will happen naturally over time because our products are just getting better and the value that we're offering to the client is continuing to improve. The day that stops is probably the day you don't see any more expansion in same-store sales. So I would be conservative, but I would still remain positive that, that's going to happen.

Operator

Our next question comes from Isabella Lamas at UBS.

Isabella Pinheiro F. Lamas

I have 2 questions. First one, I'd like to tap also on your growth, specifically on how could we think in terms of how much growth has been coming from new customers compared to the increased share of wallet from your existing ones? And also if you could elaborate on the main initiatives that you have in place to expand this number of items per transaction that you've just mentioned? And also, if you see the company gaining increasing relevance within customer share of wallet, is this a trend that we should continue seeing from now on?

And my second one is regarding your expansion, specifically on the real estate front. If you see -- if you continue to see solid availability for real estate for your pipeline, if you see better negotiation conditions with landlords or any change in that? And also, given that you have a very solid performance, cash generation remains healthy, if you could be considering accelerating the expansion pace?

Kamal Hatoum

Let me start with the real estate question, and it's a fairly straightforward answer. There is no constraints on real estate. The runway is tremendous in Mexico for us. So we haven't seen any constraints on that front.

On the matter of where is the growth going to come from, more penetration of wallet or more customers. It's always been a balance. And historically, if we look back and we look at our numbers, we see that it's been a mix of both. And it also depends on how old the store is. So you can imagine that older vintages will capture new clients at a slower rate, whereas, of course, our newer vintages are just capturing clients much more rapidly. And I think Eduardo mentioned earlier on, it's also that we're seeing a faster ramp-up. So it's like we get new customers, not only more customers, but we get them faster at the initial part of the store opening, and that has a very beneficial impact.

But across the board, what you will see is an increase in penetration of wallet. An increase of penetration of wallet comes from 2 things: one, you can add new SKUs and automatically, you'll get something more there; but even without adding any new SKUs, and as I mentioned, we're super conservative on adding new SKUs. The existing portfolio is still not by any metric fully penetrated. There's still tremendous potential for existing customers with the existing portfolio to still see an increase in same-store sales. And that we have pretty good data on and we continuously monitor that. So we're pretty confident that there is a lot more to do with what we have right now without adding anything new.

Operator

Our next question comes from Froylan Mendez at J.P. Morgan.

Fernando Froylan Mendez Solther

I just wanted to dig a little bit more on the gross margin. In the past, you have said not to really extrapolate a single quarter margin into the full year or the next quarters. It sounds that the extra openings in the second quarter could -- in the third quarter could lead to a giveback on the gross margin that we saw this quarter. But is there anything also seasonal on the gross margin during this quarter, maybe more, I don't know, World Cup campaigns or more people using your DC versus the past. Some more granularity on the gross margin into this quarter and what to expect into the next would be appreciated.

And secondly, on the stock option plan, we know that the employee stock option plan had this restriction period during the earnings season. I understand that it's liberated tomorrow after 48 hours of the earnings release. Any comments on any mechanism that avoids any disorderly sales from management that wants to obviously gain liquidity after many years of having received stock options that would be highly appreciated.

Kamal Hatoum

Let me answer the question of options. You would think that people will rush to the doors to sell their options, and I don't have a feeling that that's going to be the case. In any event, we do already have in place mechanisms to ensure that when naturally people want to sell some of their options, it's done in a very orderly and timely way. So that's already in place. Your first question was around...

Fernando Froylan Mendez Solther

Gross margins, Anthony. If there was something one-off?

Kamal Hatoum

Yes. No. Again, we don't see seasonality in our gross margins really. And we do see volatility quarter-to-quarter in the gross margins for the fundamental mechanism in which gross margins change SKU per SKU. But as I've always said that if you look at it longer term, the trend is always positive. Now I did answer Andrew's question on that saying that there is a natural moment in time where you basically say the percent gross margin maybe stabilizes, but your dollar gross margin basically continues to increase dramatically.

So it's all due to the fact that how much of this are you passing on to the customer in terms of price that then detonates more sales that then generates more dollar margin versus how much you're keeping and showing a better percentage gross margin. At the end of the day, what's most important is your dollar gross margin increasing healthily over time, which is a reflection of all the good things you're doing.

Operator

Thank you. That is all the time we have for questions today. So that concludes our Q&A session. I would like to hand the call back over to Anthony Hatoum for his closing remarks.

Kamal Hatoum

As always, we appreciate very much, and thank you very much for your interest and participation in our company. Thank you to the analysts covering us, and thank you to all the shareholders who are participating here today. And of course, thank you to all the 3B employees and again, our customers who make all of this possible. Until next time, thank you very much.

Operator

Thank you all. You may now disconnect.