In what will probably be the last financial quarter before the full effects of the Trump tariffs start to hit top and bottom lines, several big public furniture retailers are reporting results that show modest improvements. While nothing to cheer wildly about, they do show the home business could be getting better … or at least was heading in that direction until the tariffs hit the fan.

With the supply pipeline increasingly at a standstill, customers finishing up their panic buying, and a general uneasiness forming in both consumer confidence and the nation’s overall mood—the true story of how the administration’s trade policies will impact home furnishings retailers is yet to be told.

For an industry that came into the year with high hopes for a long-anticipated recovery, these most recent financial results could have been a sign of better times ahead. With tariff chaos roiling the business, they may well end up being a high-water mark instead. Man the lifeboats.

Here’s how some major retailers in the home space did during their most recent quarters:

Wayfair: The big online seller surprised investors and analysts by beating their forecasts with $2.7 billion in revenues, even if that number was nearly flat year-over-year. Still, the brand continued to lose money—89 cents a share—though this loss was below forecasts. Wayfair does issue an “adjusted” earnings figure (something Amazon did in its earlier build-out days), and it said that was 10 cents a share, far better than the consensus estimates of a 21-cent-a-share loss.

Havertys: The Southeast furniture chain reported a 1.3 percent decline in overall sales and minus 4.8 percent for comp store sales for its first quarter, but these were better results than in its most recent periods—and its profit for the quarter was $3.8 million, up from $2.4 million a year ago. The company stuck with its previous forecasts for the balance of the year, which were in line with this quarter. However, it cautioned that its guidance “excludes the effects of additional proposed tariffs” currently on hold.

Ethan Allen: As the big furniture retailer with the most U.S.-centric vertical manufacturing model, Ethan Allen should be in the best position to take advantage of the tariff calamity. Time will tell, but for its last quarter the company showed a 2.5 percent decline in sales, with both its retail and wholesale revenues declining. Written orders, indicating anticipated revenues, showed drops too: 11.2 percent on the wholesale side, 13 percent in retail. These results missed the forecast from the Telsey Advisory Group, which is now signaling an anticipated 6.6 percent decline for the full fiscal year.

Arhaus: Positioned on the upper end of the home furnishings sector, Arhaus is still adding stores, so its 5.5 percent gain in overall sales for its first quarter bucked the overall trend, though it still missed analyst forecasts. Comp store sales, however, declined 1.5 percent, and the company took down its full-year forecast to fall in the 1 to 9 percent range, versus its previous estimate of 7 to 10 percent. Comps are expected to continue to fall into negative territory for the year, Arhaus said. It noted it expects to use China for only about 1 percent of its overall product mix by the end of this year.

Two other big furniture retailers, La-Z-Boy and RH, are on different recording cycles and previously issued results that were solid and inconclusive, respectively. All eyes will be on both companies when they next report this summer, at which time results should reflect a bigger impact from tariffs.

In the meantime, the furniture retailing sector continues to hope for a breakthrough in trade negotiations. The industry has to look at 2025 as the year that could have been better … but probably won’t be.