AOUT American Outdoor Brands Inc

•  FY24 Net Sales $201.1 Million – Up 5.2%
•  FY24 Gross Margin 44.0%
•  FY24 Traditional Channel Sales $116.8 Million
•  FY24 E-Commerce Channel Sales $84.3 Million
•  FY24 Operating Cash Flow $24.5 Million

COLUMBIA, Mo., June 27, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- American Outdoor Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ Global Select: AOUT), an industry leading provider of products and accessories for rugged outdoor enthusiasts, today announced financial results for the fourth quarter and full year fiscal 2024 ended April 30, 2024.

Full Year Fiscal 2024 Financial Highlights

• Full year net sales were $201.1 million, an increase of $9.9 million, or 5.2%, compared with net sales of $191.2 million for the prior year. Strong growth in traditional channel net sales of 12.3% was partially offset by a slight decrease in e-commerce channel net sales of 3.3%.
• Full year GAAP gross margin was 44.0%, compared to 46.1% for the prior year. Full year non-GAAP gross margin was 44.5%, compared to 46.2% for the prior year. Gross margin was impacted by the amortization in the second half of fiscal 2024 of tariff and freight costs stemming from higher inventory purchases that occurred in the first half of fiscal 2024, higher promotional product discounts, as well as an immaterial adjustment to a tariff drawback claim submitted in fiscal 2022. For a detailed reconciliation, see the schedules that follow in this release.
• Full year GAAP net loss was $12.2 million, or ($0.94) per diluted share, compared with a GAAP net loss of $12.0 million, or ($0.90) per diluted share, last year.
• Full year non-GAAP net income was $4.3 million, or $0.32 per diluted share, compared with non-GAAP net income of $6.6 million, or $0.48 per diluted share, for the prior year. GAAP to non-GAAP adjustments for net income exclude acquired intangible amortization, stock compensation, technology implementation, and other costs. For a detailed reconciliation, see the schedules that follow in this release.
• Full year Adjusted EBITDAS was $9.8 million, or 4.9% of net sales, compared with Adjusted EBITDAS of $12.8 million, or 6.7% of net sales, for the prior year. For a detailed reconciliation, see the schedules that follow in this release.

Fourth Quarter Fiscal 2024 Financial Highlights

• Quarterly net sales were $46.3 million, an increase of $4.1 million, or 9.7%, compared with net sales of $42.2 million for the comparable quarter last year. Growth in traditional channel net sales of 26.3% was partially offset by a decline in e-commerce net sales of 9.6%.
• Quarterly GAAP gross margin was 41.9%, compared with quarterly gross margin of 45.2% for the comparable quarter last year. Quarterly non-GAAP gross margin was 44.3%, compared with 45.2% for the comparable quarter last year. Gross margin was impacted by the amortization of tariff and freight costs stemming from higher inventory purchases that occurred in the first half of fiscal 2024, higher promotional product discounts, as well as an immaterial adjustment to a tariff drawback claim submitted in fiscal 2022. For a detailed reconciliation, see the schedules that follow in this release.
• Quarterly GAAP net loss was $5.3 million, or ($0.42) per diluted share, compared with GAAP net loss of $3.8 million, or ($0.29) per diluted share, for the comparable quarter last year.
• Quarterly non-GAAP net loss was $45,000, or $0.00 per diluted share, compared with non-GAAP net income of $793,000, or $0.06 per diluted share, for the comparable quarter last year. GAAP to non-GAAP adjustments for net income exclude acquired intangible amortization, stock compensation, technology implementation, and other costs. For a detailed reconciliation, see the schedules that follow in this release.
• Quarterly non-GAAP Adjusted EBITDAS was $1.0 million, or 2.2% of net sales, compared with $1.8 million, or 4.3% of net sales, for the comparable quarter last year. For a detailed reconciliation, see the schedules that follow in this release.

Brian Murphy, President and Chief Executive Officer, said, "I am very pleased with our performance for fiscal 2024, a year in which we delivered year-over-year net sales growth that exceeded our expectations and achieved several strategic milestones which, we believe, position our company and our brands well for the future.  Innovation remains core to our strategy, and in fiscal 2024, innovation helped drive growth by allowing us to forge strong relationships with our consumers and retailers and expand our access to new markets.  Our results were especially notable given the environment of consumer uncertainty that characterized fiscal 2024."

"Net sales in the year grew more than 5%, reflecting growth in our outdoor lifestyle category of 6.9% and growth in our shooting sports category of 3.2%.  Overall growth was supported by new product launches across a number of our brands including BUBBA, Caldwell, Grilla, and Hooyman.  In fact, new products generated over 23% of our net sales in fiscal 2024.  In addition, throughout the year, we remained focused on ensuring that our brands were increasingly accessible to a broader audience of consumers, both in store and online.  We expanded MEAT! Your Maker meat processing equipment into the retail channel in 2024, and positioned Grilla outdoor cooking products for retail entry in fiscal 2025 – providing new audiences for these popular consumer brands. We also expanded our presence in Canada during the year, bringing more of our exciting outdoor brands to Canadian consumers.  On a combined basis, these actions helped deliver fiscal 2024 growth in our traditional sales channel of more than 12%, and growth in our international sales channel of more than 35%.  They also position us well for fiscal 2025 and beyond, as we expect that both traditional and online retailers will continue to seek out strong and innovative brands to help drive consumer foot traffic and deliver an enhanced consumer experience," concluded Murphy. 

Andrew Fulmer, Chief Financial Officer, said, "In fiscal 2024, we grew our business, invested in our future,  and demonstrated disciplined capital management.  We delivered net sales growth, strengthened our balance sheet, lowered our product inventories both internally and within the channel, and continued to return cash to stockholders through our share repurchase program.  We ended the year with $29.7 million in cash and no debt after paying down our line of credit to zero and repurchasing $6.0 million of our common stock during the year.  At the same time, we invested in our future growth and profitability by expanding our lease agreement at our Columbia, Missouri headquarters and distribution facility, providing us with capacity for future organic growth and acquisitions, as well as operational efficiencies.  We believe our results demonstrate that our brands and our company remain well positioned to deliver growth in both net sales and profitability in fiscal 2025."

Conference Call and Webcast
The Company will host a conference call and webcast today, June 27, 2024, to discuss its fourth quarter and full year fiscal 2024 financial and operational results. Speakers on the conference call will include Brian Murphy, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Andrew Fulmer, Chief Financial Officer.  The conference call may include forward-looking statements and a discussion of non-GAAP financial measures. The conference call and webcast will begin at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time (2:00 p.m. Pacific Time). Those interested in listening to the conference call via telephone may call directly at (833) 630-1956 and ask to join the American Outdoor Brands call.  No RSVP is necessary.  The conference call audio webcast can also be accessed live on the Company's website at www.aob.com, under the Investor Relations section. 

Reconciliation of U.S. GAAP to Non-GAAP Financial Measures
In this press release, certain non-GAAP financial measures, including "non-GAAP net income" and "Adjusted EBITDAS" are presented. A reconciliation of these and other non-GAAP financial measures are contained at the end of this press release. From time to time, the Company considers and uses these non-GAAP financial measures as supplemental measures of operating performance in order to provide the reader with an improved understanding of underlying performance trends.  The Company believes it is useful for itself and the reader to review, as applicable, both (1) GAAP measures that include (i) amortization of acquired intangible assets, (ii) stock compensation, (iii) facility consolidation costs, (iv) technology implementation, (v) acquisition costs, (vi) stockholder cooperation agreement costs, (vii) income tax adjustments, (viii) interest expense, (ix) income tax expense, (x) tariff drawback adjustment, and (xi) depreciation and amortization; and (2) the non-GAAP measures that exclude such information. The Company presents these non-GAAP measures because it considers them an important supplemental measure of its performance and believes the disclosure of such measures provides useful information to investors regarding the Company's financial condition and results of operations. The Company's definition of these adjusted financial measures may differ from similarly named measures used by others. The Company believes these measures facilitate operating performance comparisons from period to period by eliminating potential differences caused by the existence and timing of certain expense items that would not otherwise be apparent on a GAAP basis.  These non-GAAP measures have limitations as an analytical tool and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for the Company's GAAP measures.  The principal limitations of these measures are that they do not reflect the Company's actual expenses and may thus have the effect of inflating its financial measures on a GAAP basis. 

About American Outdoor Brands, Inc.
American Outdoor Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ Global Select: AOUT) is an industry leading provider of outdoor products and accessories, including hunting, fishing, camping, shooting, outdoor cooking, and personal security and defense products, for rugged outdoor enthusiasts.  The Company produces innovative, high quality products under brands including BOG^®; BUBBA^®; Caldwell^®; Crimson Trace^®; Frankford Arsenal^®; Grilla Grills^®; Hooyman^®; Imperial^®; LaserLyte^®; Lockdown^®; MEAT!™; Old Timer^®; Schrade^®; Tipton^®; Uncle Henry^®; ust^®; and Wheeler^®.  For more information about all the brands and products from American Outdoor Brands, Inc., visit aob.com.

Safe Harbor Statement
Certain statements contained in this press release may be deemed to be forward-looking statements under federal securities laws, and we intend that such forward-looking statements be subject to the safe harbor created thereby. All statements other than statements of historical facts contained or incorporated herein by reference in this press release, including statements regarding our future operating results, future financial position, business strategy, objectives, goals, plans, prospects, markets, and plans and objectives for future operations, are forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terms such as "anticipates," "believes," "estimates," "expects," "intends," "targets," "contemplates," "projects," "predicts," "may," "might," "plan," "would," "should," "could," "may," "can," "potential," "continue," "objective," or the negative of those terms, or similar expressions intended to identify forward-looking statements. However, not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. Specific forward-looking statements in this press release include our belief that our company and brands are positioned well for the future; our expectation that both traditional and online retailers will seek out strong and innovative brands to help drive consumer foot traffic and deliver an enhanced consumer experience; our belief that our company remains well positioned to deliver growth in both net sales and profitability in fiscal 2025. We caution that these statements are qualified by important risks, uncertainties, and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those reflected by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among others, potential disruptions in our ability to source the materials necessary for the production of our products, disruptions and delays in the manufacture of our products, and difficulties encountered by retailers and other components of the distribution channel for our products; economic, social, political, legislative, and regulatory factors; lawsuits and their effect on us; inventory levels, both internally and in the distribution channel, in excess of demand; natural disasters, pandemics, seasonality, news events, political events, and consumer tastes; future investments for capital expenditures; future products and product development; the features, quality, and performance of our products; the success of our strategies and marketing programs; our market share and factors that affect our market share; liquidity and anticipated cash needs and availability; the supply, availability, and costs of materials and components and related tariffs; our ability to maintain and enhance brand recognition and reputation; risks associated with the distribution of our products and overall availability of labor; and other factors detailed from time to time in our reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended April 30, 2024.

Contact:
Liz Sharp, VP, Investor Relations
lsharp@aob.com
(573) 303-4620

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SOURCE American Outdoor Brands, Inc.