Yahoo Finance Fox Factory Holding Corp. (NASDAQ:FOXF) Q3 2023 Earnings Call Transcript
Fox Factory Holding Corp. (NASDAQ:FOXF) Q3 2023 Earnings Call Transcript November 3, 2023
Operator: Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Fox Factory Holdings Corporation Third Quarter 2023 Earnings Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. A question-and-answer session will follow the formal presentation. Please note this conference is being recorded. I'd now like to turn the conference over to your host Vivek Bhakuni, Senior Director of Investor Relations and Business Development. Thank you sir. Please go ahead.
Vivek Bhakuni: Thank you. Good afternoon and welcome to Fox Factory's third quarter 2023 earnings conference call. I am joined today by Mike Dennison, our Chief Executive Officer; and Dennis Schemm, our Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer. First, Mike will provide business updates. Then Dennis will review the quarterly financial results and then the outlook followed by closing remarks from Mike. We will then open the call up for your questions. By now everyone should have access to the earnings release, which went out today at approximately 4:05 Eastern Time. If you have not had a chance to review the release it's available on the Investor Relations portion of our website at investor.ridefox.com. Please note that throughout this call we will refer to Fox Factory as FOX or the company.
Before we begin I would like to remind everyone that the prepared remarks contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of federal securities laws and management may make additional forward-looking statements in response to your questions. Such statements involve a number of known and unknown uncertainties many of which are outside the company's control and can cause future results, performance or achievements to differ materially from the results performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Important factors and risks that could cause or contribute to such differences are detailed in the company's latest Form 10-Q and in the company's latest annual report on Form 10-K each filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Except as required by law the company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking or other statements herein whether as a result of new information future events or otherwise. In addition, where appropriate in today's prepared remarks and within our earnings release, we will refer to certain non-GAAP financial measures to evaluate our business including adjusted gross profit, adjusted gross margin, adjusted operating expenses, adjusted net income, adjusted earnings per diluted share, adjusted EBITDA, and adjusted EBITDA margin, as we believe these are useful metrics that allow investors to better understand and evaluate the company's core operating performance and trends. Reconciliations of these non-GAAP financial measures to their most directly comparable GAAP financial measures are included in today's press release which has also been posted on our website.
And with that it is my pleasure to turn the call over to our CEO, Mike Dennison.
Mike Dennison: Thank you, V. Good afternoon everyone and thank you for joining us on our third quarter 2023 earnings call. Today, I will discuss our strategy operating highlights and business activity. Dennis will then discuss additional details on our financial results balance sheet and outlook. After our prepared remarks, we will open the call for questions. While FOX's near-term results are clouded by the ongoing inventory recalibration in SSG and the impact of the UAW strike on both PVG and AAG's results on a strategic level our three pillars of growth continue to prove powerful and resilient. One, our industry-leading high-performance brands continue to win market share; two, our research and development teams continue to innovate generating a deep and disruptive product development pipeline; and three, our one plus one equals three growth mindset continues to drive topline and bottom-line improvement.
Innovation and brand strength are the heart of our company and core to our go-to-market success as our technology engineers continue to challenge the impossible and lead in a never-ending pursuit of maximum performance. By focusing on the world's best athletes and surpassing their demands, our team continues to outperform the competition launching award-winning products and designs that propel champion Fox athletes across the globe to new heights. In SSG, Fox athletes leveraging the highest quality products for the most extreme environments dominated the ENDURO and World Cup DH Race season winning 18 races and taking 89 podiums, more than any other suspension company. And it's not just Fox products that are winning. Recently Race Face's Turbine Wheel was named Bicycle Magazine's Best Mountain Bike Wheel for 2023.
In our Powered Vehicles Group, the speed of innovation is accelerating as we commercialized 15 new vehicle suspension packages in 90 days. Over the last two quarters, we have launched more than 28 new packages, not only outperforming our nearest competitor, but far surpassing our own internal targets. We are at the top of our game and the results from FOX athletes around the world are the proof. But our work is never done and we will continue to invest in innovation and disruptive technologies to enable FOX athletes in a relentless drive to win. That same innovation is leveraging dramatic gains for us within and across our AAG portfolio, as we drive our one plus one equals three growth thesis. When we purchased Custom Wheel House, we knew we were buying a superior brand of the best wheels in the business.
But what we didn't know was how quickly their products would be integrated into the AAG family of businesses. The award-winning Method wheels are being integrated into our premium packages and systems across BDS, Ridetech and Powered Vehicle divisions leading to better performance aesthetics and higher profitability. Our ability to find companies that act and operate with the same level of innovation, enthusiast loyalty and a culture to drive a never-ending pursuit of maximum performance are the keys for our strategic growth and profitability. That's why I could not be more pleased to announce today that we signed a definitive agreement to acquire Marucci Sports, an industry-leading innovator, designer, manufacturer and distributor of highly engineered premium performance, aluminum, composite and wood baseball bats as well as other Diamond Sports products.
Marucci checks all the boxes as we combine two leading brands that are disrupting their respective industries through innovation and technology. Building on the tradition of winning and creating the best performing products for the most demanding athletes, Marucci is unmatched as its halo brands Marucci and Victus wood bats drive more than 56% market share with Major League baseball Pros. Marucci is a continuation of our diversification strategy expanding our business away from OEs and into the aftermarket and it is apparently of our one plus one equals three strategy having made several acquisitions including Lizard Skins and Baum Bats that are creating exponential growth vectors within our portfolio. We see a significant TAM opportunity for Marucci and potential to unlock new growth vectors expanding far beyond diamond sports.
Not only do we expect Marucci to be accretive to FOX's growth and EBITDA margin, but we are also excited about the synergy potential in metallurgy, manufacturing and supply chain. While there is so much to be excited about with this deal, what inspires me the most is the similarities in our cultures. Having spent considerable time with the Marucci team, its authenticity is undeniable and is founded by and led by a collective group of former elite athletes and coaches. Walking the hallways and meeting employees, I honestly felt like I was in a Fox Factory where winning is everything and challenging impossible happens every day. Turning to our operating highlights. Sales in SSG hit a low watermark in the third quarter as expected, only contributing $72 million in revenue, as OEs continue to focus on depleting inventory through discounts and promotional activities.
Actual sales were lower than our estimate for the quarter by approximately $25 million, as we saw slower buying patterns, especially in September, as consumers adjust in an environment of higher interest rates and costs coupled with macroeconomic uncertainty. Both PVG and AAG experienced growth year-on-year of 12% and 8% respectively, but declined sequentially by 12% and 13% respectively, as the UAW strike impacted both groups. Legacy PVG was impacted by reduced shipments given OE manufacturing site closures and OE supply chain disruptions, as well as a delayed launch of a new model just prior to the strike. AAG was impacted sooner than expected, as dealers were prioritized for chassis deployment over our upfitting group. In addition, we also received a weaker mix of chassis which caused us to miss higher-value contented vehicles in exchange for lower contented lower-priced packages.
Between AAG and PVG, we estimate a reduction in sales of approximately $45 million in Q3 2023 versus our outlook. While we continue to address the near-term pressure on the top line, we delivered strong adjusted EBITDA margins of 19.2% with lower revenue marking the third consecutive quarter, where our adjusted EBITDA margins exceeded 19%. Our strong and consistent bottom line performance and our ability to manage an exceptional balance sheet, fuel our ability to allocate capital to unlock our one plus one equals three growth and diversification strategy. This consistent financial performance also resulted in our Board of Directors approving a share repurchase plan up to $300 million providing us with another strategic use of our cash returning value to shareholders.
Authorization of a share buyback plan of up to 8% of our outstanding shares, demonstrates our belief in the strength in our operating model and growth plans. With the UAW strike nearing a formalized settlement, our customers in AAG and PVG are enthusiastic about the future given the innovative product offerings and go-to-market strategies that we are delivering. However, businesses in AAG and PVG were impacted throughout October, and we expect residual impacts in November as OEs work to restart supply chains and rent manufacturing. In SSG, we continue to see softness as the channel works through inventory. We recently met with the CEOs and executive teams of our largest and most important bicycle customers. While they remain optimistic about the future, especially the acceleration of e-bike across various categories, they acknowledge that the path of new models and technology will be modestly delayed as they work their way through excess inventory in the channel.
Additionally, we are seeing consumers grappling with a higher cost environment and our distributors cope with a higher interest rate environment by scaling back on inventory levels. Given these impacts, we are reducing our full year guide from a low end of $1.67 billion to $1.7 billion to $1.3 billion to $1.47 billion. While we continue to work through the channel inventory recalibration in SSG and return to a more normalized run rate, our year-to-date growth in PVG and AAG of 35% and 16% respectively give us confidence in our growth thesis. The strength of our brands our unrivaled history of innovation and discovery, the strong growth in automotive and powered vehicles and the one plus one equals three TAM expanding acquisition Marucci put us on a trajectory to accomplish our 2025 vision of $2 billion in sales and 25% EBITDA margins.
To conclude, we acknowledge the challenges in front of us, but at the same time we are pleased with top and bottom line performance, thanks to the power of our brands, our customer loyalty and our incredibly talented and dedicated team members. As our history has proven, no matter what the challenge is, we have always found ways to grow our business, be it through new product categories, adjacencies, geographies or manufacturing efficiencies. And with that, I'll turn the call over to Dennis.
Dennis Schemm : Thanks Mike, and good afternoon everyone. I'll begin by discussing our third quarter financial results, and then move to our balance sheet and cash flows, our upcoming acquisition of Marucci, and our capital structure strategy, and then wrap up with a review of our guidance. Total consolidated net sales in the third quarter of 2023 were $331.1 million, a decrease of 19.1% versus sales of $409.2 million in the third quarter of 2022. The Powered Vehicles Group PVG delivered a 12.4% increase in net sales in the third quarter compared to the same quarter last year. This performance was negatively impacted in the weeks leading up to and after the UAW strike given OE manufacturing site closures and OE supply chain disruptions, as well as a delayed launch of a new model.
Our aftermarket applications group, AAG delivered an 8.2% increase in net sales in the third quarter compared to the same quarter last year. This growth was driven by sales from Custom Wheel House acquisition, which was completed in March of 2023. Excluding Custom Wheel House, AAG sales declined 7.2% as OEMs temporarily provided chassis preference to dealers above our upfitting group resulting in a chassis mix on hand that was associated with lower content and lower price point vehicles. Net sales in the Specialty Sports Group, SSG decreased by 58.6% compared to the third quarter of 2022 due to the persistent level of high inventory across various channels. While we still expect SSG's Q3 performance to be the trough for the year, we expect the inventory recalibration to continue through the first half of 2024.
We experienced lower demand across both AAG and SSG, as dealers and distributors pulled back on inventory given higher inventory carrying costs and as consumers adjusted to a rising interest rate and an uncertain macroeconomic environment. Fox Factory's gross margin was 32.4% in the third quarter of 2023, a 110 basis point decrease from 33.5% in the same period in the prior year. The decrease in gross margin in Q3 of 2023 is primarily driven by a shift in our product line mix, and the impact of the UAW strike offset by increased efficiencies at our North American facility. Our decision to protect our highly skilled workforce during the UAW strike also impacted our gross margins. Given the temporary short duration nature of the strike, this was the absolute right decision to take.
Adjusted gross margin which excludes the effects of amortization of acquired inventory valuation markup, organizational restructuring expenses and strategic transformation costs decreased 70 basis points to 33.2% versus Q3 of 2022. The sustainable manufacturing efficiency gains in PVG were another key ingredient to Fox's solid gross and EBITDA margin in light of a $78 million decline in revenue. Total operating expenses were $65.9 million or 19.9% of sales in the third quarter of 2023 compared to $71.9 million or 17.6% of sales in the third quarter of last year. Operating expenses were lower compared to the same quarter in the prior period due to strong cost controls and continuous improvement, partially offset by the inclusion of Custom Wheel House operating expenses of $4.7 million, amortization of acquired intangibles and operating expenses associated with facility expansions.
Adjusted operating expenses as a percentage of sales increased by 180 basis points to 17.6% in the third quarter of 2023 compared to 15.8% in the same period in the prior year. The company's effective tax rate was 9% in the third quarter of fiscal 2023 compared to 20.8% in the third quarter of fiscal 2022. The change in the effective tax rate was due to a benefit from R&D tax credits. Net income in the third quarter of 2023 was $35.3 million or $0.83 per diluted share compared to $50.8 million or $1.20 per diluted share in the same prior year period. Adjusted net income was $44.8 million in the third quarter of 2023, a decrease of approximately $12.6 million or 22% compared to $57.4 million in the third quarter of last year. We delivered $1.05 of adjusted earnings per diluted share in the third quarter of 2023 compared to $1.35 in the third quarter of 2022.
Adjusted EBITDA decreased by 25.1% to $63.7 million for the third quarter of 2023 compared to $85.1 million in the same quarter last year. Adjusted EBITDA margin decreased by 160 basis points to 19.2% in the third quarter of 2023 compared to 20.8% in the third quarter of 2022. The decrease in the adjusted EBITDA margin in the third quarter of 2023 is primarily due to the change in the product mix the impact of the UAW strike and cost increases associated, with our facilities expansions to support our continued growth. Adjusted EBITDA margins were sequentially flat even while sales decreased in the quarter, given our rigorous cost controls and continuous improvement mindset. Moving to the balance sheet and cash flows. Our balance sheet continues to be a source of strength for Fox and underpins our capital allocation strategy.
We decreased inventory by $9.4 million driven by our continuous improvement efforts to further optimize inventory levels across the organization. These efforts are significant given the addition of $15 million of inventory related to the Custom Wheel House addition. Year-to-date we generated $127 million in operating cash flows $70 million more than the same period last year and a sequential improvement of $129 million. Our net leverage is 0.5 times with our revolver balance at $190 million as of September 30th. Our flexible capital structure allows us to efficiently access the accordion feature in our revolver to secure an incremental $600 million in pro rata Term Loan A debt to finance the Marucci transaction. The Term Loan A is coterminous with our existing revolver and the interest rate is 50 basis points higher than our existing revolver.
This incremental borrowing will provide us with significant flexibility to address our capital allocation priorities of investing in growth both inorganic and organic, paying down debt and returning value to shareholders. The merger with Marucci Sports represents our largest acquisition to date. We expect that Marucci will be accretive to our revenue and earnings given its strong growth vectors and EBITDA margins of 25%. Marucci is core to our diversification strategy providing for diversification within SSG with new products and end customers and providing for diversification across our existing businesses as it is acyclical in nature. We expect pro forma leverage to be roughly 2.1 times after the transaction is completed. Our core investments in R&D continue to support our growth and margin profile.
In PVG, our R&D efforts resulted in 15 new products just this quarter. In SSG, our investments continue to drive innovation supporting podium-winning FOX riders. And in AAG, we continue to invest in improving content and design for our off-road upfitting business and for our new business venture in side-by-side upfitting where we are designing the premium high-performance state-of-the-art prototypes. Our revolver balance as of September 30th is $190 million versus $200 million as of December 31, 2022. We paid down $170 million through the third quarter of fiscal 2023 given our strong operating cash flows, which more than doubled on a year-to-date basis. Our Board of Directors recently approved a $300 million share repurchase program. While we are a growth company at heart, we see sufficient capital to continue investing in innovation and efficiencies, which will drive organic growth in a thoughtful and disciplined approach.
Given the current macroeconomic environment and our strong cash flow generation, we believe using a portion of our free cash flow to manage dilution and to opportunistically repurchase shares is a strategic use of our capital. Now, I'd like to share some select guidance. While we are pleased that the big three have reached a tentative agreement with the UAW, our fourth quarter results have already been impacted both in AAG and in PVG. And we expect to see additional impacts as the OEMs work through supply chain inefficiencies as they bring up their manufacturing facilities. Additionally, we are facing headwinds due to the higher interest rate environment and macroeconomic outlook at the consumer level and at the dealer distributor level as the cost of carrying inventory is more expensive.
While SSG hit trough revenues in Q3, the inventory recalibration is taking longer than anticipated and we expect fourth quarter revenue to be up modestly on a sequential basis. For the fourth quarter of 2023, we expect sales in the range of $300 million to $340 million and non-GAAP adjusted earnings per diluted share in the range of $0.75 to $1. For the fiscal year 2023, the company expects sales in the range of $1.43 billion to $1.47 billion and adjusted earnings per diluted share to be in the range of $4.20 to $4.45. Our full year guidance assumes an income tax rate to be in the range of approximately 15%. We are certainly operating in a dynamic environment and we'll continue to watch retail and consumer trends to adjust our cost and business model accordingly.
However, because of our strong and flexible capital structure, we are working from a position of strength during this downturn and investing in growth with new products in SSG and PVG in content for our upfitting business, production capabilities in our outside bands and new side-by-side facilities and furthering distribution for Custom Wheel House and Shock Therapy as we see tremendous opportunity for longer-term growth and profitability. With that I'd like to turn the call back over to Mike.
Mike Dennison: Thank you, Dennis. As we close out a challenging third quarter I am confident in the diversity of our portfolio the capability of the management team and the future of our brands. I am pleased with our strong financial performance even with the top-line miss as we weather the impact of the UAW strike and the persistent channel inventory recalibration in SSG. The relentless drive to win within our culture and by our people gives me deep inspiration and confidence in our future. Armed with a strong balance sheet and cash flow a newly authorized share repurchase program and our TAM unlocking technologies and growth vectors, I remain incredibly excited about our positioning in future. I would now like to open the call for questions. Operator?
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