Freshpet reported financial results for its fourth quarter and full year ending December 31, 2022.
Fourth Quarter 2022 Financial Highlights Compared to Prior Year Period
- Net sales of $165.8 million, an increase of 43.1%
- Net loss of $2.9 million, compared to net loss of $9.3 million
- Adjusted EBITDA of $18.8 million, compared to $7.6 million 1
2022 Financial Highlights Compared to Prior Year
- Net sales of $595.3 million, an increase of 39.9%
- Net loss of $59.5 million compared to a net loss of $29.7 million
- Adjusted EBITDA of $20.1 million compared to $35.0 million 1
“We had a very strong finish to 2022. Between record net sales growth, improved performance on quality and logistics, and a strong start-up of our Ennis Kitchen, we were able to exceed our guidance and build a strong foundation for 2023," commented Billy Cyr, Freshpet's chief executive officer. "With the Ennis Kitchen now on-line, we finally have enough capacity to meet the growing demand for Freshpet. That will enable us to focus on driving our operational improvements and margin enhancement under our Fresh Future plan while finally having the ability to fully leverage our marketing, innovation, and distribution capabilities. That will enable us to continue building the Freshpet franchise and deliver on our long-term growth and profitability goals."
Fourth Quarter 2022
Net sales increased 43.1% to $165.8 million for the fourth quarter of 2022 compared to $115.9 million for the fourth quarter of 2021. Net sales for the fourth quarter of 2022 were driven by pricing, velocity, distribution gains and innovation.
Gross profit was $45.7 million, or 27.6% as a percentage of net sales, for the fourth quarter of 2022, compared to $41.2 million, or 35.6% as a percentage of net sales, in the prior year period. For the fourth quarter of 2022, Adjusted Gross Profit was $54.8 million, or 33.0% as a percentage of net sales, compared to $47.0 million, or 40.6% as a percentage of net sales, in the prior year period. The decreases in gross profit and Adjusted Gross Profit as a percentage of net sales were primarily due to increased plant start-up cost, inflation of ingredient cost and labor, and quality issues, partially offset by increased pricing. Beginning with the third quarter of 2022, the Company is no longer adding back plant start-up expense in its calculation of Adjusted Gross Profit, which for the fourth quarter represented $8.0 million. Adjusted Gross Profit is a non-GAAP financial measure defined under “Non-GAAP Measures,” and is reconciled to gross profit in the financial tables that accompany this release.
Selling, general and administrative expenses (“SG&A”) were $47.8 million for the fourth quarter of 2022 compared to $48.9 million in the prior year period. As a percentage of net sales, SG&A decreased to 28.8% for the fourth quarter of 2022 compared to 42.2% in the prior year period. The decrease in SG&A as a percentage of net sales was a result of decreased media spend in 2022 of $10.1 million, decreased logistics cost as a percentage of net sales, and increased leverage on sales volume, slightly offset by cost associated with implementing a new ERP system. Adjusted SG&A for the fourth quarter of 2022 was $37.2 million, or 22.4% as a percentage of net sales, compared to $39.5 million, or 34.1% as a percentage of net sales, in the prior year period. Adjusted SG&A is a non-GAAP financial measure defined under “Non-GAAP Measures,” and is reconciled to SG&A in the financial tables that accompany this release.
Net loss was $2.9 million for the fourth quarter of 2022 compared to net loss of $9.3 million for the prior year period. The decrease in net loss was due to higher net sales, increased gross profit and decreased SG&A.
1 Adjusted EBITDA, as well as certain other measures in this release, is a non-GAAP financial measure. See "Non-GAAP Measures" for how we define these measures and the financial tables that accompany this release for reconciliations of these measure to the closest comparable GAAP measures.
Adjusted EBITDA was $18.8 million, or 11.3% as a percentage of net sales, for the fourth quarter of 2022, compared to $7.6 million, or 6.5% as a percentage of net sales, in the prior year period. The increase in Adjusted EBITDA was a result of higher net sales, increased Adjusted Gross Profit and decreased Adjusted SG&A expense.
Full Year 2022
Net sales increased 39.9% to $595.3 million for the full year ended December 31, 2022, compared to $425.5 million in the prior year. The increase in net sales was driven by pricing, velocity, distribution gains and innovation.
Gross profit was $186.0 million, or 31.2% as a percentage of net sales, for the full year ended December 31, 2022, compared to $162.1 million, or 38.1% as a percentage of net sales, in the prior year. For the full year ended December 31, 2022, Adjusted Gross Profit was $214.1 million, or 36.0% as a percentage of net sales, compared to $184.6 million, or 43.4% as a percentage of net sales, in the prior year. The decreases in gross profit and Adjusted Gross Profit as a percentage of net sales were primarily due to increased plant start-up cost, inflation of ingredient cost and labor, and quality issues, partially offset by increased pricing.
Selling, general and administrative expenses ("SG&A") were $238.0 million, for the full year ended December 31, 2022, compared to $186.8 million in the prior year. As a percentage of net sales, SG&A decreased to 40.0% for the full year ended December 31, 2022, compared to 43.9% in the prior year. The decrease in SG&A as a percentage of net sales was a result of increased leverage on sales volume, decreased media expenses as a percentage of net sales, slightly offset by cost associated with implementing a new ERP system. Adjusted SG&A for the full year ended December 31, 2022, was $195.7 million, or 32.9% as a percentage of net sales, compared to $149.7 million, or 35.2% as a percentage of net sales, in the prior year period.
Net loss was $59.5 million for the full year ended December 31, 2022, compared to a net loss of $29.7 million for the prior year. The increase in net loss was due to increased SG&A, which includes increased media spend of $16.6 million and increased plant start-up cost of $21.2 million, partially offset by higher net sales and increased gross profit.
Adjusted EBITDA was $20.1 million, or 3.4% as a percentage of net sales, for the full year ended December 31, 2022, compared to $35.0 million, or 8.2% as a percentage of net sales, in the prior year period. The decrease in Adjusted EBITDA was a result of increased Adjusted SG&A expense (including $4.1 million of launch expense) partially offset by higher net sales and Adjusted Gross Profit (including $26.1 million of plant start-up expense).
Balance Sheet
As of December 31, 2022, the Company had cash and cash equivalents of $132.7 million with no debt outstanding.
Outlook
For full year 2023, the Company is providing the following guidance:
- Net sales of ~$750 million, an increase of ~26% from 2022.
- Adjusted EBITDA of at least $50 million.
- Capital expenditures for 2023 of ~$240 million.
The Company does not provide guidance for the GAAP measure most directly comparable to Adjusted EBITDA, net income, and similarly cannot provide a reconciliation between its forecasted Adjusted EBITDA and net income metrics without unreasonable effort due to the unavailability of reliable estimates for certain components of net income and the respective reconciliations, including the timing of and amount of costs of goods sold and selling, general and administrative expenses. These items are not within the Company's control and may vary greatly between periods and could significantly impact future results.
Conference Call & Earnings Presentation Webcast Information
As previously announced, today, February 27, 2023, the Company will host a conference call beginning at 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time with members of its leadership team. The conference call webcast will be available live over the Internet through the "Investors" section of the Company's website at www.freshpet.com. To participate on the live call, listeners in North America may dial (877) 407-0792 and international listeners may dial (201) 689-8263.
A replay of the conference call will be archived on the Company's website and telephonic playback will be available from 12:00 p.m. Eastern Time today through March 13, 2023. North American listeners may dial (844) 512-2921 and international listeners may dial (412) 317-6671; the passcode is 13736375.
