Mandy Fields
Analyst · Jefferies. Please proceed
Thank you, Tarang. I’ll now discuss the results for the first quarter of fiscal 2020 as compared to the three months ended June 30, 2018. Net sales of 60 million were up 7% from year-ago, excluding e.l.f. stores, driven by increased productivity across key retailers and strength on elfcosmetics.com. As Tarang discussed, we are pleased with the progress of our strategic imperative. The sales momentum we’re seeing behind our marketing and digital investments and the continued success of Project Unicorn. Gross margin of 62% was flat to prior year with margin accretive innovation, vendor concessions, and favorable foreign exchange rates offsetting the impact of 10% tariffs on Chinese goods, and the closure of our retail stores. Note that in Q1, our gross margins were not yet impacted by tariff at the 25% level, which cover most of our goods. On August 1, additional tariffs of 10% were announced effective September 1, which would impact our brushes and tools. We expect to offset the margin rate impact of tariffs through selective price increases, FX, and cost savings initiatives. On an adjusted basis, SG&A as a percentage of sales was 47%, compared to 49% of net sales in the same period of 2018, mainly driven by cost savings from the closure of our 22 e.l.f. stores, partially offset by increased investment in our marketing and digital initiatives. As discussed last quarter, we expect marketing plus e-commerce spend to be 10% to 12% of net so sales on a year. In Q1, marketing and e-commerce spend was 11% of net sales, compared to 6% in the year ago quarter. Adjusted EBITDA was up 12% at 14.5 million versus 13 million a year ago. Adjusted net income was 6.9 million or $0.14 per diluted share, compared to 6.5 million or $0.13 per diluted share a year ago. We generated 12.9 million of cash flow from operations in the quarter bringing our cash balance to 60.7 million as of June 30, 2019, compared to our cash balance of 17.4 million last year. The improvement was primarily driven by a disciplined working capital management across inventory and receivables, coupled with improved operating results. Last quarter, we announced the share repurchase program of up to $25 million. In Q1, we repurchased approximately 90,000 shares. As we evaluate our excess cash position, our capital allocation strategy remains unchanged. We plan to prioritize investment behind our key strategic initiatives to increase consumer awareness and build brand relevancy. We will also continue to evaluate strategic extension to leverage the investments we made in our platforms and to fuel long-term growth. We believe we are well-positioned to fund our initiatives through free cash flow and return excess cash to shareholders through our repurchase program. Now, turning to our fiscal 2020 guidance. Based on our strong Q1 results and an initial progress from our marketing and digital investments, we are raising our fiscal 2020 outlook. We expect net sales to be flat to down 4% versus fiscal 2019, excluding the impact of e.l.f. stores. This is up from the negative 4 to negative 8% range previously guided. From that post the upward revisions to our adjusted EBITDA, net income and EPS ranges. We expect adjusted EBITDA between 47 million and 50 million, adjusted net income between $19 million and $22 million, and adjusted EPS of $0.37 to $0.41 per share on a fully diluted basis with the share count of 52.5 million. Many of you are monitoring track channel data very closely and are encouraged by our recent trends. Our improved top line guidance balances the strength with recent price increases and lower pipeline and seasonal shipments. Let me provide some perspective on this. In late July, for the first time in e.l.f.’s history, we initiated a price increase impacting approximately a third of our SKUs to help mitigate the impact of 25% tariff. We have yet to see how this will affect our volume in the long term and sure have a better understanding coming out of the second quarter when we have more elasticity data. Additionally, in Q2 and Q3 of fiscal 2020, we will be cycling 10 million in pipeline and seasonal volume from 2018 that we do not anticipate having this year. Therefore, while they’re encouraged with the recent strength in the business, we are taking a balanced approach to the outlook. As I round out my first full quarter with the company, I can't tell you how proud I am to be a part of the amazing team behind this extraordinary brand. I look forward to updating you on our continued progress in the coming quarters. With that operator, you may open the call to questions.