Matthew Reintjes
Analyst · B. Riley Securities
Thanks, Arvind, and good morning. YETI's third quarter performance highlights growing momentum from consistent and strong execution against our long-standing strategic priorities, driving product innovation, broadening our brand and addressable market and expanding our global presence. These initiatives are yielding meaningful results and building towards what we believe is a long-term top line growth range of high single to low double digits. Our product innovation pipeline has never been more robust, extending and deepening our portfolio. Our brand is connecting with both legacy and new customers domestically and abroad. Our international growth is accelerating with exceptional performance in the U.K. and Europe, robust consumer demand in Australia and Canada and a great early read in Asia with more opportunity to come. Strong consumer demand for our products across channels and geographies, combined with recent innovation continues to reinforce the durability and growing relevance of the YETI brand. This demand translated into top line growth, fueled by robust double-digit gains in our Coolers & Equipment category in our international markets. These results were achieved despite softer U.S. e-commerce performance and significant caution in wholesale sell-in, which created a notable gap compared to very strong double-digit sell-through across both Drinkware and Coolers as reported in that channel. The quarter underscores the strength of our diversified go-to-market strategy, our ability to meet consumers where they shop and the accelerating impact of our international expansion. Turning to growth and starting with product innovation. Our products continue to set the standard for durability, design and performance. Our 2 core categories, Drinkware and Coolers & Equipment, anchor a dynamic portfolio built on 13 scalable product platforms, fueling innovation and long-term growth. These platforms are featured in our updated quarterly highlights presentation available on our Investor Relations website. Across these platforms, we are on track to launch more than 30 new products in 2025 even as we navigate strategic trade-offs to advance supply chain diversification. Importantly, we have a robust pipeline that is aligned with the continued momentum of our brand and positions us for sustained expansion. As we stoke the brand globally, we create natural opportunity for product innovation, expansion and vitality. Within Drinkware, the strength of our core portfolio and our uptempo focus on innovation is driving accelerated momentum despite ongoing wholesale inventory pressure and promotional intensity in the U.S. market. Even as overall sell-in was down year-over-year in the U.S. wholesale, sell-through strength highlights the underlying momentum of YETI, in particular, the durability of our Drinkware business in that highly contested market. It reinforces our global strategy of building a sound foundation through diversification to set up for growth in Drinkware in Q4 and beyond. Our innovation this year has spanned across several Drinkware platforms, showcasing the diversity and range of our portfolio. Recent launches include our insulated food jars, travel bottles, updated Rambler Jug, ceramic lined Drinkware and a cast iron expansion with our [ 6-quart ] Ranch Pan. Within the last 2 weeks, we launched our Silo Jug built for everything from sports to job sites and outdoor adventures. This is a great product that works not only for athletes, but for anyone looking for large capacity, easy-to-access hydration with YETI cold holding power. We believe this launch continues to position YETI as a go-to brand across a wide range of use environments and very naturally fits with our expanding focus on sports. Looking at the remainder of the year and into 2026, we're energized by feedback we've received from our partners about the innovation ahead in Drinkware, including the upcoming release of our YETI Shaker Bottle, featuring a patented design that improves upon the standard shaker providing an incredible mix experience while removing the traditional wire ball. This speed to launch is enabled by the acquisition of the design, tooling and IP we communicated in our second quarter call. With the shaker bottle, which will be manufactured in the United States, we are targeting a roughly $2.5 billion market, fueled by the rapid growing demand for hydration powders, protein supplements and wellness products, aligning with YETI's expansion into sport, health and wellness. Early feedback from wholesale sports and health partners has been very positive. The acquired design and IP comes from Helimix, which will cease operations as we relaunch an updated design to build upon the market awareness and momentum from Helimix's over 39,000 4.5 star reviews on Amazon. This quick turn launch represents a compelling opportunity to drive organic growth going into 2026 and deliver a margin-accretive product line with a strong ROI. Importantly, this further deepens our connection with consumers in new and existing markets. The breadth of innovation across our Drinkware portfolio is demonstrating clear traction and setting us up for continued success and long-term category leadership. In Coolers & Equipment, our double-digit growth for the quarter underscores the broad demand we're seeing across the portfolio. On the innovation front, our Daytrip soft coolers saw significant demand. Additionally, we have several highly anticipated Daytrip line expansions planned in the coming months to address an even wider market opportunity. In bags and packs, we continue to see strength across new and legacy products with notable performance in backpacks, totes and duffles. Following strong demand for Camino totes, which sold out across channels a number of times, we've worked to replenish inventory through limited re-releases and are partnering with our retailers to capture some of the anticipated holiday demand and sustained momentum of this iconic product. In hard coolers, our Roadie and Tundra families continue to extend reach even as we lapped the significant debut of the Roadie 15 and Roadie 32 in the prior year. The recent additions of customization capabilities on a range of our coolers unlock significant opportunities, particularly among our existing partnerships and sports relationships. Last month, we launched an expansion of our storage and protective case platform with the GoBox 1, which comes at a giftable price point right in time for the holiday shopping season. Expect to see much broader expansion here in 2026. I'm also very excited about the build-out of our global innovation capabilities. Our Thailand innovation center focused on hard goods is now fully operational and already driving impact, giving us the capability to significantly increase our speed and capacity for product development. In addition, I'm pleased to announce a new development and innovation office in Vietnam to open in early 2026, dedicated to the design and development of bags and soft cooler bags. This will complement our existing product talent and capabilities in Austin, Denver, Bozeman and Thailand. Together, these innovation centers will enable a 24/7 global cycle across both current and future products and provide us with the ability to respond with even greater agility to market opportunities, fueling long-term growth and competitive advantage. It's clear that our product expansion and innovation are working. And as we look forward with our pipeline stronger than ever and significant white space ahead, we are well positioned to execute. Our second strategic growth priority focuses on broadening our brand and our global customer base through brand awareness, community engagement and a unique omnichannel strategy that enables us to reach consumers where and how they shop. We are amplifying our brand marketing as we approach YETI's 20th anniversary. Starting later this month, we will release our largest ever U.S. brand campaign around major sporting events in the run-up to peak holiday shopping. Partnering with the incredible talent at Wieden + Kennedy, we are on the front end of shaping the next decade of our brand. This brand campaign will span linear, connected and digital media. Additionally, to amplify our reach, particularly on social platforms like TikTok, we've added a new media partner to drive this effort. These initiatives mark a significant step towards elevating YETI's always-on brand presence and impact, connecting to our powerful foundational audience while broadening our reach. In terms of engagement at a local level, in Q3, YETI activated at over 80 events worldwide, deepening connections with consumers across diverse passions and communities. To that end, our sports presence has never been higher. Following the launch of our strategic partnership with Fanatics, we are now licensed with the NBA, rounding out Major League relationships across NFL, NHL, MLS and MLB. We're also proud to have recently signed on as an exclusive partner, including courtside presence for League One Volleyball, a fast-growing women's professional Volleyball league and parent to roughly 2,000 youth and junior teams and 24,000 players. Internationally, YETI's footprint is expanding through continued partnerships with top clubs and teams, including Tottenham Hotspur, now featuring YETI on the front of the women's team training kit, the New Zealand All Blacks, Oracle Red Bull Racing and more to come. Our limited edition product launches and signature programs continue to power these partnerships into consumers' hands. At the collegiate level, YETI has outfitted over 50 NCAA schools and 80-plus Division 1 teams covering almost 4,000 athletes, including a strong combination of both women's and men's sports. As we continue to grow our sport relationships, we see further exciting potential to expand our channels to market from youth up to professional. These initiatives highlight YETI's accelerating momentum in sports from grassroots to the global stage supporting athletes with high-performance products and driving brand growth across new audiences and markets. As we execute our brand-building strategy, YETI is unlocking significant opportunities for global growth, leveraging strategic partnerships and a refreshed media approach to expand our reach and our influence. Shifting to our channel performance. The continued expansion of our product portfolio, combined with our diversified presence across channels, is a key part of our strategy to broaden our audience. Our wholesale channel demonstrated very strong momentum despite a continuation of more cautious ordering and tighter inventory management from our retail partners, particularly in the U.S. Sell-through trends remained strong, reflecting healthy consumer demand throughout the quarter. As we enter year-end, we are well positioned from a channel inventory perspective and feel great about our setup heading into 2026. Last month, we started a new wholesale partnership with Nordstrom, where YETI is being featured in their holiday gift activation across 91 doors and online and permanent placement in 70 Nordstrom home doors. This new retail partnership underscores our focus on adding complementary distribution channels to support our diverse product portfolio. In our direct-to-consumer channels, we continue to leverage our omnichannel approach to meet evolving shopping behaviors with speed and agility. YETI's Amazon marketplace continues to see strong performance, and our corporate sales business once again exceeded expectations, supported by expanded customization capabilities across hard coolers and select bags as well as our growing partnerships in sports and hospitality. Notably, our collaboration with Fanatics, a leading global digital sports platform is off to an exceptional start. This partnership significantly expands YETI's presence in the sports licensing market and is already driving strong engagement across fan communities. We're incredibly excited about the momentum we're seeing and the opportunities ahead as we build on this performance and further accelerate growth across our consumer and commercial channels. On yeti.com, traffic and average order value grew in Q3 with strong engagement around new product launches. Conversion rates remained pressured in the quarter, impacting our overall performance and reflecting a greater prevalence of deal shopping by consumers. In response, we focused on effective deployment of performance marketing spend, prioritize higher-quality traffic and launched targeted initiatives to improve conversion efficiency. In the near term, we're optimistic about our upcoming gear garage event, which is expected to further elevate customer engagement and drive traffic and purchase intent. These efforts are laying a strong foundation for yeti.com in 2026. In retail, we remain focused on maximizing the performance of our existing stores. During the quarter, we launched localized branded apparel and accessories in 16 stores to add a unique impulse purchase moment. We also introduced immersive walk-throughs on yeti.com to showcase the YETI retail experience. With more initiatives planned for Q4, we're building upon our retail foundation to support the next phase of growth and continued impact on the rest of our channels to market. Our third key growth driver is expanding our global presence. The YETI brand continues to build as we execute our proven go-to-market strategy across our international markets. I recently spent time in the U.K. and Europe with a number of iconic global brand partners. I walked away from those meetings incredibly energized about the mutual brand respect, passion and creativity for working together. Mike will talk further about the performance in the quarter and the setup for Q4, but suffice it to say, we're on the front of the global wave. Europe continues to show outstanding growth led by excellent performance in the U.K. and continued traction across key European markets. In addition to the recent partner meetings in the U.K. and Europe, I also joined partners across Asia earlier this year. The energy and momentum is undeniable. Combined, these markets echo the early surge we saw during YETI's rapid U.S. expansion and again in Canada and Australia. What's unfolding is not just market growth. It's a product-led brand-endorsed movement. We're confident in the trajectory ahead and energized by the opportunity it represents. In Japan, our presence continues to scale quickly with over 270 doors opened to date and 400-plus stores expected by year-end. Looking ahead, with our core leadership team in place, our priority is consistent execution of our go-to-market strategy, leveraging the strong fit between YETI's premium positioning and the Japanese consumers' appreciation for quality. We see the broader Asia region as a key long-term driver of international growth potential. This year, complementing our launch directly in Japan, we added distribution in Thailand. In addition, we have signed distributor partners and are planning launches in 3 Asian markets next year, Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines. We're also making progress against our plans and potential partnerships in Korea, China, Indonesia, Taiwan and Hong Kong. In Canada, end consumer demand for YETI products continues to be robust even as our wholesale partners remain cautious during the third quarter. Seasonal colorways and innovation across categories are resonating in Canada, highlighting the relevance of our diverse product offering and the impact of our localized brand strategy. In Australia, we delivered growth across all channels and core categories during the quarter, and we anticipate further acceleration in Q4. Brand enthusiasm remains strong, positioning us for sustained momentum through the end of the year and into 2026. Going into 2026 and beyond, we continue to see attractive opportunities for further global expansion across the Middle East and South America. In terms of supply chain transformation, our diversification plan is well on track with key factory partners now live across multiple geographies. These partners are consistently meeting our high standards for quality and cost. We continue to expect that by year-end, on a go-forward basis, less than 5% of our total cost of goods sold will be exposed to U.S. tariffs on goods sourced from China. And importantly, our multi-country sourcing strategy will be fully operational. As we look ahead to 2026, we're extremely well positioned with a more resilient, flexible and diversified supply base that strengthens our ability to scale globally while mitigating geopolitical and operational risks. As we navigate a dynamic macro, our fortress balance sheet and very robust free cash flow generation continue to underpin strategic investments in growth and innovation. At the same time, it enables us to execute our growth-oriented capital allocation priorities in addition to creating value through share buybacks. With $173 million in share repurchases year-to-date, we are upsizing our 2025 plan from $200 million, now targeting $300 million by year-end, bringing our total repurchase to $500 million across 2024 and 2025, representing approximately 14% of our shares outstanding. Alongside our growth and disciplined capital allocation, we're making investments and focusing resources on potentially transformative technologies, including artificial intelligence to unlock new growth opportunities, enhance consumer engagement and drive efficiency. We're early on the journey, but committed to it. Our AI strategy spans high-impact applications from automated custom image moderation, reducing the necessity for manual processes, customer support, site search, advanced marketing analytics and back-office automation tests. We are also leveraging AI to amplify brand visibility in the evolving search landscape. Recent initiatives include AI-enabled product customization, including the launch of a Gen AI photo-to-line-art features to elevate consumer creativity and the launch of Ranger, a conversational shopping assistant designed to boost conversion on yeti.com. Our efforts around AI-driven content optimization helped secure YETI the #1 share of voice across major AI discovery platforms over the past quarter, and we've modernized our marketing measurement with AI-powered ROAS modeling. These initiatives not only differentiate YETI, but also deepen consumer insights, enable data-driven decisions and create the potential to strengthen long-term margins. As it relates to our full year 2025 outlook, we remain confident in our disciplined execution against a well-established strategy, and we believe we are well positioned to continue our momentum into year-end. I'm incredibly encouraged by the global feedback we're receiving, underscoring growing passion for the YETI brand, strong enthusiasm for our products and anticipation for the innovation ahead. As mentioned last quarter, we plan to hold our Investor Day in the first half of next year. Today, we're excited to announce that we'll be hosting the event in Austin, Texas to fully showcase YETI and where we are going. We will be providing additional details on the event in the near future. Looking ahead, we're entering an incredibly exciting chapter for YETI, driven by immense passion for our brand, the amazing quality and innovation in our products and the scalable nature of the business model. We have a strong foundation to build off as we advance the business toward the global growth potential for YETI with a clear focus on execution against our strategic priorities. I'll finish by thanking our team and partners for their commitment to building this brand the right way, setting us up for the incredible potential in front of us. With that, I'll now turn the call over to Mike.