| • | | Non-GAAP Adjusted EBITDAS was $299.6 million, or 34.7% of net sales, compared with $366.6 million, or 34.6% of net sales, for the prior year. |
Mark Smith, President and Chief Executive Officer, commented, “Our fourth quarter and full year results speak to the quality and dedication of our employees, the strength of our iconic brand, and the resiliency of our flexible manufacturing model. We delivered strong financial results, including gross profit and Adjusted EBITDAS margins for fiscal 2022 that exceeded prior year levels despite continued moderation in demand for firearms that led to lower net sales. Although we expect inflationary pressures to persist and for firearm market conditions to return to more normalized levels in fiscal 2023, we are confident in our flexible manufacturing model and expect to benefit from the pricing and product portfolio adjustments that we made during the surge. In summary, we believe that we remain well positioned for long-term growth with an agile business model designed to quickly adapt to changes in the marketplace and deliver strong, consistent levels of profitability and drive long-term stockholder value.”
Deana McPherson, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, commented “Our financial performance reflects tougher year-over-year comparisons due to the return to more normalized levels of demand following the surge. However, in spite of the lower demand, we are now realizing the benefits of the proactive steps we took during the surge to enhance our profitability profile. Fourth quarter gross margin was down on a year-over-year basis, as expected, but 760 basis points above the comparable quarter in fiscal 2020 despite a 6.1% decline in net sales. Our balance sheet remains strong with $120.7 million of cash and no debt, and we expect to continue generating strong cash flow for the foreseeable future. Accordingly, our Board of Directors has authorized a 25% increase in our quarterly dividend to $0.10 per share, which will be paid to stockholders of record on July 7, 2022 with payment to be made on July 21, 2022.”
Conference Call and Webcast
The company will host a conference call and webcast on June 23, 2022, to discuss its fourth quarter and full fiscal 2022 financial and operational results. Speakers on the conference call will include Mark Smith, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Deana McPherson, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. The conference call may include forward-looking statements. 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 (844) 309-6568 and reference conference identification number 2371913. No RSVP is necessary. The conference call audio webcast can also be accessed live on the company’s website at www.smith-wesson.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,” “Adjusted EBITDAS,” and “free cash flow” are presented. From time-to-time, we consider and use these supplemental measures of operating performance in order to provide the reader with an improved understanding of underlying performance trends. We believe it is useful for us and the reader to review, as applicable, both (1) GAAP measures that include (i) interest expense, (ii) income tax expense, (iii) depreciation and amortization, (iv) stock-based compensation expense, (v) COVID-19 expenses, (vi) transition costs, (vii) amortization of acquired intangible assets, (viii) spin related stock compensation, (ix) Relocation expense, and (x) the tax effect of non-GAAP adjustments; and (2) the non-GAAP measures that exclude such information. We present these non-GAAP measures because we consider them an important supplemental measure of our performance. Our definition of these adjusted financial measures may differ from similarly named measures used by others. We believe 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 our GAAP measures. The principal limitations of these measures are that they do not reflect our actual expenses and may thus have the effect of inflating its financial measures on a GAAP basis.
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