KushCo Archives - Green Market Report

KushCo (OTC: KSHB) stock was falling over 6% to lately sell at $1.11 after the company reported the numerous challenges affecting the company. After the market closed on Monday, KushCo announced financial results for its fiscal first-quarter ending November 30, 2020, with net revenue decreasing 23% from the prior-year period to $26.8 million. On a positive note, the net loss was trimmed to $4.5 million from $12.5 million in the prior-year period. The basic loss per share was $0.03 compared to $0.12 in the prior-year period.

Many of the company’s challenges stem from the decision to right-size the business, which resulted in tighter credit terms being extended to smaller and less creditworthy customers. In addition to that, the company faced problems at the ports, where increased shipments to the U.S. combined with fewer port workers due to COVID issues causing delays.

Nick Kovacevich, KushCo’s Co-founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer said on the company’s earnings call, “We were expecting more significant growth in Q1, but like many other importers of goods, we were hit with unexpected and uncontrollable shipping delays due to record-breaking shipments to U.S. ports around the holiday season, which were exacerbated by COVID-19 restrictions.”

He went on to add, “This is a problem that has affected many importers, but fortunately, we have been working diligently with our network of freight partners and suppliers to expedite shipments and provide solutions to reduce the impact to our customers, which we expect will persist for another couple of weeks or more as the ports start to clear through the backlog that has been building up.

The net result of all of this is that some of the revenue that we were expecting to realize in Q1 has now been pushed into Q2 because we could not get the products off of the boat and into our warehouses on time before the quarter ended. The good news is that the business was not lost and it actually contributed to our strongest December in company history, December being the first month of Q2 and we saw $14.7 million in revenue during that month. And we still have a nice pipeline of business that we plan to execute on throughout the remainder of this Q2.” KushCo generated 21% gross margins for the quarter, which was lower than the 26% generated in the fourth quarter and was blamed on the shipping delays.

Looking Ahead

KushCo increased its net revenue guidance for its fiscal 2021 to be between $130.0 million and $160.0 million (previously between $120.0 million and $150.0 million). In addition, the company reiterated its expectation for adjusted EBITDA for the fiscal year to be between $5.0 million and $7.0 million. The company gave three reasons for the increased estimate. Kovacevich said, “We are continuing to see outsized growth with our MSO and LP customers as evidenced by our strong December and how we see the rest of the year panning out with some of the large custom projects we have in the pipeline. Number two, we have invested significantly in our sales team, bringing on folks from traditional CPG and other relevant backgrounds to nurture deep relationships with our top customers and to further penetrate our newer prospects. And number three, we are starting to secure a more long-term supply contracts, giving us better visibility into future business and acting like a right of first refusal for all of our products and services.”

The company also noted that it currently has $19 million due at the end of April 2021. CFO Stephen Christoffersen said on the earnings call, “We’ve been evaluating some term sheets and believe we can execute on an appropriate solution before the note is due, especially given the fact that we are now a profitable business that is more aligned with MSOs and LPs than ever before.”

KushCo also noted that if New Jersey and Arizona roll out programs, then revenue could be even higher this year. The company also said that uplisting to the NASDAQ is a priority, but that the process is somewhat out of their control.

KushCo Holdings, Inc. (OTCQX:KSHB) reported that its net revenue dropped 46% in its fiscal third-quarter ending May 31, 2020. The net revenue of $22 million was also lower than what the company has forecast in March when it told investors that it would be roughly $30 million. Analysts according to Yahoo Finance had estimated that revenue on the low end would be $29 million.

The company attributed the drop to the adoption of the 2020 Plan, which meant tighter credit terms being extended to smaller customers. the company is focused on larger, more financially healthier customers.

In addition to that, the drop in revenue was also driven by lower sales from vape and natural products, as well as order lumpiness from KushCo’s larger customers. Compounding the quarter’s decision to tighten credit, COVID-19 caused travel and regulatory restrictions in the markets that the company operates.

Net losses increased to $13.5 million versus last year’s $10.6 million in the same time period for last year. The basic loss per share was $0.11 compared to $0.12 in the prior-year period. This also missed analysts’ estimates, which averaged at a loss of -$0.10.

Nick Kovacevich, KushCo’s CEO said, “We substantially reduced our cost structure, consolidated our vendors and warehouses, vastly improved our inventory to align with our actual sales, ramped up our collections activity, stemmed the cash burn, and drove meaningful operating leverage. Revenue for the quarter came in lower than we anticipated due to regulatory and travel restrictions in various markets in which we operate due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as order lumpiness from some of our larger customers who pushed out their orders due to a general lack of visibility in their businesses.”

The company said it finished the cost-cutting initiatives as part of the 2020 plan and as such the SG&A dropped more than 50% sequentially from $27.2 million in the second quarter to $12.7 million in the fiscal third quarter. The decrease was driven by reductions in headcount, executive salaries, consulting spend, and travel and entertainment expenses, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Despite the sequential decline in revenue, however, we have started Q4 on the front foot with a healthy level of purchase orders secured thus far, leading us to believe that Q3 will be the bottom in terms of revenue for fiscal 2020,” said Kovacevich. “More importantly, we continue to focus on the things we can better control, such as gaining more efficiencies in our business, significantly right-sizing the organization, and reducing our overall cash burn.”

Balance Sheet Moves

The company strengthened its balance sheet and liquidity by proactively converting 18.5%, or $5 million, of the total principal amount of the Company’s senior note due April 2021 into equity with limited dilution and zero warrants. Cash was approximately $11.1 million as of May 31, 2020, compared to approximately $11.4 million as of February 29, 2020, and $3.9 million as of August 31, 2019.

Looking Ahead

KushCo said it expects net revenue for the fourth quarter of its fiscal 2020 to be between $24.0 million and $26.0 million. In addition, the company said it expects cash SG&A to be between $6.5 million and $7.5 million, and adjusted EBITDA to be between ($1.0) million and $1.0 million.

“Looking ahead, we expect to realize revenue growth in Q4 not just by recognizing the customer orders that were pushed out, but also by signing additional supply agreements with our customers and focusing more on the areas that we believe we are good at, such as our core businesses of vape, packaging, and energy,” said Kovacevich. “We are also going to be focusing even more on controlling our costs and deploying a prudent capital allocation policy, so that we can continue to support the business with the cash and liquidity resources currently at our disposal. The end result of these efforts should lead to what could be a pivotal Q4 for KushCo, and one in which we can achieve our goal of positive adjusted EBITDA.”

KushCo stock moved higher by 10% on the day’s trading ahead of the earnings announcement and was lately selling at $0.82 . The average analyst price target is $2.50.

KushCo Holdings, Inc. (OTCQX:KSHB)  reported that its net revenue increased 135% year-over-year to $47.0 million for its fiscal fourth-quarter ending August 31, 2019. On a GAAP basis, the net loss was approximately $11.5 million versus last year’s $3.2 million for the same time period. Basic and diluted loss per share was $0.13 compared to $0.04 in the prior-year period. On a Non-GAAP basis, the net loss for the quarter was $7.2 million and basic and diluted net loss per share was $0.08.

“Over the past couple of months, KushCo and the entire regulated cannabis industry has been dealing with a vaping crisis that increasingly appears to be connected to counterfeited, adulterated, and untested vape products being sold in the black market, which we do not service,” said Nick Kovacevich, Co-founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “While we have been seeing a slight pullback in sales for the overall vape market, it’s important to note that we service the entire regulated cannabis and CBD sector, and as a result, benefit from some consumers potentially shifting to other form factors, such as flower, edibles, and pre-rolls. That being said, we believe there will be some topline softness in the first half of fiscal 2020 related to vape, as our customers have been more cautious with their spending and have been slowing down their vape purchasing activity to limit any potential inventory or regulatory risk should there be additional temporary state bans affecting vape product sales. Looking out to the second half of fiscal 2020, we expect orders for vape products to pick up again.”

For the full year, the company said its net revenue increased 186% to $149.0 million, which met the company’s previously issued guidance of between $145.0 million and $150.0 million. net loss was approximately $39.6 million, compared to a net loss of approximately $24.3 million in the prior year. The basic and diluted loss per share were $0.47 and $0.57, respectively, compared to $0.37 in the prior year.

KushCo said its cash was at roughly $3.9 million as of August 31, 2019, compared to approximately $13.5 million as of August 31, 2018. The Company secured a revolving credit facility with Monroe Capital for up to $50.0 million on August 21, 2019, and completed a $30.1 million equity offering on September 26, 2019, with total net proceeds of $27.6 million.

Looking Ahead

Kovacevich added, “We are currently targeting between $230 million and $250 million in revenue for fiscal 2020. That includes growth from our core business and added $25 million-plus from our new hemp and CBD initiatives. This guidance incorporates a softer first half as it relates to vape sales, but these sales do ramp up significantly in the second half of the fiscal year. And with these top-line factors in mind, along with the efforts to tighten the belt with operational expenses, we believe we can achieve adjusted EBITDA profitability in the back half of fiscal 2020.”