Our OE premium brands are up 24% YOY, our European brands are up 23% YOY, and finally, our wholesale commercial sales channel, excluding the impact of our Vegas move, is up mid-single digits” said David Meniane, CEO.
Third Quarter 2024 Financial Results
Net sales in the third quarter of 2024 were $144.8 million, down 13% from the year-ago quarter. The decrease was primarily driven by deliberate price increases to focus on higher value customers, support gross margin expansion, a continued challenging consumer environment in the industry, and one-time impacts from the Crowd Strike issue and hurricanes Helene and Milton in the quarter.
Gross profit in the third quarter was $51.0 million compared to $54.8 million in the year-ago quarter, with gross margin increasing 230 basis points to 35.2%, and up sequentially from 33.5% last quarter. This improvement in gross margin was primarily driven by our price increases and lower product costs resulting in expanded product margins, partially offset by unfavorable freight costs.
Total operating expenses in the third quarter were $60.9 million compared to $57.7 million in the year-ago quarter.
Net loss in the third quarter was ($10.0) million compared to a net loss of ($2.5) million in the year-ago quarter.
Adjusted EBITDA in the third quarter was ($1.2) million compared to $3.0 million in the year-ago quarter.
On September 28, 2024, the Company had a cash balance of $38.1 million and no revolver debt, compared to no revolver debt and a $51.0 million cash balance at prior fiscal year-end December 30, 2023.
2024 Outlook
Due to the unexpected and continued impact from hurricanes Helene and Milton, the Company is narrowing and lowering our full year net revenue guidance by $5 million to $595 million to $600 million; however, the Company is narrowing our expected gross margin guidance to the high end of the range, from 32%-34% to 33%-34%.
Conference Call
CarParts.com CEO David Meniane, CFO Ryan Lockwood and COO Michael Huffaker will host a conference call today to discuss the results, followed by a question-and-answer period.
Date: Tuesday, October 29, 2024
Time: 5:00 p.m. Eastern time (2:00 p.m. Pacific time)
Webcast: www.carparts.com/investor/news-events
To listen to the live call, please click the link above to access the webcast. A replay of the audio webcast will be archived on the Company’s website at www.carparts.com/investor.