e.l.f. Beauty Announces Third Quarter Fiscal 2021 Results

e.l.f. Beauty (NYSE: ELF) today announced results for the three and nine months ended December 31, 2020.

"Our core value proposition and product innovation continue to resonate with consumers,” said Tarang Amin, e.l.f. Beauty's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "Of the top five color cosmetics brands in the U.S., e.l.f. grew the most share in the quarter. We also advanced our transformation to a multi-brand portfolio with the launch of our Keys Soulcare skincare collection.”

"I’m proud of the e.l.f. Beauty team for delivering eight consecutive quarters of net sales growth. Our brand building efforts and digital focus fueled our growth before and during the pandemic, and we believe position us well for the future,” added Amin.

Three Months Ended December 31, 2020 Results

Net sales increased 10%, or $7.8 million, to $88.6 million, as compared to $80.8 million in the three months ended December 31, 2019. The increase was driven by strength in e-commerce, international, and our national retailers.

Gross margin decreased 50 basis points to 64%, as compared to 65% in the three months ended December 31, 2019. Gross margin benefited from margin accretive product mix and cost savings, a mix shift to elfcosmetics.com, and to a lesser degree, a favorable foreign exchange rate impact. Offsetting these benefits were certain costs related to retailer activity and space expansion.

Selling, general and administrative expenses ("SG&A") were $50.8 million, or 57% of net sales, as compared to $39.6 million, or 49% of net sales in the three months ended December 31, 2019. Adjusted SG&A (SG&A excluding the items identified in the reconciliation table below) was $43.3 million, or 49% of net sales, as compared to $35.8 million, or 44% of net sales in the three months ended December 31, 2019. The increase was primarily due to investments in marketing and digital, headcount costs from building out the Company's marketing, digital and innovation capabilities, and increased operational costs driven by the increase in e-commerce sales.

The provision for income taxes was $0.5 million, as compared to a provision of $3.0 million in the three months ended December 31, 2019. The change was primarily driven by a decrease in income before taxes of $6.2 million and an increase in discrete tax benefit of $1.1 million, primarily related to stock-based compensation.

Net income was $4.3 million, or $0.08 per diluted share, as compared to net income of $8.0 million, or $0.16 per diluted share in the three months ended December 31, 2019.

Adjusted net income (net income excluding the items identified in the reconciliation table below) was $11.6 million, or $0.22 per diluted share, as compared to adjusted net income of $12.2 million, or $0.24 per diluted share in the three months ended December 31, 2019.

Adjusted EBITDA (EBITDA excluding the items identified in the reconciliation table below) decreased 14% to $18.3 million from $21.4 million in the three months ended December 31, 2019.

Nine Months Ended December 31, 2020 Results

Net sales increased 8%, or $17.3 million, to $225.4 million, as compared to $208.1 million in the nine months ended December 31, 2019. The increase was driven by strength in e-commerce, international, and our national retailers.

Gross margin increased 150 basis points to 65%, as compared to 64% in the nine months ended December 31, 2019. This increase was primarily driven by a combination of margin accretive product mix and cost savings, price increases implemented in Summer 2019, a favorable foreign exchange impact, and a shift in sales mix to elfcosmetics.com, partially offset by the impact of tariffs on goods imported from China and certain costs related to retailer reset activity and space expansion.

SG&A was $136.3 million, or 60% of net sales, as compared to $110.1 million, or 53% of net sales in the nine months ended December 31, 2019. Adjusted SG&A was $113.7 million, or 50% of net sales, as compared to $97.8 million, or 47% of net sales in the nine months ended December 31, 2019. The increase was primarily due to increased headcount costs from building out the Company's marketing, digital and innovation capabilities, investments in marketing and digital, proxy contest costs, and increased operational costs driven by the increase in e-commerce sales.

The provision for income taxes was $0.2 million, as compared to a provision of $6.4 million in the nine months ended December 31, 2019. The change was primarily driven by a decrease in income before taxes of $18.1 million and an increase in discrete tax benefit of $1.8 million, primarily related to stock-based compensation.

Net income was $6.3 million, or $0.12 per diluted share, as compared to net income of $18.2 million, or $0.36 per diluted share, in the nine months ended December 31, 2019.

Adjusted net income was $28.3 million, or $0.55 per diluted share, as compared to adjusted net income of $26.8 million, or $0.53 per diluted share, in the nine months ended December 31, 2019.

Adjusted EBITDA decreased 5% to $48.2 million from $50.9 million in the nine months ended December 31, 2019.

Balance Sheet

As of December 31, 2020, the Company had $35.4 million in cash and cash equivalents, as compared to $74.7 million as of December 31, 2019. As of December 31, 2020, long-term debt and finance lease obligations totaled $114.4 million, as compared to $129.2 million as of December 31, 2019.

Fiscal 2021 Outlook

The Company is providing the following updated outlook for fiscal 2021. When compared to net sales in fiscal 2020, the updated outlook reflects an expected 7-9% increase in net sales in fiscal 2021, as compared to 5-7% previously.

Webcast Details

The Company will hold a webcast to discuss the results from its third quarter fiscal 2021 today, February 3, 2021, at 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time. The webcast will be broadcasted live at https://investor.elfbeauty.com/news-and-events/events. For those unable to listen to the live broadcast, an archived version will be available at the same location.

About e.l.f. Beauty

e.l.f. Beauty stands with every eye, lip, face and paw. This deep commitment to inclusive, accessible, cruelty-free beauty has fueled the success of our namesake e.l.f. Cosmetics brand since 2004. With the addition of pioneering clean-beauty brand W3LL PEOPLE and launch of the lifestyle beauty brand Keys Soulcare created with Alicia Keys, we continue to strategically expand our portfolio with brands that support our purpose and values. Our family of brands is available online, and across leading beauty, mass-market, and clean beauty specialty retailers.

Learn more by visiting investor.elfbeauty.com.

Note Regarding non-GAAP Financial Measures

This press release includes references to non-GAAP measures, including, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted net income and adjusted diluted EPS. The Company presents these non-GAAP measures because its management uses them as supplemental measures in assessing its operating performance, and believes they are helpful to investors, securities analysts and other interested parties in evaluating the Company’s performance. The non-GAAP measures included in this press release are not measurements of financial performance under GAAP and they should not be considered as alternatives to measures of performance derived in accordance with GAAP. In addition, these non-GAAP measures should not be construed as an inference that the Company’s future results will be unaffected by unusual or non-recurring items. These non-GAAP measures have limitations as analytical tools, and you should not consider such measures either in isolation or as substitutes for analyzing the Company’s results as reported under GAAP. The Company’s definitions and calculations of these non-GAAP measures are not necessarily comparable to other similarly titled measures used by other companies due to different methods of calculation.

Adjusted EBITDA excludes costs or gains related to restructuring of operations, stock-based compensation and other non-cash and non-recurring costs. Such other non-cash or non-recurring costs include proxy contest expenses, pre-launch costs to develop the Company’s first new brand, Keys Soulcare, acquisition-related costs for W3LL PEOPLE, and costs related to the automation of certain warehouse and distribution activities. Adjusted SG&A excludes costs related to stock-based compensation and other non-cash and non-recurring costs. Such other non-cash or non-recurring costs include proxy contest expenses, pre-launch costs to develop the Company’s first new brand, Keys Soulcare, acquisition-related costs for W3LL PEOPLE, and costs related to the automation of certain warehouse and distribution activities. Adjusted net income excludes costs or gains related to restructuring of operations, stock-based compensation, other non-cash and non-recurring costs, amortization of acquired intangible assets and the tax impact of the foregoing adjustments. Such other non-cash or non-recurring costs include proxy contest expenses, pre-launch costs to develop the Company’s first new brand, Keys Soulcare, acquisition-related costs for W3LL PEOPLE, and costs related to the automation of certain warehouse and distribution activities.

With respect to the Company’s expectations under "Fiscal 2021 Outlook” above, the Company is not able to provide a quantitative reconciliation of the adjusted EBITDA, adjusted net income and adjusted diluted EPS guidance non-GAAP measures to the corresponding net income and diluted EPS GAAP measures without unreasonable efforts. The Company cannot provide meaningful estimates of the non-recurring charges and credits excluded from these non-GAAP measures due to the forward-looking nature of these estimates and their inherent variability and uncertainty. For the same reasons, the Company is unable to address the probable significance of the unavailable information.

Forward-looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws, including those statements relating to the Company's outlook for fiscal 2021 under "Fiscal 2021 Outlook” above and the Company’s belief that the Company’s brand building efforts and digital focus position the Company well for the future. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, actual results and the timing of selected events may differ materially from those expectations. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward looking statements include, among other things, the risks and uncertainties that are described in the Company's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, as updated from time to time in the Company's SEC filings, as well as the Company’s ability to effectively compete with other beauty companies; the Company’s ability to successfully introduce new products; the Company’s ability to attract new retail customers and/or expand business with its existing retail customers; the Company’s ability to optimize shelf space at its key retail customers; the loss of any of the Company’s key retail customers or if the general business performance of its key retail customers declines; the Company’s ability to effectively manage its SG&A and other expenses; and the uncertainty regarding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Potential investors are urged to consider these factors carefully in evaluating the forward-looking statements.

These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof. Except as required by law, the Company assumes no obligation to update or revise these forward-looking statements for any reason, even if new information becomes available in the future.

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