A-Mark Precious Metals, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMRK) Q3 2024 Earnings Call Transcript May 7, 2024

A-Mark Precious Metals, Inc. isn’t one of the 30 most popular stocks among hedge funds at the end of the third quarter (see the details here).

Operator: Good afternoon and welcome to the A-Mark Precious Metals Conference Call for the Fiscal Third Quarter ended March 31st, 2024. My name is Matthew, and I will be your operator this afternoon. Before this call, A-Mark issued its results for the fiscal third quarter 2024 in a press release, which is available in the Investor Relations' section of the company's website at www.amark.com. You can find the link to the Investor Relations' section at the top of the home page. Joining us for today's call are A-Mark's CEO, Greg Roberts; President, Thor Gjerdrum; and CFO, Kathleen Simpson-Taylor. Following their remarks, we will open the call to your questions. Then before we conclude the call, I'll provide the necessary cautions regarding the forward-looking statements made by management during this call.

I'd like to remind everyone that this call is being recorded, and we will be made available for replay via a link available in the Investor Relations' section of A-Mark's website. Now, I'd like to turn the call over to A-Mark's CEO, Mr. Greg Roberts. Sir, please proceed.

Greg Roberts: Thank you, Matthew, and good afternoon, everyone. Thanks for joining our call today. Our third quarter results continue to demonstrate the ability of our fully-integrated platform to generate profitable results even in a difficult market environment. During the quarter, we faced a combination of softened demand, premium compression, and elevated gold and silver prices, which led our traditional buyers to become sellers and provided us with an opportunity to purchase more inventory. Despite the challenging environment, we delivered $0.21 per diluted share and generated $12.6 million in non-GAAP EBITDA, including one-time acquisition costs of $2.2 million. We also increased the direct-to-consumer number of new customers by an impressive 8% compared to last quarter.

Consistent with our commitment to generate shareholder value, the company also repurchased a total of 204,396 shares of our common stock for $5 million during the quarter. As previously announced, we completed the acquisition of LPM Group Limited in February 2024 and have substantially completed the integration of LPM's business and operations with A-Mark. LPM now has enhanced access to supplementary products and capital through A-Mark to broaden their offerings and to promote future growth. Key technology upgrades have also been added to enhance LPM's logistics capabilities and to fully integrate LPM into AMGL's fulfillment and shipping system. JMB has also collaborated closely with LPM to develop processes aimed at enhancing expanding LPM's e-commerce footprint.

I'm happy to report that a month and a half or so into this, we are very pleased with the results we have seen. We also continue to advance our logistics automation initiatives at our A-Mark Global Logistics, or AMGL facility in Las Vegas. These initiatives are designed to enhance our operational efficiency, enabling us to effectively manage a larger number of SKUs as well as increased volume, taking in and shipping out more packages all the while minimizing operational costs. Now, I will turn the call over to our CFO, Kathleen Simpson Taylor, who will provide a more detailed overview of our financial performance. Then our President, Thor Gjerdrum will discuss our key operating metrics. Finally, I will provide further insight into our business and growth strategy and happily take all of your questions.

Kathleen?

Kathleen Simpson Taylor: Thank you, Greg, and good afternoon everyone. Our revenues for fiscal Q3 2024 increased 13% to $2.611 billion from $2.317 billion in Q3 of last year. Excluding an increase of $622.1 million of forward sales, our revenues decreased $328.6 million or 20%, which was due to a decrease in gold and silver ounces sold, partially offset by higher average selling prices of gold and silver. The DTC segment contributed 13% and 23% of the consolidated revenue in the fiscal third quarter of 2024 and 2023, respectively. Revenue contributed by JMB represented 12% of the consolidated revenues for Q3 of 2024 compared to 20% in Q3 of last year. For the nine-month period, our revenues increased 16% to $7.174 billion from $6.167 billion in the same year ago period.

Excluding an increase of $1.514 billion of forward sales, revenues decreased $506.9 million or 11%, which was due to a decrease in gold and silver ounces sold, partially offset by higher average selling prices of gold and silver. The DTC segment contributed 14% and 23% of the consolidated revenue for the nine months ended March 31st, 2024 and 2023, respectively. Revenue contributed by JMB represented 13% of the consolidated revenues for the nine months ended March 31st, 2024 compared with 21% in the same year ago period. Gross profit for fiscal Q3 2024 decreased 54% to $34.8 million or 1.33% of revenue from $75.5 million or 3.26% of revenue in Q3 of last year. The decrease in gross profit was due to lower gross profits earned from both the wholesale sales and ancillary services and DTC segment.

Gross profit contributed by the DTC segment represented 52% of the consolidated gross profit in fiscal Q3 2024 compared to 57% in the same year ago period. Gross profit contributed by JMB represented 45% of the consolidated gross profit in Q3 2024 compared to 47% in Q3 of last year. For the nine-month period, gross profit decreased 40% to $130.3 million or 1.82% of revenue from $216.1 million or 3.5% of revenue in the same year ago period. The decrease in gross profit was due to lower gross profits earned from both the wholesale sales and ancillary services and DTC segment. Gross profit contributed by the DTC segment represented 47% of the consolidated gross profit for the nine months ended March 31st, 2024 compared to 56% in the same year ago period.

Gross profit contributed by JMB represented 40% and 48% of the consolidated gross profit for the nine months ended March 31st, 2024 and 2023, respectively. SG&A expenses for fiscal Q3 2024 decreased 4% to $22.9 million from $23.8 million in Q3 of last year. The change was primarily due to a decrease in compensation expense, including performance-based accruals of $2.2 million, a decrease in insurance costs of $0.9 million, and lower advertising costs of $0.4 million, which was partially offset by higher consulting and professional fees of $2.2 million related to M&A activities and an increase in information technology costs of $0.2 million. For the nine-month period, SG&A expenses increased 8% to $67.1 million from $62.4 million in the same year ago period.

The change was primarily due to an increase in consulting and professional fees of $4.8 million, including $2.8 million related to M&A activities, an increase in information technology costs of $0.8 million, and an increase in compensation expense, including performance-based accruals of $0.4 million. This was partially offset by a decrease in insurance costs of $1.4 million. Depreciation and amortization expense for fiscal Q3 2024 decreased 12% to $2.9 million from $3.3 million in Q3 of last year. The change was primarily due to a $0.6 million decrease in amortization of acquired intangibles related to JMB. For the nine-month period, depreciation and amortization expense decreased 13% to $8.6 million from $9.8 million in the same year ago period.

The change was primarily due to a $1.7 million decrease in amortization of acquired intangibles related to JMB. Interest income for fiscal Q3 2024 increased 10% to $6.7 million from $6.1 million in Q3 of last year. The aggregate increase in interest income was primarily due to an increase in other finance product income of $0.1 million and an increase in interest income earned by our secured lending segment of $0.5 million. For the nine-month period, interest income increased 18% to $19.1 million from $16.2 million in the same year ago period. The aggregate increase in interest income was primarily due to an increase in other finance product income of $1.6 million and an increase in interest income earned by our secured lending segment of $1.4 million.

Interest expense for fiscal Q3 2024 increased 7% to $9.9 million from $9.2 million in Q3 of last year. The increase in interest expense was primarily due to an increase of $1.3 million associated with our trading credit facility, due to an increase in interest rates as well as increased borrowings and an increase of $0.9 million related to product financing arrangements, partially offset by a decrease of $1.4 million related to the AMCS notes, including amortization of debt issuance costs due to the notes repayment in December 2023. For the nine-month period, interest expense increased 32% to $29.9 million from $22.6 million in the same year ago period. The increase was primarily driven by an increase of $6.9 million associated with our trading credit facility due to an increase in interest rates as well as increased borrowings; an increase of $2.5 million related to product financing arrangements, partially offset by a decrease of $1.8 million related to the AMCS notes, including amortization of debt issuance costs due to their repayment in December 2023; as well as $0.3 million decrease in loan servicing fees.

Losses from equity method investments in Q3 2024 increased 194% to $0.2 million from $0.1 million in the same year ago quarter. For the nine-month period, earnings from equity method investments decreased 55% to $3.3 million from $7.3 million in the same year ago period. The decrease in both periods was due to decreased earnings of our equity method investees. Net income attributable to the company for the third quarter of fiscal 2024 totaled $5 million or $0.21 per diluted share. This compares to net income attributable to the company of $35.9 million or $1.46 per diluted share in Q3 of last year. For the nine-month period, net income attributable to the company totaled $37.6 million or $1.56 per diluted share, which compares to net income attributable to the company of $114.5 million or $4.64 per diluted share in the same year ago period.

Adjusted net income before provision for income taxes, a non-GAAP financial performance measure, which excludes acquisition expenses, amortization, and depreciation for Q3 fiscal 2024 totaled $11.6 million, a decrease of 76% compared to $49.2 million in the same year ago quarter. Adjusted net income before provision for income taxes for the nine-month period totaled $60.1 million, a 62% decrease from $156.9 million in the same year ago period. EBITDA, a non-GAAP liquidity measure for Q3 fiscal 2024, totaled $12.6 million, a 76% decrease compared to $52.3 million in Q3 fiscal 2023. The EBITDA for the nine-month period totaled $68.2 million, a 58% decrease compared to $163.2 million in the same year ago period. Turning to our balance sheet. At quarter end, we had $35.2 million of cash compared to $39.3 million at the end of fiscal 2023.

Our non-restricted inventories totaled $579.4 million, down $66.4 million from $645.8 million at the end of fiscal 2023. And this was despite rising commodity prices, which drove an overall increase in our inventory value of over 10%, holding ounces constant from the fiscal year-end. Our tangible net worth at the end of the quarter was $391.1 million, down from $436.8 million at the end of the prior fiscal year. The reduction is due to share repurchase activity and dividends paid, combined with higher intangible assets from the LTM acquisition. A-Mark's Board of Directors has continued to maintain the company's regular quarterly cash dividend program of $0.20 per common share. The most recent quarterly cash dividend was paid in April. It is expected that the next quarterly dividend will be paid in July of 2024.

That completes my financial summary. Now, I will turn the call over to Thor, who will provide an update on our key operating metrics. Thor?

Thor Gjerdrum: Thank you, Kathleen. Looking at our key operating metrics for the third quarter of fiscal 2024. We sold 446,000 ounces of gold in Q3 fiscal 2024, which was down 32% from Q3 of last year and down 1% from the prior quarter. For the nine-month period, we sold 1.4 million ounces of gold, which is down 25% from the same year ago period. We sold 25.7 million ounces of silver in Q3 fiscal 2024, which was down 30% from Q3 of last year and down 3% from last quarter. For the nine-month period, we sold 82.7 million ounces of silver, which is down 26% from the same year ago period. The number of new customers in the DTC segment, which is defined as the number of customers that have registered to set up a new account or made a purchase for the first time during the period was 56,600 in Q3 fiscal 2024, which was down 13% from Q3 of last year, but increased 8% from last quarter.

For the nine-month period, the number of new customers in the DTC segment was 148,200, which is down 40% from 244,900 new customers in the same year ago period. The number of total customers in the DTC segment at the end of the third quarter was approximately 2.5 million, which was an 11% increase from the prior year. The year-over-year increase in total customers was due to organic growth of our JMB customer base as well as from acquired customer list. The DTC segment average order value, which represents the average dollar value of products ordered excluding accumulation program orders delivered to DTC segment customers during Q3 fiscal 2024 was $2,133, which was down 13% from Q3 fiscal 2023 and down 4% from the prior quarter. For the nine-month period, our DTC average order value was $2,253 which was down 6% from the same year ago period.

For the fiscal third quarter, our inventory turn ratio was 2.3, which is a 4% decrease from 2.4% in Q3 of last year and a 21% increase from 1.9% in the prior quarter. For the nine-month period, our inventory turnover ratio was 6.8%, a 3% decrease from 7.0% in the same year ago period. Finally, the number of secured loans at the end of March totaled $675 million, a decrease of 30% from March 31st, 2023, and a decrease of 6% from the end of December. While the number of secured loans decreased, our secured loan receivable balance increased over the same period, bringing the value of our loan portfolio as of March 31st, 2024, to $115.6 million, a 19% increase from March 31, 2023, and a 9% increase from December 31, 2023. That concludes my prepared remarks.

I'll now turn it over to Greg for his closing remarks. Greg?

Greg Roberts: Thank you, Thor and Kathleen. We've made significant strides in our M&A growth strategy with our expansion into Asia through our acquisition of LPM. We are enthusiastic about the opportunities in the Asian market and continue to explore prospects to further expand our geographic presence and market reach that will create synergies with A-Mark's fully integrated platform, including our reliable access to supply, successful logistics footprint, and strong customer relationships. Our commitment to generating stockholder value remains firm, and we are confident in A-Mark's diversified and proven business model. That concludes my prepared remarks. Matthew?

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