Company Posts Third Consecutive Quarter of Revenue Growth and Record Average Order Value
Enters Agreement For $30.0 Million in Additional Funding
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE )--Blue Apron (NYSE: APRN) today announced financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2022 (2Q22).
Linda Findley, Blue Apron’s President and Chief Executive Officer, commented, “We are pleased by the team’s continued execution against ‘The Next Course’ strategy in the second quarter. Our hard work resulted in continued strong performance in our key customer engagement metrics. Though significant inflation and the continued post-pandemic acceleration in travel impacted customer count, we saw encouraging signs from our new brand campaign launched in April 2022. The heightened awareness from the program drove a tangible increase in traffic to our site, and we are proactively focused on improving conversion going forward.”
“We are also pleased to have reached an agreement with RJB to increase RJB’s investment in the company pursuant to the April agreement from $20 million to $50 million, which is expected to close by the end of this month. This investment will strengthen our financial position and provide additional flexibility as we move forward with our long-term growth plan.”
Key customer metrics in the table below reflect the company’s product initiatives and targeted marketing investments along with the impact of an onion recall recovery in 2021; the seasonality of the company’s business; and other operating trends. The metrics below exclude the impact of a $10.0 million enterprise sale in the second quarter of 2022.
For a description of how Blue Apron defines and uses these key customer metrics, please see “Use of Key Customer Metrics” below.
The company continues to execute on its ESG strategy and initiatives. Recent efforts include:
As a result of persistent inflationary pressures which are impacting consumer demand, the company believes it is prudent to adjust its 2022 revenue growth target to 7% to 13% compared with 2021, and focus on driving to profitability.
The company remains committed to its longer term targets, provided at its Investor Day in May 2022, of achieving adjusted EBITDA profitability in fiscal 2023 and positive operating cash flow in fiscal 2024. The company continues to expect significantly lower cash utilization in the second half of 2022 compared with the first half of the year.
The outlook for certain financial metrics above and elsewhere in this press release, reflect assumptions regarding the company’s business. These assumptions include the anticipated benefit to the company’s business from the execution of the company’s strategic growth initiatives, including the impact of the planned use of remaining proceeds from the company's closed equity capital raises, as well as a portion of the expected proceeds from the expected equity financing transaction described above and the expected cash impact of the gift card transaction described above, to increase investments in marketing and technology initiatives and infrastructure, as well as continued operational improvements. The following guidance also assumes certain gift card redemption rates and the expansion of our enterprise sale and marketplace sale channels, including the anticipation of additional bulk sale transactions relating to a planned directed donation to an enterprise customer from a company related party. The following guidance also assumes that the company will not experience any unforeseen significant disruptions in its fulfillment operations or supply chain, or any increased impacts from macroeconomic trends, such as inflation.
Blue Apron will host a conference call and live webcast today at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time. The earnings conference call can be accessed by dialing 1-877-883-038. The conference ID is 1532649. Alternatively, participants may access the live webcast on Blue Apron’s Investor Relations website at investors.blueapron.com.
A recording of the webcast will be available on Blue Apron’s Investor Relations website at investors.blueapron.com following the conference call. Additionally, a replay of the conference call can be accessed until Monday, August 15, 2022, by dialing (877) 344-7529 or (412) 317-0088, utilizing the replay access code 3856149.
Blue Apron’s vision is Better Living Through Better FoodTM. Launched in 2012, Blue Apron offers fresh, chef-designed recipes that empower home cooks to embrace their culinary curiosity and challenge their abilities to see what a difference cooking quality food can make in their lives. Through its mission to spark discovery, connection and joy through cooking, Blue Apron continuously focuses on bringing incredible recipes to its customers, while minimizing its carbon footprint, reducing food waste, and promoting diversity and inclusion.
This press release includes statements concerning Blue Apron Holdings, Inc. and its future expectations, plans and prospects that constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. For this purpose, any statements contained herein that are not statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terms such as "may," "should," "expects," "plans," "anticipates," "could," "intends," "target," "projects," "contemplates," "believes," "estimates," "predicts," "potential," or "continue," or the negative of these terms or other similar expressions. The forward-looking statements in this press release are only predictions. Blue Apron has based these forward-looking statements largely on its current expectations and projections about future events and financial trends that it believes may affect its business, financial condition and results of operations. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release and are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions including, without limitation, the company's ability to operate as a going-concern in the event that the pending financing and gift card transaction described in this press release do not close on the expected terms, the company’s expectations regarding its expenses and revenue, its ability to grow adjusted EBITDA and achieve or maintain profitability, the sufficiency of the company’s cash resources, the company’s needs for additional financing; the company’s ability, including the timing and extent, to sufficiently manage costs and to fund investments in its operations in amounts necessary to maintain compliance with financial, environmental, sustainability and corporate governance (“ESG”), and other covenants under its indebtedness while continuing to support the execution and acceleration of its growth strategy on the company’s anticipated timelines; the company’s ability, including the timing and extent, to successfully support the execution of its growth strategy and to meet its outlook forecasts (including the ability to successfully increase marketing and technology improvements on the planned timeline, if at all), cost-effectively attract new customers and retain existing customers, including its ability to sustain any increase in demand resulting from both its growth strategy or the COVID-19 pandemic, and its ability to continue to expand its product offerings and distribution channels, and to continue to execute operational efficiency practices; the company’s expectations regarding, and the stability of, its supply chain, including potential shortages, interruptions and/or increased costs in the supply or delivery of ingredients, and parcel and freight carrier interruptions or delays and/or higher freight or fuel costs, as a result of inflation or otherwise; changes in consumer behaviors, tastes and preferences that could lead to changes in demand, including as a result of, among other things the impact of inflation or other macroeconomic factors, and to some extent, long-term impacts on consumer behavior and spending habits; the company’s ability to attract and retain qualified employees and personnel in sufficient numbers; any material and adverse impact of the COVID-19 pandemic or any future surges, including as a result of new variants and subvariants of the virus, on the company’s operations and results, such as challenges in employee recruiting and retention, any prolonged closures, or series of temporary closures, of one or both of its fulfillment centers, supply chain or carrier interruptions or delays, and any resulting need to cancel or shift customer orders; the company’s ability to effectively compete; the company’s ability to maintain and grow the value of its brand and reputation; the company’s ability to achieve its ESG goals in its anticipated timeframe, if at all; the company’s ability to maintain food safety and prevent food-borne illness incidents and its susceptibility to supplier-initiated recalls; the company’s ability to comply with modified or new laws and regulations applying to its business, or the impact that such compliance may have on its business; the company’s vulnerability to adverse weather conditions, natural disasters, wars, and public health crises, including pandemics; the company’s ability to protect the security and integrity of its data and protect against data security risks and breaches; the company’s ability to obtain and maintain intellectual property protection; and other risks more fully described in the company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021 filed with the SEC on February 25, 2022, the company’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2022 filed with the SEC on May 9, 2022 and the company’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2022 to be filed with the SEC and in other filings that the company may make with the SEC in the future. The company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this press release, whether as a result of any new information, future events, or otherwise.
Use of Non-GAAP Financial Information
This press release includes non-GAAP financial measures, adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow, that are not prepared in accordance with, nor an alternative to, financial measures prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”). In addition, these non-GAAP financial measures are not based on any standardized methodology prescribed by GAAP and are not necessarily comparable to similarly-titled measures presented by other companies.
The company defines adjusted EBITDA as net earnings (loss) before interest income (expense), net, other operating expense, gain (loss) on extinguishment of debt, other income (expense) net, benefit (provision) for income taxes and depreciation and amortization, adjusted to eliminate share-based compensation expense. The company presents adjusted EBITDA because it is a key measure used by the company’s management and board of directors to understand and evaluate the company’s operating performance, generate future operating plans and make strategic decisions regarding the allocation of capital. In particular, the company believes that the exclusion of certain items in calculating adjusted EBITDA can produce a useful measure for period-to-period comparisons of the company’s business. Further, Blue Apron uses adjusted EBITDA to evaluate its operating performance and trends and make planning decisions, and it believes that adjusted EBITDA helps identify underlying trends in its business that could otherwise be masked by the effect of the items that the company excludes. Accordingly, Blue Apron believes that adjusted EBITDA provides useful information to investors and others in understanding and evaluating its operating results, enhancing the overall understanding of the company’s past performance and future prospects, and allowing for greater transparency with respect to key financial metrics used by its management in its financial and operational decision-making.
There are a number of limitations related to the use of adjusted EBITDA rather than net income (loss), which is the most directly comparable GAAP equivalent. Some of these limitations are:
The company defines free cash flow as net cash from (used in) operating activities less purchases of property and equipment. The company presents free cash flow because it is used by the company’s management and board of directors as an indicator of the amount of cash the company generates or uses and to evaluate the company’s ability to satisfy current and future obligations and to fund future business opportunities. Accordingly, Blue Apron believes that free cash flow provides useful information to investors and others in understanding and evaluating its operating results, enhancing the overall understanding of the company’s ability to satisfy its financial obligations and pursue business opportunities, and allowing for greater transparency with respect to a key financial metric used by its management in its financial and operational decision making.
There are a number of limitations related to the use of free cash flow rather than net cash from (used in) operating activities, which is the most directly comparable GAAP equivalent. Some of these limitations are:
Because of these limitations, adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow should be considered together with other financial information presented in accordance with GAAP. A reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable measures calculated in accordance with GAAP is set forth below under the heading “Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures.”
Use of Key Customer Metrics
This press release includes various key customer metrics that the company uses to evaluate our business and operations, measure its performance, identify trends affecting its business, project its future performance, and make strategic decisions. You should read these metrics in conjunction with the company’s financial statements. The company defines and determines its key customer metrics as follows:
Orders The company defines Orders as the number of paid orders by Customers across the company’s meal, wine and market products sold on its e-commerce platforms and, beginning in 2Q22, through third-party sales platforms in any reporting period, inclusive of orders that may have eventually been refunded or credited to customers.
Customers The company determines its number of Customers by counting the total number of individual customers who have paid for at least one Order from Blue Apron across the company’s meal, wine or market products sold on its e-commerce platforms and, beginning in 2Q22, through third-party sales platforms in a given reporting period.
Average Order Value The company defines Average Order Value as the company’s net revenue from its meal, wine and market products sold on its e-commerce platforms and, beginning in 2Q22, through third-party sales platforms, in a given reporting period divided by the number of Orders in that period. For 2Q22, Average Order Value excludes the $10.0 million bulk enterprise sale. If the bulk sale is included, Average Order Value for 2Q22 would be $73.04.
Orders per Customer The company defines Orders per Customer as the number of Orders in a given reporting period divided by the number of Customers in that period.
Average Revenue per Customer The company defines Average Revenue per Customer as the company’s net revenue from its meal, wine and market products sold on the company’s e-commerce platforms and, beginning in 2Q22, through third-party sales platforms in a given reporting period divided by the number of Customers in that period. For 2Q22, Average Revenue per Customer excludes the $10.0 million bulk enterprise sale. If the bulk sale is included, Average Revenue per Customer for 2Q22 would be $356.
Prepaid expenses and other current assets
Current portion of related party payables
Current portion of long-term debt
Accrued expenses and other current liabilities
TOTAL LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY
Condensed Consolidated Statement of Operations
(In thousands, except share and per-share data)
Cost of goods sold, excluding depreciation and amortization
Product, technology, general, and administrative
Gain (loss) on extinguishment of debt
Income (loss) before income taxes
Benefit (provision) for income taxes
Net income (loss) per share – basic
Net income (loss) per share – diluted
Weighted average shares outstanding – basic
Weighted average shares outstanding – diluted
Condensed Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows
CASH FLOWS FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES:
Adjustments to reconcile net income (loss) to net cash from (used in) operating activities:
Depreciation and amortization of property and equipment
Loss (gain) on disposal of property and equipment
Loss (gain) on extinguishment of debt
Loss (gain) upon derecognition of Blue Torch warrant obligation
Changes in fair value of warrant obligation
Changes in reserves and allowances
Changes in operating assets and liabilities:
Net cash from (used in) operating activities
CASH FLOWS FROM INVESTING ACTIVITIES:
Purchases of property and equipment
Proceeds from sale of property and equipment
Net cash from (used in) investing activities
CASH FLOWS FROM FINANCING ACTIVITIES:
Net proceeds from debt issuances
Net proceeds from equity and warrant issuances
Payments of debt and equity issuance costs
Receipt of funds held in escrow
Release of funds held in escrow
Principal payments on capital lease obligations
Net cash from (used in) financing activities
NET INCREASE (DECREASE) IN CASH, CASH EQUIVALENTS, AND RESTRICTED CASH
CASH, CASH EQUIVALENTS, AND RESTRICTED CASH — Beginning of period
CASH, CASH EQUIVALENTS, AND RESTRICTED CASH — End of period
Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures
Reconciliation of net income (loss) to adjusted EBITDA
Loss (gain) on extinguishment of debt
Provision (benefit) for income taxes
Reconciliation of net cash from (used in) operating activities to free cash flow
Net cash from (used in) operating activities
Purchases of property and equipment
Media Muriel Lussier Blue Apron muriel.lussier@blueapron.com
Investors Tip Fleming Blue Apron investor.relations@blueapron.com
Media Muriel Lussier Blue Apron muriel.lussier@blueapron.com
Investors Tip Fleming Blue Apron investor.relations@blueapron.com