MACON, Ga. — Blue Bird Corporation (BLBD), the leader in electric and low-emission school buses, announced today its fiscal 2024 second quarter results.
“I am incredibly proud of our team’s achievements in delivering another outstanding result in the second quarter,” said Phil Horlock, CEO of Blue Bird Corporation. “The Blue Bird team continued to execute ahead of plan, improving operations and throughput, driving new order growth, and expanding our leadership position in alternative-powered buses. The market demand for our school buses remains very strong with just over 5,900 units in our order backlog. Unit sales in the quarter were down slightly from a year ago, however we grew revenue by 15%, to a record $346 million in a quarter. Adjusted EBITDA was an all-time second quarter record of $46 million, reflecting a 13% margin; that’s an outstanding increase of $25 million over last year.
In expanding our leadership position in alternative-powered school buses, we achieved another record quarter of deliveries of our electric-powered buses. Additionally, at quarter-end, we had nearly 500 electric school bus orders in our backlog. We saw strong growth in EV orders from the EPA’s Clean School Bus Program, which awarded nearly $1 billion in funding in 2023 from Phase 1 of its $5 billion program. We are excited for new EV orders over the next year from the recently-announced Phase 2 (A and B) of the 5-year program, which provides at least $1.5 billion in grant and rebate funding for electric school buses. We’ve been working aggressively with our dealers and school districts in submitting applications and we are confident that continued, exciting growth is ahead for Blue Bird on the EV front!
Based on our strong start to the year and additional visibility into the 2024 operating environment, we have increased our full year financial guidance for Adjusted EBITDA to $155 million, with a 12% margin. That will be an all-time full-year record for Blue Bird, and we look forward to sustained profitable growth in the coming years, particularly as the global supply-chain recovery progresses.”
FY2024 Guidance Increased and Long-Term Outlook Raised
“We are very pleased with the second quarter results, with the highest ever second quarter Adj. EBITDA,” said Razvan Radulescu, CFO of Blue Bird Corporation. “Our business transformation continues to yield great results, and ahead of plan. With better line-of-sight into the balance of 2024, we are raising our full-year guidance for Net Revenue to $1.275-1.325 Billion, Adj. EBITDA to $145-165 million (11.5% – 12.5% margin) and Adj. Free Cash Flow to $70-80 million. Additionally, we are raising our long-term profit outlook towards an Adjusted EBITDA margin of 14%+ on ~$2 billion in revenues.”
Fiscal 2024 Second Quarter Results
Net Sales
Net sales were $345.9 million for the second quarter of fiscal 2024, an increase of $46.1 million, or 15.4%, from the second quarter of last year. Bus sales increased $44.5 million, reflecting a 18.8% increase in average sales price per unit, resulting from pricing actions taken by management as well as product and customer mix changes, and was slightly offset by a 2.2% decrease in units booked. In the second quarter of fiscal 2024, 2,254 units were booked compared with 2,304 units booked for the same period in fiscal 2023. The slight decrease was primarily due to product mix changes as well as a slight increase in supply chain constraints impacting the Company’s ability to produce and deliver buses due to shortages of critical components during the second quarter of 2024 relative to the second quarter of fiscal 2023. Additionally, Parts sales increased $1.6 million, or 6.1%, for the second quarter of fiscal 2024 compared with the second quarter of fiscal 2023. This increase is primarily attributed to price increases, driven by ongoing inflationary pressures, as well as higher fulfillment volumes and slight variations due to product and channel mix.
Gross Profit
Second quarter gross profit of $63.6 million represented an increase of $28.0 million from the second quarter of last year. The increase was primarily driven by the $46.1 million increase in net sales, discussed above, and partially offset by an increase of $18.1 million in cost of goods sold. The increase in cost of goods sold was primarily driven by increased inventory costs, as the average cost of goods sold per unit for the second quarter of fiscal 2024 was 9.6% higher compared to the second quarter of fiscal 2023, primarily due to increases in manufacturing costs attributable to a) increased raw materials costs resulting from ongoing inflationary pressures and b) ongoing supply chain disruptions that resulted in higher purchase costs for components.
Net Income
Net income was $26.0 million for the second quarter of fiscal 2024, which was a $18.9 million increase from the second quarter of last year. The increase was primarily driven by the $28.0 million increase in gross profit, discussed above. Partially offsetting this was the corresponding $6.9 million increase in income tax expense.
Adjusted Net Income
Adjusted net income was $29.3 million, representing an increase of $20.7 million compared with the same period last year, primarily due to the $18.9 million increase in net income, discussed above.
Adjusted EBITDA
Adjusted EBITDA was $45.8 million, which was an increase of $24.7 million compared with the second quarter last year. This increase primarily results from the $18.9 million increase in net income as a result of the factors discussed above, as well as the corresponding $6.9 million increase in income tax expense.
Full Year Fiscal 2024 Results
Net Sales
Net sales were $663.6 million for the six months ended March 30, 2024, an increase of $128.0 million, or 23.9%, compared with the same period in fiscal 2023. Bus sales increased $124.7 million, or 25.6%, reflecting a 22.1% increase in average sales price per unit, primarily driven by pricing actions taken by management in response to increased inventory purchase costs, and a 2.9% increase in units booked. There were 4,383 units booked in the six months ended March 30, 2024 compared with 4,261 units booked during the same period in fiscal 2023. The increase in units sold was primarily due to slight improvements in supply chain constraints impacting the Company’s ability to produce and deliver buses due to shortages of critical components during the first half of fiscal 2024 relative to the same period in fiscal 2023. Parts sales increased $3.4 million, or 6.9%, for the six months ended March 30, 2024 compared with the six months ended April 1, 2023. This increase is primarily attributed to price increases, driven by ongoing inflationary pressures, as well as higher fulfillment volumes and slight variations due to product and channel mix.
Gross Profit
Gross profit for the six months ended March 30, 2024 was $127.2 million, an increase of $84.1 million compared with the same period in the prior year. The increase was primarily driven by the $128.0 million increase in net sales, discussed above. This was partially offset by an increase of $43.9 million in cost of goods sold, primarily driven by the 2.9% increase in units booked and increased inventory costs, as the average cost of goods sold per unit for the six months ended March 30, 2024 was 6.2% higher compared to the six months ended April 1, 2023, primarily due to increases in manufacturing costs attributable to a) increased raw materials costs resulting from ongoing inflationary pressures and b) ongoing supply chain disruptions that resulted in higher purchase costs for components.
Net Income
Net income was $52.2 million for the six months ended March 30, 2024, which was a $56.3 million increase from the same period in the prior year. The increase in net income was primarily driven by the $84.1 million increase in gross profit, discussed above. This was partially offset by a corresponding $18.3 million increase in income tax expense, as well as a $13.1 million increase in SG&A, primarily driven by an increase in labor cost.
Adjusted Net Income
Adjusted net income for the six months ended March 30, 2024 was $59.0 million, an increase of $60.1 million compared with the same period last year, primarily due to the $56.3 million increase in net income, discussed above.
Adjusted EBITDA
Adjusted EBITDA was $93.4 million for the six months ended March 30, 2024, an increase of $75.8 million compared with the same period in the prior year. This is primarily due to the $56.3 million increase in net income, discussed above, and the corresponding $18.3 million increase in income tax expense.
About Blue Bird Corporation
Blue Bird is recognized as a technology leader and innovator of school buses since its founding in 1927. Our dedicated team members design, engineer and manufacture school buses with a singular focus on safety, reliability, and durability. School buses carry the most precious cargo in the world – 25 million children twice a day – making them the most trusted mode of student transportation. The company is the proven leader in low- and zero-emission school buses with more than 20,000 propane, natural gas, and electric powered buses in operation today. Blue Bird is transforming the student transportation industry through cleaner energy solutions. For more information on Blue Bird’s complete product and service portfolio, visit www.blue-bird.com.
