MACON, Ga. -Blue Bird Corporation (“Blue Bird”) (Nasdaq: BLBD), the leader in electric and low-emission school buses, announced today its fiscal 2023 second quarter results.
“I am incredibly proud of the progress that the team has made and we are finally seeing the results of all the hard work in the financials. The team has been executing on a rigorous plan for over 18 months to improve operations, reduce fixed costs, and recover economics through pricing,” said Matthew Stevenson, President and CEO of Blue Bird Corporation. “The market demand for Blue Bird’s best-in-class school buses continues to remain strong with nearly 5,800 units in the backlog. We also expanded our leadership position in zero-emission school buses, realizing exceptional growth in electric school bus bookings, up 176%, and our firm order backlog, of more than 620 electric school buses, as of the end of April, continues to grow. We have seen steady growth in electric school bus orders from the EPA’s 2022 Clean School Bus Rebate Program, which awarded nearly $1 billion in funding. This funding alone will generate orders for an estimated 500-700 Blue Bird electric buses translating into a minimum of $200 million of additional revenue. Plus we are excited to see progress with the announcement of Phase 2 of the program, offering a $400M competitive grant program for electric school buses.”
FY2023 Guidance Increased:
“We are very excited with the FY2023-Q2 results, above our guidance for both Revenues and EBITDA,” said Razvan Radulescu, CFO of Blue Bird Corporation. “Our turnaround is working ahead of schedule and we returned to historical profitability already in Q2, and expect further increased performance each quarter, as shown in the forecast shared during the earnings call. We are raising full year fiscal 2023 guidance to Net Revenue of just over $1.1 Billion, Adj. EBITDA of $55-65 million and Adj. Free Cash Flow of $30-40 million. Additionally, we are reconfirming our long-term outlook of profitable growth towards $2 billion in revenues and Adjusted EBITDA margins of 12%, or $250 million.”
Fiscal 2023 Second Quarter Results:
Net Sales:
Net sales were $299.8 million for the second quarter of fiscal 2023, an increase of $92.2 million, or 44.4%, from prior year period. Bus sales increased $85.0 million, reflecting a 21.6% increase in average sales price per unit, resulting from pricing actions taken by management as well as product and customer mix change, and a 19.3% increase in units booked. In the second quarter of fiscal 2023, 2,304 units were booked compared to 1,931 units booked for the same period in fiscal 2022. The increase in units sold was primarily due to constraints in the Company’s ability to produce and deliver buses due to shortages of critical components in the second quarter of fiscal 2022. Additionally, Parts sales increased $7.2 million, or 37.4%, for the second quarter of fiscal 2023 compared to the second quarter of fiscal 2022. This increase is primarily attributed to pricing actions taken by management to offset increases in purchased parts costs and increased inventory availability as supply chain constraints began to improve slightly during the second quarter of fiscal 2023 relative to the second quarter of fiscal 2022.
Gross Profit:
Second quarter gross profit of $35.6 million represented an increase of $32.5 million from the second quarter of last year. The increase was primarily driven by the $92.2 million increase in net sales, discussed above. This was partially offset by an increase of $59.7 million in cost of goods sold, primarily corresponding the increase net sales.
Net Income:
Net income was $7.1 million for the second quarter of fiscal 2023, which was a $19.3 million increase compared to the same period last year. The increase was primarily driven by the $32.5 million increase in gross profit, discussed above. Partially offsetting this was a corresponding $8.8 million increase in tax expense, as well as an increase of $3.3 million in selling, general and administrative expenses, primarily due to an increase in personnel costs.
Adjusted EBITDA:
Adjusted EBITDA was $15.6 million for the six months ended April 1, 2023, an increase of $22.7 million compared to the same period in the prior year. This is primarily due to the $12.1 million decrease in net loss, discussed above, the corresponding $7.6 million decrease in income tax benefit, and the $3.8 million increase in interest expense.
Conference Call Details:
Blue Bird will discuss its second quarter 2023 results in a conference call at 4:30 PM ET today. Participants may listen to the audio portion of the conference call either through a live audio webcast on the Company’s website or by telephone. The slide presentation and webcast can be accessed via the Investor Relations portion of Blue Bird’s website at www.blue-bird.com.
Webcast participants should log on and register at least 15 minutes prior to the start time on the Investor Relations homepage of Blue Bird’s website at http://investors.blue-bird.com. Click the link in the events box on the Investor Relations landing page.
Participants desiring audio only should dial 404-975-4839 or 833-470-1428
A replay of the webcast will be available approximately two hours after the call concludes via the same link on Blue Bird’s website.
About Blue Bird Corporation:
Blue Bird (NASDAQ: BLBD) 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. Blue Bird buses carry the most precious cargo in the world – the majority of 25 million children twice a day – making us the most trusted brand in the industry. 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
