Clarus Corporation (NASDAQ:CLAR) Q2 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

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Anna Glaessgen: Got it. Thanks. And then turning to Precision Sports, I think in the Q, I saw that international sales actually underperformed domestic, which is a bit of a shift from the recent trend. Anything to call out there? Are inventories normalizing internationally after being fairly depleted versus the domestic market?

Aaron Kuehne: A lot of this also comes down to just how we’re able to prioritize the output and capacity. The team has done a tremendous job of really focusing on these three verticals that we’ve outlined before, being that of ammunition, our OEM business, as well as the component side of things, which is green box for Sierra and black box for Barnes. Because of the demand that we’ve seen both domestically and internationally, in particular, on the component side of things, whether it be for OEM or the green box and black box, it does require us to think about how we manage capacity and just the sequencing of the fulfillment of orders. And so we have a very strong order book as we look into the next six months to nine months.

And so it really just comes down to how we’re able to prioritize and sequence the various fulfillment of those orders, and it actually causes a shift between domestic and international versus a wholesale change in terms of demand or just where the inventory levels are.

Anna Glaessgen: Got it. So would it be fair to say internationally, you’re at a better place with inventory than maybe the last quarter or a couple of quarters ago?

Aaron Kuehne: Yes. So we are able to provide higher levels of fulfillment on the international side. And so the pent-up demand isn’t as pronounced as it was previously, right? There was a lot of demand that we just weren’t able to fill over the last two years because a lot of focus was going into building out the ammo initiatives across both of the brands, but also fulfilling that demand that was quite insatiable. But over the last several months and quarters, we’ve been very focused on shifting a lot of our production to the international side just to make sure that we don’t lose market share, but also continue to be that great partner that we’ve been able to prove that we are and support those initiatives that then feed to additional programs and opportunities into the future.

Anna Glaessgen: Got it. Thanks.

Operator: One moment for our next question. Our next question comes from Randy Konik with Jefferies. Your line is open.

Randal Konik: Yes. Thanks a lot and good evening. I guess, Aaron, can you give us some added perspective on — can you talk about the dynamic of moving to national accounts where there’s more of a move towards private label impacting the destocking and the order book? Maybe give us some vantage point on where — when you have those conversations, where are we in that kind of finding that equilibrium on that private label penetration that these accounts are kind of focusing on and that’s pushing down orders? Where is that? Are we in like the eighth inning of that or fifth inning? And how does that kind of play out over like, let’s say, the next four quarters to six quarters to eight quarters in your opinion?

Aaron Kuehne: Yes. So I think because of what took place during the pandemic presented a lot of opportunities for some of these retail partners to evaluate that strategy further and to pursue it, right? There’s a lot of opportunity to develop one’s channels, but also one’s brands. But I think what it also highlighted that things started to slow down and the dynamics associated with supply chains both elongated and then also shortened in a very quick period of time. What I highlighted is that that’s a different ball game. That’s a different business model than what some are traditionally comfortable with or typical in operating under. And so what it’s done is it has opened up the conversation for us to be able to have more holistic discussions around the positioning of our brands, but also the way that we continue to partner with them, whether it be the way that we merchandise product, our product offering, but also even doing shop-in-shops or different types of POP that really help drive awareness but also traffic to their locations, while also helping to drive sell-through as well.

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