Sales and marketing expenses increased 12.6% to $1.2 million compared to $1 million a year ago. Sales and marketing expense ratio was 35.3% compared to 38.5% a year ago. Net operating loss, excluding the noncash charge was $1.2 million compared to a loss of $2.5 million a year ago. So we cut our net operating loss in half on very low revenue. In fact, revenue that’s significantly below just our Q1 wholesale bookings alone. Net loss per diluted share attributable to common stockholders was $5.4 million or $14.55 per diluted share compared to a loss of $4.9 million or a loss of $223.83 per diluted share a year ago. Net loss per diluted share, excluding noncash expenses, was $2.6 million or $8.92 per share. In closing, as we stated, the Board is reviewing strategic alternatives given the continued dislocation between Digital Brands Group public market value and the intrinsic value of the company’s underlying assets and operating performance.
We believe the first quarter 2024 wholesale bookings and the monthly internal free cash flow illustrate how significant this dislocation has become. We own an $18 million wholesale revenue run rate for 2024, and that does not include any revenue impact from our e-commerce revenue, our store revenue or our licensing income. Finally, we should generate more than $6 million in internal free cash flow for 2024. We have several options that we can pursue, all of which should increase shareholder value meaningfully. We know that there is significant demand for our NASDAQ sell as well. We’re extremely serious about these options as it is crystal clear that we are not getting credit for our acquisitions or our revenue growth and the fact that we are generating internal free cash flow, and we will be EBITDA positive in 2024 on top of the significant internal free cash flow.
And our internal free cash flow, as I mentioned, should increase as we move through 2024 based on the outlet store and the rent payments as noted earlier. All these do not seem to matter to the public markets at this time, which is why we are moving forward with the strategic alternative path. Thanks for your time, and we look forward to the continued momentum. This concludes our 2023 third quarter’s earnings call, and let’s open it up to Q&A, please.
Operator: [Operator Instructions]
Hil Davis: And I have — if no questions, I have a couple of questions that have come across the e-mail or social media as well.
Operator: There are no questions at this time, sir.
Hil Davis: Yes. So let me — a couple of questions we’ve gotten. One is do we expect our gross margins to continue at this level. And the answer is yes, we do. And there’s a few reasons for that. And the biggest reason is there’s a lot of fixed cost in our gross margin. So for instance, when we make the samples for the wholesale, our distribution center rent, our labor back there, [sowers], pattern makers, so there’s a high fixed dollar amount. So as our revenues increase, we get leverage on that fixed cost. Additionally, we also expect to cut another $0.5 million in cost as we move through. Now this is in the OpEx line items. So we’ll cut another $0.5 million in costs in kind of Q1 and going forward as well. And that’s on an annualized basis.
But we do expect gross margins to hold at this level or potentially increase as well, especially as we get into Q4 because we’re able to leverage those fixed costs that are associated in our gross margin. The other question is, are we frustrated with where we are? And are we serious about going — pursuing these strategic alternatives? And the answer is yes and yes. I mean it’s clear, like I said, in the Board also same way that we’re just not getting the appreciation for kind of the — in turn we’ve built both in the business, the acquisitions we’ve made, the leverage we’ve created, the revenue growth and the internal free cash flow. And at this point, we are actively pursuing it. As everyone knows on the call, we don’t issue a lot of PR. We did issue PR on this and it was very intentional, and we will continue to pursue this very aggressively.
And we feel like at this point in time that we’re just not getting credit for what we’ve built and the results we’re achieving. And I think Q1 is a perfect example of that. And I think October free cash flow as well as the Q1 wholesale bookings and just the feedback we’re getting from the wholesale accounts on how well our products are selling through now has really shown us that we need to find the best path for shareholders, and it does not seem like the public markets at this point might be that path. That’s — those were the major questions that I got, either e-mail or social media. So I guess with that, we can conclude the call.
Operator: I would like to thank our speakers…
