Hooker Furnishings Corporation (NASDAQ:HOFT) Q1 2024 Earnings Call Transcript

Jeremy Hoff: Yes. So, it’s actually really encouraging I think really for our industry, the order rates have consistently been better and — as the second quarter has for us — excuse me, as the second quarter has started, we’ve seen really good order trends. And really, if you look at throughout our brands, it’s somewhat across the Board. If you look at HMI, their order rate has been up. If you look at the Hooker Legacy brands, their order rate has been up and then Sunset has seen the same thing. So, Memorial Day, feedback from a lot of our partners was positive. So, if you think back to pre-pandemic, many times, our industry was not that happy before Memorial Day from an order rate standpoint. And I think all of us kind of saw a similar trend recently and then Memorial Day hits. And so we seem to be in a more normalized cycle from what we used to be in.

Anthony Lebiedzinski: Got it. That’s great to hear. Well, thank you very much and best of luck.

Jeremy Hoff: Thank you, Anthony.

Operator: Thank you. [Operator Instructions] And our next question coming from the line of Barry Haimes with Sage Asset Management. Your line is open.

Barry Haimes: Thanks so much and good quarter. I had a question, one on Sunset West, as you go to the national distribution, did they have an inventory build that would either help your overhead absorption or your revenue either this quarter or next quarter? So, just a little help on how that works? And how seasonal are their orders? Are we kind of past the season there for them and the bigger benefit would be next year? Or maybe just a little feel for the seasonality on their business? And then last question, you just mentioned orders being better. I presume that’s sequentially and is it still down year-over-year or are we talking better year-over-year as well? Thanks.

Jeremy Hoff: Good morning. I’ll start with — I’m going to start with the cyclical nature of outdoor that’s become less and less the case in that category. It’s more of a year round than it’s ever been before. But really, you asked about the inventory build, I mean, we obviously had a little — some build on the East Coast to be able to supply those customers. And our — we do see a big opportunity for growth at Sunset because all of a sudden the distribution that we’re gaining East versus just being more of a West Coast-centric company, gives us a lot of opportunity really in pretty major, major revenue portions of our — of the country that we can take advantage of. So, — and then the other part of your question, Paul, do you want to answer that on the orders?

Paul Huckfeldt: Orders that’s a year — the improvement is year-over-year.

Barry Haimes: Got it. Okay. Thank you.

Jeremy Hoff: Thank you.

Operator: Thank you. And our next question coming from the line of John Deysher with Pinnacle Value. Your line is open.

John Deysher: Hi, good morning. Thanks for taking my question. On the inventory reduction, I would guess that was sold at a loss, I think. Could you put a number on that? In other words, without the inventory reduction, how much higher would the gross profit have been for the quarter?

Paul Huckfeldt: We took that big charge at the end of Q4 last — at the end of last fiscal year, that 24 [Indiscernible] charge. So, the impact of actually selling that stuff off is nominal. We reserved against it and then we took the reserves back. So, there was not much impact to that.

John Deysher: Okay. So, no impact. What were the orders for the first quarter?

Paul Huckfeldt: Orders were $111 million.

John Deysher: Sorry. $111 million?

Paul Huckfeldt: $111 million compared to $81 million last year.

John Deysher: Okay. Good, that’s going the right direction. And finally, what would be the CapEx budget for this fiscal year?

Paul Huckfeldt: About $6 million.