American Outdoor Brands, Inc.

Good day, everyone, and welcome to the American Outdoor Brands, Inc. fourth quarter and four-year fiscal 2026 financial results conference call. This call is being recorded. At this time, I would like to turn the conference over to Ms. Liz Sharp, Vice President of Investor Relations. Please go ahead, ma'am.

Thank you, and good afternoon. Our comments today may contain predictions, estimates, and other forward-looking statements. Our use of words like anticipate, project, estimate, expect, intend, should, could, indicate, suggest, believe and other similar expressions is intended to identify those forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements also include statements regarding our product development, focus, objectives, strategies and vision, our strategic evolution, Our market share and market demand for our products Market and inventory conditions related to our products and our industry in general And growth opportunities and trends Our forward-looking statements represent our current judgment about the future, and they are subject to various risks and uncertainties. Risk factors and other considerations that could cause our actual results to be materially different are described in our securities filings. You can find those documents, as well as a replay of this call, on our website at AOB.com. Today's call contains time-sensitive information that is accurate only as of this time, and we assume no obligation to update any forward-looking statements. Our actual results could differ materially from our statements today. A few important items to note about our comments on today's call. First, we referenced certain non-GAAP financial measures. Our non-GAAP results exclude amortization of acquired intangible assets, stock compensation, emerging growth transition costs, non-recurring inventory reserve adjustments, impairment of assets held for sale, other costs, and income tax adjustments. The reconciliation of GAAP financial measures to non-GAAP financial measures, whether they are discussed on today's call, can be found in our filings as well as today's earnings press release, which are posted on our website. Also, when we reference EPS, we are always referencing fully diluted EPS. Joining us on today's call is Brian Murphy, President and CEO, and Andy Fulmer, CFO. And with that, I'll turn the call over to Brian.

Thanks, Liz, and thanks everyone for joining us today. I'm very proud of what our team accomplished during fiscal 2026. In a year shaped by tariff uncertainty, uneven retailer ordering patterns, and continued pressure across portions of the consumer marketplace, our team remained focused on innovation, execution, and serving our consumers and retail partners. As a result, we continued to strengthen our brands, expand distribution of our products, optimize our portfolio, and position the company for future growth in fiscal 2027 and beyond. With that, let's take a look at the year. While our reported net sales declined during fiscal 2026, the underlying performance of our business was much stronger than the reported results suggest. A meaningful portion of the year-over-year decline was attributable to approximately $10 million in orders that retailers accelerated into the final two weeks of fiscal 2025. As we said at the time, that acceleration was not only a bid by retailers to get ahead of impending tariffs, but it was also a tremendous endorsement of our most popular and innovative brands. Nevertheless, that acceleration created a tough comp for our fourth quarter and full year that we believe is masking excellent performance across our business. In fact, excluding that impact, Net sales declined just 5% for the year, a solid result given the environment. We viewed the 5% decline as nominal and driven by two elements that were persistent throughout the year. The first is an inventory reset at our largest e-com retailer, and the second is extended softness in the aiming solutions category within the personal protection market. Despite those impacts, are key brands continue to perform. You'll recall that last quarter we defined these key growth brands as Bogg, Bubba, Caldwell, Grilla, and Meet Your Maker. On a combined basis, and again, adjusting for the acceleration, this group delivered positive year-over-year net sales growth as well as positive POS growth for fiscal 2026. This is a great result. because what matters most is what happens when consumers encounter our brands at retail. And our POS results tell us that consumer demand for our products remained healthy throughout fiscal 2026. We delivered POS growth of approximately 4%, representing our fourth consecutive quarter of positive year-over-year POS growth. In our outdoor lifestyle category, POS increased by 7%, and in our shooting sports category, which tends to align more closely with Nick's background check results, POS increased by 1%. Innovation remains one of the most important drivers of our business. New products represented approximately 29% of fiscal 2026 net sales, continuing a consistent track record of innovation across our portfolio. Today, we have more than 440 issued and pending patents, the largest number in our company's history, and the impact of those patents is profound. In fiscal 2026, products that are protected by one or more patents generated roughly 54% of our net sales for the year, compared to just 28% at our spinoff. That demonstrates the deep moat created by our intellectual property. Our patents help protect the market positions we have earned, defend future revenue streams, and create meaningful barriers to entry for competitors. Just as importantly, they enable us to continue taking share by bringing differentiated products and technologies to market that competitors simply cannot replicate. While others are often focused on protecting the past We remain focused on building the future. Behind our innovation engine is a talented team of designers, engineers, sourcing specialists, software developers, and category experts who continually mine the depths of our brand portfolio for new opportunities. They identify where our brands have permission to play, develop multi-year innovation roadmaps, and create differentiated products and technologies that generate new revenue streams protected by intellectual property. Each innovation strengthens our competitive position, expands the reach of our brands, and further widens the moat around our business. More recently, for a number of our key growth brands, these efforts have expanded beyond individual products and into a new frontier for the outdoor industry, connected ecosystems. These ecosystems combine innovative hardware, software, and digital engagement to create experiences that simply did not exist before. The result is deeper consumer engagement, differentiated offerings for retailers, and new opportunities to drive category growth, all of which are reflected in the strong POS performance we are seeing with our largest retail partners. A great example is Caldwell. During the year, we expanded our Claycopter and Claymore lines for shotgun enthusiasts, who numbered nearly 19 million in America. With the Claymore Connect and the Claycopter Surface to Air, a revolutionary wireless ground launcher that integrates with our Caldwell Clays app and makes Caldwell the only brand that can connect to and simultaneously control up to 10 Claymore Connect, or Claycopter surface-to-air launchers, allowing the combination of traditional clays and Claycopter targets on a single course. Together, these products create a connected experience that brings new levels of engagement, competition, and excitement to shotgun enthusiasts while reinforcing Caldwell's leadership position in the category. And we're taking that connected experience into the recreational fishing market as well, where nearly 58 million Americans participate. During the year, our Bubba brand partnered with Major League Fishing to introduce Score Tracker Live, a transformative platform for competitive fishing professionals and everyday anglers that delivers real-time tournament management, scoring, spectating, and excitement via our Bubba app and smart fish scales. Our partnership with MLF is important because it significantly expands the visibility of our Bubba brand through one of the largest and most engaged audiences, the 30 million Americans who participate in bass fishing. It allows us to bring the excitement previously reserved for professional tournament fishing to everyday anglers. Whether competing in a local fishing league, on a college team, in a regional event, or simply among friends and family, anglers will now have access to the same experiences that have helped make professional tournament fishing so compelling. In a few weeks, we'll head to Florida for ICAST, the world's largest sport fishing expo, where we'll join MLF to officially launch ScoreTracker Live for consumers. Lastly, as I think about innovation, I'm reminded that the most powerful innovations are often those that penetrate and shake up large, sleepy markets, changing consumer behavior and creating value long after their introduction. BOG is a great example. Several years ago, we introduced the Death Grip, a truly innovative shooting rest that solved the fundamental trade-off between portability and stability for hunters. What made Death Grip successful was simple. Once consumers discovered it, they recognized it as an authentic solution to a real challenge. That drove adoption, strengthened the brand, and displaced competitors. What began as a single product evolved into a category-defining platform that helped establish BOG as a leader in hunting rest and made it indispensable for both consumers and retailers. Today, Although we don't often talk about BOG, it remains one of the most consistent top performers in our growth brand portfolio. We see that same potential in the innovative platforms we're building with Bubba and Caldwell today. Beyond innovation, we continue to strengthen our company throughout fiscal 2026. We took steps to optimize our brand portfolio, including the planned divestiture of an underperforming brand, We remained disciplined in how we allocate resources across the business, and we successfully navigated a rapidly evolving tariff environment, enhancing the flexibility and responsiveness of our supply chain while preserving our rights to potential tariff refunds and maintaining continuity for our customers and consumers. Andy will cover these topics in more detail during his remarks. As we enter fiscal 2027, We are mindful of the uncertainties that continue to affect the consumer marketplace. At the same time, we are encouraged by several trends we believe are important. First, consumer demand for our products remained favorable, as reflected in our POS performance. Second, ordering patterns with our largest e-com retailer appeared to stabilize as fiscal 2026 progressed. Third, Retail inventory conditions and foot traffic patterns at several of our retailers were trending favorably as we exited fiscal 2026. And fourth, retailers continued to respond positively to our innovation pipeline, expanding distribution opportunities for our brands. Taken together, these factors reinforce our belief that our long-term model remains intact. We believe our brands are well positioned. Our innovation pipeline is exceptionally strong. Our operating model remains agile. And the foundation we have built over the past several years positions us well to return to growth in fiscal 2027. With that, I'll turn the call over to Andy to review our financial results and outlook.