Stran & Company, Inc.

Good morning, everyone, and welcome to the Strand and Company Fiscal Year 2024 Earnings Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode, and the floor will be open for questions following the presentation. If anyone should require operator assistance during this conference, please press star zero on your phone keypad. Please note this conference is being recorded. I will now turn the conference over to your host, Alexandra Schult. Alexandra, the floor is yours.

Thank you. Good morning, and thank you for joining Strawn & Company's year-end 2024 Financial Results and Business Update Conference Call. With us today are Andy Shape, Chief Executive Officer, and David Browner, Chief Financial Officer. The company issued a press release yesterday, April 14, 2025, detailing its financial results for the year-ended December 31, 2024. The release is also available on its website. If you have any questions following today's call or would like additional information, please contact Crescendo Communications at 212-671-1020. Today's remarks will include a review of Strong's financial and operational performance, followed by a Q&A session. Please note that the company may make forward-looking statements during the call that involves risks and uncertainties, many of which are outside of its control. We encourage you to review Strong's filings with the SEC for a full discussion of these risk factors. With that, I'll now turn the call over to Andy Shape. Please go ahead, Andy.

Thank you, Allie, and good morning, everyone. I'm extremely pleased to be back with you and resume our quarterly conference calls. I'd like to begin by discussing the critical event that shaped much of our internal focus in 2024, the comprehensive re-audit of our historical financials. This process became necessary after the SEC barred our previous audit firm from working with public companies. While this disruption was entirely out of our control, we responded with transparency and urgency. We partnered with Markham, which is now part of CBiz, a top-tier public accounting firm with deep expertise in public accounting audits. Together, we completed a detailed, rigorous re-audit process that extended across multiple years of financial statements and included thorough internal control testing and documented documentation reviews. While the process temporarily diverted resources and paused certain growth initiatives, it ultimately reinforced the strength and reliability of our financial reporting infrastructure. Today, Stroud operates with upgraded compliance protocols, greater internal controls, and a more credible audit partner, enhancements that will serve as a foundation for future growth and investor competence. I'll go through our financial performance and strategic highlights. Despite these internal demands, 2024 was a year of meaningful progress. We reported revenues of $82.7 million, which was an 8.8% year-over-year increase, and gross profit of $25.8 million, achieving a 31.2% gross margin. These results underscore the strength of our business model and the dedication of our team. A highlight of the year was our acquisition of Gander Group Assets in August 2024. Gander is a highly respected loyalty incentive and merchandise provider in the gaming sector, a vertical we view as rich with opportunity. In just a few months post-acquisition through the end of 2024, Gander contributed $9.9 million in revenue and has become a key pillar of our newly established strong loyalty solutions, also known as SLS segment. With Gander, we're expecting our addressable market diversifying our customer base and gaining deeper penetration in experience-driven industries. We've also begun to build cross-selling bridges between Gander and legacy strong accounts, creating synergies we expect to further develop in 2025 and help us drive towards our next milestone of $100 million in annual revenue. From a profitability standpoint, Gander operates at somewhat lower gross margin profile, reflecting a different mix of product categories and pricing dynamics, but it enhances our total revenue base and expands our addressable market. Most importantly, it has validated our belief that targeted, well-integrated acquisitions can accelerate both our top line and strategic momentum without compromising quality or culture. In 2024, we also secured multiple six-figure multi-year contracts across sectors such as residential real estate, diagnostics, public transportation, and premium consumer products. These wins reflect both versatility of our platform and our reputation as a trusted partner, not just a vendor. We grew existing relationships with large enterprise clients across sectors, including automotive, infrastructure, and energies. In many cases, our work has evolved beyond branded merchandise into digital store management, loyalty platforms, and data-driven campaign execution. This evolution speaks to the scalability of our solutions and the long-term stickiness of our customer relationships. One of our new partnerships is with the National Residential Housing Developer, a company that is expanding across multiple U.S. markets, It needed a scalable brand and merchandise solution for tenant engagement, internal onboarding, and community programming. We were able to deliver a centralized promotional platform that integrated seamlessly with our operations and aligned with their brand vision. Another standout win was with a molecular diagnostics company. This client was looking for a creative and compliant way to support patient outreach programs and provide engagement across the country. Through a combination of curated merchandise kits, fulfillment, and real-time reporting tools, we provided a turnkey solution that addressed both our marketing and regulatory needs. And in the consumer product space, we began working with a premium recreational watercraft manufacturer that selected Strana as its brand and merchandise partner. This client was drawn to our fulfillment capabilities, particularly for high-end dealer-focused merchandise programs that require customization and precision logistics. In total, these wins will represent millions of dollars in potential recurring revenue diversified across industries and geography. Shifting to technology advancements and operational enhancements, one of our most significant milestones in 2024 was the preparation of our NetSuite ERP, culminating with the successful launch of NetSuite in January 2025. The enterprise-wide platform is a tremendous step as we look to replace legacy tools that will automate many processes and centralize our operations. NetSuite is already delivering greater visibility, more automation, and accuracy across departments. It also has improved our ability to respond quickly to client needs, support higher volumes, and scale efficiently. It will be the cornerstone of our efforts to drive operational excellence in 2025. As we look towards the remainder of 2025, operating efficiency will be a major area of focus. With the Gander acquisition integrated, NetSuite Live and compliance investments behind us, We are now turning our attention towards expense management, process streamlining, and margin expansion. We believe this discipline will position STRON to convert more top-line revenue into bottom-line performance, improving profitability while maintaining a strong customer experience. For our strategic priorities for 2025, moving forward, our strategic roadmap is clear and actionable, built around multiple core principles. First, we want to accelerate growth across both STRON and SLS, by executing on a robust enterprise sales pipeline. Second, we look to broaden our customer base in high-potential verticals like hospitality, healthcare, infrastructure, and gaming. Third, we look to deepen existing client relationships by expanding our service portfolio to areas like loyalty programs, analytics, and branded customer experiences. Fourth, leverage our technology stack, particularly NetSuite, to enhance operational efficiency and improve fulfillment performance. And fifth, optimize operating expenses across both segments with a focus on sustainable margin accretive growth. Collectively, these priorities position us to execute with more precision, scalability, and client impact than ever. In terms of macroeconomic and forward outlooks, we recognize the broader macroeconomic environment remains complex. Ongoing inflationary pressures, global trade disruptions, and tariff-related costs continue to create uncertainty across all industries. However, we believe STRON is very well positioned to navigate these challenges. Our diversified client base, strong cash position, zero long-term debt, and scalable operating model provide us with flexibility and resilience. Most importantly, we remain committed to delivering value to our customers and long-term returns to our shareholders. Regarding tariffs, The recent tariffs consistently demonstrated the agility, creativity, and operational discipline needed to navigate an evolving global trade environment. We've been proactively preparing for potential tariff increases and supply chain disruption, and we've already been executing on those contingency plans. These efforts have included expanding our domestic sourcing, diversifying manufacturing partners, tightening cost controls, and maintaining clear, transparent communication with our customers. Our priority is to ensure continuity, value, and quality for our customers without compromising our profitability. Ultimately, our guiding principle remains the same. Deliver high-impact, high-quality branded solutions in the most efficient and resilient way possible. I'd also like to briefly address the status of our share repurchase program. Due to trading restrictions related to the reorder of our historical financials, we were unable to execute any share repurchases during 2024. That said, Strong's board previously authorized a $10 million share repurchase program, and as of year end 2024, approximately $6.6 million of that authorization remains available. With 2024 audit process now behind us and a more stable operating environment ahead, we intend to resume our buyback efforts in 2025. We view this as an important lever to enhance shareholder value and reflect our confidence in the company's long-term prospects. We view 2025 as a pivotal year, one in which we will begin to fully realize the strategic investments made over the past 18 months. I'm confident that we're turning the corner towards more efficient, scalable, and profitable phase of growth. With that, I'll now turn the call over to our CFO, David Browner, to walk through the financial results in more detail. David, please go ahead.