American Outdoor Brands, Inc.

Q1 fiscal 2027 net sales were $37.3 million, up 25.4% from $29.7 million a year ago; excluding about $6 million of retailer order acceleration from last year’s first quarter, sales were up 4.3%. Gross margin was 53%, up 630 basis points year over year. GAAP EPS was a loss of $0.12 versus a loss of $0.54 last year, and non-GAAP EPS was $0.03 versus a loss of $0.26. Adjusted EBITDA was $1.2 million versus a loss of $3.1 million last year. For fiscal 2027, management reiterated net sales guidance of $200 million to $210 million and raised adjusted EBITDA guidance to $14.5 million to $17.5 million; second-quarter sales are expected to be up about 3% year over year.

Brian Murphy said the company is off to a strong start in fiscal 2027, with results reflecting brand strength, healthy retailer and consumer demand, and the benefit of its innovation strategy. He emphasized that growth is being driven by disruptive product launches, especially within growth brands like Caldwell and BUBBA, and said the company is seeing strong consumer pull-through and normalized replenishment. His tone was confident but cautious, noting consumer spending is still measured and tariffs and macro conditions remain dynamic.

Andy Fulmer highlighted the financial upside from sales, margin, and cash generation. He said gross margin reached 53% due to higher margins from new products, channel mix, tariff capitalization timing, and prior pricing actions; he also said roughly 200 basis points of the margin benefit were tied to tariff timing. Cash ended at $33.3 million with no debt, operating cash flow was $13 million versus an outflow of $1.7 million last year, inventory rose $8.4 million to $100.3 million, and the company had over $120 million of total available capital including no borrowings on its $75 million revolver. CapEx was about $500,000 in Q1, with full-year CapEx expected at $3.5 million to $4 million.

Analysts focused on whether Q1 margin gains were mostly structural or tariff-related, and management said the improvement came from a mix of modest tariff-related benefit plus stronger e-commerce, new products, and some pricing. Questions also centered on revenue visibility and channel inventory; Brian Murphy said inventory is now more normalized and replenishment is tracking more closely with POS, though he remains conservative because most sales occur in Q2 and Q3. On innovation, management said the 36% new-product mix in Q1 is unusually high and likely not sustainable at that level, but ClayCopter in particular is driving exceptional momentum. They also said Aiming Solutions has improved and the broader Shooting Sports portfolio is doing well, with one-time OEM and military sales last year distorting comparisons.