GigaCloud Technology Q1 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Quartr
Provided by Quartr
May 24, 2023

There are 7 speakers on the call.

Operator

Joining us today from GigaClide Technology are the company's Founder, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, Larry Wu the company's Chief Financial Officer, David Lau and the company's President, Doctor. Iman Schrock. On today's call, Larry will give an overview of the company's performance. Ivan will provide details of the company's operational results and David will share the company's financial results.

Operator

After that, we will conduct a question and answer session. As a reminder, this conference call contains statements about future events and expectations, which are forward looking in nature. Statements on this call may be deemed as forward looking and actual results may differ materially. Today's call and webcast will include non GAAP financial measures within the meaning of SEC Regulation G. When required, reconciliation of all non GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable financial measures calculated and presented in accordance with GAAP can be found in today's press release as well as the company website.

Operator

With that, I will now turn the call over to Larry, the company's Founder, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer. Larry, please go ahead.

Speaker 1

Thank you, operator, and thanks to everyone for joining GIGA Cloud's first quarter twenty twenty three earnings conference call today. First and foremost, I want to express my pride in the entire GIGA Cloud family for another remarkable quarter where we continued to revolutionize the industry with our innovative business model and state of art technology. We achieved our most profitable quarter ever with $15,900,000 in net income, a 27.8% quarter over quarter increase, and an impressive 236% increase year over year, and the $19,800,000 in adjusted EBITDA, which represent a 30.7 quarter over quarter increase above our fourth quarter result last year. We also witnessed encouraging revenue growth that exceeded upper end of our projected outlook, which came in at the $127,800,000 for Q1 versus an outlook range of 127 to 121 hundred and 23 to $127,000,000 for the quarter. We're confident of outcomes from our ongoing improvements further strengthening our position as market leader.

Speaker 1

I would like to thank the entire Giga Cloud team for their tireless work as well as the stakeholders for their continued support for the company. Now I would like to turn the call over to Iman to go over some of the operational highlights from this quarter.

Speaker 2

Thank you, Larry, and good morning, everyone. As Larry mentioned, we are pleased with our start to the year, including our record quarterly profit, which was driven largely by a widespread decline in ocean shipping rates and a corresponding increase in gross profit. Our gross margin was 23.1 for the first quarter, up a full 54% year over year. We believe that this moderation in ocean shipping rates should remain in place for at least the foreseeable future and expect our second quarter results to also benefit from this tailwind. Now let's walk through some of the operational results.

Speaker 2

In the first quarter ended March 31, our Giga Cloud Marketplace GMV grew 26.3% year over year to $553,500,000 The platform saw a 46.8% year over year increase in active 3P sellers ending the quarter at six zero two. And as Larry just mentioned, we saw a 12.5% year over year rise in active buyers to end the quarter at 4,255 With spend per active buyer also increasing by 12.3% year over year to $130,083 in the twelve months ended 03/31/2023. Further, 3P seller Giga Cloud Marketplace GMV grew 62.2% year over year to 285,200,000 representing 51.5% of the total Giga Cloud Marketplace GMV for the twelve months ended March 31. As I mentioned on our last call, the fourth quarter of our Giga Cloud, in the fourth quarter, our Giga Cloud 3P seller GMV surpassed our 1P GMV as a percentage of total marketplace GMV. And that trend continued into the first quarter.

Speaker 2

While our 1P approach remains an integral part of our business strategy, ultimately we believe that the growth of our 3P GMV will be very important to the scaling of our business and we see positive momentum in our 3P growth rates continuing to drive a larger and more productive marketplace. We remain focused on building the best B2B marketplace in the world for buyers and sellers to come together and grow their respective businesses by improving our effectiveness and increasing the efficiency of our ecosystem. The success of our customers is ultimately the success of our own business. And we believe that we are well positioned to capitalize on this growing opportunity going forward. Our first quarter results are very encouraging and evidence that our ongoing investments into the platform should continue to provide positive, profitable results from our balanced growth strategy.

Speaker 2

Now, I would like to turn the call over to our CFO, David, for a closer look at our financial results.

Speaker 3

Thank you, Larry and Iman, and good morning, everybody. I'm pleased to share our outstanding financial results for the first quarter of twenty twenty three. The company generated $127,800,000 in revenue in first quarter twenty twenty three, which represents a 13.7% growth from $112,400,000 in the year prior. And as Larry mentioned, it was above the high end of our outlook range for the quarter, which was between 123,000,000 and 127,000,000 Our gross profit was $29,600,000 an increase of 75.3% year over year, and resulting in gross margin of 23.1% for the first quarter, compared to gross margin in the year prior of 15%. This improvement was largely the result of improved ocean shipping rates, which contribute to increased 3P seller activity, as well as improving our overall margin for our 1P business.

Speaker 3

Our supplier fulfilled retailing model provides end to end logistics services to our customers, and as ocean shipping rates have declined steadily over the last year, our revenue generated from ocean shipping accounts for a smaller percentage of total revenue in first quarter twenty twenty three and led to a substantial margin expansion opportunity in the quarter. On the bottom line, we generated $15,900,000 in net income in the first quarter, representing an increase of 236.4% from 4,700,000.0 in the year prior. Adjusted EBITDA was 19,800,000.0 in the first quarter, representing an increase of 186.5% from 6,900,000.0 in the first quarter of twenty twenty two. We're also incredibly pleased to announce that this was our most profitable quarter in the history of Giga Cloud so far. More importantly, we generated 20,300,000.0 in operating cash flow in the first quarter of twenty twenty three, compared to $14,500,000 in net cash outflow in our operating activities in the first quarter of twenty twenty two.

Speaker 3

This results in a $164,200,000 in cash balance at the end of the first quarter, further enhancing our balance sheet and positioning the company well for additional investments into our platform or any potential M and A activity that may align with our business strategy. Additionally, we have a $50,000,000 revolving credit facility with Wells Fargo Bank that can be drawn upon should we need to fund any additional expansion or investment. As Yaman alluded, our Giga Cloud marketplace is rapidly shifting to become a 3P seller dominated platform, which we believe is the result of the investment into the platform for our buyers and sellers, as well as the continued adoption of our supplier fulfilled retailing model. Our operating expenses rose slightly on both a dollar and on a percentage of total revenue basis, which finished the quarter at $11,700,000 or 9.2% of total revenue versus $9,400,000 or 8.4% of total revenue the year prior. The increase was due to a higher research and development expense as we continue to invest in our platform, which was slightly offset by lower sales and marketing and general and admin expenses.

Speaker 3

Finally, for the second quarter of twenty twenty three, we expect the company to generate between 140,000,000 and $145,000,000 in revenue. And with that, operator, I would like to open the line for any questions. Thank you.

Operator

Thank you. We will take our first question. And the question comes from the line of Oscar Tracy, who is a private investor. Please go ahead. Your line is open.

Speaker 4

Thank you for your presentation, and congratulations on your outstanding performance in the first quarter. I have two questions to follow-up on. First of all, it is really impressive to see that your revenue, your gross profit, net income and adjusted EBITDA all show really significant increase in the first quarter. So what are what were the main drivers, and do you expect this trend to continue in the upcoming quarters? Thank you.

Speaker 3

Yeah. Thank you very much. Very good question. Overall ocean shipping rate is starting to normalize to pre pandemic level. When ocean shipping rate is at the current level, our three piece sellers more active in sending products or warehouse, which in terms drives more activity on our platform that led to overall growth in user account, user spend and GMV.

Speaker 3

So on the other hand, in a declining ocean shipping rate environment will naturally present a margin expansion opportunity for our 1P business, because the ocean shipping rate itself is a part of our product costs. I think more importantly is aside from ocean shipping rates, our supplier fulfilled retailing is offering a very unique solution to traditional retailers to reduce costs and help them to effectively efficiently manage the entire supply chain from the manufacturing source, you know, all the way to the end consumer. So I think this is a very strong testament of the value that we offer to the market. And I think the market is starting to realize the unique opportunity that that's presented on the table here.

Speaker 4

Thank you. And I have my second question is that I also like to know what the key components of the across business plan for the remaining 2023. Are there any specific initiatives or strategies the company would focus on to drive the growth and the value? Thank you.

Speaker 3

Iman, you wanna take that one?

Speaker 2

Yes. But I'm not sure I understood the question. Could you please recite that question one more time?

Speaker 4

Sure. I would like to know, like, what will be any specific initiative or strategy for the company to to conduct for the remaining 2023 to drive the growth and the value?

Speaker 2

Sure. So our our ecosystem is currently connecting thousands and thousands of participants on a recurring daily business through a multifaceted software that is giving visibility, as David mentioned, to their entire supply chain, know, end to end logistics, inventory management, and also acting as a payment gateway. Going forward, we do have a few R and D projects in the mix that is going to help us make this system even more efficient. And also we're exploring the possibility of a potential M and A to help us improve those capabilities to expand our service offerings to the marketplace participants. But without a doubt, a huge focus will also be placed on recruiting new sellers and expanding the availability of existing products through 1P on the marketplace so that it can, you know, supplement the recruitment of buyers so we can maintain and continue the growth.

Speaker 4

Thank you.

Operator

Thank you. We will take our next question. Your next question comes from the line of Eva Moore, who is a private investor. Please go ahead. Your line is open.

Speaker 4

Hi. Good morning, management. I have two questions today. The first one is a company had over 160,000,000 cash off 03/31/2023. What are your plans for utilizing this capital in the next twenty months twelve months?

Speaker 4

Thank you.

Speaker 3

Sure. We're always evaluating projects and alternatives where we're gonna deploy cash to increase value for our customers and shareholders. We're obviously constantly opportunistically evaluating potential inorganic growth targets that aligns with our business strategy. So we have a very healthy balance sheet position today. That's gonna allow us to grow and expand multiple areas to capture market opportunities.

Speaker 3

So as long as we find a project that makes sense, that's gonna add value to us. We're we're always ready to deploy our cash to make it work.

Speaker 4

Thank you. And the second one is, I we saw operational highlights and the significant growth in some GMV, active 3P sellers, active buyer and spend more per active buyer. How do you plan maintain this growth and continue attracting more sellers and buyers to your platform? Thank you.

Speaker 2

So as far as recruiting sellers and buyers, that focus remains the same. Our focus will always remain on inviting more and more sellers into the platform, them to take advantage of the software and hardware that we're just enabling them with to make trades and in turn make the product more available for the participants on the other end which would be the buyers transacting. And as I alluded to earlier in answering the previous question, increasing the recruitment of 3P sellers will remain a huge focus for us. So will increasing the SKU density using our 1P to make product availability more. And that in return will result in us recruiting more active buyers.

Speaker 2

In addition, we want to continue to educate the market about the benefits of our very unique yet super effective business model, what we call supplier fulfilled retailing that helps improve the efficiency across the board, lower the risk for the entire system and make the process more transparent and less prone to damages and waste of resources. And in addition to all of those, there is a huge focus within our organization on IT and engineering and improving algorithms and machine learning. And that is gonna continue because that is the path forward as we're revolutionizing the wholesale end of the big and bulky market.

Speaker 5

Thank you.

Operator

Thank you. We will take our next question. Your next question comes from the line of Rommel Dionisio from Aegis Capital. Please go ahead. Your line is open.

Speaker 6

Thank you and good morning. I know service revenue from 3P has definitely been a focus area for your growth. You had strong last mile delivery growth service revenue, growth in warehouse services. But I noticed there was a drop in ocean transportation services, about 78%. Now I know obviously, ocean freight costs have come down and prices have come down, but it just seems like a big drop.

Speaker 6

Was there something else unusual happening there? Just I just wanted to clarify that. Thank you.

Speaker 3

Yeah, no problem, Rommel. No, I think you hit the nail on the head. It's because the ocean shipping rates have come down drastically from where it was from a year ago. We provide end to end logistics for our customers. So when ocean shipping rates are recognize that as part of revenue.

Speaker 3

When it normalizes, that part of the revenue, the percentage of our total revenue becomes much smaller. So it's because of macro cost factor that cause our revenue mix shift quite drastically from where it was from a year ago. So your understanding is absolutely correct.

Speaker 6

Okay. And just a quick follow-up if I could. The, you know, you're you're you're you're seeing some strong growth in your 3P seller relationships. I wonder if you could just clarify has the loyalty the retention rates still been have you managed to maintain that very high rate close to you know, 8590% that you've had historically? Thank you.

Speaker 3

Yeah, so we don't typically disclose this. But yes, that's remained very high for us. So that's because of the unique solution that we offer to, you know, suppliers, you know, in in Asia where we provide kinda the, end to end logistics, payment gateway, you know, multiple, distribution channels, all through, you know, one easy to use platform.

Speaker 6

Okay, great. Congratulations on the quarter. Great quarter. Thank you.

Speaker 2

Thank you.

Operator

Thank you. We will take our next question. And the question comes from the line of Irina Martin, who is a Private Investor. Please go ahead. Your line is open.

Speaker 5

Thank you. My question is, could you please provide updates for, you know, your technological technological upgrades on your platform and how they contribute to the long term success of your platform? Thank you.

Speaker 2

Sure. I'll take this question, David. So a lot of the technological investments this year will be centered around optimizing the buyer and the seller data exchange to streamline the overall efficiency of the marketplace. We're in the b to b sector, so there are recurring transactions and data and machine learning can improve that process and make it more efficient. And with that being said, machine learning and the algorithms are a huge, huge part of what we do because unlike any other company, we optimize the process from end to end.

Speaker 2

And, with that, you know, I alluded to this as well earlier, over a quarter of our entire workforce is dedicated to IT and engineering, and they're all dedicated, you know, their daily activities into making this process as efficient and as effective as possible in our quest to make the cross border B2B even better.

Speaker 5

Thank you for for your answer, and I I also thought of one more question. So about your business outlook, you mentioned that there's a revenue range for the second quarter of twenty twenty three. So what factors or market conditions are influencing this forecast, and what key initiatives or strategies will you implement to achieve these revenue targets?

Speaker 3

Yeah. We took into account a number of factors in arriving our current outlook for q two. I think under the current economic environment, we see a lot of traditional retailers are struggling from overvalued inventory that caused by a surge in ocean shipping rates during the pandemic. I think as more and more of our customers are paying closer attention to efficiently managed supply chain and inventory management, This presented us with a very unique opportunity given our business model can effectively remove some of the inventory risk and associated costs from carrying inventory directly. And then also, as Iman alluded, we got a lot of tailwind, you know, through the normalization of ocean shipping rates.

Speaker 3

So that's how we arrive in our outlook for second quarter of twenty twenty three.

Speaker 5

Okay. Thank you very much.

Operator

There seems to be no further questions at this time. So, we'll hand back for closing remarks.

Speaker 3

Thank you very much for joining this conference call. If you have any further questions, please contact us through email, and we'll respond to your question as soon as possible. We appreciate your interest and support in Giga Cloud, we look forward to speaking with you again next time. Thank you very much.

Operator

This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.

Powered by Quartr
Earnings Conference Call
GigaCloud Technology Q1 2023
00:00 / 00:00