Motorcar Parts of America Q1 2025 Earnings Results & Report

Motorcar Parts of America EPS Results

• Actual EPS: -$0.37
• Consensus EPS: $0.02
• Beat/Miss: Missed by -$0.39
• One Year Ago EPS: N/A
• EPS Beat Rate: 2 of last 8 quarters

Motorcar Parts of America Revenue Results

• Actual Revenue: $169.89 million
• Expected Revenue: $172.50 million
• Beat/Miss: Missed by -$2.61 million
• YoY Revenue Growth: N/A

Motorcar Parts of America (NASDAQ:MPAA) designs, manufactures, remanufactures and distributes automotive replacement parts for the aftermarket. Its product offerings primarily include rotating electrical components such as alternators and starters, along with brake-related products and other replacement parts used in passenger vehicles, light trucks and other applications.

The company sells products under several brand names, including Quality-Built, Pure Energy and DuraGo, and also supplies private-label products to automotive parts distributors and retailers. Its customers include warehouse distributors, retailers, professional repair facilities and other participants in the automotive aftermarket.

Motorcar Parts of America serves customers in the United States, Canada and other international markets through its distribution network. The company is headquartered in Torrance, California, and has operated in the automotive replacement-parts industry for decades, with roots dating to its founding in 1968.

Motorcar Parts of America Q1 2025 Earnings Call Transcript

Key Takeaways

• Record Q1 performance: Net sales rose 6.4% to a first‐quarter record $169.9 M, with gross profit up 9.8% and gross margin improving to 17.2%.
• Results were hit by an $11.1 M non‐cash foreign exchange loss from lease liabilities and $2.9 M in severance charges, driving a net loss of $18.1 M versus a $1.4 M loss last year.
• Cost reduction initiatives will deliver approximately $7 M in annualized savings—90% to COGS and the remainder to operating expenses—through strategic severance and global footprint relocation.
• Expansion in key segments: Brake caliper volumes accelerate, diagnostic equipment sales poised for $100 M over three years, and heavy‐duty aftermarket growth gains steam across agriculture, Class 8, and other platforms.
• Optimistic FY2025 outlook: Strong July start, sustained operating efficiencies, and a target of positive annual cash flow underpinned by sales guidance of $746 M–$766 M.

Presentation

[Operator]

Thank you for standing by. My name is Kayla, and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Motorcar Parts of America Inc., Fiscal 2025 First Quarter Conference Call and Webcast. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speaker's remarks, there will be a question and answer session. If you'd like to ask a question during this time, simply press star followed by the number one on your telephone keypad.

[Operator]

If you'd like to withdraw your question, again, press the star and one. I would now like to turn the call over to Gary Maier, Vice President of Corporate Communications and Investor Relations. You may begin.

[Gary Maier, VP of Corporate Communications and Investor Relations at Motorcar Parts of America]

Thank you, Kayla. Thanks everyone for joining us for our call. Before I turn the call over to Selwyn Joffe, Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer, and David Lee, the company's Chief Financial Officer, I'd like to remind everyone of the safe harbor statement included in today's press release. The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides a safe harbor for certain forward-looking statements made during today's call.

[Gary Maier, VP of Corporate Communications and Investor Relations at Motorcar Parts of America]

These forward-looking statements are based on the company's current expectations and beliefs concerning future developments and their potential effects on the company. There can be no assurance that future developments affecting the company will be those anticipated by Motorcar Parts of America. Actual results may differ from those projected in the forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties, some of which are beyond the control of the company and are subject to change based upon various factors.

[Gary Maier, VP of Corporate Communications and Investor Relations at Motorcar Parts of America]

In particular, expectations about anticipated future growth and opportunities with customers may, may not be achieved. The company undertakes no obligation to publicly revise or update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. For a more detailed discussion of some of the ongoing risks and uncertainties of the company's business, I refer you to the various filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. I would now like to turn the call over to Selwyn and begin today's call.

[Selwyn Joffe, Chairman, President and CEO at Motorcar Parts of America]

Thank you, Gary. I appreciate everyone joining us today. We were encouraged by our record sales performance for the quarter and remain optimistic about the quarters ahead and achieving our full-year targets. For the quarter, our gross profit and gross margin metrics improved, which David will discuss in more detail, and we expect to realize further improvements through solid sales performance, combined with ongoing strategic initiatives to further enhance operations.

[Selwyn Joffe, Chairman, President and CEO at Motorcar Parts of America]

Unfortunately, our results for the fiscal first quarter were impacted by sharply unfavorable non-cash market foreign exchange loss from the lease liabilities and forward contracts due to a strong dollar versus the peso. From an operational standpoint, results were impacted by one-time severance expenses related to strategic cost reductions. This initiative will generate expected annualized savings of approximately $7 million. Approximately 90% of this savings will reduce cost of goods sold, and the remainder will reduce operating expenses.

[Selwyn Joffe, Chairman, President and CEO at Motorcar Parts of America]

This action was part of a multi-year relocation process to reduce costs, utilizing our new low-cost global footprint and facilitate further operating efficiencies. We are actively exploring additional additional initiatives to further reduce cost of goods sold. I should note our results for the quarter reflected some industry choppiness, with the month of June regaining some momentum. This bodes well for the current fiscal second quarter, which historically is stronger than the first quarter.

[Selwyn Joffe, Chairman, President and CEO at Motorcar Parts of America]

We are off to an excellent start for the second quarter with a strong July. We operate in a market where deferring repairs is not a viable option for too long, other than rotating electrical, which you can't defer at all. Hot weather will certainly hasten the failure of all parts that we offer. Let me take a moment to highlight a few key near-term strategic initiatives that support our favorable outlook.

[Selwyn Joffe, Chairman, President and CEO at Motorcar Parts of America]

As I noted during our year-end call, volume increases in our brake program will help absorb overhead, which in turn will result in accretion to overall margins. We expect accelerating brake-related product sales will lead to more opportunities to take advantage of efficiencies from both purchasing and production. As many of you know, we started our brake caliper business as a greenfield operation in August 2019, and today we are one of the leading suppliers in this category.

[Selwyn Joffe, Chairman, President and CEO at Motorcar Parts of America]

As our newer brake product lines gain traction, we expect more efficient inventory turns to further support initiatives to neutralize working capital. Second, with respect to generating cash from working capital on a year-over-year basis, we are focused on inventory and accounts payable, which David will expand upon shortly. We have implemented processes to extend days outstanding on accounts payable and to enhance inventory efficiencies.

[Selwyn Joffe, Chairman, President and CEO at Motorcar Parts of America]

These processes are still in their early stages, however, we are recognizing meaningful benefits, in particular with our supply chain finance program. We continue to evaluate allocation of capital to maximize shareholder value. The first quarter working capital ratios were somewhat negative, but we are confident that working capital ratios will move in the right direction, as David will discuss further.

[Selwyn Joffe, Chairman, President and CEO at Motorcar Parts of America]

Another positive ongoing initiative is the acceleration of our new part number introductions, targeting at least 800 per year, as supported by the introduction of more than 150 new part numbers last month, covering an additional 49 million vehicles on the road. This maintains our leadership position in the categories we supply, meets a consumer need, and adds organic growth to our sales base. Not only are we growing organically, but we have secured meaningful new business commitments across all of our product lines.

[Selwyn Joffe, Chairman, President and CEO at Motorcar Parts of America]

With respect to our diagnostic business, as I've previously mentioned, we expect to sell more than $100 million of diagnostic equipment within the next three years, with further opportunities pending. We expect additional service revenue as more testers are deployed. We expect more opportunities outside North America as the business evolves. With regard to our heavy duty business, we continue to leverage our reputation and industry position in this market, particularly with regard to supplying alternators and starters to our channel partners, who are leaders in the heavy duty aftermarket segment.

[Selwyn Joffe, Chairman, President and CEO at Motorcar Parts of America]

Our growth opportunities continue to gain momentum across multiple platforms, such as agriculture, Class 8 trucks, refrigeration, construction, material handling, and transit/motor coaches. Dixie is also evolving as an important supplier to the heavy-duty original equipment manufacturers. As the new fiscal year evolves, we remain focused on sales, profitability, and neutralizing working capital.

[Selwyn Joffe, Chairman, President and CEO at Motorcar Parts of America]

We are confident that our sales and profitability will grow organically and with our strong new business commitments, as I mentioned earlier. This, along with numerous efficiency initiatives, will enhance profitability and improve cash flow generation. From a strategic standpoint, we are continuing to leverage our strengths, including great products manufactured at state-of-the-art facilities, solid customer relationships, industry-leading SKU coverage, not to mention our value-added merchandising and marketing support.

[Selwyn Joffe, Chairman, President and CEO at Motorcar Parts of America]

I should mention that we opened a new facility in 2024 in Malaysia to support manufacturing of wheel hubs for direct shipment to our customers, which is expected to enhance our competitive position. Our hard part sales in Mexico continue to gain momentum as we experience increased demand for our aftermarket parts. The rate of growth in this market is exciting, and we are well positioned to utilize our footprint to meet the growing demand.

[Selwyn Joffe, Chairman, President and CEO at Motorcar Parts of America]

We are focused on increasing share in this region. We continue to benefit and grow sales via our relationships with U.S. based retailers who are gaining a presence in this emerging market. Favorable long-term industry dynamics continue to bode well for the company, and we are extremely well positioned for sustainable top and bottom line growth in our hard parts business, as well as our testing solutions business. We are focused on growth across all product lines, including our Quality-Built brand, which is gaining market share within the professional installer market.

[Selwyn Joffe, Chairman, President and CEO at Motorcar Parts of America]

This includes our most recent additions to our portfolio of brake calipers, brake pads, and brake rotors. I reiterate, as we grow these product lines, we expect overall gross margin accretion. In short, we have the capacity and capabilities to support our customers' increasing demand across multiple lines.

[Selwyn Joffe, Chairman, President and CEO at Motorcar Parts of America]

Our expected positive expected positive cash flow on an annualized basis will enable us the flexibility to further pay down debt and pursue other related opportunities to enhance shareholder value. In conclusion, non-discretionary aftermarket parts for the internal combustion engine market will be here for decades. An outlook supported by recently updated industry data showing that the average age of vehicles is now 12.8 years.

[Selwyn Joffe, Chairman, President and CEO at Motorcar Parts of America]

It is worth highlighting that 98.8% of the U.S. car park is comprised of hybrid and internal combustion vehicles. One of our key competitive advantages is our ability to offer a broad range of applications for all makes and models. We remain focused on newer model applications and our ability to meet expected demand as these vehicles enter the replacement market.

[Selwyn Joffe, Chairman, President and CEO at Motorcar Parts of America]

Finally, before I turn the call over to David, I'd like to comment on our recent announcements regarding F. Jack Liebau, Jr. and Anil Shrivastava, who are standing for election to our board at the company's annual meeting next month. Their impressive backgrounds and qualifications are detailed in the press releases and proxy statement. Let me just say, both of these candidates offer unique perspectives and insights that will complement our commitment to driving shareholder value at a particularly exciting point in the company's history.

[Selwyn Joffe, Chairman, President and CEO at Motorcar Parts of America]

These two fine candidates are indicative of our commitment to our board refreshment program. I encourage everyone to read their biographies and support the nominees. I'll now turn the call over to David to review our results in greater detail.

[David Lee, CFO at Motorcar Parts of America]

Thank you, Selwyn, and good morning, everyone. I encourage everyone to read the earnings press release issued this morning, as well as the 10-Q that will be filed later today. Let me first reiterate key financial performance metrics for our fiscal 2025 first quarter that we highlighted in this morning's news release. Net sales increased 6.4% to a first quarter record of $169.9 million. Gross profit increased 9.8% to $29.2 million. Gross margin increased modestly to 17.2%.

[David Lee, CFO at Motorcar Parts of America]

Operating results impacted by an unfavorable non-cash $11.1 million foreign exchange loss from lease liabilities and forward contracts. Implemented cost reduction initiatives to provide expected annualized savings of approximately $7 million.

[David Lee, CFO at Motorcar Parts of America]

Net sales for the fiscal 2025 first quarter increased 6.4% to a first quarter record of $169.9 million from $159.7 million in the prior year. Gross profit for the fiscal 2025 first quarter increased 9.8% to $29.2 million from $26.6 million a year earlier. I should mention that gross profit for the quarter was impacted by non-cash items. The non-cash items reflect core and finished goods premium amortization and revaluation of cores on customer shelves, which are unique to certain of our products and required by GAAP.

[David Lee, CFO at Motorcar Parts of America]

The total for these non-cash items in the quarter was approximately $2.7 million. A more detailed explanation of core accounting is available in a video posted on the company's website.

[David Lee, CFO at Motorcar Parts of America]

Gross margin for the fiscal 2025 first quarter increased to 17.2% from 16.6% a year earlier. Gross margin for the fiscal first quarter was negatively impacted by higher returns as a percentage of sales, but we expect to return to normalized return levels going forward. Additional prices and increases in effect and operating efficiencies will enhance gross margin.

[David Lee, CFO at Motorcar Parts of America]

Due primarily to a $15.3 million increased non-cash mark-to-market foreign exchange loss compared with the prior year, and a $1.9 million increased expense resulting from currency exchange rates compared with the prior year, as well as $2.9 million severance expenses, operating expenses were $35.6 million, compared with $16.1 million last year.

[David Lee, CFO at Motorcar Parts of America]

I should note that excluding these items above, operating expenses decreased by $644,000 to $20.7 million, compared with $21.3 million a year earlier. Non-cash loss for the foreign exchange impact of lease liabilities and forward contracts was $11.1 million, compared with a non-cash gain of $4.3 million a year earlier.

[David Lee, CFO at Motorcar Parts of America]

In addition, the company incurred a $2.9 million severance expenses due to headcount reductions in connection with our strategy to utilize our global footprint to enhance operating efficiencies, with expected annualized cost reductions of approximately $7 million, which includes salary, infrastructure, and other related operating expenses.

[David Lee, CFO at Motorcar Parts of America]

Results for the fiscal first quarter were impacted by $2.7 million of higher interest expenses, primarily due to increased collection of receivables utilizing accounts receivable discount programs on higher sales, partially offset by lower average outstanding balances under the company's credit facility. Interest expense was $14.4 million, compared with $11.7 million for last year, which is primarily related to accounts receivable discount programs. Interest expense related to accounts receivable discount programs was $9.5 million, compared with $6.3 million for the prior year.

[David Lee, CFO at Motorcar Parts of America]

We are working diligently to address the higher interest environment, particularly areas that we can control. In addition, we continue to work with our customers to mitigate higher interest rates. For the first quarter, income tax benefit was $178,000 compared with $9,000 income tax benefit for the prior year.

[David Lee, CFO at Motorcar Parts of America]

The low effective tax rate benefit for the fiscal first quarter was due in part to the inability to recognize the benefit of losses at specific jurisdictions. However, we expect these losses will be utilized against future profits, which will benefit future tax rates. Obviously, there are various factors impacting the tax effect. As a result of the items discussed above, net loss for the fiscal 2025 first quarter was $18.1 million, compared with a net loss of $1.4 million a year ago.

[David Lee, CFO at Motorcar Parts of America]

With higher expected sales volume moving forward and the full impact of certain price increases already in effect, as well as operating efficiencies, results are expected to further improve.

[David Lee, CFO at Motorcar Parts of America]

Due primarily to the items I discussed previously, EBITDA for the fiscal first quarter was -$1.1 million, reflecting the -$12.6 million impact of non-cash items and $2.9 million in cash items. In Exhibit 3 of this morning's earnings press release, EBITDA, before the impact of non-cash and cash items mentioned above, was $14.4 million for the first quarter. Now, we will move on to cash flow and key corporate items.

[David Lee, CFO at Motorcar Parts of America]

The company used cash of approximately $20.8 million in operating activities during the fiscal 2025 first quarter, impacted by a reduction of accounts payable related to the seasonal inventory growth during the second half of fiscal year 2024 to support expected business increases for fiscal year 2025.

[David Lee, CFO at Motorcar Parts of America]

We anticipate an increase in operating profit on a year-over-year basis for fiscal 2025 and the generation of positive cash flow for the year, supported by organic growth from customer demand and operating efficiencies from our global footprint expansion. In addition to our goal of generating increased operating profits, we're diligently focused on opportunities to neutralize working capital, including customer demand planning, enhanced inventory management, and further extending our vendor payment terms.

[David Lee, CFO at Motorcar Parts of America]

We expect increasing financial performance from both new and existing product lines, including our emerging brake categories. Net bank debt was $136.3 million at the end of the quarter, compared with $114 million as of March 31st, 2024. However, net debt was lower, compared with $168.1 million at prior year, June 30th, 2023.

[David Lee, CFO at Motorcar Parts of America]

Total cash and availability was approximately $90 million.... As previously provided, our expectation for fiscal 2025 is to achieve sales in the range of $746 million-$766 million, representing between 3.9% and 6.7% increase, six percent year-over-year growth, respectively. We expect to see margin accretion from efficiencies related to higher volume, price increases, and cost-cutting initiatives. With respect to cash flow, our expectation is to generate positive cash flow for the full fiscal year, as I previously highlighted.

[David Lee, CFO at Motorcar Parts of America]

Operating income is expected to be between $62 million-$67 million, before the non-cash foreign exchange impact of lease liabilities and forward contracts, and the non-cash impact of revaluation of cores and customer shelves, and also before one-time severance expenses.

[David Lee, CFO at Motorcar Parts of America]

The company estimates other non-cash items will be approximately $17 million, including core and finished good premium amortization and share-based compensation. The company estimates depreciation and amortization will be approximately $11 million. In summary, operating income before the impact of the non-cash and cash items mentioned previously, and before depreciation and amortization, is expected to be between $90 million and $95 million.

[David Lee, CFO at Motorcar Parts of America]

For further explanation on the reconciliation of items that impacted results and non-GAAP financial measures, please refer to Exhibits 1 through 3 in this morning's earnings press release. I would now like to open the line for questions.

[Operator]

At this time, I'd like to remind everyone, in order to ask a question, press star, then the number one on your telephone keypad. Our first question comes from the line of Matt Koranda with Roth Capital Partners. Your line is open.

[Joseph Gonzalez, Equity Research Associate at Roth Capital Partners]

Good afternoon. This is Joseph on for Matt today.

[Selwyn Joffe, Chairman, President and CEO at Motorcar Parts of America]

Hi, Joseph.

[Joseph Gonzalez, Equity Research Associate at Roth Capital Partners]

I wanted to ask if you guys could provide a breakdown of revenue by product, by product line in 1Q. And if you guys can comment on inventory at retail customers and sell-through versus sell-in dynamic in your key product categories during 1Q and through quarter to date.

[David Lee, CFO at Motorcar Parts of America]

Okay, I could start. For the first quarter, the product mix was 65% rotating electrical, wheel hubs was 7%, brakes were 24%, and others was 4%.

[Selwyn Joffe, Chairman, President and CEO at Motorcar Parts of America]

Yeah, and, in terms of just, moving forward and talking about the retailers and and inventory levels, I mean, I think in general, what we're seeing is that there's a pickup in the business. I mean, I think we've had some softness. I think that there's been, wherever there's been a possibility for the consumer to defer maintenance, they've had that deferral. But the, I think the hot weather and, you know, we're seeing - we're certainly, our sales in July, quite frankly, it was the highest July we've ever had in the history of the company.

[Selwyn Joffe, Chairman, President and CEO at Motorcar Parts of America]

So we're seeing, customers bring in inventory and with the expectation of of some pickup. I mean, I don't think we're totally there yet, but, as an industry, but, due to, you know, again, disposable income of the consumer. But certainly, I think we're on our way, and we're extremely encouraged by our our progress right now. I think that in conjunction, by the way, with the significant cost savings initiatives, one we've completed and others that are still in process, we're excited about where we're where we're moving to.

[Joseph Gonzalez, Equity Research Associate at Roth Capital Partners]

And if I could just squeeze one more in there. We wanted to see what, what your latest thinking on interest expense, given rates are coming down? How should we think about the cash interest savings potentially to come for the rest of the year?

[Selwyn Joffe, Chairman, President and CEO at Motorcar Parts of America]

Well, I mean, every point in interest reduction, just on the, on the supply chain factoring, is worth $7 million to us. So, you know, we're encouraged, we're encouraged by the reduction in interest. I mean, that's certainly been a tremendous headwind for us. We're encouraged that the rates are coming down, and, and, you know, we're, we're excited about that and... but we're not stopping at that. I mean, we're, we're taking every bit of waste or, you know, what what When we use the concept of lean manufacturing and lean operations, waste has to be eliminated.

[Selwyn Joffe, Chairman, President and CEO at Motorcar Parts of America]

And with the volumes that we're getting now in our new, some of our new product lines, we can take, and then, it's not, and I hate to use the word waste a little bit, but we can take our efficiencies up pretty dramatically. But that is a sort of term of art for lean manufacturing. So, so we're excited. I mean, we think that there's a lot of tailwinds for us on the earnings side moving forward.

[Joseph Gonzalez, Equity Research Associate at Roth Capital Partners]

All right. Thank you for taking my question, guys. I'll back in the queue.

[Selwyn Joffe, Chairman, President and CEO at Motorcar Parts of America]

Thank you very much.

[Joseph Gonzalez, Equity Research Associate at Roth Capital Partners]

Thank you.

[Operator]

Your next question comes from the line of Bill Dezellem with Tieton Capital. Your line is open.

[Bill Dezellem, Founder, President, and Chief Investment Officer at Tieton Capital]

Thank you. Would you please start with inventory and discuss kind of why you saw that increase versus a year ago level?

[David Lee, CFO at Motorcar Parts of America]

So the inventory, there was small growth in the first quarter, primarily for the anticipated upcoming sales increases we're expecting. So we are ramping up. Our guidance, again, is strong growth for the full fiscal year, so we need the inventory to supply our demand.

[Selwyn Joffe, Chairman, President and CEO at Motorcar Parts of America]

Yeah, and I think you'll you'll see that moderate pretty dramatically. I mean, as we're coming into our season. Our second quarter is much stronger than our first quarter, so you'll see you'll see significant progress in working capital as we as we get through this quarter.

[Bill Dezellem, Founder, President, and Chief Investment Officer at Tieton Capital]

Thank you. And and then on that note, when does the next tranche of the brake brake business come into your revenues?

[Selwyn Joffe, Chairman, President and CEO at Motorcar Parts of America]

Let me try and... You know, the biggest, the biggest piece starts in January, but we have other new, other new business that's starting between now and then. We have a new business in our wheel hubs that's starting now, and we have additional rotating electrical business that's starting in the next few, two to three months, and then additional brake business starting, and significant new business in our diagnostic business, and some additional odd parts categories.

[Selwyn Joffe, Chairman, President and CEO at Motorcar Parts of America]

And again, we don't want to get ahead of our skis. I mean, we've got this in our guidance, but but the amount of opportunities that we're getting and seeing at the correct pricing with the correct operating efficiencies certainly are driving to see better profit metrics as we get through this year.

[Bill Dezellem, Founder, President, and Chief Investment Officer at Tieton Capital]

Thank you. And and I think in the in the opening remarks, David, you had mentioned that returns were higher than normal. Would you walk through the dynamics behind that, and what aspect of that is unique versus something that may naturally happen again?

[Selwyn Joffe, Chairman, President and CEO at Motorcar Parts of America]

You know, so its its happens every now and again, Bill, and it's, and I, you know, I'm not gonna call out customers. We have one customer, a very large customer whose purchases were at a lower level. But returns are. There's a general right of return, and so you get the same returns back regardless of the purchases. So the returns as a percentage of purchases for this particular customer were higher. Now, that has changed, it has already reversed out in this quarter.

[Selwyn Joffe, Chairman, President and CEO at Motorcar Parts of America]

So again, we're a little early in the quarter, but so far, very, very, very strong, and those return levels should come back to to normalized levels. They are at normalized levels now. Hopefully, that will maintain itself. And then we had one other, one other...

[Selwyn Joffe, Chairman, President and CEO at Motorcar Parts of America]

It's not, doesn't, won't come back, but we had one other large incentive program that was taken early as a result of renewal of a contract. So, and that's. It's one time for that particular event, but I mean, that affected us a little bit as well. But we we're again, those are both behind us and again, we've seen significantly more positive energy in sales right now.

[Bill Dezellem, Founder, President, and Chief Investment Officer at Tieton Capital]

Thank you. What was the... I missed in the opening remarks, the dollar impact of of that to income?

[David Lee, CFO at Motorcar Parts of America]

Yeah, we did not disclose the dollar amount, but it did have a small impact on the gross margin percentage as well as sales.

[Bill Dezellem, Founder, President, and Chief Investment Officer at Tieton Capital]

Great, thank you. And then, one additional question relative to the Quality-Built brand. Are you seeing any spillover from that brand's success in the professional market on the brake side for the rotating electrical side of the business? Or are those different enough that that there really is not an opportunity for a benefit?

[Selwyn Joffe, Chairman, President and CEO at Motorcar Parts of America]

Yeah. You know, I'm Im gonna give you a little more of some background, some great feedback that we're getting, and then I'm gonna try and open... answer your question. On the brake side, I've had very unique calls from customers that, particularly one large customer, that are saying that the acceptance rate and the renewal rate of installers that are using our product is extraordinarily good. And, unusual call, from a particular customer saying how they think we've got something extremely special.

[Selwyn Joffe, Chairman, President and CEO at Motorcar Parts of America]

And when you hear that from the field, I mean, that's, that's pretty exciting. So when, when a installer sees that name and has a great experience on it, it will spill over and is spilling over. And so we'll continue, I think, to see strong sales.

[Selwyn Joffe, Chairman, President and CEO at Motorcar Parts of America]

You know, I think we're gonna see strong sales clearly from Quality-Built across the professional installer market, across all of our product lines, and certainly will help all of them. And and depending on which one leads, we have a portfolio of excellent products. So any experience with the Quality-Built brand should add to experience in other product lines for the Quality-Built brand.

[Selwyn Joffe, Chairman, President and CEO at Motorcar Parts of America]

And I also want to say, while I got you, Bill, and I appreciate you just giving me the floor here a little bit, but the growth in the Mexican opportunity for us has proven to be significant. And, you know, we'll we'll get more granular later as we go into the year, but the growth there continues to be very, very exciting, and we think there's a big opportunity for us there.

[Selwyn Joffe, Chairman, President and CEO at Motorcar Parts of America]

And then not last, but not last, but a couple more things is, the diagnostic business is now pretty much being embraced by every major chain out there. And so we're gonna see further growth and high margin out of that diagnostic business. And then our heavy duty rotating electrical business, I mean, it's just the amount of momentum that's coming in. And, you know, the outlook and the opportunity on that is also, you know, is is is also embraced is is really, you know, we're embracing that, and it's really, I mean, really positive.

[Selwyn Joffe, Chairman, President and CEO at Motorcar Parts of America]

So, you know, so those are all tailwinds that we see, you know, going through walk through the through our system and and whatever.

[Selwyn Joffe, Chairman, President and CEO at Motorcar Parts of America]

On the negative side, and it's just, it's pretty small, but you know, the electric vehicle testing business and, you know, we're gonna look at you know, what to do strategically with that business, but that's a little bit slower for us. Very, very small part of our business, but but a lot, you know, a lot slower. The electric vehicle space is not unfolding the way I think many people thought it would just be an instant, immediate, you know, everything's electric vehicle.

[Selwyn Joffe, Chairman, President and CEO at Motorcar Parts of America]

Well, you start reading, I think, Car Magazine and The Wall Street Journal had articles this week about how these major automotive companies are now rethinking, you know, and scrapping their combustion engine lines and actually trying to revamp them and put them back in place. And so, you know, the the combustion engine hybrid technology arena seems to be gaining far more momentum, and the electric vehicle arena seems to be losing a lot of momentum.

[Selwyn Joffe, Chairman, President and CEO at Motorcar Parts of America]

And so that bodes well for us at the end of the day. Sorry for a bit of a run-on answer. I hope I hit all your things, but it gave me an opportunity to express myself on some of these items.

[Bill Dezellem, Founder, President, and Chief Investment Officer at Tieton Capital]

No, those did hit my questions, but did create two others. Relative to the call that call you've received, that the renewal rate with the installers and the Quality-Built brand is very high. Was that specific to the brake pad and rotors, or was it was it broader than that or on a different product line?

[Selwyn Joffe, Chairman, President and CEO at Motorcar Parts of America]

Well, specifically to the pad and rotor program. So, you know, very, very, very encouraging there. I will say one of the things that's happening in the industry around pads and rotors is that there's a general significant softness in the tire industry. I'm hearing that it's getting a little bit better, but still very soft. And what happens is when that happens is that the installer, usually, they get the opportunity to replace all four tires on the vehicle, will cross-sell the brake program.

[Selwyn Joffe, Chairman, President and CEO at Motorcar Parts of America]

What's happening is the consumer is just electing to go with the least expensive repair and only repair the one tire or or whatever they need. And so the cross-selling opportunity on these brake jobs is is much slower than it has been in a while. And that's that's providing some headwind in those categories. Having said that, we're coming off a very small base, and you know, we expect that to continue to grow despite that. But that will change as well, as tires don't last forever, and consumer is gonna need to replace them.

[Bill Dezellem, Founder, President, and Chief Investment Officer at Tieton Capital]

Great.

[Selwyn Joffe, Chairman, President and CEO at Motorcar Parts of America]

But the pads-

[Bill Dezellem, Founder, President, and Chief Investment Officer at Tieton Capital]

The second question... I'm sorry, Selwyn, go ahead.

[Selwyn Joffe, Chairman, President and CEO at Motorcar Parts of America]

Oh, no. But the pads, as you had mentioned, I just summarizing back, that's where extreme satisfaction on the pad rotor program.

[Bill Dezellem, Founder, President, and Chief Investment Officer at Tieton Capital]

Great. Then relative to the opportunity in Mexico, I've been a little unclear how to think about that opportunity because the the installed base of vehicles is much smaller than the U.S.. My impression, I don't know this to be factually correct, but my impression is that the average age of the vehicles in Mexico would be older than the U.S.. So how how are you thinking about this? If my perception is correct, that the that the fleet is smaller, but the age is higher, which would lead to more repairs, what's the right way to be thinking about about Mexico?

[Selwyn Joffe, Chairman, President and CEO at Motorcar Parts of America]

Yeah. So you're correct. I mean, the fleet is definitely smaller than the United States. It's still a pretty significant fleet. And the average age continues to get older there, but disposable income, I mean, and this is a bad thing for us, is minimum wages in Mexico keep going up, disposable income in Mexico keeps going up, and the market is evolving there. And so historically, you've had what, what I would classify as an R&R market where something that went wrong with the car, if an alternator went bad, they'd pull it off, and the mechanic would rebuild it, or they would replace componentry in it.

[Selwyn Joffe, Chairman, President and CEO at Motorcar Parts of America]

Today, you're seeing, you know, the AutoZones and the O'Reilly's of the world who are leading the U.S. charge into Mexico, are selling finished goods. And so the average price point of the repair for these vehicles is going up.

[Selwyn Joffe, Chairman, President and CEO at Motorcar Parts of America]

People are spending more money, and they're more concerned about how they, how they repair that vehicle. And the amount of penetration, formal penetration that, you know, the, the market there is defined as other. You know, there's so many small players that have been in that market. Now you've got big consolidators that are rolling into that market and, and opening up significant stores. I would, I'd encourage you just to listen to both O'Reilly and AutoZone's, you know, public announcements on Mexico.

[Selwyn Joffe, Chairman, President and CEO at Motorcar Parts of America]

And, and we're, we're playing. And not only that, I mean, we're playing, we have a great product lineup for the Mexican market. We're in Mexico. We have state-of-the-art capabilities right there. And, we're doing well, and we're gonna do a lot better in Mexico. It's, it's gonna turn out to be a great business. I mean, I do think it's north of $100 million opportunity for us.

[Bill Dezellem, Founder, President, and Chief Investment Officer at Tieton Capital]

Great. Thank you for taking all my questions.

[Selwyn Joffe, Chairman, President and CEO at Motorcar Parts of America]

Thank you.

[Operator]

There are no further questions at this time. Selwyn Joffe, I'll turn the call back over to you.

[Selwyn Joffe, Chairman, President and CEO at Motorcar Parts of America]

Okay. Thank you so much. So just to summarize, you know, we are bullish, as I've just spoken, as we begin our our new fiscal year. We're laser-focused on further efficiencies, and I and I accentuate that. We are laser-focused on further efficiencies and fully benefiting from a not easily duplicated global platform, where we can meet demand for non-discretionary products as well as from our diagnostic testing capabilities. We are leveraging our expertise in solid customer and supplier partnerships.

[Selwyn Joffe, Chairman, President and CEO at Motorcar Parts of America]

These include our recently launched supply chain vendor finance program, and that benefits our suppliers significantly. Our liquidity is strong. We have an excess of $90 million, and we have the resources, capacity, and professional expertise to capitalize on significant market opportunities in all of our product lines, particularly our brake-related businesses, which are gaining solid momentum.

[Selwyn Joffe, Chairman, President and CEO at Motorcar Parts of America]

In closing, I've got to recognize the contributions of all of our team members who are continuously focused on providing the highest level of service. They are outstanding. We are all committed to being the industry leader for parts and solutions that move our world today and in the future. I would also like to extend best wishes to Rudy and Jamie, who are retiring from our board. We significantly appreciate, appreciate the great contributions of leaders. We also appreciate the continued support of our shareholders, and thank everyone again for joining us on the call.

[Selwyn Joffe, Chairman, President and CEO at Motorcar Parts of America]

We look forward to speaking with you when we host our fiscal 2025 second quarter call, which is in November, and at various investor conferences and meetings this fall. Thank you very much.

[Operator]

And this concludes today's conference call. You may now disconnect.

Participants

Executives

• David Lee, CFO
• Gary Maier, VP of Corporate Communications and Investor Relations
• Selwyn Joffe, Chairman, President and CEO

Analysts

• Bill Dezellem, Founder, President, and Chief Investment Officer at Tieton Capital
• Joseph Gonzalez, Equity Research Associate at Roth Capital Partners