Escalade Clocks 22% Sales Growth In Q1 - Escalade (NASDAQ:ESCA)

Escalade, Inc.ESCA reported first-quarter sales growth of 22.3% year-over-year to $72.4 million, +12.2% organic growth, beating the consensus of $62.74 million.
EPS improved to $0.49 from $0.39 in 1Q21.
The gross margin declined 165 bps to 27.8%, while gross profit increased 15.4% Y/Y to $20.12 million.
The operating income improved by 26.6% Y/Y to $9.02 million, and the margin expanded by 42 bps to 12.5%.
SG&A, as a percent of sales, decreased to 14.5% from 16.7% reported for the same period the prior year.
Dividend: Escalade declared a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share to be paid to all shareholders of record on May 31, 2022, and disbursed on June 7, 2022.
The company says it continues to 'onshore' items they can produce in domestic manufacturing facilities and remain focused on integrating the Brunswick acquisition, which is expected to be accretive to earnings beginning in the second half of 2022.
Related: Escalade Acquires Brunswick Billiards Business For Undisclosed Sum
"The first quarter was positively impacted by sales pulled forward from Q2 and favorable mix. In the near term, we anticipate continued supply chain pressures, including delays and excess logistics costs. We are also carefully monitoring point of sale data along with consumer behavior and sentiment, given rising interest rates, inflation, and geopolitical uncertainty," commented CEO Walter Glazer.
The company held cash and equivalents of $6.4 million as of March 19, 2022.
Price Action: ESCA shares closed higher by 1.24% at $13.08 on Wednesday.

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