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| Statement |
|---|
| As a result of this restructuring, we will have a leaner, more efficient business model with higher margins and stronger cash flow as industry trends improve |
| I am grateful for our team's resilience and strong execution as we work together to build a more sustainable business and capitalize on opportunities to deliver meaningful value for our shareholders |
| By building a more durable operating model with greater financial resilience we are transforming our business to deliver profitability and free cash flows across the highest and lowest of the mattress industry cycle |
| Our fourth quarter gross margin of 56.6% was up 190 basis points year-over-year and included the benefit from pricing actions taken over the past 12 months and improvement in commodity prices |
| As we streamline our cost structure and strengthen our balance sheet, we are poised for accelerating growth as the mattress industry demand environment improves |
| I'm proud of our team's energy and efforts in executing this cost reduction roadmap and identifying and validating new opportunities |
| These unique assets empower us to protect and take market share even in a difficult environment |
| As the industry recovers we see a significant opportunity for our business to accelerate |
| We renegotiated with our media partners to improve impressions per dollar spent, optimize the media mix, and reflighted media in Q4, resulting in improved traffic and media ROI |
| The actions we have taken to date and have underway are making Sleep Number a stronger, more durable business |
| This high engagement with our sleep wellness platform increases customer lifetime value and drives lower cost customer acquisition through referrals |
| Our vertically integrated operating model enables margin efficiency opportunities, which are amplified with scale through our smart bed ecosystem and optimized fulfillment networks |
| We also drove positive unit growth on a demand basis in the fourth quarter for the first time since the third quarter of 2021 |
| In 2024, we are targeting approximately 100 basis points of gross margin rate expansion from the cost improvement initiatives I highlighted earlier |
| We are prepared for accelerating growth as the mattress industry environment improves |
| We also continue to drive gross margin improvement actions across the business |
| As we continue to benefit from the cost optimization initiatives underway we expect our gross margin rate to return to 60% plus and low double digit EBITDA margins as industry unit trends return to more normalized levels |
| We are continuing to transform our operating model to improve our financial resilience through the broad-based restructuring actions we discussed with you last quarter |
| That said, our long-term opportunity supported by our consumer innovation strategy remains strong |
| COGS leverage through value engineering, including an exhaustive material cost reduction program |
| As we navigated a pullback in demand for the industry over the last couple of years, the important actions we are taking will lead to a stronger foundation for our business, which will enable accelerating profitability as the industry backdrop improves |
| Demand for the quarter was down low single digits and slightly better than our expectations of a mid-single-digit demand decline |
| With this demand performance, we expect that we outperformed the industry in the fourth quarter |
| And R&D leverage as we reprioritize R&D spends to accelerate near-term innovation while driving greater efficiency |
| Importantly, our long-term opportunity remains intact as we lead through this transformation |
| With the change in demand trends in the third quarter, we have been executing accelerated cost reduction actions across the business to strengthen our financial position as we continue to navigate the ongoing challenging demand environment for the mattress industry |
| We also drove greater brand awareness through our partnership with the NFL |
| We are also expecting benefit from further optimization of our fulfillment network, including facility closures and using temporary labor where it makes sense |
| Our average monthly engagement rate of 80% is best-in-class for digital products |
| Together, these efforts enabled us to reduce our operating expenses in the fourth quarter before restructuring costs by $24 million, $5 million more than we had planned |
| Statement |
|---|
| Fourth quarter net sales of $430 million were down 14% versus last year |
| For the fourth quarter, net sales of $430 million were down 14% from the prior year with demand down low single digits |
| Low consumer sentiment, slower new home purchases, and elevated interest rates continued to pressure demand for our category |
| Our 2023 full-year results included net sales of $1.89 billion down 11% versus prior year with demand down high single digits for the year |
| For the full year, our net sales were $1.89 billion, a year-over-year decline of 11 % with demand down high single digits |
| Adjusted EBITDA declined 14% to $127 million compared to $148 million last year driven by the net sales decline, partially offset by a higher gross margin rate, and ongoing operating expense reductions |
| We estimate that mattress units in 2023 were below 2015 levels and down more than 25% from their 2020 peak |
| We are expecting net sales to be down approximately 10% versus the prior year's quarter including three to four points of headwind from year-over-year backlog changes |
| The outlook assumes net sales are down mid-single digits for the year with a low single-digit demand decline |
| Headwinds for the year include fixed cost de-leverage from slightly declining delivered units for the year |
| Many of the macroeconomic challenges we discussed during our last call persisted in the fourth quarter |
| We expect net sales to be down high single digits in the first half of the year, based on tougher comparisons followed by low single-digit growth for the back half of the year |
| And although we are seeing some indications that the consumer environment may stabilize in the coming year, the mattress industry remains in a historic recession |
| We expect the mattress industry to remain under pressure in 2024, and our outlook for the year reflects that assumption |
| In 2022, the smart base portfolio was limited to higher margin product due to semiconductor chips constraints |
| We also faced year-over-year gross margin rate pressure related to the mix of FlexFit smart adjustable bases as we had the full, good, better, best assortment of FlexFit smart bases in 2023 |
| 2023 was a challenging year |
| We generated $18 million of EBITDA in the quarter versus $23 million last year primarily due to the year-over-year net sales decline, partially offset by a higher gross margin rate, and year-over-year operating expense reductions |
| Additionally, consumer purchasing power continues its steady downward trend |
| Our net sales guidance assumes three percentage points of headwind from year-over-year backlog changes and one percentage point from net store closures |
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