Latest earnings release: Freshpet and Central Garden & Pet

Freshpet and Central Garden & Pet have released their latest financial results, painting a mixed picture. While Freshpet continues its upward trajectory with increased sales and profitability, Central Garden & Pet reports stagnant pet sales.

Freshpet

New Jersey-headquartered pet food company Freshpet posted net sales of $459.1 million (€419.7M) from January to June 2024. This is a 30% increase compared to the same period in 2023.

Net income in the first half of 2024 was $16.9 million (€15.4M), against a net loss of $41.7 million (€38.1M) last year.

According to Freshpet CEO Billy Cyr, the company is delivering “disciplined” growth “that has enabled us to significantly improve profitability while continuing to deliver category-leading net sales growth.”

In Q2 2024, the company posted sales of $235.3 million (€231.5M), a 28.3% increase from the same period in 2023, when it accounted for $183.3 million (€167.5M).

This year, net losses reduced from $17 million (€15.5M) in Q2 2023 to $1.7 million (€15.5M). Quarterly gross profits amounted to $94 million (€85.9M).

Freshpet increased its full-year guidance to reflect the company’s “outperformance” this year. The company expects at least $965 million (€882.1M) in net sales in FY 2024, a 26% year-on-year (YoY) increase from the previous year’s guidance of $950 million (€868.4M).

Central Garden & Pet

For the first 9 months of the financial year ending 29 June, net sales for the pet segment remained flat at $1.4 billion (€1.28B), with a marginal 0.2% increase from the same period in 2023.

Operating income for the pet portfolio increased to $189.1 million (€172.8M), compared to $154.7 million (€141.4M) last year.

In Q3, net sales in the pet segment improved by 1% to $508 million (€464.3M). The increase was driven by the recent TDBBS acquisition and growth in consumable pet products.

Operating income for the segment increased 39% from $60 million (€54.8M) in Q3 2023 to $83 million (€75.8M) this quarter.

The Californian-headquartered company confirms that pet brands outperformed private labels in the third quarter of 2024, while e-commerce represented 28% of all pet sales. Flea and tick, small animal, aquatic and wild bird categories “held or grew shares.”