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REDMOND, Wash., May 16, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) Hour Loop, Inc. (NASDAQ: HOUR) (“Hour Loop”), a leading online retailer, announces its financial and operational results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2022.
Financial Highlights for First Quarter 2022:
Management Commentary
“We’re pleased with our first quarter 2022 performance as we reported strong financial and operational results despite the significantly impacted consumer spending environment driven by inflationary and supply chain pressures,” said Sam Lai, CEO of Hour Loop. “Against this backdrop, we further demonstrated our ability to execute on our strategy and drive growth as planned. In fact, following our initial public offering in January, we have rapidly expanded our labor force from 75 employees to over 175 employees, and delivered first quarter 2022 revenues of $12.4 million, up 32.5% compared to the year ago period.
“While we are encouraged by our progress, we are not immune to the challenging macroeconomic environment, which impacted our gross profit percentage as a result of increased operating expenses, FBA fees, and a strong competitive environment. However, despite these challenges, we are frontloading our investments for the year while projecting to show profitability and maintain double digit growth for the full year 2022. We believe our investments are necessary to grow our headcount, rapidly scale, and set a foundation for future success once these headwinds ease, and we are building on our momentum since our IPO. We look forward to continuing to execute, drive growth, and ultimately deliver increased value for our shareholders.”
First Quarter 2022 Financial Results
Total revenues in the first quarter of 2022 were $12.4 million compared to $9.3 million in the year-ago period. The increase was primarily due to continued growth and maturity in our operating model which was enhanced by a favorable e-commerce environment in the beginning of the year.
Gross profit percentage declined 3.8% to 52.3% compared to 56.1% of total revenues in the comparable period a year ago. This decrease was a function of our aggressive growth initiatives and a heightened inflationary environment causing higher cost of goods sold, FBA fees, and strong competition.
Operating expenses increased 65% to $7.2 million compared to $4.4 million in the year- ago period. This was a function of increased platform fees paid to Amazon, a significant increase in our labor force, and increased legal and professional fees due to the Company’s public listing.
Net loss in the first quarter was $0.65 million, or $0.02 per diluted share, compared to net income of $0.86 million, or $0.03 per diluted share, in the comparable year-ago period. The decrease was driven by increased costs and expenses as a result of the reasons mentioned above.
As of March 31, 2022, the Company had $7.7 million in cash and cash equivalents compared to $10.6 million as of December 31, 2021. This decrease was driven by the growth of inventory and labor force.
Inventories as of March 31, 2022, were $11.8 million compared to $7.0 million as of December 31, 2021. The Company intentionally invested heavily in inventories for strategic reasons.
Full Year 2022 Financial Outlook
For the full year 2022, the Company expects revenue to be in the range of $81 million to $90 million, representing 30% to 45% year-over-year growth.
About Hour Loop, Inc.
Hour Loop is an online retailer engaged in e-commerce retailing in the U.S. market. It has operated as a third-party seller on www.amazon.com and has sold merchandise on its website at www.hourloop.com since 2013. The Company expanded its operations to www.walmart.com in October 2020. To date, the Company has generated practically all of its revenue as a third-party seller on www.amazon.com and only a negligible amount of revenue from its own website and Walmart. Hour Loop manages more than 100,000 stock-keeping units (“SKUs”). Product categories include home/garden décor, toys, kitchenware, apparels, and electronics. The Company's primary strategy is to bring most of its vendors product selections to the customers. It has advanced software that assists the Company in identifying product gaps so it can keep such products in stock year-round including the entirety of the last quarter (holiday season) of the calendar year. In upcoming years, Hour Loop plans to expand its business rapidly by increasing the number of business managers, vendors and SKUs.
