Overstock.com Reports Q3 2013 Results

SALT LAKE CITY, Oct. 17, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Overstock.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: OSTK) today reported financial results for the quarter ended September 30, 2013.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120110/LA33954LOGO)

Key Q3 2013 metrics (comparison to Q3 2012):

• Revenue: $301.4M vs. $255.4M (18% increase);
• Gross margin: 19.6% vs. 18.2% (140 basis point increase);
• Gross profit: $59.2M vs. $46.5M (27% increase);
• Sales and marketing expense: $22.5M vs. $14.9M (51% increase);
• Contribution (non-GAAP measure): $36.7M vs. $31.6M (16% increase);
• Technology and G&A expense: $33.2M vs. $29.9M (11% increase);
• Net income: $3.5M vs. $2.7M (31% increase); and
• Diluted EPS: $0.14/share vs. $0.11/share ($0.03/share improvement; 27% increase).

As previously announced, the Company will hold a conference call and webcast to discuss its Q3 2013 financial results today, Thursday, October 17, 2013, at 11:30 a.m. ET.

Chairman and CEO Patrick Byrne says, "In Club O, we built what we believe is the best, most generous loyalty program on the Internet, with free shipping, 5-25% rewards on products, and books priced at Amazon prices but with 15% rewards, all for $19.95 per year. Our Club O customers are rewarding us with their business. In addition, with the opening of our new warehouse in Pennsylvania, we are now providing even faster delivery to our customers on the east coast."

Webcast information

To access the live webcast and presentation slides, please go to http://investors.overstock.com. To listen to the conference call via telephone, dial (877) 673-5346 and enter conference ID 78576396 when prompted. Participants outside the United States or Canada who do not have Internet access should dial +1 (724) 498-4326 then enter the conference ID provided above.

A replay of the conference call will be available at http://investors.overstock.com starting two hours after the live call has ended. An audio replay of the webcast will be available via telephone starting at 2:30 p.m. ET on Thursday, October 17, 2013, through 11:59 p.m. ET on Thursday, October 31, 2013. To listen to the recorded webcast by phone, please dial (855) 859-2056 then enter the conference ID provided above. Outside the U.S. or Canada please dial +1 (404) 537-3406 and enter the conference ID provided above.

Please email questions to Mark Harden at [email protected] prior to the conference call.

Key financial and operating metrics:

Investors should review our financial statements and publicly-filed reports in their entirety and not rely on any single financial measure.

Net revenue – Total net revenue for Q3 2013 and 2012 was $301.4 million and $255.4 million, respectively, an 18% increase. The growth in net revenue was primarily due to a 16% increase in average order size, from $147 in Q3 2012 to $170 in Q3 2013, coupled with a 2% increase in orders.

Gross profit – Gross profit for Q3 2013 and 2012 was $59.2 million and $46.5 million, respectively, a 27% increase, representing 19.6% and 18.2% of total net revenue for those respective periods. The increase in gross profit was primarily due to higher revenue and a shift in product sales mix into higher margin home and garden products.

Contribution (a non-GAAP financial measure) and contribution margin (a non-GAAP financial measure) – Contribution for Q3 2013 and 2012 was $36.7 million and $31.6 million, respectively, a 16% increase. Contribution margin was 12.2% and 12.4% for those same periods.

Contribution (a non-GAAP financial measure) (which we reconcile to "gross profit" in our statement of income) consists of gross profit less sales and marketing expense and reflects an additional way of viewing our results. Contribution margin is contribution as a percentage of total net revenue. We believe contribution and contribution margin provides management and users of the financial statements information about our ability to cover our operating costs, such as technology and general and administrative expenses. Contribution and contribution margin are used in addition to and in conjunction with results presented in accordance with GAAP and should not be relied upon to the exclusion of GAAP financial measures. The material limitation associated with the use of contribution is that it is an incomplete measure of profitability as it does not include all operating expenses or non-operating income and expenses. Management compensates for these limitations when using this measure by looking at other GAAP measures, such as operating income and net income. 

For further details on contribution and contribution margin, see the calculation of these non-GAAP financial measures and the reconciliation of contribution to gross profit below (in thousands):

Sales and marketing expenses – Sales and marketing expenses totaled $22.5 million and $14.9 million for Q3 2013 and 2012, respectively, a 51% increase, and representing 7.5% and 5.8% of total net revenue for those respective periods. The increase was primarily due to increased spending in the sponsored search marketing channel due to a higher proportion of our revenue coming through that channel.

During Q3 2013, Google, Inc. ("Google") tested and later implemented changes to its search engine algorithms which reduced our ranking in certain Google search results and slowed our revenue growth in the natural search channel. While we worked on adapting to Google's changes, we emphasized other marketing channels such as sponsored search which experienced higher revenue growth but with higher marketing expenses as a percentage of revenue than for natural search.

Technology expenses – Technology expenses totaled $17.3 million and $16.1 million for Q3 2013 and 2012, respectively, a 7% increase, and representing 5.7% and 6.3% of total net revenue for those respective periods. The $1.2 million increase is primarily due to an increase in staff-related costs.

General and administrative ("G&A") expenses – G&A expenses totaled $16.0 million and $13.8 million for Q3 2013 and 2012, respectively, a 15% increase, and representing 5.3% and 5.4% of total net revenue for those respective periods. The $2.1 million increase is primarily due to increased legal fees.

Legal fees increased during Q3 2013 due to increased activity on legal matters, including our defense of the case brought by district attorneys in eight California counties. We completed preparation for and the bench trial in this case during Q3 2013. We do not expect a verdict in this case for several months.

Restructuring – Restructuring was zero and a credit of $45,000 for Q3 2013 and 2012, respectively. The credit in Q3 2012 is related to subleasing our IT development office in Provo, Utah.

Operating income – Operating income was $3.5 million and $1.8 million for Q3 2013 and 2012, respectively, a $1.7 million increase.

Interest income – Interest income was $34,000 and $30,000 for Q3 2013 and 2012, respectively.

Interest expense – Interest expense totaled $33,000 and $194,000 for Q3 2013 and 2012, respectively. The decrease is primarily due to our repayment of the $17.0 million in advances under the U.S. Bank Financing Agreement in November 2012.

Other income, net – Other income, net totaled $165,000 and $1.2 million for Q3 2013 and 2012, respectively. The $1.0 million decrease is primarily related to a decrease in Club O rewards breakage.

Income taxes – Income tax expense totaled $91,000 and $131,000 for Q3 2013 and 2012, respectively.

Net income – Net income was $3.5 million and $2.7 million for Q3 2013 and 2012, respectively, an increase of $800,000. Q3 2013 diluted earnings per share were $0.14, compared to $0.11 for Q3 2012.

Free cash flow (a non-GAAP financial measure) – Free cash flow totaled $39.4 million and $15.7 million for the twelve months ended September 30, 2013 and 2012, respectively. The $23.7 million increase was due to a $26.6 million increase in operating cash flows, partially offset by a $2.9 million increase in capital expenditures.

Free cash flow reflects an additional way of viewing our cash flows and liquidity that, when viewed with our GAAP results, provides a more complete understanding of factors and trends affecting our cash flows and liquidity. Free cash flow, which we reconcile to "net cash provided by (used in) operating activities," is cash flow from operations reduced by "expenditures for fixed assets, including internal-use software and website development." We believe that cash flows from operating activities is an important measure, since it includes both the cash impact of the continuing operations of the business and changes in the balance sheet that impact cash. However, we believe free cash flow is a useful measure to evaluate our business since purchases of fixed assets are a necessary component of ongoing operations and free cash flow measures the amount of cash we have available for mandatory debt service and financing obligations, changes in our capital structure, and future investments, after we have paid our operating expenses. Therefore, we believe it is important to view free cash flow as a complement to our entire consolidated statements of cash flows. 

Our calculation of free cash flow is set forth below (in thousands):

Cash and working capital - We had cash and cash equivalents of $84.9 million and $93.5 million and working capital of $9.1 million and $7.5 million at September 30, 2013 and December 31, 2012, respectively.

About Overstock.com
Overstock.com (NASDAQ: OSTK) is an online discount retailer based in Salt Lake City, Utah that sells a broad range of products including furniture, rugs, bedding, electronics, clothing, jewelry and cars. Worldstock.com, a fair trade department dedicated to selling artisan-crafted products from around the world offers additional unique items. Main Street Revolution supports small businesses across the United States by providing them a national customer base. The Nielsen State of the Media: Consumer Usage Report placed Overstock.com among the top five most visited mass merchandiser websites in 2011. The NRF Foundation/American Express 2011 Customer Choice Awards ranked Overstock.com #4 in customer service among all U.S. retailers. Overstock.com sells internationally under the name O.co. Overstock.com (http://www.overstock.com and http://www.o.co) regularly posts information about the company and other related matters under Investor Relations on its website.

Overstock.com®, O.co®, Worldstock Fair Trade® and Club O Rewards® are registered trademarks of Overstock.com, Inc.  O.info™, Club O™, Club O Dollars™ and Your Savings Engine™ are trademarks of Overstock.com, Inc.

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Such forward-looking statements include all statements other than statements of historical fact. Our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2012, which was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on February 21, 2013, our Form 10-Q which was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on April 25, 2013, our Form 10-Q which was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on July 25, 2013 and our other subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission identify important factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those contained in our projections, estimates or forward-looking statements.

SOURCE Overstock.com