Vending

J&J Snack Foods posts Q1 2022 sales, earnings growth on post pandemic rebound

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February 1, 2022

J&J Snack Foods Corp. boosted sales and earnings for Q1 2022 ending Dec. 25, 2021 driven by a post pandemic rebound, according to an earnings report.

Sales rose 32% to $318.5 million in Q1 2020 over Q1 2021 and by 17% over Q1 2019.

Earnings rose 534% to $11 million, while earnings per diluted share jumped 520% to 58 cents.

Q1 2022 foodservice sales exceeded Q1 2021 by 32% and surpassed Q1 2019 sales by 18%.

Customer venues across theaters, sports, amusement, convenience, schools and restaurants and strategic accounts experienced a surge in post pandemic demand driving strong sales in core products, including a 54% increase in soft pretzel sales to $50.4 million, a 34% increase in frozen novelties sales to $8.5 million and churro sales growth of 69% to $19.5 million led by customer expansion and growing menu penetration, bakery sales growth of 21% to $107.8 million and handheld sales growth of 5% to $18.5 million.

Q1 2022 retail sales increased 9%, compared to Q1 2021 and by 36% versus Q1 2019.

Retail sales were driven by growth in core products, including soft pretzels, churros, bakery and frozen beverages.

Soft pretzels increased 17%, compared to Q1 2021, and 59% compared to Q1 2019 led by SuperPretzel core product and pretzel bites. Frozen novelties sales increased 16% and were 62% higher than the same quarter in fiscal 2019 aided by wider distribution for Luigi's, Whole Fruit, Dogsters, Icee and Minute Maid brands. Biscuit sales increased 8% in the quarter while handheld sales declined 54% to $1.3 million driven by proactive discontinuations of margin dilutive products.

Frozen beverage segment sales beat Q1 2021 sales by 54% and surpassed pre-COVID 2019 sales for the same quarter by 6%.

Shares traded at $151.69 today against a 52-week range of $134.68-$181.71.

The quarterly revenue of $318.5 million surpassed analyst's expectations by $33.65 million, while the GAAP EPS of 58 cents missed expectations by 14 cents, according to Seeking Alpha.

"Our first quarter fiscal 2022 results reflect a continuation of positive consumer trends and healthy demand for our products even as the spread and impact of COVID-19 accelerated throughout the quarter," Dan Fachner, J&J Snack Foods president and CEO, said in the press release. "As was the case last quarter, our industry continues to experience unprecedented inflationary pressures and higher-than-expected cost increases across many facets of the business, from raw materials and ingredients to transportation, packaging and labor."

For an update on how the coronavirus pandemic is affecting convenience services, click here.