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Black Rifle Coffee reported accelerated and balanced growth in Q1 tho its canned RTDs were unable to buck that category's ongoing malaise. Net revenue surged 21.4% to $109.2 mil with just 6% of that on pricing, the rest thru volume growth, CFO Matt Amigh noted. New year "is off to a strong start," assured CEO Chris Mondzelewski, citing "disciplined execution" at co that's "operating with greater control and visibility." Among 3 key segments, Wholesale soared 31.5% to $74.7 mil, mainly on expanded distribution of packaged coffees, which grew both volume and pricing. DTC biz with which co had started rose 7.2% to $29.7 mil, mainly on growth at third-party platforms. Black Rifle coffeeshops dubbed Outposts, a de-prioritized channel in recent years, shrank by 12% to $4.8 mil with both transaction volumes and avg order value declining. Gross margin narrowed 3.1 pts to 33% due to green coffee inflation, tariffs and a noncash writedown of coffee extracts stranded by a formulation change, partly offset by pricing and productivity gains. Operating results swung into the black, narrowly, at $1.3 mil, reversing $5.4 mil loss a year earlier. Co concluded qtr with $10 mil in cash on the books.For Black Rifle, its bagged and pod coffee was the star: it was rare player among top brands able to grow volume, and its bags boosted velocity despite price hikes, attaining same movement as lower-priced brands. ACV hit 55.4% with retailers carrying avg 5.5 items. Among top 11 brands, only Black Rifle and Caf&eacute; Bustelo are enjoying volume growth, with Folgers, Maxwell House, Starbucks, Dunkin' Peet's and Death Wish among those that are off. "As a premium brand with velocity right at the index of the category is a fantastic place to be," exulted Monz.RTDs were a different story: tho Black Rifle comfortably holds #3 spot, it's had trouble growing like rest of segment, tho its 2.5% unit decline at retail was slightly better than category's overall 3% decline. By now ACV has hit 55%, up 8 pts over year-earlier. BRC brass is hoping innovations with likes of Cold Brew subline might offer a lift as summer arrives. But "we're concentrating on areas we can control, prioritizing channels and partners where we're seeing strong demand," said Monz. Meanwhile, BRC continued its disciplined buildout of energy drinks that move thru distrib partner Keurig Dr Pepper. Those now move thru 22,650 doors (3,210 Walmart + 14.475 c-stores + 4,245 grocery) with just 21% ACV as it picks its spots carefully.Recall that co began as DTC operation but has been rethinking that prong as customer acquisition costs rose and retail biz started to look like real opportunity. Still, what it still classes as DTC segment experienced its 2d consecutive qtr of year-over-year growth tho much of that occurred not on BlackRifle.com but at 3d-party marketplaces like Walmart.com and Amazon. Since consumers already shop there, those have proved "frictionless" acquisition vehicles, as CEO noted, while DTC site focuses more on activities like subscriptions.One analyst noted that marketing spending is down. Not for much longer, Amigh promised. "You'll see it ramp up considerably as we hit America's 250th," he said of brand that wears its patriotism on its sleeve. Added Mondzelewski: "We believe our marketing is a substantial competitive advantage."

Black Rifle Rides Strong Volume Growth to 21% Revenue Pop in Q1, Tho RTDs Are a Drag in Soft Segment

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