WFCF Q2 2026 Earnings Call Transcript

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DATE

Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026 at 12 p.m. ET

CALL PARTICIPANTS

• Investor Relations - Jay Pfeiffer
• Chief Executive Officer - John Saunders
• President and Chief Strategy Officer - Leann Saunders
• Chief Financial Officer - Dannette Henning

TAKEAWAYS

• Total Revenue -- $6.6 million in the second quarter, representing a slight increase compared to the prior year.
• Verification and Certification Revenue -- $5.4 million in the second quarter, compared to $5.3 million in the same period last year.
• Gross Profit -- $2.7 million in the second quarter, a 9% year-over-year increase from $2.5 million.
• Gross Margin -- 40.6% in the second quarter, compared to 37.5% in the prior year, reflecting cost efficiencies achieved across three business segments.
• Operating Income -- $665,000 in the second quarter, representing a 21% increase from $549,000 in the prior year.
• Net Income -- $413,000, or $0.08 per share, in the second quarter, compared to $562,000, or $0.11 per share, in the prior year.
• Digital Asset Impact -- $240,000 negative year-over-year swing in fair market value, which management stated contributed to the lower net income result.
• Six-Month Total Revenue -- $12 million through the first half of 2026, representing a 1% increase.
• Six-Month Verification Revenue -- $9.8 million through midyear, representing a 3% increase.
• Six-Month Operating Income -- $963,000 through the first half of 2026, compared to $691,000 in the same period last year.
• Six-Month Net Income -- $505,000, or $0.10 per share, compared to $593,000, or $0.11 per share, in the prior year.
• Cash from Operations -- $1.5 million generated in the first six months of 2026.
• Cash and Cash Equivalents -- $3.4 million as of June 30, 2026, compared to $3.2 million at the end of 2025.
• Quarterly Stock Repurchases -- approximately 65,000 shares repurchased in the second quarter.
• Year-to-Date Stock Repurchases -- nearly 89,500 shares repurchased through the first half of 2026.
• Total Shareholder Returns -- more than $17.2 million returned since the inception of the stock repurchase program in 2019.
• RaiseWell Program Enrollment -- 270,000 head of cattle enrolled through ranchers supplying Whole Foods Market following the retailer adopting the program in the first quarter.
• Portfolio Scope -- audits conducted for more than 50 standards across categories including animal proteins, wine grapes, and upcycled foods.
• Beef Segment Revenue Contribution -- approximately 50% of total company revenue.
• M&A Strategy -- renewed focus on acquisitions following a three-year pause, targeting transactions that would be immediately or near-term accretive.
• Shelf Registration Statement -- planned filing intended to provide financial flexibility for potential M&A activity and opportunistic capital access.
• Biochar Certification -- assisted USAgrichar in becoming the first biochar producer in Colorado to achieve USDA certification.
• Potato Sustainability Alliance Partnership -- providing on-farm audits verifying sustainability metrics such as GHG emissions and water management.
• Biosecurity Audits -- ongoing implementation of Secure Beef Supply plans used by state animal health officials to manage cattle movement.

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RISKS

• Saunders stated, "continued pressure on our flagship beef business due to fewer cattle moving through the system and record high beef prices," indicating these industry headwinds impacted the primary revenue stream.

SUMMARY

Management at Where Food Comes From, Inc. (NASDAQ:WFCF) reported slight revenue growth and increased operating profitability for the second quarter despite persistent headwinds in the domestic cattle industry. The company stated it is diversifying its verification portfolio through new sustainability partnerships and the expansion of its proprietary RaiseWell and CARE programs. Management indicated it is renewing its focus on strategic acquisitions after a three-year pause and announced plans to file a shelf registration statement to enhance financial flexibility for potential growth opportunities.

• CEO Saunders stated that while RaiseWell was initially adopted by Whole Foods Market for beef, management is "now working to expand the program to include chicken, turkey, pork, lamb and eggs."
• President Leann Saunders noted the company works closely with CattleTrace, a nonprofit focused on "voluntary methods of animal identification and traceability," and indicated the company administers their activity.
• President Leann Saunders reported that the Validus Verifications division is a leader in Safe Quality Food audits, which large retailers like Walmart are increasingly requiring for their supply chains.
• CEO Saunders stated that the company does not verify food safety for leafy greens or low-value vegetables because "there is a lot of risk relative to it."
• Addressing two stock price spikes over $20 per share in 2026, Jay Pfeiffer stated that while the company worked with NASDAQ market surveillance, "we just can't pinpoint it" beyond deductive interest from speculative buyers.
• Regarding M&A activity, CEO Saunders stated, "we are now just beginning to reengage in this process, and I'm not indicating any transactions are imminent."

INDUSTRY GLOSSARY

• Biochar: A carbon-rich material produced by heating organic biomass in a low-oxygen environment, used for soil health and carbon sequestration.
• CARE Certified: A suite of certification standards focused on animal care, environmental stewardship, and community involvement.
• CattleTrace: A nonprofit initiative developing a national infrastructure for animal disease traceability in the beef cattle industry.
• GHG Emissions: Greenhouse gas emissions, typically measured in sustainability audits to benchmark environmental impact.
• RaiseWell Certified: A certification program verifying animal welfare and natural practices with farm-to-processing traceability.
• Safe Quality Food (SQF): A global food safety and quality certification program and management system.
• Upcycled Certified: A certification for products that use food ingredients that otherwise would not have gone to human consumption.

Full Conference Call Transcript

Operator: Greetings, and welcome to the Where Food Comes From Second Quarter 2026 Earnings Call. [Operator Instructions] As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. I would now like to turn the call over to your host, Mr. Jay Pfeiffer, Investor Relations. Thank you, sir. You may begin.

Jay Pfeiffer: Good morning, and welcome to the Where Food Comes From 2026 Second Quarter Earnings Call. Joining me on the call today are CEO, John Saunders; President and Chief Strategy Officer, Leann Saunders; and CFO, Dannette Henning. During this call, we'll make forward-looking statements based on current expectations, estimates and projections that are subject to risk. Statements about financial performance, growth strategy, customers, business opportunities, market acceptance of our products and services and potential acquisitions are forward-looking statements. Listeners should not place undue reliance on these statements as there are many factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from our forward-looking statements.

We encourage you to review our publicly filed documents as well as news releases and website for more information. I'll now turn the call over to John Saunders.

John Saunders: Hello, and thanks for joining the call today. This morning, Where Food Comes From reported another quarter of revenue growth and solid profitability in spite of continued pressure on our flagship beef business due to fewer cattle moving through the system and record high beef prices. Once again, the reason we have been able to grow profitably in the face of persistent headwinds lies in the size and diversity of our solutions portfolio, which is constantly expanding as we introduce new standards and certifications across the food spectrum. Today, Where Food Comes From is far and away the most diverse provider of food claims verification and certification.

The growth of our service offerings over the years has been driven by a combination of M&A transactions and internal development in response to consumer preferences and industry trends. Some of these solutions were developed in collaboration with customers across the food supply chain who share our passion for giving consumers maximum transparency in how their food is raised. We now audit to more than 50 standards in categories as diverse as animal proteins, wine grapes and upcycled foods. We are the leading certifier of popular food claims ranging from animal welfare and sustainable practices to non-GMO, gluten-free and organic. Our CARE Certified program is the protein industry's most advanced tool for certifying animal care and environmental stewardship.

Our new RaiseWell Certified program verifies animal welfare and natural practices and provides traceability from the farm through processing. In the first quarter of this year, Whole Foods Market became the first retailer to adopt RaiseWell. This adoption was for their beef supply and has led to strong early results with more than 270,000 head of cattle now enrolled by ranchers who provide beef to Whole Foods. RaiseWell was developed to address all animal proteins, and we are now working to expand the program to include chicken, turkey, pork, lamb and eggs. By the way, both CARE and RaiseWell are figuring prominently into our service bundling strategy, particularly in conjunction with our organic services.

And this provides our customers with cost and time savings while enhancing our revenue and gross margins. We are also sewing seeds on other new initiatives that we believe will grow over time and further strengthen our reputation as a one-stop shop for verifications and certifications across an ever larger spectrum. For example, we have recently partnered with the Potato Sustainability Alliance to provide on-farm audits that verify and benchmark sustainability metrics around environmental stewardship, including reducing GHG emissions, optimizing water management and minimizing food waste as well as improving soil health, supporting biodiversity and promoting responsible use of pesticides.

As another example, in May, we helped USAgrichar become the first biochar producer in Colorado to achieve USDA certification for its product. Biochar is a stable carbon-rich material produced by heating organic biomass in a low oxygen environment. The resulting product support soil health through improved water retention and nutrient efficiency and has the added benefit of long-term carbon sequestration. In Colorado, similar to other Western states in this new age of drought and forest fires, biochar production has the added bonus of improving forest health and reducing wildfire risk because the raw material is often dead forest firewood.

So again, we are laser-focused on expanding our portfolio with solutions that address consumer demands and help our customers differentiate their products. The size and scope of our portfolio is the cornerstone of the moat we have built for our business. Turning now to the second quarter financial results. Total revenue in the second quarter increased slightly to $6.6 million on the strength of verification and certification revenue of $5.4 million versus $5.3 million in Q2 last year. Gross profit increased 9% year-over-year to $2.7 million from $2.5 million, with gross margins rising to 40.6% compared to 37.5% in the second quarter last year. These improvements were attributable to cost efficiencies achieved in all 3 of our business segments.

Operating income in Q2 increased 21% year-over-year to $665,000 from $549,000. Net income was $413,000 or $0.08 per share compared to net income of $562,000 or $0.11 per share in the same quarter last year. I want to emphasize that the lower net income was mostly due to the noncash impact of fair market value of digital assets that amounted to a $240,000 negative swing in the second quarter year-over-year. Additionally, the year over -- the year-ago second quarter included $50,000 in dividend income related to our ownership interest in Progressive Beef that was divested last year. So we believe our operating income up 21% year-over-year remains the most accurate measure of our profitability in the quarter. 6-month results.

Total revenue increased 1% to $12 million from $11.8 million. Verification and certification revenue grew by 3% to $9.8 million from $9.5 million. Operating income through midyear increased to $963,000 from $691,000. Net income through the first 6 months of 2026 was $505,000 or $0.10 per share compared to net income of $593,000 or $0.11 per share in the same period last year. The company generated $1.5 million in cash from operations year-to-date and closed the second quarter with $3.4 million in cash and cash equivalents, up from $3.2 million at 2025 year-end.

Due to our consistent ability to generate strong cash flows in combination with our belief that our own stock represents a good investment at current levels, we continued our aggressive buybacks in the second quarter, repurchasing approximately 65,000 shares and raising year-to-date buybacks to nearly 89,500 shares. Since the inception of our stock repurchase program in 2019, Where Food Comes From has returned more than $17.2 million in value to stockholders. One final topic I want to address is M&A. As you know, over the past 14 years, we've averaged 1 acquisition per year, adding products, services, standards, customers, new talent and accretive revenue streams to our business.

We successfully integrated each of these transactions into our business and are pleased to say that each has added value. The industry we compete in is still in its early innings and changing dynamics due to geopolitical and regulatory events, evolving consumer demands and other factors are giving rise to new opportunities. As a result, after a roughly 3-year pause since our last transaction, we are renewing our focus on M&A as a means of accelerating growth, strengthening our business and building shareholder value. As always, a key criterion in this process is whether a given transaction would be immediately or at least near term accretive to our overall business.

To be clear, we are now just beginning to reengage in this process, and I'm not indicating any transactions are imminent. I just want to let you know we are dusting off the playbook and renewing our focus in this area. With that in mind, Where Food Comes From will file a shelf registration statement in the next day or so to be better positioned as a company for potential M&A activity. Shelf registrations provide companies with maximum financial flexibility and much quicker time to market to access capital growth. They are particularly effective in executing opportunistic M&A transactions. Shelf registrations are becoming more common for companies of all sizes and are considered to be good corporate governance.

As an aside, in the first half of 2026, once in May and once more in July, we had 2 occasions where our stock traded over $20 per share. With that in mind, it makes even more sense to have a shelf that could add value to the company and its stockholders during periods of extreme volatility. So with that, I'll open the call to questions. Operator?

Operator: [Operator Instructions] Our first question comes from the line of Terry Thompson, private investor.

Unknown Attendee: Congratulations on another consistent quarter. Did anybody have any idea of what caused those 2 price spikes up to over $20 this last year?

John Saunders: I'll let Jay answer that one.

Jay Pfeiffer: Yes, that's the million-dollar question. And the short answer is no. We've worked with NASDAQ and their market surveillance department, and we've talked to investors and unfortunately, we just can't pinpoint it. It's somebody that felt from the speculative side of things, all we can deduce is somebody that felt that they want to own the stock and they're willing to bid it up to own it. So that's the good news. We just don't know who it is.

Unknown Attendee: Okay. I kind of figured that would be the answer, but I had to ask. Again, thanks to all and nice to hear from you all.

Operator: Our next question comes from the line of Chris Brown with [Technical Difficulty] Financial.

Unknown Analyst: I really had 2 quick questions. The first one is with respect to the headlines out in the food world with respect to Cyclospora and earlier the screwworm issue, kind of, what you guys are doing to take advantage of a renewed focus on food safety? Second would be if you'd ever consider breaking out the non-beef certification business from the beef to allow investors to understand a little bit better the growth in the non-beef area and understand how patient we need to be to wait for beef to rebound?

John Saunders: Great questions, Chris. I'm going to let Leann answer the first one.

Leann Saunders: Chris, so I'll attempt to answer it. We feel like we've positioned ourselves as well as we possibly could in the instance of an animal disease issue like screwworm. I think the challenge with screwworm, in particular, is that it's caused by flies. So we -- as we talk to people in the industry, it's hard to electronically identify flies, right? So there's mitigation things that are happening with the USDA. But I think where we've been well positioned is -- we have an ongoing relationship with CattleTrace, which CattleTrace is a nonprofit organization that's been really working on voluntary methods of animal identification and traceability. And we work with them very closely. In fact, we administer their activity.

And then also just in the world of biosecurity, we've been doing biosecurity audits and building out what are called secure beef supply plans now for a number of years for locations, which is becoming more and more important as you look at state animal health officials deciding when cattle can and cannot move. And all of our programs on the beef side require an electronic identification means. All of that becomes part of the solution in the event of an animal disease. So I think we've positioned ourselves well to be at the topic of conversation and have had multiple conversations actually with the USDA on the front -- on that front, particularly.

When it comes to food safety, similarly, across our platforms, across all of our divisions, we -- our Validus Verifications division has a program called Safe Quality Food. And so we are a leader -- that division is a leader in SQF audits on farm. And that is becoming the mechanism for large organizations like a Walmart, for example, that are starting to say they want their supply chains to have those SQF audits in place, which are food safety protocols.

John Saunders: And specifically, in the case of Cyclospora, I think what we've talked about many times in the past is that we do not verify food safety relative to specifically a lot of leafy greens and lower-value vegetables, primarily because there is a lot of risk relative to it. And I think that what we're seeing right now is obviously something that's going to impact our business in the sense that there will continue to be a focus on the food safety issue specifically. Relative to the beef question, that's a great point to mention, Chris, and we've talked about the long-term future of the cattle industry in the U.S.

I think one of the things that we believe very strongly, and you're seeing it with RaiseWell specifically, is our ability to meet the needs of a company like Whole Foods across all of the proteins that they sell. So the one danger in us divesting of any particular species or product is our inability to continue to provide that type of full range complementary service to, again, a company like Whole Foods or Walmart.

Unknown Analyst: I appreciate that. My question is more just breaking out your results from the businesses, but I understand your answer.

John Saunders: Okay. I didn't understand that. I'll -- Dan, do you want to take a shot at that one?

Unknown Analyst: If you need me to explain, it's more just if we can see clearly your growth in some of those other businesses versus your -- what you've historically called the cyclical beef business? It might help investors understand all the investments and growth you're getting away from beef.

Jay Pfeiffer: Yes. Chris, this is Jay. Sorry, we -- everybody misunderstood your question, but I think we're on it now. But just to clarify, you're asking, can we break out what percentage of our revenue is beef versus non-beef-related verification certification activity?

Unknown Analyst: Yes, it's more just to allow investors to understand these other areas you've been investing in away from what's been a very cyclical beef category. That's exactly right. And you guys probably know better than us. So that was more of an open-ended question for you to consider.

John Saunders: Understood. Sorry for the misunderstanding. No, that's a great comment. I think that is -- we will definitely take that under consideration. We can definitely do it. It's just how we do it. Yes. And just so it's clear, beef is roughly 50% of our revenue, Chris.

Operator: Ladies and gentlemen, that concludes our question-and-answer session. I'll turn the floor back to Mr. Saunders for final comments.

John Saunders: Once again, thank you all for your time and your commitment. Have a great day, and we'll talk to you in 3 months.

Operator: Thank you. This concludes today's conference call. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation.

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