Bark (BARK) Q4 2026 Earnings Call Transcript

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DATE

Tuesday, June 9, 2026 at 4:30 p.m. ET

CALL PARTICIPANTS

• Chief Executive Officer — Matt Meeker
• Interim Chief Financial Officer — Brian Dostie
• Vice President of Investor Relations — Michael K. Mougias

TAKEAWAYS

• Total Revenue -- $394.8 million for the year, reflecting an intentional pullback in marketing and promotions to focus on profitability.
• Adjusted EBITDA -- $0.2 million for the year, marking a second consecutive year of positive adjusted EBITDA as stated by management.
• Commerce Segment Revenue -- $59.9 million for the year, a 2% increase despite a fourth quarter decline of 18.3% attributed to retail shipment timing.
• Bark Air Revenue -- $12.4 million for the year, more than doubling from the prior year, with 90% average utilization.
• Consolidated Gross Margin -- 61.3% for the year, with D2C gross margin at 68%, up over 200 basis points year over year.
• Marketing Investment -- $59.2 million for the year, down more than $24 million from the prior year, lowering acquisition spend to improve margins.
• Operating Cost Reductions -- Full-year G&A expense dropped by $10.8 million and shipping and fulfillment costs fell by $20.1 million, indicating structural cost discipline.
• Inventory -- Ended the year at $75.5 million, nearly $13 million lower than the previous year, highlighting working capital efficiency.
• Cash Position -- $19 million at year-end, with a debt-free balance sheet and expected positive free cash flow in the coming year.
• D2C Subscriber Base -- Entered fiscal 2027 with a smaller subscriber base but with improved retention and average order values, indicating higher quality cohorts.
• Revenue Diversification -- Commerce and Bark Air accounted for 21% of total revenue, up from 15% last year, reducing concentration risk.
• Bark Air Outlook -- Management does not expect significant revenue growth for Bark Air in the next year, prioritizing unit economics and profitability.
• Product Portfolio -- Decision made to sunset underperforming kibble and topper products to focus capital on higher-return categories.
• Fiscal 2027 Guidance -- Expected total revenue of $325 million to $340 million and adjusted EBITDA of $7 million to $10 million.
• Share Repurchase Authorization -- Board approved up to $40 million in share buybacks to be funded by ongoing free cash flow.
• Supply Chain Diversification -- Management expanded sourcing outside China for toys and non-consumables, now including multiple Southeast Asian and South American countries, improving flexibility against tariffs.
• Girl Scouts Cookie Program -- Planned late-year launch anticipated to provide incremental revenue and enhance brand awareness.
• AI Implementation -- Company is actively integrating AI and automation to lower operating costs, streamline processes, and enhance customer engagement.

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RISKS

• CEO Matt Meeker acknowledged, "We have been optimizing a model that the world has started to move past," indicating the existing subscription box strategy may be losing effectiveness.
• CEO Matt Meeker stated, "we are entering fiscal 2027 with a smaller D2C subscriber base," which is expected to result in lower near-term D2C revenue before stabilizing later in the year.
• CFO Brian Dostie disclosed that "not all AIPA tariffs paid by the company were eligible for submission," meaning $7.1 million related to cost of revenue in fiscal 2026 could not be recognized as a reduction to cost of revenue yet, delaying potential margin benefit.

SUMMARY

Management articulated a shift toward "Relationship Commerce" focused on personalized, data-driven customer engagement beyond traditional mass personalization. Capital allocation will pivot to higher-return product lines with the discontinuation of low-performing SKUs and increased supply chain resilience through regional diversification. The 2027 strategy includes leveraging AI for operational efficiency gains and launching new programs to support brand and revenue diversification.

• The board's $40 million repurchase authorization signals confidence in the intrinsic value and ongoing free cash flow profile.
• Supply chain adjustments provide flexibility to manage future tariff risks and optimize landed costs.
• Inventory reduction and disciplined working capital management underpin the expectation for a strong liquidity position in 2027.

INDUSTRY GLOSSARY

• AIPA Tariff: A U.S. customs tariff recovery mechanism applied to certain imports, enabling companies to claim refunds for previously paid tariffs under specific conditions.
• D2C: Direct-to-Consumer; vertical sales model where products are sold straight to end customers, bypassing traditional retail intermediaries.
• SKUs: Stock Keeping Units; unique product identifiers used for inventory management and product tracking.

Full Conference Call Transcript

Operator: Hello and thank you for standing by. My name is Tiffany, and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the BARC Fiscal Fourth Quarter and Full Year 26 Earnings Conference Call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speakers' remarks, there will be a question-and-answer session. If you would like to ask a question during that time, simply press star then the number 1 on your telephone keypad. I would now like to turn the call over to Michael K. Mougias, Vice President of Investor Relations. Mike, please go ahead.

Michael K. Mougias: Good afternoon, everyone. And welcome to Bark's fiscal fourth quarter and full year 26 earnings call. Joining me today are Matt Meeker, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer and Brian Dostie, Interim Chief Financial Officer. Today's conference call is being webcast in its entirety on our website. a replay of the webcast will be made available shortly after the call. Additionally, a press release covering the company's financial results was issued this afternoon, and can be found on our Investor Relations website. Before I pass it over to Matt, I want to remind you of the following information regarding forward-looking statements.

The statements made on today's call are based on management's current expectations, and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual future results and outcomes to differ. Please refer to our SEC filings for more information on some of the factors that could affect our future results and outcomes. We will also discuss certain non GAAP financial measures on today's call. A reconciliation of our non GAAP financial measures is contained in this afternoon's press release. And with that, let me now pass it over to Matt.

Matt Meeker: Thanks, Mike, and good afternoon, everyone. We set out to do 2 things in fiscal 26. Sustain adjusted EBITDA profitability despite tariff and macro volatility, and accelerate the diversification of our revenue to build a more resilient business while laying out a strategy for the way forward. We believe we have delivered on each. Adjusted EBITDA was $0.2 million for the year, marking our second consecutive year of positive adjusted EBITDA and meeting our goal of ending the year on the positive side. This builds on the progress we made in fiscal 25 when we achieved our first full year of positive adjusted EBITDA, an improvement from a $58 million loss just 3 years earlier.

Additionally, Commerce and Air represented 21% of total revenue up from 15% last year reducing our reliance on any single channel and improving the durability of the model. With sufficient cash, a debt free balance sheet, and a leaner cost structure, we are well positioned to build on this foundation in fiscal 27 and beyond as we pursue renewed growth. Before I discuss the year ahead, let me walk through some of our key highlights from the past year. I will stick to our full year figures and Brian will go into more detail on the quarter and full year. Starting at the top, total revenue was $395 million.

This reflects a deliberate decision to pull back on marketing and promotions to prioritize bottom line durability in the face of historic tariffs and a volatile macro environment. We reduced our total marketing investment by over $24 million year over year choosing to protect our margins rather than chase inefficient growth. While this approach means we are entering fiscal 2027 with a smaller D2C subscriber base, we believe the underlying quality of that base is stronger as evidenced by our steadily improving retention rates and growing average order values. Our commerce segment delivered $70 million in revenue a $1.5 million increase over last year.

Notably, while this segment remains a growth engine, the first half of the year was marked by caution among our retail partners as tariff uncertainty weighed on the market. With greater clarity following the Supreme Court's recent ruling, we believe the environment is becoming more manageable. With these headwinds behind us, we expect strong momentum for commerce in fiscal 27 with accelerating expansion across wholesale and marketplaces. Bark Air revenue more than doubled this year to over $12 million. With utilization rates averaging 90% and consistent 5-star reviews, the business has demonstrated a clear demand and a differentiated customer experience.

However, in line with our focus on profitability and cash conversion, our priority for Bark Air in fiscal 27 is the bottom line. We are focused on improving unit economics over top line expansion. And as a result, we do not expect significant revenue growth in Bark Air over the next year. Moving on, we delivered a very healthy consolidated gross margin of 61% for the year, consistent with the prior year over year despite commerce and Air representing a larger share of total revenue. On that note, our D2C gross margin was 68% up over 200 basis points year over year. We also reduced year over year costs by $55 million across G&A, shipping and fulfillment, and marketing.

While we expect these efficiencies to benefit the company in the year ahead, we will remain flexible adjusting our marketing spend up or down based on the returns we see. On that note, let's turn to our focus for fiscal 27, and our strategy more broadly. I want to start by spending a few minutes talking about the opportunity for the business and why I am confident in the way forward. Over the past several months, I spent considerable time listening to our customers, talking with our team, and analyzing the data behind our business.

I have dealt with some hard truths, a company moving at the pace we have been moving does not always give itself permission to sit with. At our core, Bark is a business with generally exceptional foundations despite the headline results. More than 1.5 million households have invited us into their homes. We have built an exceptional supply chain over the past 10 years. We have direct customer relationships that few consumer companies of our scale can claim. These are real durable advantages. But to this point, we have not fully leveraged them. In many ways, we fought the wrong battles. We have been optimizing a model that the world has started to move past.

The revenue trajectory you saw in today's results reflects that. What I want to spend the next few minutes on is what we intend to do about it and why I believe the position we are in is more advantageous than the recent numbers suggest. Let me start with what has not changed because I think it gets lost in the noise around our results. There are 71 million households in the United States with dogs, which is more than 50% of all households domestically. US spending on pets has grown from $12 billion in 2000 to over $158 billion today. This is not a market in decline. That is not a category under pressure.

If anything, the cultural and demographic tailwinds behind pet ownership has strengthened. Dogs occupy a different place in the American household than they did 20 years ago. And that shift is structural, not cyclical. there is also no dominant leader in this space. No single brand owns the dog. That remains true. The category is enormous, resilient through economic cycles, and wide open at the top. We built this company on that belief and that belief remains valid. What we need is a sharper answer to the question of where we specifically intend to win and how.

The subscription box, the model we built, and which took us from $0 to over $500 million in annual revenue, was built on a form of personalization that was at the time, genuinely differentiated. We understood that a large dog and a small dog are not the same customer. That insight was right. It still is. But the world has evolved. What was differentiated has become the floor. Mass personalization that is knowing your dog's size, your dog's age, whether they are a heavy chewer, that is table stakes now. Our customers know it. Our retention data reflects it. The opportunity we see and that we are now building toward is a fundamentally deeper level of specificity.

Not size, not age, not choose style, but the actual dog. The specific nature of a specific dog. What that dog needs, how that dog plays, what that dog's health profile looks like, what community owners of this--that same dog cares about. We are not going to do that by adding a few more quiz questions. We are going to do this by rethinking the purpose of our relationship with the customer. The insight that is guiding our next chapter is this. BarkBox is not a box. It is a relationship between a brand and a dog, mediated by a human who loves that dog. The job is not done when the box arrives.

The job is done when the dog is happy. That standard changes everything. What goes in the box, how we measure retention, how we handle service, what we sell, and most importantly, what we build next. We are calling this Relationship Commerce. It has 3 dimensions we are building against. Depth, how well do we truly understand each customer, density, how many meaningful touch points exist between us and the customer, and durability, does the customer give us permission to offer new products and services over time? Those 3 things compounded over millions of customer relationships are what a successful business looks like in this category.

We also believe AI is a competitive advantage that will allow us to adapt and evolve at a rapid scale. We have been studying this carefully. We are not behind the curve on it. We intend to be the ones who get there first and get there right. We have more to share on the specifics of our strategy in the coming quarters. What I can tell you today is that the direction is clear. The team is aligned, and the work is underway. The market is huge. The relationship is ours to deepen. And for the first time in a while, I feel like we are asking the right questions.

As we build for the long term, we are consolidating the brands and products we will build around. As part of this, we will sunset products where we have not seen adequate returns including our kibble and toppers line. That decision will allow us to reallocate capital and resources toward higher return categories where we have proven our right to win. This will also simplify the business and help improve overall profitability going forward. On D2C, we are entering the year with a smaller subscriber base, following the deliberate pullback in marketing spend last year. We expect D2C revenue to be down year over year in the first half before stabilizing in the second half and returning to growth thereafter.

In commerce, we expect our momentum to remain strong in FY 2027, with the segment representing nearly 1 quarter of total revenue in FY 2027 versus 18% in FY 2026. As we continue to expand with both new and existing retail partners. Additionally, our cookie program with the Girl Scouts is expected to launch late in the fiscal year. Providing another incremental revenue growth and brand awareness driver. Despite prioritizing gross margin and profitability over near term growth on Bark Air, we expect Bark Air and Commerce to collectively represent over $100 million of revenue further advancing our diversification strategy. Turning to guidance.

For the first quarter of fiscal 27, we expect total revenue of $77 million to $79 million and adjusted EBITDA of $0 to $1 million For the full year, we expect total revenue of $325 million to $340 million and adjusted EBITDA of $7 million to $10 million, a meaningful step up from fiscal 26 and consistent with our commitment to sustained profitability. I also want to note that our board has authorized a share repurchase program of up to $40 million to be funded by ongoing free cash flow. This reflects the board's conviction in the long term value of BART and our belief that the stock represents compelling value at current levels.

Our debt free balance sheet and improving free cash flow profile give us the flexibility to simultaneously invest in the business and return capital to shareholders. We ended the year with a debt free balance sheet, $19 million of cash, and inventory of $76 million, a reduction of approximately $13 million year over year. We delivered our second consecutive year of positive adjusted EBITDA and expect to do so again in 2027. As well as positive free cash flow. Taken together, these improvements, along with a sharper product focus and a more diversified revenue base, position us to drive sustained value for our customers, partners, and shareholders.

We still have work ahead, we are operating from a stronger foundation and a clearer path to growth. We needed to fix the underlying business so we could actually pursue the growth strategy I have outlined. With a lot of this difficult work done, we can now start pursuing a growth plan. I am more excited about this business than I have been in years, and I have confidence we are going to do something truly special. With that, I will turn the call over to Brian.

Brian Dostie: Thanks, Matt, and good afternoon, everyone. I will begin by reviewing our financial results for the fiscal fourth quarter and full year 2026, And then discuss how we are positioning the business for fiscal 27. Starting at the top, fourth quarter revenue was $86.6 million compared to $115.4 million in the prior year period. For the full year, revenue totaled $394.8 million versus $484.2 million in fiscal 25. As Matt mentioned, this top line decline reflects our intentional pullback in marketing spend and promotional activity as we prioritize bottom line durability over inefficient growth. Looking at our segments in more detail. Full-year D2C revenue was $324.9 million This includes $12.4 million from Bark Air for the full year.

Of which $3.1 million was generated in the fourth quarter. Total fourth quarter D2C revenue was $74 million While entering fiscal 27 with smaller subscriber base impacts our near term top line, the underlying quality of this base is stronger, Driven by healthier retention trends and higher average order value. Turning to commerce. Full year revenue increased 2% to $59.9 million. Fourth quarter commerce was $12.5 million down about 18.3% versus the prior year period. The fourth quarter variance was largely driven by timing of retail shipments year over year. And we continue to view commerce as an important long term growth driver for the business in fiscal 27 and beyond. Moving down the P&L.

Consolidated gross margin was 61.3% for the full year, and 62.7% for the fourth quarter. Our cost of revenue this quarter reflects $2.7 million of AIPA tariff refunds recorded as a loss recovery. We paid an additional $7.1 million in AIPA tariff refunds allocable for our cost of revenue in FY 2026 this month was not yet eligible for submission under the US Customs and Border Protection's new AIPA tariff refund portal. As a result, we were unable to record this amount as a reduction of cost of revenue in FY 26. Turning to operating expenses. Fourth quarter marketing spend was $12.6 million down roughly $4.7 million year over year.

For the full year, total marketing investment was $59.2 million down more than $24 million from fiscal 25. Moving forward, we intend to maintain this discipline in the near term while remaining flexible to reinvest if customer acquisition dynamics improve. Shipping and fulfillment expenses for the full year were $119 million down from $139.1 million last year. Primarily driven by lower D2C volume. General and administrative expenses were $103.4 million for the full year, $10.8 million drop from fiscal 25. For the fourth quarter, G&A was $26.8 million down $1.9 million year over year. Reflecting our ongoing efforts to streamline our cost structure.

Collectively, these structural cost improvements protected our bottom line and resulted in our second consecutive year of positive adjusted EBITDA. For the full year, adjusted EBITDA was $200 thousand including the fourth quarter where we generated $3.2 million While macro factors compressed our absolute margins for the year, hitting our full year profitability goal demonstrates the resilience of our leaner operating model. Turning to the balance sheet. We ended the year with a healthy cash balance of $19 million Our accounts receivable balance as of March 31, 2026, includes $3.3 million of AIPA tariff refunds. $2.9 million of which we subsequently received.

I previously mentioned that not all AIPA tariffs paid by the company were eligible for submission under the AIPA portal. We currently expect an additional $12.1 million of AIPA tariffs of which $7.1 million relates to cost of revenue in FY 2026 and $5 million relates to current inventory or cost of revenue for FY 2027. That we will be able to recognize upon eligibility of submission. Closed the year with $75.5 million in inventory. Down nearly $13 million year over year. We expect to drive further inefficiencies throughout fiscal 27. This disciplined working capital management, combined with our full year free cash flow expectations should result in a strong liquidity position.

In summary, the actions we took throughout fiscal 26 delivered meaningful operational and financial improvement. Although the decisions resulted in smaller subscriber base entering fiscal 27, the underlying quality of the subscriber is higher, reflected in healthier cohorts and improved retention. Combined with a leaner cost structure and continued focus on profitability, we believe we are well positioned to further improve adjusted EBITDA and generate positive free cash flow in fiscal 27. And with that, I will turn the call over to the operator for Q&A.

Operator: Press star, then the number 1 on your telephone keypad. Your first question comes from the line of Kaumil Gajrawala with Jefferies. Please go ahead.

Conti: Hi, team. Thank you for taking my question. This is Kaumil on for the team at Jefferies. Can you provide the building blocks to your $7 million to $10 million adjusted EBITDA guidance? You are operating from a lower revenue base compared to years past. Given the focus on a smaller base of DTC customers. So just curious what the levers are, and then I will have a follow-up. Thank you.

Matt Meeker: Sure. Kaumil. This is Matt. The levers are as Brian was saying, that throughout the year, we have improved our unit economics pretty well across the board. The average order value of a subscriber is higher. The costs have come down. And then when you last year's product costs were certainly burdened by tariffs. And we do not see that burden nearly to the same extent going forward. So that is very helpful. But more efficiency throughout the p and l. Stronger retention leading to those stronger cohorts. So the quality of the customer is 1 aspect of that.

Another is the cost reduction efforts that we have taken earlier this year, earlier in the calendar year that is downsizing the team, really leaning in quite a bit on AI and automation across the team, replacing more expensive SaaS software contracts, things like that. So across the board, just a leaner, more lean operation with much better unit economics all the way through. And that sets us up for being able to invest in growth once we get the new playbook that we have in mind in place for that.

Conti: Thank you. Thank you, Matt. So on top of that, can you kind of just remind me or us in terms of, is the sourcing situation? Like, I if I recall correctly, you are mainly relying for the most part, on 1 specific country. From a from a production perspective. And does that still stand true, or are you doing something quite different? On a go forward basis?

Matt Meeker: it is not entirely true. No. Coming into fiscal 26, we almost entirely on the toy side of things, or non consumable side, we are almost entirely relying on China. Once we came into the year and faced the tariff headwinds that the whole world faced, we quickly got to building diversification throughout our supply chain. So we are now not including the consumables in the US or any other US based products. We are now--we at least have the option of bringing products in from a handful of Southeast Asia countries and South America as well. So there is a bit of mixing and matching based on the overall cost, including any cost of tariffs, and quality.

So we have got much more diversification and flexibility there, and you know, theoretically, if a large tariff popped up somehow in China, it is a pretty quick operation for us to fail over or move over to another country. Gotcha. And I apologize for misspeaking earlier. Yes. I specifically for toys, and you answered my question. Thank you very much. I will pass it on. Thanks, Kaumil.

Operator: That concludes our question-and-answer session. Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today's call. Thank you all for joining. You may now disconnect.

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