Jerash Holdings (US), Inc. (JRSH) Q2 FY2026 Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Good day, everyone, and welcome to the Jerash Holdings Fiscal 2026 Second Quarter Financial Results. [Operator Instructions] It is now my pleasure to hand the floor over to your host, Roger Pondel, Investor Relations. Sir, the floor is yours.

Thank you very much, Matt. Good morning, everyone. Welcome to Jerash Holdings Fiscal 2026 second quarter conference call. I'm Roger Pondel with PondelWilkinson, Jerash Holdings Investor Relations firm. On the call today from the company are Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Sam Choi; Chief Financial Officer, Gilbert Lee; and Eric Tang, who leads the company's operations in Jordan. Before I turn the call over to Sam, I want to remind our listeners that today's call may include forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements are subject to numerous conditions, many of which are beyond the company's control, including those set forth in the Risk Factors section of the company's most recent Form 10-K as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and copies of which are available on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov, along with other company filings made with the SEC from time to time. Actual results could differ materially from these forward-looking statements, and Jerash Holdings undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements except as required by law. And with that behind us, I will turn the call over to Sam Choi. Sam?

Thank you, Roger. Despite ongoing trade uncertainties, we continue to experience robust and growing demand from our long-standing customers and newly established strategic partners. Jordan is increasingly recognized as a preferred manufacturing hub for global brands seeking to diversify their supply chains beyond Asia. Apparel exports from Jordan to the United States at a current effective tariff raise of 15% remains significantly more favorable than other major sourcing countries, [indiscernible] range from 20% to more than 60%. In addition, Jordan maintains free trade agreements with other key markets, including the EU, U.K. and Canada. Furthermore, Jordan's labor framework which enables manufacturers to contract skill foreign workers further enhances our production quality and operational efficiency. This labor flexibility combined with favorable trade conditions reinforces Jerash position as an attractive strategic sourcing partner for global brands navigating ongoing economic shifts. In late June, we successfully completed the expansion of our existing manufacturing facilities, increasing our production capacity by approximately 15%. This additional capacity was much needed to support growing demand from our global customers and strategic partners. Looking ahead, we are receiving continued requests for even greater capacity, which has prompted us to initiate a long-term expansion plan. This plan includes evaluating potential acquisitions and developing our own land. This initiative is designed to ensure that Jerash remains well positioned to meet evolving market demand and sustain our competitive edge in the global apparel industry. As part of our ongoing strategy, we continue to successfully diversify both our customer base and product mix. These efforts was aimed at enhancing year-round production stability and reducing the impact of seasonality on our business. While we anticipate these changes will strengthen our long-term growth, we do expect a slightly lower average gross margin in the near term. As order volumes for our expanded product offerings continue to scale in the coming years, our goal is to gradually improve gross profit margins to approximately 20%. We expect to achieve this through increased production automation and the benefits of economies of scale. During this important period of progress for the company, we remain vigilant about the potential impact of regional geopolitical uncertainties and involving tariff developments. These factors are being closely monitored as we advance our growth strategy to ensure resilience and long-term success. With that, I will now turn the call over to Eric, who is in charge of our operations in Jordan.

Thank you, Sam. As we have noted previously, we believe the recent shift in U.S. tariff policy has accelerated the urgency with which businesses are looking to diversify their manufacturing footprint. And we are seeking ways to accommodate growing capacity demands. We have successfully completed shipping the initial phase of the major collaboration order of more than 3 million pairs of girl shorts from a strategic partnership with Hansoll Textile, a leading South Korea-based global apparel group that supplies a wide range of garments to major international retail and fashion brands. Shipment of second phase is now scheduled to be completed by end of November. Production and shipments for the rest of the order are scheduled to continue through February of 2026. We are actively collaborating with both Hansoll and its customer, a leading U.S.-based multinational and omnichannel retail corporation to discuss additional synergies and foster continued collaboration and growth together. Shipping logistics in the region have returned to normal, both the Haifa and Aqaba ports are fully operational for shipping finished goods and receiving raw materials. We are optimistic that the nearly 2-year period of transportation challenges is behind us, allowing us to resume an interrupted logistics support for our global customers. We continue to receive new business inquiries and buyers from our major customers have submitted increased order projections for 2026. We are currently awaiting confirmation of purchase orders to begin planning production schedules beyond our current capacity, which is fully booked through February. These new opportunities reinforce our growth outlook and validate our strategy, focusing on diversifying both our customer base and product mix. This approach enables us to optimize production capacity and drive stronger top line performance and margins throughout the year. As Sam mentioned earlier, we are looking at different ways to expand our production capacity. The current collaboration expansion with the Jordanian Ministry of Labor to develop an extension adjacent to our existing facility in Al-Hasa is in progress. Upon completion, which is now expected in the second half of calendar year 2026, should add another 5% to 10% in total production capacity. Additionally, we are seeking other factory acquisition possibilities as well as development of our own land. We look forward to keeping you updated of our progress. With that, I will now turn the call over to Gilbert to discuss our financial results. Gilbert, please.

Thank you, Eric. Revenue for the fiscal 2026 second quarter grew 4.3% to $42 million compared to $40.2 million in the same quarter last year. The increase was primarily driven by higher shipment volumes to the company's U.S. customers supported by a more diversified customer base starting this fiscal year. Gross profit was $6.3 million for the fiscal 2026 second quarter compared with $7.1 million in the same quarter last year. Gross profit margin for the quarter declined to 15.0% from 17.5% in the same quarter last year, which benefited from catch-up production of some outerwear that carried higher margins originally scheduled for the first quarter of fiscal 2025. The decrease was primarily driven by the diversification of broader customer base and a shift in product mix, which resulted in a lower average gross margin. Operating expenses decreased to $5.2 million in the fiscal 2026 second quarter from $5.9 million in the same quarter last year. The decrease was primarily due to better control of export costs and lower stock-based compensation expenses. Operating income was $1.09 million in the fiscal 2026 second quarter slightly lower than $1.13 million in the same quarter last year. Total other expenses were $456,000 in the fiscal 2026 second quarter compared with $364,000 in the same quarter last year, primarily reflecting the increase in financing needs to support business growth. Income tax expenses were $154,000 in the fiscal 2026 second quarter compared with $106,000 in the prior year quarter. The effective tax rate increased to 24.3% for the 3 months ended September 30, 2025, compared with 13.7% in the same quarter last year. Net income was $479,000 or $0.04 per diluted share in the fiscal 2026 second quarter compared with $665,000 or $0.05 per diluted share in the same quarter last year. Comprehensive income attributable to the company's common stockholders totaled $440,000 in the fiscal 2026 second quarter compared with $663,000 in the same quarter last year. As of September 30, 2025, Jerash had cash and restricted cash totaled $13.7 million and net working capital of $35.2 million. Inventory was $26.3 million and accounts receivable amounted to $5.8 million. Net cash provided by operating activities was approximately $318,000 for the 6 months ended September 30, 2025, compared with cash provided by operating activities of approximately $2.4 million for the same period in fiscal 2025. The decrease in net cash provided by operating activities was primarily driven by an increase in accounts receivable as a larger volume of goods was shipped towards the end of September as well as advanced payments to suppliers for orders scheduled to be completed in the fiscal third quarter. On November 7, 2025, Jerash's Board of Directors approved a regular quarterly dividend of $0.05 per share on its common stock, payable on November 26, 2025, to stockholders of record as of November 19. We are enthusiastic about our business prospects and performance ahead. As we look at the near term and implement our long-term expansion plans, at the same time, we're staying focused on cost controls, and enhancing operating efficiencies. Looking ahead, we expect revenue for the fiscal 2026 third quarter to increase by 19% to 21% over the same quarter last year. And our gross margin for the fiscal 2026 third quarter is expected to be approximately 13% to 15%. We will now open up the call for questions, and I will turn the call back to the operator.

[Operator Instructions] Your first question is coming from Ryan Meyers from Lake Street Capital.

First one for me. When we think about the revenue guide for the third quarter, is there any way you can break out how much of that is just coming from additional capacity that's come online versus how much of that is just increased order flow and demand?

We really don't break it down like that. I mean, our capacity overall has increased by about 10% to 15% over last fiscal year despite the expansion -- our internal expansion throughout the existing capacity by adding machineries and adding people. So that amounts to about 15% increase in capacity. And then the rest of them would be increase in demand, increase in orders during the third quarter -- I mean, third quarter year-to-year comparison.

Okay. Makes sense. And then thinking about where the gross margins came in at and where you guys guided for the third quarter. I know you said earlier on in the prepared remarks that the goal is to improve the gross margins of the business to 20% or so. So can you just walk us through, I mean what needs to happen to get us from where we're at now through this 20% gross margin? And then maybe if you can put some sort of a time line or timetable on getting to those kind of 20% or so gross margins would be helpful.

As Sam has indicated, in the near term, the gross margin we're going to be still at a relatively flat or lower comparing to what we have been before because we're taking on some new customers. Usually, when we take on new customers and the new styles and new ways of making those products will cause us to be a little bit less efficient. But at the same time, we are also working on automating many of our production processes, also implementing ERP system. But all this will take a while. So it is a long-term goal that we get back to about 20% in gross margin, but it will take a few years. Our goal is to get back there with expansion, with increasing volume and just by economies of scale and eventually, probably after our 5-year plan, we will be able to gradually get back to about 20% gross margin.

Your next question is coming from Keegan Cox from D.A. Davidson.

Keegan on for Mike Baker. I just had a question on your -- I just had inventory or an inventory-related question. Inventory is up 30%. Is that year-over-year? Is that kind of a typical seasonal build? Like you usually work inventory down from 2Q to 3Q, at least from what I'm looking at. So if you can just give some context on that number, it would be great.

Well, the inventory is usually relatively higher in the -- at the first quarter. And then, yes, in second quarter, it will go down. But -- but this year is relatively -- it's kind of different because we're taking on a large volume customer, and we have to procure a lot more raw material to be ready for production during our traditionally slower season, which is the third quarter and the fourth quarter. But now we are fully booked, and we anticipate to have a lot more production utilizing a lot more raw material and supplies in the upcoming quarter.

Got it. And then just a follow-up on -- you talked about acquisitions or expansions in the press release and on the call so far. As you think about that, are you looking to acquire factories within Jordan? Or is there any possibility of expansion into other geographies?

As of now, our plan is more focusing on our Jordan manufacturing base.

Your next question is coming from Igor Novgorodtsev from Lares Capital.

So my first question is about your expansion. Maybe you can provide a little bit more details of who are the customers for whom you're expanding? Are the new customer mostly or these existing customers which you already have, which shifted the volume to Jordan or to your factories?

Well, we see increasing orders and increasing projections from our existing customers as well as new customers and potential new customers that are just coming here, coming to our company and ask for ways of collaborations. So our existing customers, as you know, North Face, New Balance, they are all increasing what they want to do in Jordan. So on that end, we will try to continue to gradually grow with those existing legacy customers, but new customers like Hansoll, which is the Korean-based retail -- the Korean-based manufacturer that they just started doing business with us, but the potential is huge. Like Eric said, we just finished the first phase of the production of 3.7 million pieces of girl shorts, and we're getting -- we're still getting new orders from them. So the increase or the expansion plan is really for all the existing customers, the new customers that we have onboarded in the past year or months as well as new customers that we're still working with. So the demand is definitely real and we're seeing it in the next few years. So that's why we now really focus on developing our long-term strategic growth plan. And we will make announcements about our growth plan in the upcoming months. But as of now, we're still in the development stage and once our Board approved it, then we will disclose that to everybody.

Also, if you can just give me a sort of snapshot of a pre-tariff versus post-tariff abroad. Obviously, a lot of things have changed in the United States. The customers, which are coming to you now, where are they coming from? So you just mentioned Asia, but what specific countries? Is it just China? Or this is also like Vietnam and Bangladesh? If you can just give us some better idea where they're coming from? Where they're reducing their footprint and growth to expand at your factories?

Well, we have new customers, well Hansoll, even though they're based in South Korea, they're supplying the U.S. So we're still producing in Jordan and shipping products to the U.S. That's why the advantage for us is because we have lower tariff rates for shipping to the U.S. comparing to manufacturers in China, in Asia. So that's why everyone is focusing on coming to Jordan. And at the same time, we are also growing our shipping to Europe because we have 0 tariff, 0 duty for shipping to the EU. So our business to Europe is also growing rapidly.

Okay.

And Eric, you want to add...

Yes. In fact, to our understanding, I mean, the customer would like to shift some of their orders from China or even India because the Indian tariffs, the reciprocal tariff to the U.S.A. has been increased substantially. So -- I mean, some orders according to our understanding were shifted from China and India. Yes.

Okay. So my last question is about your Q4. Q4 traditionally has been a weak quarter for you because there's just not a lot of order, so you took up on like local orders. So I understand that this Q4 is looking quite a bit different, better, basically. So you can just maybe tell me a little bit about -- I understand you didn't provide the guidance yet for Q4, but maybe at least qualitatively, how is this Q4 going to be different from Q4 last couple of years?

Yes. This year is going to be different. I mean you're right, in the past, we are quite seasonal. And the first half of the year usually has a much higher sales than the second half. But this year, it's going to be quite similar. The second half of the year will be quite similar to the first half. It's not -- still not as high as the first half. But as Eric has indicated, with -- our capacity is fully booked through the end of February, and our year-end in March. So it's likely that our Q4 will be still a pretty good quarter.

That concludes our Q&A session. I will now hand the conference back to CEO, Sam Choi for closing remarks. Please go ahead.

Thank you, operator, and thanks to all of you for joining us today. Our business is clearly moving in the right direction. We appreciate your continued support and interest in Jerash, and look forward to speaking with you soon about our progress. Thank you all of you.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Thank you. This concludes today's event...

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.