Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Motorcar Parts of America's Fiscal 2022 First Quarter Conference Call. . I'd now like to hand the conference over to your speakers,. Gary Maier, Vice President of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Thanks, Christina. Thanks, everyone, for joining us today for our fiscal 2022 first quarter conference call. Before we begin, I turn the call over to Selwyn Joffe, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer; and David Lee, the company's Chief Financial Officer, I'd like to remind everyone of the safe harbor statement included in today's press release. The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides a safe harbor for certain forward-looking statements, including statements made during today's conference call. Such forward-looking statements are based on the company's current expectations and beliefs concerning future developments and their potential effects on the company. There can be no assurance that future developments affecting the company will be those anticipated by Motorcar Parts of America. Actual results may differ from those projected in the forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties, some of which are beyond the control of the company and are subject to change based upon various factors. The company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. For a more detailed discussion of some of the ongoing risks and uncertainties of the company's business, I refer you to the various filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. With that said, I'd like to begin the call and turn the call over to Selwyn.

Thank you, Gary. I appreciate everyone joining us today. I hope everyone is staying safe and healthy. As noted in this morning's press release, we achieved record sales for our fiscal first quarter. Our new fiscal year is off to an excellent start with strong demand for our products across multiple categories. Let me start by providing some color about our hard parts business and then briefly discuss our emerging presence within the electric vehicle market. The outlook for hard parts replacement continues to accelerate, despite global health issues related to new COVID-19 variants and challenges impacting the supply chain, both of which don't really require much explanation given the extent of daily news coverage of the situation. Let's just say the challenges are real from a social and business standpoint, and we are doing our part to keep our employees safe and our customers prepared for continued strong demand for automotive replacement parts. Historically, I might add, we do experience some seasonality to customer order patterns, but the fiscal first quarter usually being somewhat less robust and the second and fourth quarter relatively stronger. Clearly, our strong fiscal first quarter sales performance, despite associated COVID-related challenges seems to have changed this historical pattern, that we will see what the new normal will be in the quarters ahead. Regardless, it is great for our business that drivers are returning to the roads and demand for automotive hard parts is as strong as ever. As I mentioned during our call in June, we are benefiting from our investments from multi-growth platforms in our hard parts business. We expect each of our product lines to grow, and we are focused on meeting the increased demand in all categories. Our newest product line, brake calipers, continues to gain traction, excuse the pun. And…

Thank you, Selwyn. To begin, I encourage everyone to read the 8-K filed this morning, with respect to our June 30, 2021 earnings press release for more detailed explanations of the results. For information about the items that impacted the results, see Exhibits 1 through 3 of the press release. Let me take a moment to review the financial highlights, including record sales for a first quarter. Net sales for the fiscal '22 first quarter increased 56.3% to $149 million from $95.4 million for the same period a year earlier. I should mention that on a 2-year comparison from the June 2019 pre-COVID first quarter, net sales increased by 36.5% or approximately $40 million. Gross profit for the fiscal '22 first quarter was $23.6 million compared with $13.4 million a year earlier. Gross profit as a percentage of net sales for the fiscal '22 first quarter was 15.8% compared with 14% a year earlier. Gross margin for the fiscal '22 first quarter was negatively impacted by an aggregate of 7% by the following: 1.3% for brake caliper start-up costs and relocation transition expenses; 3.2% due to higher freight costs and expenses related to COVID; 1.7% noncash core premium amortization impacting sales; 0.7% noncash revaluation of cores on customer shelf; and 0.1% customer allowances related to new business. Let me provide a little more color on the factors impacting gross margin. Brake caliper start-up costs and relocation transition expenses are part of our footprint expansion in Mexico. As you may recall, we completed the construction of our buildings in Mexico this past fiscal year and have focused on increasing production of brake calipers, including core sorting and related activities to meet the current and future demand. First quarter start-up and transition expenses were significantly reduced by approximately 50% to $2 million…

. And your first question comes from the line are Sarkis Sherbetchyan with B. Riley Securities.

Just want to start off with a question here on the orders. 1Q, obviously, very strong. Just wondering if customers pulled purchases ahead maybe to the detriment of the following quarters? Or do you see the order strength continuing based on kind of the customer demand you're seeing out there?

I think that the first quarter orders were pulled forward somewhat. Having said that, the second quarter will -- looks like it will continue to be strong. But definitely, what we're seeing are 2 things, at least in the first quarter is, number one, our brake caliper business has grown dramatically and seasonality for brake calipers is -- generally would be in our fourth and first quarters, a little bit in the second, but mostly in the first, which we haven't really seen as much of in the past. And then we definitely see some fast ordering from our customers because the demand of the register has been very strong.

Got it. And in regards to kind of the brake calipers business, I'm not sure if you've provided kind of a number or as far as kind of the annualized sales level that you've accomplished so far? Any updates there?

So like I speak today, our 10-Q that we'll file later today, we do break out the product mix. So the brakes and related is about 16% of total sales compared to a lower percentage for the previous periods.

Great. And I just wanted to also ask, at what point do you think it's appropriate to provide the annual guide. I think the last call, you guys kind of held off. Just wanted to see if at some point you're kind of looking to provide an annual target or it's kind of too soon.

It's a little -- it's still so uncertain. I mean with the Delta variant out there, and -- I mean, it's just hard to tell. And I mean, even we're as robust as we've been in a long time. I mean I don't know guidance on the upside or the downside. I mean I just think it's just a little too unpredictable right now. But the only -- the input I would give you is that the first month of the second quarter was off to a strong start. That's as of now.

And your next question comes from the line of Matt Koranda with ROTH Capital.

Wondering, David, if you could just provide a further breakdown of revenue by rotating electrical, wheel hub and essentially your brake products would be helpful.

Yes, absolutely. So for the first quarter, rotating electrical was about 67%, wheel hub 14%, and as I mentioned, brakes and related 16% and the other 3%.

Okay. Helpful. And then just on the brake products, maybe following on from the earlier line of questioning. It does look like, I mean, that's taken a meaningful step up in terms of quarterly run rate. And you did reference, look, it's typically seasonally strong in terms of order flow in Q1. But any help in terms of the way we should be thinking about that on a quarterly basis for '22, just given the seasonality that you mentioned, but the strength in order flow.

There's two factors. Our market share continues to grow and the volumes are coming to their own on the existing shares. So it's -- I think the fourth quarter should be a very strong quarter as well for brake calipers this year. And overall, the year will be strong. I think will be stronger, I mean, for calipers, but I think the volumes that you'll see will be in the first 2 quarters and the fourth quarter for calipers. We should see -- as we get to the fourth quarter, we should see successive growth, even above this quarter's volume.

Okay. All right. That's helpful, Selwyn. And then just on the COVID-related expenses within cost of goods. So appreciate the breakout, and you guys mentioned, I think, close to $3 million of increased freight costs related to COVID. So -- just wanted to get a little bit more detail on sort of how you allocate the higher freight cost to COVID versus just general supply chain tightness that's out there that's being experienced. And then how much headwind should we be factoring in for the next quarter or so? I know visibility is kind of tough. But just wanted to get a sense for how much more headwind we've got to experience for the next quarter or so.

So the freight -- let me try and start, and then David can take over the detail. The freight headwinds, all the incremental cost, I believe, is either directly or indirectly related to COVID, I mean, where capacity was pulled back dramatically and then demand went up exponentially without capacity catching up. And so what you saw historically freight costs could have been as low as $2,000 a container coming out of China to today, I mean, I've seen prices as high as $18,000 a container. So you're looking at 900% increase in those costs. I mean is it all COVID or are there other things? I don't know, but we classify that as COVID. I think it's related to capacity and the capacity issue is definitely related to COVID. And I think it's going to go on for a few quarters at least. But at some point, that normalizes. I mean, the global capitalistic tendencies to provide capacity when capacity is needed. And as that happens, I think freight will come down again. But we'll -- we're going to have to wait and see. And you have inflation in material costs and inflation in labor, but all of that we expect -- we have to pass through prices. I mean the entire industry is doing that. We have done that and it has not reflected in our numbers yet. But it's coming out. Our direct out-of-pocket for COVID has come down in terms of just the PPE type stuff. Again, with the Delta variant, we'll have to wait and see how that all unfolds. But right now, we continue -- Mexico continues to operate efficiently. We have had challenges in our Malaysia facility. The country of Malaysia has had some pretty specific challenges, though they are doing a phenomenal job with catching up vaccinations right now. And so we're starting to reopen in Malaysia. Let's hope that, that continues. Chinese variant also still going on. I mean, with China and the COVID side, too, we'll have to see how that unfolds.

Okay. Helpful. Last one, I guess, you mentioned labor cost pressure kind of starting to impact a little bit more in important countries. Just wondered if you could give a little bit more granularity about where you're seeing the most pressure on labor. Is it more in the Mexico manufacturing base? And what are some of the elements or levers that you have, tools that you have at your disposal to sort of counteract some of the labor inflation you're seeing?

Well, again, mostly Mexico, I mean, that's where the majority of our labor force is, have, I think, a 35% increase in the minimum wage, federal minimum wage in Mexico earlier this year. So that contributes to some of the challenges. Again, that's part of what we use when we computed passing through our price increases, which should start reflecting at the end of this quarter.

. Your next question comes from the line of Brian Nagel with Oppenheimer.

So a bit of a follow-up on some of the -- a couple of the prior questions. But just, Selwyn, you've got very nice start of the fiscal year here with sales and you talked about continued strength into your fiscal second quarter. So the question I have is and I'm trying to get is just what do you view as underlying sustainability as the economies are pulling -- hopefully pulling away from the COVID crisis. So maybe what I'm trying to frame the question would be, as you work kind of geographically across the United States, some parts of the country, further from the COVID crisis and others, are you seeing any regional differences in demand trends for your products?

Well, I think the Northeast is probably slightly ahead of everywhere else. But I mean, there's demand everywhere. Used car lots are empty. And those cars are on the road. And then again, a lot of those cars are older, and they need a lot of maintenance. I mean we see, while many people talk about stimulus checks certainly are not being spent on a nondiscretionary alternate or a start-up, but what's happening is you've got all these old cars that were certainly part of the registration park -- car park but they were sitting in parking lots. And now these cars are being used. And so I think you -- certainly on nondiscretionary items like ours, it has spiked. Now comparatives are going to be tougher as we go through the year because last year, we had stimulus and we had really strong quarters. But having said that, I think that this is going to be a real strong growth year for us. I think the first 6 months is going to be up over the last year and the back 6 months is going to be strong. So lots of activity in the back 6 months and a lot of new opportunities opening up there as well. And we're excited about our electric vehicle opportunities. So I think it's a sustainable. Again, I don't think 59% is the -- 53% is what you should be assuming for growth, but we're going to have double-digit growth.

Got it. That's helpful. Then my second question is also a follow-up, just with respect to the supply disruptions, particularly those tied to shipping or containers. We're hearing this more and more. I mean every -- pretty much every company I talk to now is to some extent talking about. You mentioned in your prepared comments. But I guess as we look at the financials, maybe it's more of a question for David, but if you look at the financials here in fiscal Q1, is there a way to really size where we'd see these impacts of shipping disruptions? And then a second follow-up to that would be how should we think about these extra costs as we push into Q2 and potentially beyond?

So the supply chain that we've identified, items that impacted the results, as Selwyn mentioned, there is freight. We've had additional inefficiencies in the supply chain that we mentioned. We also have the decreasing specific PPE type costs. So we're going to continue to monitor them very carefully, and we're working with our supply chain, and they have excellent relationships with our suppliers around the globe. But there is an element of -- we're doing our very best, but there are certain factors that we can't control. But we're working very closely to monitor.

Maybe, David, you can give the dollars you mentioned earlier in your prepared remarks on what those were.

Yes. So for the impact on gross profit was about $4.8 million of increased expenses related to COVID, and the majority of that is going to be the freight cost.

Yes. Freight is a challenge right now.

And I guess just that $4.8 million, David that. Is there a thought as to where that would be in Q2 -- I mean, you recognize it's not as apples-to-apples or quarter-to-quarter, but is there a thought to where that $4.8 million would be in Q2?

It probably will be similar. I mean, if the volumes are similar. So I'm expecting it to be similar. Again, by the end of Q2, we should have mitigated some of that because our price increases will start reflecting.

And your last question comes from the line of Scott Stember with CL King.

I'm just looking at the gross margin from an adjusted basis after the adjustments that you -- or the impact items that you mentioned in the release and you did , it's up versus last year, but last year's numbers, obviously, there was significant inefficiencies and shutdown from COVID. But if I look at it versus 2 years ago, a little over for the first quarter over 24%. What's the delta there? Is it things like raw materials and other related supply chain issues and labor? Is that really the difference? I'm just trying to get a sense of also -- I know you guys are not guiding, but if you could just give a framework of where a peak run rate of margins -- gross margin could be for the year.

Yes. So I mean, we don't adjust for labor. So labor is in that number for sure. And we don't adjust for what's recurring. I mean, we are trying to identify the unusual COVID.

In addition, I mentioned the raw material, the supplies, the inflationary costs, those are impacting the margins. So as we been mentioning, the price increases are taking effect this quarter, to mitigate off that -- some of those costs. So that's excluding the further price increases.

Yes, yes. I just wanted to see if there was anything else structural in there. And it sounds as if when the price increases go through in the next quarter or so, that should certainly cover that, right?

Yes.

Yes. And I think the other thing, Scott, to mention is, over time, you got to realize the brake caliper facility is very new. And so -- and a lot of the expanded brake booster production is new in Mexico. And we have a lot of new production in wheel hubs as well. These factories, over time, get far more efficient as they mature. So it doesn't go from A to Z. It goes slowly through the Alphabet in terms of its progress. But we should see more efficiencies as we get more mature in our production facilities.

Yes. And to the question about the margins, I guess, I mean you kind of said that sales, double digits, at least it looks like for the year or just in general. But what about the margin? Where could we be -- is this just a range where you think we can get back to on gross margins?

With the price increases, we should be back in the -- at least the mid-20s. But again, we're not giving guidance specifically, just giving you a flavor for what the price increase would be for them.

Got it. No, that's good. And just lastly, it sounds like you said that there was some, I guess, seasonally large orders that were -- you probably didn't expect to happen this quarter and it did. And you also talked about stimulus checks. And I was just trying to get a little more flavor on that. I would think that with the do-it-for-me side starting to really perk up here, that wouldn't be as impacted by stimulus checks. Could you just talk about that?

Yes, I agree with you. And I use those word, that stimulus, because that's what the industry has been talking about that. I mean when you talk about nondiscretionary items, I'm not sure the stimulus per se does it, but it's sort of the environment of people having more capital and doing more things. I think the fundamental driver for us is number of used cars that are being utilized as opposed to being parked right now, and hot weather. I mean both of those are really driving demand, and we continue to see strong demand. Again, there's some seasonality and there's some change in order patterns. But overall, it continues to be very, very strong.

Yes. And just related to the hot weather, I know rotating electric definitely benefits, which -- is it starters or alternators that benefit from the extreme heat?

Both. Both. I mean, generally starters benefit more from cold weather, but both when that engine compartment gets hot and you've got electrical items and then you get the benefit. I mean, alternators a little more from the heat and starters a little less from the heat and it switches when it comes to the cold weather.

And you have another question from the line of Matt Koranda with ROTH Capital.

Just wanted to touch on the price increase, and I may have missed it earlier, but could you just touch on the timing of the price increases that were put through. And then if you could help us understand it by maybe characterizing percent of your SKUs that saw where you took pricing and then rate increases on average, that would be very helpful.

Yes, I can't give you as much granularity as I'm sure you would love, but just because for competitive purposes, and we can't talk specifically about price increases. But our intent is clearly to mitigate freight and labor costs that I talked about. We should see that beginning -- it'll reflect a little bit in this quarter, in the second quarter and certainly fully in the third quarter.

You have no further questions at this time. I'll now turn it back to management for any closing remarks.

Great. I'd like to take a few moments to discuss the outlook for our business. While there are very -- many variables in the world that we cannot control, we do control our own strategy. And I'm excited to outline what our new capacity allows us to do and where we are taking the company today and in the future. We are extremely focused on our core hard parts aftermarket business and expect to continue to grow this business organically for each product line. In addition, we are launching more product lines that we are optimistic about, which will even further accelerate our growth. Also, as our footprint of the future, which is now a footprint of today, matures, we will see increases in productivity, which will result in reduced costs and better margins. While there are many variables in costs today, we expect this to stabilize and through a combination of appropriate pricing and enhanced efficiencies that I mentioned, our margins will improve. This in conjunction with our accelerated revenue growth bodes well for increased earnings and shareholder returns. In addition to our hard parts business, our diagnostics business in both internal combustion engines and electrical vehicles is picking up momentum, and we expect positive EBITDA from both this year. Along with this diagnostic business, we are focused on adding contract testing at year-end, which should further enhance our revenue and our contribution margins. It allows us to scale revenues without linear scaling of capital expenditures and enables our customer base to get quicker and more efficient results and feedback with less capital outlay. Our Vision Group is also working diligently on numerous technologies that will place us in the EV power system, either a software or licensed IP. While the world of electrification is fast developing, we feel…

This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating and you may now disconnect.