BellRing Brands finished its 2024 fiscal year on a high, with strong volume growth for its Premier Protein brand driving net sales to the high end of expectations in its Q4 and full year earnings report this morning.
Full fiscal year net sales rose 19.8% to $1.9 billion, with an operating profit of $387.7 million. Q4 net sales, meanwhile, rose 17.6% to $555.8 million, with an operating profit of $112.1 million.
“This year was a pivotal year for our largest brand, Premier Protein, because we steadily increased our supply and we demonstrated that the demand is there and will continue to grow as we layer in demand drivers,” said president and CEO Darcy H. Davenport on a call with investors and analysts this morning.
Davenport noted that Premier Protein reached new “all-time highs” in household penetration, market share, distribution and buy rates. The brand saw 20.3% net sales and 19.5% volume growth in Q4, with its RTD shakes line growing 20.7%. Davenport attributed growth in mass, foodservice and ecommerce to accelerated velocities and display activity, in addition to new distribution gains, while the Pumpkin Spice fall seasonal flavor drove incremental improvements.
“What is truly unique is that we did this without significant advertising or promotion at many retailers, further illustrating the brand’s strengths and future potential,” she added.
BellRing’s powdered Dymatize brand also saw positive growth, with net sales up 3.9% in Q4 and volume up 6.7%, despite “relatively flat” U.S. consumption compared to the previous quarter due to “ongoing softness in the specialty channel and a tougher comparable at food and club,” Davenport said. However, international net sales rose 30% in the quarter.
The company is now projecting another strong fiscal year for 2025, reflecting the volume growth and a “pivot from supply focus to demand driving,” with plans to increase marketing spend for Premier Protein, including a new ad campaign launching in Q1 of the new calendar year.
“I am thrilled with our performance this year. Our confidence in the long term outlook of BellRing remains high,” she said. “Strong macro tailwinds around protein are driving robust long term growth in our category with ready-to-drink and powdered segments in the early stages of growth.”
Analysts were similarly positive on the company’s results. Investment bank Jefferies said that BellRing’s “solid end” to the fiscal year “nicely” beat Wall Street expectations for the business, and that its planned higher marketing spend “should add a boost to existing growth tailwinds.”