Synergy CHC Corp. Q4 2025 Earnings Call - One-time charges drove the loss, RTD momentum and Mexico rollouts set 2026 up for growth
Summary
Synergy finished 2025 with headline losses driven by a cluster of one-time hits, not an operational collapse. A $2.9 million license reversal, a $6.66 million bad debt allowance, a $1.04 million obsolete inventory write-off and a $0.9 million prepaid media credit write-off turned a year that was otherwise margin-accretive into a steep quarterly and annual loss. Strip out those items and gross margins improve materially, though operating costs remain elevated due to corporate development fees.
Management is pushing a clearer growth story for 2026: a newly formed Mexican subsidiary with initial Costco de México shipments, rapid early retail penetration for Focus + Energy RTDs and shots, and millions of cans in stock ready to ship. That operational momentum is real, but it is paired with thin cash balances, rising inventory, ongoing GLP-1 pressure on the Flat Tummy brand, and a crucial dependency on restarting TV advertising to drive same-store lift. In short, the mess was mostly one-time, the upside is tangible, and execution will decide whether 2026 is the recovery year or another sideways slog.
Key Takeaways
- Q4 2025 net revenue was $6.07 million versus $10.27 million year over year, a 41% decline driven largely by a $2.9 million license revenue reversal tied to the UAE/Turkey agreement termination.
- Excluding the $2.9 million license reversal, Q4 revenue was $8.97 million, a 12.7% decline versus prior year, indicating softer core sales but not a collapse.
- Q4 gross margin plunged to 36.6% from 63.3% a year ago; excluding the license reversal and a $1.04 million obsolete inventory write-off, adjusted gross margin would have been 68.8%, higher than prior year.
- Q4 operating expenses jumped to $15.53 million from $5.14 million, driven by one-time items: a $6.66 million bad debt allowance and a $0.9 million prepaid media credit write-off; without those, operating expenses would have been about $8 million.
- Net loss for Q4 was $14.82 million, or $1.35 per diluted share, but normalized Q4 net loss would have been about $3.35 million after stripping one-time items.
- Adjusted EBITDA loss for Q4 was $4.48 million, versus adjusted EBITDA income of $2.79 million in Q4 2024, showing the company remains below breakeven on an adjusted basis.
- Full year 2025 revenue was $30.38 million versus $34.83 million prior year; without the license reversal full-year revenue would have been $33.28 million.
- Full year adjusted EBITDA was $0.8 million in 2025, down sharply from $7.35 million in 2024, reflecting both one-time charges and reduced recurring profitability.
- Synergy established a wholly owned subsidiary in Mexico, shipped to Costco de México, and cited early 2026 beverage gross revenue of over $600,000, which management says exceeds total 2025 beverage revenue and implies a $2.5 million run-rate for 2026.
- The company shipped Focus + Energy RTDs and shots into multiple new U.S. distribution points, including EG America (Cumberland Farms), Wakefern, and a list of regional distributors, and reports millions of cans in stock and ready to ship.
- Management plans Costco and BJ’s roadshows and expects planogram-driven rollouts to be the near-term driver of meaningful distribution gains for beverages.
- The Core Supplement group was described as relatively strong, with 3 new SKUs shipped to all 1,600 Kroger locations, but management says restarting TV advertising is critical and expects at least a 15% same-store sales lift once TV is back on.
- Flat Tummy sales continue to decline, management attributes the drop to GLP-1s impacting the weight-loss category, and a strategic decision on the brand is forthcoming.
- Balance sheet: cash and equivalents rose to $2.6 million from $0.688 million a year ago, inventory increased to $3.7 million from $1.7 million, total liabilities are roughly flat at $33.3 million, and working capital swung to a surplus of $1.78 million from a $1.12 million deficit.
- Operational and cash flow note: cash used in operating activities improved to $2.6 million used versus $4.8 million used a year ago, aided by non-cash charges and better collections, but inventory investment increased and liquidity remains modest.
Full Transcript
Liz, Conference Call Moderator/Operator: Good morning, everyone, and thank you for participating in today’s conference call to discuss Synergy CHC Corp.’s financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2025. Joining us today are Synergy CEO Jack Ross, CFO Jamie Fickett, and Greg Robles with Investor Relations. Following their remarks, we’ll open the call for analyst questions. Before we go further, I’d like to turn the call over to Mr. Robles as he reads the company’s Safe Harbor statement.
Greg Robles, Investor Relations, Synergy CHC Corp.: Thanks, Liz. Good morning, and thanks for joining our conference call to discuss our fourth quarter and full year 2025 financial results. I’d like to remind everyone that this call is available for replay and via a live webcast that will be posted on our investor relations website at investors.synergychc.com. The information on this call contains forward-looking statements. These statements are often characterized by terminologies such as believe, hope, may, anticipate, expect, will, and other similar expressions. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, and the actual results may be materially different from the results implied by forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause results to differ materially from those implied herein include, but are not limited to, those factors disclosed in the company’s SEC filings under the caption Risk Factors.
The information on this call speaks only as of today’s date, and the company disclaims any duty to update the information provided herein. Now, I would like to turn the call over to the CEO of Synergy, Jack Ross. Jack?
Jack Ross, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Synergy CHC Corp.: Thank you, Greg. Good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us today to discuss Synergy’s performance for the fourth quarter and full year of 2025. While 2025 was a year of transition in many areas of our business, it was also a year of meaningful strategic progress that sets important foundation for sustainable long-term growth. Before discussing our performance, I want to briefly address the 8-K we filed regarding our international license agreement covering the UAE and Turkey. As many of you recall, in mid-2025, we expanded our international license partnership to include UAE and Turkey for a baseline licensing fee with additional royalties tied to product performance. However, the licensee has elected to terminate the agreement given the increasing instability and uncertainty across the region.
As a result, the $2.5 million licensing revenue associated with the agreement had to be reversed. While unfortunate, this outcome reflects the macro volatility outside of our control rather than any change in our conviction around the potential of FOCUSfactor internationally. We continue to view the UAE and Turkey as an attractive multi-year growth market for both our supplements and functional beverages. The groundwork we laid in 2025 hasn’t been lost. The demand remains intact, the brand is strong, and our international strategy continues to be focused on scalable capital efficient expansion. Before I turn the call over to Jamie, I want to touch on another development that further supports our international growth strategy.
During 2025, we established our wholly owned subsidiary in Mexico, and in December, we initiated our first product shipments to Costco de México. On the beverage side of our business, during the first quarter of 2026, we have generated over $600,000 in gross revenue, surpassing the entire 2025 revenue, which now equates to $2.5 million run rate for 2026. We have shipped our Focus + Energy RTDs and shots to new key distribution locations, including EG America, the parent company of Cumberland Farms convenience stores, Wakefern Food Corp., Indian Nation Wholesale, McCool Distributors, Mancini Beverage, Tenace Incubation, and Pine State Beverage, to name a few.
We have millions of cans of RTDs and shots in stock and ready to ship, and we expect 2026 to be a foundational growth year for our beverage division. We continue to execute on our supplement side as well, having just shipped 3 new SKUs to all 1,600 Kroger locations. One initiative that we did not achieve in 2025 was turning back on the TV advertising, which is hugely important for our existing store growth. We will be diligently working towards executing this in 2026 to drive same store growth within our key retailers. If the results that we achieved in the past hold true, we expect to see at least a 15% lift in same store sales once the TV advertising is up and running.
With those updates, I’d like to turn the call over to our Chief Financial Officer, Jaime Fickett. Jaime?
Thank you, Jack. I’ll now review our financial results.
Jamie Fickett, Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Synergy CHC Corp.: Beginning with the fourth quarter, net revenue was $6.07 million compared to $10.27 million in the year ago quarter. A 41% decrease versus the prior year. The decrease was due to the termination of the license agreement of $2.9 million. Without that reversal, net revenue was $8.97 million, a 12.7% decrease. Gross margin for the fourth quarter was 36.6% compared to 63.3% in the same quarter last year. The decrease in gross margin was primarily driven by the termination of the license agreement of $2.9 million and a write-off of obsolete inventory of $1.04 million. Without those two items, gross margin would have been 68.8%, an increase from prior year.
Operating expenses for the fourth quarter were $15.53 million compared to $5.14 million in the year ago quarter. The increase in operating expenses was largely due to one-time items of an allowance for bad debt of $6.6 million and the write-off of prepaid media credits of $0.9 million. Without those two items, operating expenses would have been $8 million. The majority of the increase was due to professional fees for our corporate development. Loss from operations for the fourth quarter of 2025 was $13.31 million, compared to income from operations of $1.35 million in the fourth quarter of 2024.
As discussed, this is largely due to one-time items of allowance of bad debts of $6.66 million, termination of the license agreement of $2.9 million, write-off of the obsolete inventory of $1.04 million, and the write-off of a prepaid media credit of $0.9 million. Without those one-time items, loss from operations would have been $1.85 million, which is impacted by the increased professional fees for our corporate development. Net loss for the fourth quarter was $14.82 million or $1.35 per diluted share, compared to net income of $105.7 thousand or $0.01 per diluted share in the fourth quarter of 2024.
This is largely due to one-time items of allowance of bad debt of $6.66 million, termination of the license agreement of $2.9 million, write-off of obsolete inventory of $1.04 million, and the write-off of prepaid media credits of $0.9 million. Without those one-time items, net loss would have been $3.35 million, which is impacted by the increased professional fees for corporate development. EBITDA loss for the fourth quarter was $13.28 million, compared to EBITDA income of $1.68 million in the fourth quarter of 2024. Adjusted EBITDA loss for the fourth quarter was $4.48 million, compared to adjusted EBITDA income of $2.79 million in the fourth quarter of 2024. Now turning to our full year results.
For the full year of 2025, revenue was $30.38 million, compared to $34.83 million in the year-ago period. Without reversing the $2.9 million in license revenue, our net revenue would have been $33.28 million in 2025. Gross margin for the full year of 2025 was 66.8% compared to 67.9% in the year-ago period. Without the previously discussed inventory write-off, gross margin would have been 70.3% and increased over prior year. Operating expenses for the year were $28.76 million, compared to $17.84 million a year ago. Without the one-time items previously mentioned, operating expenses would have been $21.24 million, which is impacted by the increased professional fees for corporate development.
Loss from operations for the year was $8.46 million, compared to income from operations of $5.8 million a year ago. The decrease is also due to the one-time items as discussed. Without them, the full year income from operations would have been $3 million, impacted by increased professional fees for corporate development. Net loss for the year was $12.3 million or $1.27 per diluted share, compared to net income of $2.1 million or $0.28 per diluted share a year ago. This is also due to the one-time items as discussed, offset by a gain on the settlement of our notes payable of $2.15 million. Without those items, the full year net loss would have been $3.03 million, which again is impacted by the increased professional fees for our corporate development.
EBITDA loss was $6.19 million in 2025, compared to EBITDA of $6.46 million a year ago. Adjusted EBITDA income was $800,000, compared to adjusted EBITDA income of $7.35 million a year ago. Moving to our balance sheet and cash flow. As of December 31, 2025, we had cash and cash equivalents of $2.6 million, compared to $687.9 thousand as of December 31, 2024. Inventory was at $3.7 million at the end of the fourth quarter compared to $1.7 million at the end of 2024. At the end of December 31, 2025, we had $33.3 million in total liabilities, compared to $33 million in total liabilities December 31, 2024.
At December 31, 2025, we had a working capital surplus of $1.78 million as compared to a working capital deficit of $1.12 million as of December 31, 2024. For the 12 months ended December 31, 2025, our cash used in operating activities was $2.6 million, compared to cash used in operating activities of $4.8 million at December 31, 2024. The decrease primarily reflects higher non-cash charges, including bad debt write-offs and stock-based compensation, as well as improved cash collections and accounts receivable, partially offset by the increased inventory investment and the gain on the settlement of debt. Now I will turn the call back to the operator.
Liz, Conference Call Moderator/Operator: Thank you, ma’am. To ask a question, please press star one one on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. To withdraw your question, please press star one one again. Our first question will come from Sean McGowan with Roth Capital Partners. Please proceed.
Sean McGowan, Analyst, Roth Capital Partners: Good morning. Can you hear me okay?
Jack Ross, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Synergy CHC Corp.: We can. Good morning, Sean.
Sean McGowan, Analyst, Roth Capital Partners: Great. Good morning. On your comments on the RTD, you know, year to date being better than all of last year, that kind of implies that the fourth quarter was, I don’t know, maybe 200,000 or something. So what is still going on there that kept that from being a lot higher in the fourth quarter?
Jack Ross, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Synergy CHC Corp.: As you know, we just raised the money to actually build the inventory in August. You know, to actually get the inventory built, you know, takes time, meaning, you know, 8-12 weeks to build the inventory. We just really received the majority of the RTD inventory in-house in December. That’s, you know, that’s what affected that.
Sean McGowan, Analyst, Roth Capital Partners: Okay. Looking at some of the other lines was, like, let’s say, compared to the third quarter, was Flat Tummy up?
Jack Ross, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Synergy CHC Corp.: No. Flat Tummy continues to decline. You know, the weight loss business is being heavily impacted by the GLP-1s. It seems that, you know, the whole industry’s moved to those. We’ll be making a strategic decision on Flat Tummy in the near future.
Sean McGowan, Analyst, Roth Capital Partners: Okay. On the Core Supplement group, what’s going on there?
Jack Ross, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Synergy CHC Corp.: The Core Supplement group, I think, you know, is relatively strong. We continue to, you know, add key retailers like Kroger we mentioned. Although the TV advertising is very key to that, you know, same-store growth. You know, we have our competitors, we all know who the competitors are, pounding the TV airwaves every single day and night. You know, we need to get that TV turned back on.
Sean McGowan, Analyst, Roth Capital Partners: Okay. What do you think the outlook is gonna be, with a lot of these one-time things behind you regarding gross margin?
Jack Ross, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Synergy CHC Corp.: Jaime, you wanna talk to that?
Jamie Fickett, Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Synergy CHC Corp.: Sure. We anticipate gross margin to maintain its current level or increase. Again, it was impacted largely by those one-time items. Other than that, our gross margin remains stable.
Sean McGowan, Analyst, Roth Capital Partners: Do you mean, when you say at the current level, you mean excluding those one-time items?
Jamie Fickett, Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Synergy CHC Corp.: Yes. Sorry. Like, as I read in the script.
Sean McGowan, Analyst, Roth Capital Partners: All right. Okay.
Jamie Fickett, Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Synergy CHC Corp.: We look at it normalized.
Sean McGowan, Analyst, Roth Capital Partners: Okay. Has there been any other changes to your approach, you know, kind of go-to-market strategy on the RTD, as you know, look to roll that out?
Jack Ross, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Synergy CHC Corp.: No, I think, you know, again, it’s a sales cycle, Sean, right? You know, these things are all driven by planograms. You know, you really get, you know, twice a year where you can really, you know, quote-unquote, "gain meaningful distribution" in, we’ll call it, the major chains. Certainly, you can add, you know, the smaller chains in the meantime, but, you know, we continue with the sales cycle. You know, we do expect, this is big news, we do expect to have some Costco roadshows coming up in different regions, and we expect to have a BJ’s roadshow coming up. Should be some meaningful growth there on the beverage side.
Sean McGowan, Analyst, Roth Capital Partners: Okay. All right. Thank you.
Jack Ross, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Synergy CHC Corp.: Okay.
Liz, Conference Call Moderator/Operator: As a reminder, if you’d like to ask a question at this time, please press star one one on your touchtone phone. Our next question will come from Edward Woo with Ascendiant Capital. Please proceed.
Edward Woo, Analyst, Ascendiant Capital: Yes, thanks for taking my question and congratulations on the, you know, the growth in Mexico. You guys recently formed a subsidiary in Mexico. Are there other international markets that you plan on, you know, creating a subsidiary to, you know, ship directly in those markets?
Jack Ross, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Synergy CHC Corp.: Edward, good speaking with you today. No, we don’t have any other plans on opening international markets directly at this time. Although Mexico is a massive opportunity for us, you know, to build out the retail network there. You know, having that subsidiary there allows us to do that. As you can see, you know, we’ve started a lot of initiatives last year and, you know, for Synergy, 2026 is about executing against those initiatives. Get those TVs turned back on, get the same store sales growing, get the opportunities in Mexico that we’ve already identified up and running, and continue to grow our beverage business. That’s the focus for 2026.
Edward Woo, Analyst, Ascendiant Capital: Great. Well, thanks for answering my questions, and I wish you guys good luck. Thank you.
Jack Ross, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Synergy CHC Corp.: Thank you.
Liz, Conference Call Moderator/Operator: At this time, this concludes our question and answer session. I would now like to turn the call back over to Mr. Ross for closing remarks.
Jack Ross, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Synergy CHC Corp.: Thank you, everyone, for joining the earnings call today. We look forward to speaking to you shortly as we report our first quarter of 2026 results. Thank you.
Liz, Conference Call Moderator/Operator: Ladies and gentlemen, this does conclude today’s teleconference. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation.
