American Outdoor Brands (AOUT) released earnings today for fiscal Q1, which ended on July 31st. They had 25% sales growth year-over-year, but that was benefitted by a weak comp with about $6 million in retail pull-ahead last year. Adjusting that out, they still had a solid quarter.

On an adjusted basis, sales increased by about 4%. That was led by their Outdoor Lifestyle brands, which includes Grilla Grills.

Importantly, our first quarter performance was broad-based with double-digit growth in both our Outdoor Lifestyle and Shooting Sports categories. We also saw continued strength in POS during the quarter, telling us that consumer demand for our brands and products remained healthy. In fact, this is now our sixth consecutive quarter of positive year-over-year POS growth. POS increased 6% in Outdoor Lifestyle and 3% in our Shooting Sports category. Our key growth brands, BOG, BUBBA, Caldwell, Grilla and MEAT! Your Maker once again delivered positive year-over-year net sales growth on a combined basis.

Brian Murphy, President and CEO of AOUT

Much like brands like SharkNinja, they heavily subscribe to the idea of leading with innovation. A significant portion of their sales are attributed to new products. At Grilla Grills, some of their main pellet grills are getting a little long in the tooth, but they did release some new innovations with the Mammoth vertical smoker and the Pie-Ro pizza oven.

Our healthy POS results were supported by strong consumer pull-through of the new products we’ve introduced over the last 24 months. That pull-through drove strong retailer replenishment, resulting in new products contributing 36% of first quarter net sales, well above our historical average of 20% to 25%. Importantly, innovation drives not only revenue, but profitability by generating natural consumer demand without the need for promotions.

Brian Murphy, President and CEO of AOUT

AOUT attributes much of their success to the price point that they play in. Much has been said about the K-shaped economy, and AOUT believes they’ve been the beneficiary of it.

We continue to orient our products towards the higher end as much as possible. So premium products that are disruptive. And so we look to capture the 2 types of consumers, the more affluent consumer or the super enthusiast who is willing to pay to have the highest quality, best-performing product. And so we continue to see traction there. I can give you a little bit of insight. We see some of the market data that’s out there. And we are seeing for areas that we don’t necessarily play in price points, kind of a continued downward pressure where the consumer is not spending as much.

It seems like they really have to have a reason to go out and spend that discretionary share. At least at this point, we’ve been the beneficiary of that spend. But I would say certainly entry-level, mid-level price point products in our categories, I think, continue to be under a little bit more pressure. And I wouldn’t say that’s a category-specific thing. I think that’s just sort of general outdoor retail right now.

Brian Murphy, President and CEO of AOUT

Overall, it was one of the more positive and optimistic earnings calls I’ve listened to lately. It was much less holding down the fort, and more about growth.

As we look to the remainder of fiscal 2027, we like what we’re seeing. Consumer demand for our products has remained healthy. Our key growth brands continue to perform well collectively, and our innovation pipeline is robust. That said, we also know from experience how quickly conditions can change. Consumer spending remains measured, tariffs continue to evolve and broader economic and global conditions remain dynamic. That makes it important that we continue to do what has served us well, stay close to our consumers and retail partners, remain focused on innovation, stay disciplined in our execution and maintain the agility to respond quickly and effectively as conditions evolve. We’re pleased with our start to the year, confident in our strategy and focused on executing against the opportunities ahead.

Brian Murphy, President and CEO of AOUT