e.l.f. Beauty - Earnings Call - Q1 2020
August 7, 2019
Transcript
Speaker 0
Greetings, and welcome to e. F. Beauty's First Quarter Fiscal twenty twenty Earnings Results. At this time, all participants are in a listen only mode. A brief question and answer session will follow the formal presentation.
As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Willa McMadmon. Thank you. Please begin.
Speaker 1
Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for joining us today to discuss e. F. Beauty's first quarter fiscal twenty twenty earnings results. A copy of today's press release is available in the Investor Relations section of elfcosmetics.com.
A recording of the call will also be available for ninety days on elfcosmetics.com. As a reminder, this call contains forward looking statements that are based on management's beliefs and assumptions, expectations, estimates and projections. These statements, including those relating to the company's fiscal twenty twenty outlook, are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties, and therefore, actual results may differ materially. Important factors that may cause actual results to differ from those expressed or implied by such forward looking statements are detailed in today's press release and the company's SEC filings. In addition, the company's presentation today includes information presented on a non GAAP basis.
We refer you to today's press release for a reconciliation of the differences between the non GAAP presentation and the most directly comparable GAAP measures. With me from management today are Tarang Amin, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer and Mandy Fields, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. With that, I'll turn the call over to Tarang.
Speaker 2
Good afternoon and thank you for joining us. We're encouraged by our first quarter results with net sales of $60,000,000 and adjusted EBITDA of 14,500,000.0 Excluding e. F. Stores, net sales were up 7% versus a year ago. We're pleased with the initial progress we're making on each of our strategic imperatives.
We're in the early days of our brand recharge and we like what we see so far. In turn, we are raising our fiscal twenty twenty guidance. Let me update you on progress we've made during the quarter across each imperative. Our first two imperatives of driving demand in the brand and a major step up in digital are off to a fast start. In June, we launched our e.
F. Ing Amazing digital campaign, which showcases the unique attributes of the e. L. F. Brand.
The digital assets support our mission to make the best of beauty accessible for every eye, lip and face. Since the campaign started, impressions and video completion rates are double our initial goals. These metrics indicate our message is resonating with consumers as they are choosing to watch our content to completion versus opting out. Since January, we've seen double digit improvements in our Google search and EMV trends relative to a cosmetics category that saw soft trends in these measures. Collectively, these efforts drove share gains with Nielsen reporting e.
F. Dollar share in the last twelve weeks of 4.3%, up 50 basis points. Our brand has been highly responsive to our marketing efforts and the lift in brand awareness is bringing new consumers to our retailers and to elfcosmetics.com. For the quarter, our e commerce site saw double digit increases in traffic, conversion and revenue growth versus last year. In addition to bringing more people to the brand, we are transforming the e.
F. Consumer journey through digital technology. This will enable a better consumer experience, including a revamped Beauty Squad loyalty program. Beauty Squad, which has 1,300,000 members, now features receipt scanning, allowing members to earn points for purchases made at national retailers such as Walmart, Target, Ulta Beauty and drugstores. This along with other technology enhancements will allow us to connect our consumer data to enable better personalization.
In the first quarter, we continue to ramp up our targeted outreach to influencers with box mailings and launch events featuring hero products like our new limited edition Jelly Pop collection. The Jelly Pop launch was supported with 500 influencers receiving a custom mini elf Jelly Pop refrigerator to keep this playful collection cool during the hot summer months. Mega influencers posted positive reviews and content to over 58,000,000 of their combined followers on Instagram. Jelly Pop engagement on Instagram has been seven times greater than our average post. In addition to influencer outreach, we have a steady calendar of monthly giveaways and collaborations supported with new digital content.
All of this has helped grow our Instagram followers to over 4,700,000. We're leveraging our unique combination of cost, quality and speed to drive our third imperative, a focus on first to mass by providing prestige quality products extraordinary value. We are focused on supporting our hero products like Poreless Putty Primer, which The UK Daily Mail recently called the best primer ever. In June, Poreless Putty Primer was the number one e. F.
Item at Target, Ulta, Walmart and e.l.fcosmetics.com. We're also leveraging the strength of our sixteen hour Camo Concealer, which compares favorably to the leading concealer in Prestige. We launched new Camo displays in 1,500 Walmart doors and Camo plus e. L. F.
Sponge flex towers in 1,500 Target locations. We continue to amplify these products through our digital marketing to truly make this a three sixty degree activation. Our fourth imperative, improving productivity at national retailers is on track with Phase one of Project Unicorn complete across our largest national retail partners. During the quarter, we saw improvements in productivity within our tracked channels, which include Target and Walmart, as well as our untracked channels such as Ulta. With the packaging and merchandising enhancements from Unicorn, we've seen growth across product segments.
Phase two of Project Unicorn, which mostly covers brushes starts this month in all channels. Phase three of Unicorn is planned for the spring twenty twenty sets, where we'll introduce more new items and better visual merchandising across retailers. Our fifth strategic imperative is generating cost savings to help offset our increased marketing spend. As a reminder, our most significant initiative was closing our 22 e. F.
Stores in February. We expect to redeploy the $13,700,000 in savings from this to our marketing and digital initiatives. In addition, we've started our Ontario California distribution center automation and expect to be fully running by the September. Our U. S.
Liquid fill facility is on schedule and expect to be operational by the end of the fiscal year. We also continue to strengthen our China operations using lean manufacturing techniques. Combined, we expect these supply chain efforts to provide around $3,000,000 in cost savings this year. With that update, I'll now turn the call over to Mandy to discuss our results and guidance in more detail.
Speaker 3
Thank you, Tarang. I'll now discuss the results for the 2020 as compared to the three months ended June 3038. Net sales of $60,000,000 were up 7% from year ago, excluding e. F. Stores, driven by increased productivity across key retailers and strength on elfcosmetics.com.
As Tarang discussed, we are pleased with the progress of our strategic imperatives. Sales momentum we're seeing behind our marketing and digital investments and the continued success of Project Unicorn. Gross margin of 62 was flat to prior year with margin accretive innovation, vendor concessions and favorable foreign exchange rates offsetting the impact of 10% tariffs on Chinese goods and the closure of our retail stores. Note that in Q1, our gross margins were not yet impacted by tariffs at the 25 level, which cover most of our goods. On August 1, additional tariffs of 10% were announced effective September 1, which would impact our brushes and tools.
We expect to offset the margin rate impact of tariffs through selective price increases, FX and cost savings initiatives. On an adjusted basis, SG and A as a percentage of sales was 47% compared to 49% of net sales in the same period of 2018, mainly driven by cost savings from the closure of our 22 e. F. Stores, partially offset by increased investment in our marketing and digital initiatives. As discussed last quarter, we expect marketing plus e commerce spend to be 10% to 12% of net sales on the year.
In Q1, marketing and e commerce spend was 11% of net sales compared to 6% in the year ago quarter. Adjusted EBITDA was up 12% at $14,500,000 versus $13,000,000 a year ago. Adjusted net income was $6,900,000 or $0.14 per diluted share compared to $6,500,000 or $0.13 per diluted share a year ago. We generated $12,900,000 of cash flow from operations in the quarter, bringing our cash balance to $60,700,000 as of June 3039, compared to a cash balance of $17,400,000 last year. The improvement was primarily driven by disciplined working capital management across inventory and receivables, coupled with improved operating results.
Last quarter, we announced a share repurchase program of up to $25,000,000 In Q1, we repurchased approximately 90,000 shares. As we evaluate our excess cash position, our capital allocation strategy remains unchanged. We plan to prioritize investment behind our key strategic initiatives to increase consumer awareness and build brand relevancy. We will also continue to evaluate strategic extensions to leverage the investments we've made in our platform and to fuel long term growth. We believe we are well positioned to fund our initiatives through free cash flow and return excess cash to shareholders through our repurchase program.
Now turning to our fiscal twenty twenty guidance. Based on our strong Q1 results and initial progress from our marketing and digital investments, we are raising our fiscal twenty twenty outlook. We expect net sales to be flat to down 4% versus fiscal twenty nineteen excluding the impact of e. F. Stores.
This is up from the negative 4% to negative 8% range previously guided. From that flows the upward revisions to our adjusted EBITDA, net income and EPS ranges. We expect adjusted EBITDA between 47,000,000 and $50,000,000 adjusted net income between 19,000,000 and $22,000,000 and adjusted EPS of $0.37 to $0.41 per share on a fully diluted basis with a share count of $52,500,000 Many of you are monitoring tracked channel data very closely and are encouraged by our recent trends. Our improved top line guidance balances the strength with recent price increases and lower pipeline and seasonal shipments. Let me provide some perspective on this.
In late July, for the first time in e. F. History, we initiated a price increase impacting approximately a third of our SKUs to help mitigate the impact of 25% tariffs. We have yet to see how this will affect our volume in the long term and should have a better understanding coming out of the second quarter when we have more elasticity data. Additionally, in Q2 and Q3 of fiscal twenty twenty, we will be cycling $10,000,000 in pipeline and seasonal volume from 2018 that we do not anticipate having this year.
Therefore, while we're encouraged with the recent strength in the business, we are taking a balanced approach to the outlook. As I round out my first full quarter with the company, I can't tell you how proud I am to be a part of the amazing team behind this extraordinary brand. I look forward to updating you on our continued progress in the coming quarters. With that operator, you may open the call to questions.
Speaker 0
Thank you. We will now be conducting a question and answer session. Our first question comes from the line of Steph Wissink with Jefferies. Please proceed.
Speaker 4
Thanks. Good afternoon, everyone. Mandy, this question is for you. I look at the first quarter and I annualize your EBITDA run rate, it would put the number closer to kind of $58,000,000 versus your guidance, which at the midpoint is about $48,000,000 So could you just help us bridge that $10,000,000 of whether it's conservatism or some spending that you haven't done that you plan to do? Should we think about the delta versus the run rate?
And then, Frank, if I could just throw one in for you as well, just contextually. If we look
Speaker 0
at tracked channel data and we
Speaker 4
look at what your guidance would imply, how comfortable are you that you'll have enough inventory in the channel to keep the momentum going with respect to takeaway and consumption? Thank you.
Speaker 3
All right, Steph. So I'll take the first part of that question. So when looking at Q1, really had some goodness from the store closures and marketing. As we had said previously, those two for the year will offset one another. We didn't quite get to that 12% level in Q1 with marketing.
So I would say that would be a piece that you'd have to peel back if you're trying to run rate some things forward. Additionally, our margin rate, if you recall, with the closure of our stores, we said that our margin rate on the year will naturally be about 100 basis points lower. Well, fact, this quarter, we had margin rate flat to last year. So we were able to recoup some gains through FX and the vendor concessions and things like that, that helped to keep margin rate in line. So I would say as you go back into your model, I would still say the 100 basis points from the store closures, you should keep in there downside as on the margin rate.
And then also I would say that on the year we do plan to spend closer to that 12% on the marketing, just given the early success that we've seen.
Speaker 2
Okay. And then on your second question, Steph, we are pleased with the strength that we're seeing in tracked channel data and picking up share and are very comfortable in terms of our ability to have enough inventory to meet demand. I think we've always had an approach where we carry enough inventory and have enough of a planning horizon where we can bring that inventory in and our customers are very efficient in that manner as well. So we feel good right now in terms of our ability to continue to meet demand.
Speaker 4
Thank you.
Speaker 0
Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Oliver Chen with Cowen and Company. Please proceed.
Speaker 5
Hi, thank you. Regarding price increases, what was your approach to just trying to optimize the third of the SKUs that you picked? And what are your thoughts in terms of how price increases may interplay with the level of in stocks that you have and how satisfied are you within stock levels as that also relates to Project Unicorn? Would love your thoughts.
Speaker 2
Sure. Hi, Oliver. This is Tarang. So our approach on pricing was really go SKU by SKU and really analyze each SKU to see kind of where competitive set manufacture and who else might face pricing pressure in addition to taking a look at where do we have the best value equation. So we really took a pretty we've had a long time kind of to look at this robust approach of kind of going by each SKU and saying where do we have to make most room and we took pricing on those SKUs.
In terms of the in stock levels, feel pretty good about kind of where we're trending so far this year in terms of our ability to meet in stock. Certainly pricing will result in average unit retails going up offset by units. And so I wouldn't expect it to have a major impact on in stock levels. Think those will stay healthy. And then the last thing I'll tell you is, it's a balanced approach.
So we did we're not pricing fully to the tariffs mainly because we also have FX as well as the cost savings that we outlined on our call in terms of being able to balance that approach, so not all of it is pass through.
Speaker 5
Okay. And just a follow-up regarding Beauty Squad. It was interesting in terms of your thoughts about making tweaks to that program as well as capturing more data from the wholesale purchases through your partners. So what kind of changes needed to be made? And where do you see that program heading to drive more engagement etcetera?
Speaker 2
Yes. Is trying again. We've been really pleased with Beauty Squad. I mean the 1,300,000 members we have, I think we've shared previously come to our site more often spend more and are more loyal to the brand. And so being able to enhance that program and kind of go from kind of a point and dollar system that many of our members wanted, as well as the ability to connect their purchases, we believe really takes us to a new level on Beauty Squad and we look forward to continue to tell you kind of how we're able to better personalize their consumer experience and share perhaps more stats in terms of what it's doing for us.
But it is a pretty big milestone in our loyalty program and one that we're very excited about given our presence in large national retailers as well as our key site.
Speaker 5
Thank you. Best regards.
Speaker 0
Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Bill Chappell with SunTrust Robinson Humphrey. Please proceed.
Speaker 6
Thanks. Good afternoon. Afternoon. Tarang, can you give us just a sense of where Project Unicorn is? I mean, do you feel like we're seeing 50%, 75% of the benefits?
Is it are there meaningful chunks of stores still to kind of convert and are you planning on doing that in the back half of the year?
Speaker 2
Hi, Bill. Yes, we feel great about Project Unicorn and where we stand. So Project Unicorn is our major shelf packaging and product initiative that has multiple phases. So the first phase has been executed with the majority of our volume at national retail customers where we were able to get new items, better packaging, better navigation particularly to our market leading segments. We feel good about that and we're obviously seeing that in track numbers that you're able to track.
On Phase two, which is currently being implemented, we're applying Project Unicorn to our brush and tools business, which is a pretty big segment for us. And then Phase three really impacts the 2020 sets, where we'll get even more new products on and continue to make enhancements to our visual merchandising approach, particularly in regards of making sure consumers are able to find our key product bets, our first to mass products. So, mean, you're going to continue to hear us talk about Unicorn for quite some time, mainly because of the results we're seeing in the market.
Speaker 6
Got it. And then Mandy just the Chinese Yuan obviously is gone favorable even more and more so in the past just couple of weeks. Didn't know expecting or what you're modeling in terms of how it affects your cost of goods sold for the remainder of the year?
Speaker 3
Yes. So you're right. It has had some upside there. And we're using that as an offset to the tariffs. And so that's a part of our whole toolkit to help us offset the tariffs.
Speaker 6
Got it. But do you and you put the price increases through before some of this move. I could maybe read that as a little bit of a benefit or cushion?
Speaker 3
No. Because when we implemented the price increases, before that additional 10% came out on brushes and tools. So I would say that we're all we're using it as a part of our toolkit and as we address tariffs.
Speaker 6
Got it. Thank you.
Speaker 0
Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Andrea Teixeira with JPMorgan. Please proceed.
Speaker 7
Hi. Thank you. So if you can just elaborate a little bit more on the 2020 guide. I guess in history you've based your guidance with no additional shelf or a non additional display. So I was wondering if that's the same practice you're embedding here.
And in particular for the new, I understand there is obviously puts and takes on the timing of Project Unicorn and some of these innovation, but the Poreless Primer and Jelly Pop as you called out in the prepared remarks. So it seems to me just too conservative even assuming some of the elasticity that Mandy discussed. So I was wondering if you can elaborate more on PAC as the guide. And also if you can squeeze a little bit of the international trends, if you can tell us. Thank you.
Speaker 3
Hi, Andrea. Okay. So I'll go ahead and take the first part of that and then I'll pass it to Tarang to talk the international piece. So in terms of if the guide is conservative or not, so I would say that my original guidance was down 4% to down eight last quarter when we came out and had our call. And from that we've taken it up to flat to down 4%.
So certainly reflecting some of the momentum that we're seeing in the business. But as I think about the price increases that we've just taken, we do need time to see how that plays out and how that impacts volume. So we're taking a balanced approach with the guidance. Would call it more balanced than I would conservative.
Speaker 7
And no shelf space increases, right? No additional shelf?
Speaker 2
No shelf space other than what we've already previously disclosed in terms of we have been picking up space at Ulta in a subset of their doors. We have been rolling out the brand in Walgreens and Boots in The UK. And so just those are the two things that we've previously disclosed. We're right now in this time of year in conversations with our retailers for what 2020 calendar 2020 shelf sets look like. And we usually talk about that on one of the future calls in terms of how particularly when we set our guidance on terms of how that's progressing.
But obviously we're in a very position right now both in terms of our business momentum relative to the category, the level of innovation we have and how we're engaging consumers. That maybe relates to your last question which is how we're doing internationally. We continue to be pleased with what we're seeing internationally. I would say our probably core focus country right now is The UK. You heard me talk about kind of The UK Daily Mail calling our Poreless Putty Primer the best primer ever.
We also have great momentum. If I think about our longest standing retail customer there is Superdrug, we have very strong comps at Superdrug. Boots is rolling out the brand as I mentioned previously and our own site in The UK, our elfcosmetics.com site is exhibiting very strong growth. So it gives us great hope in terms of our continued rollout internationally, but we are taking a similar to splint approach as we did in The U. S.
So we're currently testing the brand in a number of retailers in Germany and also are very excited about our early days in China e commerce and our ability to kind of sell there and maintain our cruelty free status.
Speaker 7
Great. Thank you so much. I'll pass it on.
Speaker 0
Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Mark Astrachan with Stifel. Please proceed.
Speaker 8
Hi. This is Kimberly on for Mark. We had a quick question just on price increases. Are those already on the shelf? And can we see those in the most recent two week scanner data?
Or is that later to come? And then also are the price increases consistent with what your competitors have done?
Speaker 2
So, hi, Kimberly. This is Tarang. Let me take that. So, we've reflected right now in pricing is we led on elfcosmetics.com. So, if you go on elfcosmetics.com, you will see higher prices than even some of the retailers.
We're in current implementation with a number of our retailers. So at some retailers you'll see price already reflected, others you won't. What I can tell you is we will not ship product unless it's at the higher price as POs come into us. And so we're in implementation phase and I'd say related to the scanner question, I don't think you're going to see that much of it in the scanner quite yet, but over the next couple of months certainly you'll see the pricing reflected. And as I mentioned earlier, we would expect and you will see average unit retails go up and units go down related to that.
Speaker 8
Okay, great. Thank you. And then just one more if I can. In the scanner data, we've seen that year to date skincare sales are almost as big as full year for 2018. So do you have any insights on how big that can get in time?
What's driving it? Is it all really trial and discovery of the brand? Or do you have any insights around like repeat purchases and loyalty of the brand?
Speaker 2
Sure. We're really pleased with skincare. It's a major strategic kind of imperative of ours in terms of kind of within our overall portfolio. As you know, skincare is bigger than global color cosmetics, The category trends in skincare at least over the last couple of years have been stronger. We're no exception in terms of being able to kind of ride the strength of the category, but maybe even more so given the level of innovation we have.
So, what's really driving our skincare is our unique ability to bring prestige quality at extraordinary value. And while skincare is higher on an average unit retail basis than our color cosmetics are, it still comes in at a tremendous value relative to some of the key prestige and mass players in the category. And particularly excited with the success we've had this year on Hello Hydration is our first entry into kind of our hydration creams and that's done extremely well. And so I think you're going to continue to see momentum on skincare, particularly as we expand distribution. Skincare started with the target.
As I mentioned on the call last quarter, Ulta has now taken skincare full chain off of a successful test and we continue to roll out skincare to more customers. So I personally am very bullish on skincare for the future, but we look forward to continue to talk about it. Great. Thanks. Thank
Speaker 0
you. Our next question comes from the line of Erinn Murphy with Piper Jaffray. Please proceed.
Speaker 4
Great. Thanks and good afternoon. I guess my question is around digital business. It was up really nice double digit growth. Can you just talk about what you think is really driving some of the improvement there?
And then is the double digit pace kind of how we should see that business transposing for the balance of the year? And then I guess Mandy for you, just going back to the Q1 beat versus the guide, just looking at the top line $5,000,000 beat, 11,000,000 lift to the full year. I recognize not looking at incremental shelf space, but should we just assume the slightly second half weighted that's just based on the Walmart or excuse me, the Ulta as well as the Boots kind of business that you're transacting with and kind of rolling out there? Just trying to understand that. Thank you.
Speaker 2
Sure. Hi, Erin. This is Trey. I'll take your first question and then Mandy will take the second. So on our digital business, we're also really pleased with the double digit growth we're seeing in traffic conversion and sales.
What I tell you is driving it are the strategic imperatives I described earlier, specifically kind of our step up in marketing and digital support engaging more consumers and influencers and bringing to the brand. I'd say equally important is the focus of that spend also being on our key first to mass products. So I highlighted a couple of them whether it be the Poreless Putty Primer or our Camo Concealers or even some of our limited edition exclusives like our Jelly Pop, those are driving real consumer interest in the brand and we're amplifying that kind of through our surround sound approach, which basically brings more consumers to the site. And then lastly, although it's not as sexy to talk about, I think many of the improvements we've made from a technology standpoint digitally. I talked about kind of the some of the technology underpinning kind of our revamped Beauty Squad program.
Other things that we're doing there is also helping us with our conversion and some of the personalization initiatives. So, there's quite a bit going on digitally. I mean, obviously, the digitally native brand that's always been important to us and it's great to step it up even to a different level.
Speaker 3
Yes. And on the second part of your question Erin on how to think about the balance of the year. So, I think I mentioned this earlier, but as you think about Q2, Q3, Q4, we do have the pricing that just rolled out at the July. So we are waiting to see how that impacts volume. Certainly, the space gains that Turing mentioned will help to offset some of that and as well as that seasonal pipeline that we mentioned that we were cycling.
So that's kind of how the balance of the year should frame up within our guidance.
Speaker 4
Okay. And then if I could just add one on Jelly Pop. I mean it feels like that's been a really success full launch out of the gate. Can you just talk about if it's attracting a new consumer to the e. F.
Line? Thanks.
Speaker 2
Sure. So we love what we've seen on Jelly Pop. I talked about some of the engagement numbers on Jelly Pop both in terms of that surround sound kind of approach to our marketing and digital, how it's attracted a number of attention from a number of influencers who in turn kind of I think reached over 58,000,000 just on Instagram alone as well as the level of engagement. I'd say it's just another example of the strength we have in our innovation pipeline and being able to amplify that pipeline. And to your specific question on new users, we've seen with all of these big new launches, whether it be Poreless Putty Primer, Jelly Pop, Camo Concealers, they bring significantly more new users to the franchise.
I think the percentage that we've talked previously on Poreless Putty Primer and we're seeing a similar trend on Jelly Pop is I think 70% of the traffic we're getting on the site related to those products are new consumers. So we feel really good about that as well.
Speaker 4
Great. Thank you guys.
Speaker 0
Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Rupesh Prick with Oppenheimer and Company. Please proceed.
Speaker 9
Good afternoon. This is actually Erica Eiler on for Rupesh. Thanks for taking our questions. So I was wondering if you could comment on what you're seeing in the mass category lately in terms of overall category growth rates?
Speaker 2
Yes, this is Tarang. So, I'd say the mass category continues to be soft in color cosmetics and quite strong in skincare. And that's a continuation for a trend we've now seen for quite some time. I'll be honest with you, I'm surprised how long mass color cosmetics has been soft. So our point of view is, we'll continue to take share or hope to continue to take share kind of in that market based on the strategic imperatives I outlined.
Speaker 9
Okay, great. And then we're seeing more and more personalization popping up across the beauty space, and with beauty brands. You talked a little bit about the scanner receipts, how that will enable you to leverage more personalization. Can you maybe talk about how you're capitalizing on this trend as we sit here today?
Speaker 2
Sure. So if I look at our own migration on personalization, it first came from some of the technology that I talked about that had better algorithms and better approaches, particularly as we re platformed our site and we're able to tap into other capabilities to be able to just get better product recommendations and better the learning algorithms to figure out kind of based on what you bought, what else you might like. Going from there to actually getting much better consumer profiles to be able to customize recommendations to what the behavior of that particular consumer is. I'm especially excited now that we're able to tie that consumer data together with their purchases at large national retailers as well that we'd be even that much better in terms of being able to understand our consumers and really just be able to make better not only recommendations, but also curate better products in terms of what would meet their needs as well as the overall experience. I mean, is a connected consumer journey.
So it also goes to kind of what messages are we serving up based on what they're needed. And we've had some experience even in our current campaign where the content, we're just providing much greater digital content where if you love animals, we can get one of our cruelty free messages, if you really care a lot about our value, our ability to be able to customize some of the core brand attributes. So, I'd say, we still have a long way to go, but I'm pleased with our initial progress.
Speaker 9
Okay, great. Thanks so much. I'll pass it on.
Speaker 0
Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Linda Bolton Weiser with D. A. Davidson. Please proceed.
Speaker 6
Hi. We noticed your product on shelf at Kohl's. Can you comment on you're in the entire chain? And also this is interesting because it's a mass seas retailer rather than mass. So can you like give some color on how your assortment differs in Kohl's versus at the mass retailer?
Thanks.
Speaker 2
Sure. Hi Linda, this is Tarang. So we've been in Kohl's starting last year we entered and it was really being approached by them as they did a survey of brands that their consumers wanted to see. E. L.
F. Popped in that assessment. And so we've been in Kohl's. We're in full chain and we're pleased with our business and our partnership together. It's part of our as I look channel by channel, it's part of what I would describe as a specialty channel.
Obviously, our biggest specialty channel player is Ulta Beauty, but we have been historically in Old Navy and other specialty players. And I would say what we ask every retailer to do regardless of channel is carry some of our core items. So majority of the items that Kohl's would carry would be similar to other retailers. And then each retailer likes to have some that they uniquely carry or be able to kind of merchandise and drive and Kohl's is no different than that. But again, it's still relatively early.
We're still in our first year at Kohl's and we're pleased with what we see.
Speaker 6
Thank you very much.
Speaker 0
Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Bonnie Herzog with Wells Fargo. Please proceed.
Speaker 10
All right. Thank you. I had a quick follow on question on your guidance. I guess I'm wondering if there's any upside to your top line guidance. Would you guys consider reinvesting it or let it flow through to the bottom line?
Speaker 3
Yes. The guidance, Bonnie, I would say, again, we've increased from down 4% to eight up to the flat to negative 4%, and that's kind of where we see the world today. Certainly, if there's up upside to sales, if things start to outpace, we are making those decisions as we see momentum in the business and would say that our guidance is as we see the world today.
Speaker 10
Okay. Then I had a question circling back on tariffs. I just was wondering if you guys could talk a little bit further on the pricing that you took. And I guess what I'm trying to understand is the magnitude, the actual percentage price increase that you mentioned that you've taken to offset the increase in tariffs. I'm thinking about in the context because I think it's the most you've ever taken.
You haven't taken a lot of pricing historically. So I guess I'm trying to understand what could be the elasticity and how you think this will stick. I know you mentioned it's early, but any color on that or confidence of why you think it will be absorbed will be helpful. And then wondering if you've been successful in getting any vendor concessions. And then finally, what's your ability or maybe willingness to move manufacturing out of China?
Thanks.
Speaker 3
Okay. So I'll take the first one and then we'll pass it over to Tarang. So on pricing piece, so in regards to tariffs, we really have the three levers that we have to pull. We have vendor concessions or cost savings, FX and then pricing. And so we're not going to give the percentage increase that we took on pricing for competitive reasons, but I will echo what Tarang said earlier is that we did not recoup the full impact of the tariff through pricing.
So we took pricing on about a third of our SKUs and that is one of the levers within the toolkit to help us offset the tariff impact.
Speaker 2
Yes. And to your point in terms of their ability to stick, I mean, I think we're hearing already a number of competitors also announcing kind of pricing and having been in consumer for a very long time, having done dozens of price increases. This is about as straightforward as it goes from a pricing standpoint. There is a known kind of external kind of tariff or tax. Most people will pass those through.
I like our approach of being quite balanced and how we're doing it. We're not putting it 100% on pricing. We are relying on FX as well as our cost savings to do it. So I like the approach, but as Mandy said, it's also one of the things that's balancing our guidance. The strength you're currently seeing along with kind of the pricing and the $10,000,000 of pipeline and seasonal that we're cycling next year.
And then last in terms of our supply chain, it's one of the things we take great pride in over fifteen years. We've built, I believe the best combination of cost, quality and speed in our industry. And a lot of that advantage comes from what we've been able to build in China tariff or no tariff. And we continue to make progress and improvements in terms of our core operations there as I mentioned our lean manufacturing techniques. But in addition to that, we've always looked more globally in terms of where should we manufacture and how do we want to operate.
And so that includes a number of initiatives that we initiated prior to any tariff. So if I think of our automation of our distribution centers that was done well before, same with our U. S. Liquid fill plant that we're building and should have up an operational by the end of our fiscal year that was done well in advance. And it really is a matter of just us continuing to get more efficient being able to take those take our cost savings and make sure that we're investing in the best value equation for the consumer and the marketing that we'd like to do.
So I feel good about our approach, feel good about kind of where we currently stand. And then I think we'll certainly be updating people over the next couple of quarters in terms of what we see in the overall market.
Speaker 10
Okay. Thank you.
Speaker 0
Thank Thank you. We have no further questions in queue at this time. Allow me to hand the floor back over to Tarang Amin for closing remarks.
Speaker 2
Great. Well, thanks again everyone for joining us. While we're still in the early days of our brand recharge, we're encouraged by the consumer and customer response and look forward to updating you on our next call. Thanks everyone.
Speaker 0
Thank you. This concludes today's conference. You may disconnect your lines at this time and thank you for your participation.