Medifast - Earnings Call - Q2 2025

Executive Summary

• Q2 2025 revenue of $105.6M and diluted EPS of $0.22 both came in above company guidance; revenue also beat Wall Street consensus ($101.8M*) and EPS beat materially (-$0.19*). Results benefited from other income tied to LifeMD stock gains and lower SG&A versus last year; core operations were near breakeven with a -1.0% operating margin.
• YoY trends remain challenging: revenue -37.4%, active coaches -32.7%, and revenue per coach -6.9%, driven by continued client acquisition headwinds and GLP-1 adoption; sequentially, revenue per coach improved for a second straight quarter.
• Q3 2025 guidance implies sequential revenue decline ($70–$90M) and EPS range of ($0.60) to $0.00; midpoint sits below Street revenue consensus ($89.7M*) and near Street EPS consensus (-$0.36*).
• Strategic catalysts: rollout of “Premier Plus” pricing/incentive structure, the EDGE coach program, digital app upgrades, and continued LifeMD collaboration (after exiting the equity position). Strong balance sheet with $162.7M cash/investments and no debt provides flexibility.

Estimates marked with * retrieved from S&P Global.

What Went Well and What Went Wrong

What Went Well

• Beat on revenue and EPS versus company guidance; management explicitly noted Q2 revenue and EPS exceeded guidance ranges.
• Balance sheet strength maintained: $162.7M in cash, cash equivalents and investment securities; no debt as of June 30, 2025.
• Strategic execution: launched Premier Plus (simpler pricing/discounts and incentives) and the EDGE coach program to improve client acquisition, retention, and coach economics; sequential revenue per coach rose for a second quarter; management emphasized transformation and science-led positioning (lean mass preservation).

What Went Wrong

• Structural pressure on demand and field: revenue -37.4% YoY to $105.6M; active earning coaches -32.7% YoY to 22,800; revenue per coach -6.9% YoY to $4,630, reflecting ongoing client acquisition headwinds and GLP-1 adoption.
• Core profitability still weak: gross margin slipped to 72.6% (from 73.2% LY), SG&A intensity remained elevated at 73.6% of revenue, and operating margin was -1.0% (improved YoY but still loss-making on operations).
• Outlook signals softer near-term: Q3 revenue guide $70–$90M and EPS ($0.60)–$0.00 point to sequential declines; CFO does not expect appreciable margin benefit from Premier Plus near-term, suggesting limited immediate P&L relief.

Transcript

Speaker 4

Meetings, and welcome to the Medifast Second Quarter 2025 Earnings Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. A question and answer session will follow the formal presentation. If you require operator assistance during the conference, please press star zero on your telephone keypad. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. It is now my pleasure to introduce you to your host, Steven Zenker, Vice President Investor Relations. Thank you, Steven. You may begin.

Good afternoon and welcome to Medifast Second Quarter 2025 Earnings Conference Call. On the call with me today are Dan Chard, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, and Jim Maloney, Chief Financial Officer. By now, everyone should have access to the earnings release for the second quarter ended June 30, 2025, that went out this afternoon at approximately 4:05 P.M. Eastern Time. If you have not received the release, it is available on the Investor Relations portion of Medifast's website at www.medifastinc.com. This call is being webcast, and a replay will also be available on the company's website. Before we begin, we would like to remind everyone that today's prepared remarks contain forward-looking statements, and management may make additional forward-looking statements in response to your questions. The words "believe," "expect," "anticipate" and other similar expressions generally identify forward-looking statements.

These statements do not guarantee future performance, and therefore under-reliance should not be placed on them. Actual results could differ materially from those projected in any forward-looking statements. All other forward-looking statements contained herein speak only as of the date of this call. Medifast assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements that may be made in today's release or call. Now I would like to turn the call over to Medifast Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Dan Chard.

Speaker 5

Thank you, Steve, and good afternoon, everyone. We're glad to be here with you today to share some updates on our progress over the second quarter of 2025. We continue to work diligently to transform our business and capitalize on the significant opportunities in helping people achieve their health goals, especially as it relates to weight loss and optimal metabolic health. We are also keenly focused on coach productivity and coach growth through targeted initiatives that aim to enhance our offer, support coach business success, and help us maintain a strong balance sheet. The rapid adoption of GLP-1 medications has brought unprecedented attention to the issue of obesity and the critical role that weight plays in overall health.

GLP-1s can be a powerful appetite suppressant, helping to turn down the food noise, but studies are in agreement that medication on its own does not help users develop the lifestyle changes necessary to achieve and sustain optimal metabolic health, which includes preserving lean mass. Research indicates that without adopting sustainable lifestyle changes, individuals who lose weight using GLP-1 medications often experience loss of lean mass, which includes muscle, of up to 40% of total weight lost, and tend to regain most of the weight back within a year after discontinuing use of the drug. This is where our programs are built to make a difference. Each program is developed to guide individuals in adopting and maintaining healthy habits that not only promote weight loss but also maximize fat burn while preserving lean mass.

In fact, a recent study of randomized clinical trial data showed that clients using the OPTAVIA 5-in-1 plan maintained 98% of lean mass during weight loss. This is due to a holistic nutrition and lifestyle approach to ensure lean mass support during the active weight loss phase and through the critical maintenance phase that follows. We believe that healthy habits are essential to long-term health. With research showing that up to 74% of people stop GLP-1 medications for weight loss within a year or less of starting them, there's a growing need for an effective long-term solution that helps people maintain their weight loss progress, whether or not they have used medications as part of their efforts to improve their health.

The science that supports our clinically studied programs is rooted in three key design elements: first, fostering sustainable change through coach and community support, second, targeting and optimizing fat burn and lean muscle maintenance, and third, supporting gut health. As science evolves, so do we, meeting people where they are and helping them navigate life's changes and challenges. While the core of our program continues to be very relevant, we are in the midst of a comprehensive evolution of our company to maximize the business opportunity for our coaches while offering tailored solutions to our clients. We cater to individuals looking to lose weight and achieve optimal metabolic health, whether they are currently using GLP-1 medications, transitioning off of them, or not using medications at all. Our focus is on helping all clients protect their lean body mass and adopt a healthy lifestyle to achieve their best health outcomes.

We're now entering the next phase of our evolution as we leverage science and clinical research to extend the impact of our flagship OPTAVIA 5-in-1 plan and product line to address the growing challenges associated with poor metabolic health. 93% of U.S. adults are metabolically unhealthy, which leads to weight gain, low energy, and higher risk of chronic illness. This is a growing health challenge that, based on recent study data, we believe OPTAVIA will be in a position to address. We'll have more to say about this and the specifics later this year. At the heart of our approach is leveraging important science breakthroughs that we believe will enhance our performance in areas of strength while also addressing important new areas of performance in our focus to deliver optimal metabolic health and well-being for our clients.

As always, our programs are supported by a personalized experience powered by dedicated coaches and a supportive community, an approach designed to inspire meaningful, lasting transformation. Coaches are a central driver of the long-term success of our program. Many of our coaches have experienced their own transformation through the program and are uniquely equipped to help others on their path to optimal metabolic health. 23% of OPTAVIA coaches have personal experience in using GLP-1 medications in their own health journey, and now 60% have coached a client who has used GLP-1 medication. Their experience, combined with a simple and actionable plan, is what makes our program distinctive and effective, helping clients at every stage from weight loss to optimal metabolic health. We are a coach-first business. Our focus is squarely on energizing and upgrading the tools that help coaches build their businesses and maximize their impact on clients.

We are doing this in an integrated, phased way, starting with broadening our product portfolio through the introduction of the OPTAVIA ACTIVE and OPTAVIA ASCEND lines and now expanding into enhancements to our mobile app and web platform. These changes are designed to deliver actionable insights, simplify coach reporting, and streamline both our coach economics and product pricing models. In July, we launched a new pricing and incentive structure for our auto-ship clients, who represent over 90% of our client base. This new structure, named Premier Plus auto-ship, integrates discounts beyond a client's first order and replaces a more complex system of loyalty credits with straightforward upfront savings, simplifying the value proposition for clients and giving coaches a more consistently priced client offer than previously available. From a client perspective, the new pricing is simpler and easier to understand.

They get discounts on every order provided they meet a minimum order size, and clients pay one fixed price for shipping regardless of order size. These improvements help make our program more compelling to prospective clients and easier to explain for coaches. The coaches should benefit by making it easier to attract and retain clients while also making the coach compensation plan payout more predictable and easy to understand, as no adjustments have to be made for promotions or loyalty credits. This also makes it easier for coaches to recruit new coaches and help those new coaches grow their businesses. Going forward, we expect that our use of promotions will be limited, likely resulting in more consistent client demand across the year. We also believe this new approach will encourage clients to stay on the program longer.

Additionally, because our model works best when our coaches are aligned and focused on the same core client support and business-building behaviors, we introduced a program called Edge in the second quarter, which features a set of integrated coach incentives, best practices, and recognition tools to reinforce the behaviors that drive success and business building. It's designed to be accessible for both new and experienced coaches, providing a clear and motivating structure for growth and alignment to help them turn part-time work into a thriving business. The changes the Edge program introduces are intended to simplify onboarding for coaches to bring non-new clients, create faster and more meaningful early wins, and provide a clear pathway for advancement and compensation growth. We're complementing this with improved leadership development training, empowering coaches to build thriving businesses.

In addition, new digital app functionality provides more robust data for coaches to allow them to track both their own business-building progress and their clients' progress in their optimal metabolic health journey. All of this enables a greater focus on personalized client service and provides better insights into how coaches can best build their businesses. Now, turning to quarterly results, revenue and EPS came in above our guidance. The total number of coaches during the quarter totaled 22,800, down 33% from Q2 2024. Year-over-year coach productivity declined 7% versus Q2 2024, in part reflecting the timing of promotions. In this year's second quarter, we did not utilize any promotions. Although the total number of coaches and the average revenue per coach declined compared to the same quarter last year, average revenue per coach increased sequentially for the second consecutive quarter.

New coach acquisition growth in the second quarter was down compared to the prior year, again reflecting the absence of promotions compared with last year's second quarter. We continue to see strong productivity among new coaches at levels we've historically seen during growth periods in the past, and we expect that trend to continue into next year. While our transformation continues to evolve, we are taking meaningful steps to position the company for future success in the years ahead. Reigniting the coach growth engine is a top priority, and we have initiatives underway on multiple fronts to support this. Now I will turn it over to Jim to go over the quarter and our projections for the next quarter.

Speaker 3

Thank you, Dan. Good afternoon, everyone. As Dan mentioned earlier, second quarter 2025 results for both revenue and EPS were above our guidance ranges. Revenue for the second quarter was $105.6 million, a decrease of 37.4% versus the year earlier period, primarily due to a decrease in the number of active earning OPTAVIA coaches. We ended the quarter with approximately 22,800 active earning OPTAVIA coaches, a decrease of 32.7% from the second quarter of 2024. Average revenue per active earning OPTAVIA coach for the second quarter was $4,630, a year-over-year decrease of 6.9%, primarily driven by continued pressure on client acquisition and timing differences in promotional activity. In 2024, promotional activity occurred in late Q1 into early Q2, while in 2025, promotional activity only occurred in Q1. Coach productivity was actually up sequentially for the second consecutive quarter, and the percentage decline improved year-over-year from Q2 2024, which decreased 10.9%.

Gross profit decreased 37.9% year-over-year to $76.6 million, driven by lower sales volumes. Gross profit margin for the current quarter was 72.6%, which decreased 60 basis points compared to the year earlier period. SG&A expense was down 40.8% year-over-year to $77.7 million, primarily due to a $24.3 million decrease in OPTAVIA coach compensation on fewer active earning coaches and lower volumes. Additionally, the company incurred costs in the second quarter of 2024 that did not recur in the second quarter of 2025, including $12.5 million for supply chain optimization, $3 million for cancellation of OPTAVIA conventions in the future years, and $2 million for the company's collaboration with LifeMD.

SG&A as a percentage of revenue decreased 430 basis points, primarily due to approximately 740 basis points for supply chain optimization initiatives, 180 basis points for cancellation of OPTAVIA convention incurred in the second quarter of 2024 that did not recur in the second quarter of 2025, partially offset by 440 basis points attributable to the loss of leverage on fixed cost due to lower sales volumes. Loss from operations was $1.1 million in the second quarter of 2025, an improvement of $6.8 million versus the year earlier period, as the decline in gross profit was more than offset by lower SG&A. As a percentage of revenue, loss from operations was 1% in the second quarter, an increase of 370 basis points compared to the year earlier period. Other income increased 242.1% year-over-year to $3.9 million, primarily due to a gain on investment in LifeMD common stock.

The company's gain on investment in LifeMD common stock for the second quarter of 2025 was $2.6 million compared to a loss of investment of $4.2 million for the corresponding period in 2024. During the quarter, we liquidated our position in LifeMD common stock. We initially invested in LifeMD to kickstart our collaboration, and while we continue to offer our clients access to LifeMD clinicians, we do not need to hold the common stock investment in LifeMD to sustain this strategy. We never viewed the investment in LifeMD common stock as a long-term investment. Our goal with all our investments is to favor ones that protect our principal and meet certain duration and risk parameters. The effective tax rate was 13.7% for the second quarter of 2025 compared to 23.4% in the prior year period.

The change in the effective tax rate for the three months ended June 30, 2025, was primarily driven by the increase in the limitation for executive compensation, which was magnified by the near break-even pre-tax position in the current year. Net income in the second quarter of 2025 was $2.5 million or $0.22 per diluted share compared to a net loss of $8.2 million or $0.75 per share in the year earlier period. Importantly, our financial position remains strong with $162.7 million in cash and cash equivalents and no interest-bearing debt as of June 30, 2025. Now I will turn to guidance. We are expecting third quarter revenue to range from $70 million to $90 million and earnings per share for the quarter to range from $0.00 to a loss of $0.60.

Dan mentioned earlier that we have begun rolling out our new Premier Plus auto-ship program in the third quarter. I did want to mention that we do not expect to see any appreciable difference in our margins going forward from the adjustments, as any impact from the pricing changes is expected to be offset by other incremental actions taken under the program. With that, let me turn the call to the operator for questions.

Speaker 1

Thank you. We'll now be conducting a question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question, please press star one on your telephone keypad. A confirmation tone will indicate your line is in the question queue. You may press star two if you would like to remove your question from the queue. For participants using speaker equipment, it may be necessary to pick up your handset before pressing the star key. One moment, please, while we pull for questions. Thank you. Our first question comes to the line of Jim Salera with Stephens. Please proceed.

Speaker 2

Good afternoon, Jim. Good afternoon. Thanks for taking our question. I wanted to start off maybe just with some thoughts around the coach composition. As the landscape changes and the, you know, selling format and the value proposition for the OPTAVIA portfolio more aligns closely with GLP-1, have you seen a significant change in your composition of coaches and kind of a different group of coaches replacing some of the older ones that are more focused on GLP-1 as the messaging? Or do you have kind of a split between legacy coaches that still focus on the traditional OPTAVIA messaging and then a new segment of coaches that focus on the more, you know, GLP-1 aligned? Just any thoughts on kind of how the coaches are adapting to this changing landscape.

Speaker 5

Yeah, Jim, let me take that one. I'll introduce Nick Johnson, who has been on this call before, who's our Chief Field Operations Officer. I'm going to make a couple of comments and then ask him to address that point specifically because I think one of the announcements we made drives towards an important part of how we're working with our coaches and how we're changing the business to help operate in this new environment. You heard us talk a little bit about the new study on clinical research, that we're increasing our focus on metabolic health because it's an upstream driver of many of the age-related health conditions, including overweight and obesity. This is an important move for us, which is partly because it addresses something that affects over 90% of Americans, who are experiencing some kind of metabolic dysfunction.

When metabolic health is out of balance, it can trigger a cascade of challenges that millions of adults face today. It's an important thing because it's tied also to one of the things that is becoming more challenged in an environment that has a growing number of people who are using GLP-1 drugs. We now have 60% of our coaches who are supporting at least one client who has used a GLP-1 drug, and roughly 23% of our client base also reflects that, people who have either used or are using GLP-1 drugs. Most importantly, as we go forward, we'll be announcing some additional findings related to that new research to further reinforce this direction, and that will affect both product and the way our coaches approach clients in terms of reversing the impact of metabolic dysfunction. I'll turn it to Nick to answer the specific question that you asked.

Nick?

Speaker 0

Thanks, Dan. Thanks, Jim, for the question. Yeah, an important one. Productivity for our new coaches is important because this leads to the creation of the next generation of leaders and ultimately reigniting the flywheel of our business. We've done a lot to focus specifically on supporting those folks over the last couple of quarters. It's important to note, this kind of is obvious, but coach leaders have evolved their training to the new environment. New coaches only know a world with GLP-1s in them, so they're very familiar with it. Coach leadership talks about it, trains to it, understands them, and understands what they do and do not do, understands where they fall short in the realm of metabolic health, specifically around some of those outages that Dan alluded to that we'd be talking about more.

The training specifically includes those who are on GLP-1s currently and also those who are coming off of GLP-1s. How do they transition? Half of our coaches have supported someone on GLP-1 medication, and like Dan said earlier, 25% of coaches have used a GLP-1 medication themselves. We see that transition happening.

Speaker 2

Great. If I can ask a follow-up just on OPTAVIA ASCEND, in the past, you guys have talked about that as being particularly targeted towards the kind of GLP-1 use case, pairing OPTAVIA ASCEND with somebody who's utilizing GLP-1 drugs. Just give us an update on if you're able to share OPTAVIA ASCEND sales as a percentage of total or just what you're seeing there in terms of engagement, and how that's been rolling out.

Speaker 5

Yeah, it continues to meet expectations. The product, as it was developed, as you pointed out, was to perform two functions. One was to support clients who are using a GLP-1 drug. The other, very important role is to help those who are transitioning off the OPTAVIA 5-in-1 plan into a maintenance phase. It supports both of those roles. What we're seeing with our coaches and their clients is there's a lot of success in actually having clients use the OPTAVIA 5-in-1 plan while they're on a GLP-1 regimen, and then transitioning to OPTAVIA ASCEND later on. That's true, largely because the OPTAVIA 5-in-1 plan provides a little bit more protein and overall calories at a time when GLP-1 clients need to have support in maintaining that lean mass. That clinical research that I mentioned earlier is related to that critical number.

Overall, we see both the OPTAVIA ASCEND line and its continued performance, as well as the OPTAVIA ACTIVE line, which is tied to clients who are exercising and need to maintain muscle, as critical parts to our overall programs.

Speaker 2

Great. Maybe just one last one. I know in the past, we had tested some company-supported marketing outside of the traditional coach-led client acquisition. We pared that back a little bit. Just any thoughts on how company-supported marketing is going to play a hand in kind of driving consumer engagement going forward?

Speaker 5

Yeah, this has been an important part of what we've been doing. What we found is that those programs are highly effective at bringing back customers or clients who had been on the OPTAVIA program before. We've found consistently that our coaches sharing their own personal messages are much more effective in bringing on new clients. It's also far more efficient for the company. While we'll continue to strategically use advertising dollars largely to affect and influence search engine management, search engine optimization, we will continue to look to our coaches to share their personal stories of health transformation as we go forward in the future and have a more pared-back budget related to company-led acquisition.

Speaker 2

Great. I appreciate the detail. I'll be back with you.

Speaker 1

Thank you. There are no further questions at this time. I'd like to pass the call back over to Dan Chard for any closing remarks.

Speaker 5

I'd like to thank everyone for your time today. This is an important moment for our business as we continue to transform to meet the pressing need of today's health and wellness landscape. With 93% of adults facing some form of metabolic dysfunction, the opportunity to help millions of people protect their health and sustain their weight loss has never been greater. We're building this business for the long term with a science-backed approach, a community of experienced coaches, and an offering that is designed to meet clients wherever they are in their journey. We'll be participating in several investor conferences this fall, including the Canaccord Genuity Annual Growth Conference on August 13th. We look forward to continuing the conversation. Thanks again, and we appreciate your continued interest in Medifast.

Speaker 1

This concludes today's teleconference. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation.