XPEL Q3 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Quartr
Provided by Quartr
November 8, 2023

There are 6 speakers on the call.

Operator

Good day, everyone, and welcome to the XPEL Inc. Third Quarter 2023 Earnings Call. At this time, all participants have been placed on a listen only mode, and we will open the floor for your questions and comments after the presentation. It is now my pleasure to turn the floor over to your host, John Nesbitt, IMS Investor Relations. Sir, the floor is yours.

Speaker 1

Good morning, and welcome to our conference call to discuss XPEL's financial results for the Q3 of 2023. On the call today, Ryan Pape, XPEL's President and Chief Executive Officer and Barry Wood, XPEL's Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer will provide an overview of the business operations and review of the company's financial results. Immediately after the prepared comments, we'll take questions from our call participants. A transcript of this call will be available on the company's website after the call. I'll take a moment to read the Safe Harbor statement.

Speaker 1

During the course of this Call will make certain forward looking statements regarding XPEL Inc. And its business, which may include, but are not limited to, anticipated use of proceeds from capital transactions, Expansion into new markets and execution of the company's growth strategy. Such statements are based on the current expectations and assumptions, which are subject to known and unknown risk factors and uncertainties that could cause actual results to materially differ from those expressed in these statements. Some of these factors are discussed in detail in our most recent Form 10 ks, including under the Item 1A Risk Factors Filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, XPEL undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Okay.

Speaker 1

With that, I'll now turn the call over to Ryan. Go ahead, Ryan.

Speaker 2

Thank you, John, and good morning, everyone, and welcome from me also to our Q3 2023 conference call. We had another strong quarter, Overall revenue growing 14.4 percent to $102,700,000 This was in line with our expectations for revenue and what we discussed on our Q2 call. Also, as expected, China did have a nice sequential increase from Q2. We're still a 7% decline from Q3 2022, which impacted the Quarter over quarter growth rate and our non China revenue growth in the quarter was 17.4%. Our U.

Speaker 2

S. Region grew 14.5 percent compared to Q3 2022 to $59,000,000 Sequentially, this was essentially flat to Q2, Our U. S. Business is now 57% of our overall revenue, so its performance serves as a significant driver Our overall results, U. S.

Speaker 2

New car sales continued to be solid despite the higher interest rate environment. We did see a slight reduction in the rate of growth in our aftermarket channel this quarter versus Q2. But overall, Q3 2022 was The peak quarter for last year. And as you know, we watch the front lines of our marketing customers very closely and our customers tell us their business has been relatively consistent this summer, but probably off the fever pace we saw in Q3 of 2022. I know that each of you covers many of you cover our business and the industry closely.

Speaker 2

So I want to take the opportunity to step back for a minute and discuss our channel strategy and how our multiple channels in our view Compliment each other and enable us to reach an expanding customer base. So as many of you know, paint protection film started almost exclusively in the aftermarket. And the consumer had to first find out about and then he would take his or her car into an independently owned shop to have the product applied. So this consumer still represents a large portion of the channel and of the buyer. Enthusiast buyers dominates this channel and we estimate an enthusiast buyer to be around 15% of all new car buyers.

Speaker 2

Over time, as dealerships saw their customers purchase in the aftermarket, dealerships began to move to adopt And the reason for adoption is simple to generate gross profit and many dealerships outsource the installation to the aftermarket Because they don't want to have to hire their own internal staff. And as you know, hiring internal staff in a dealership or a service center model can be challenging. Consumers demand product excellence and to be effective dealerships need a technical skill set for installation, yet they may only need a small team of installers In some cases, just one person. This reality can make it challenging for dealerships to recruit, train and staff Around time off, absences and other things. So some dealerships choose to build internal teams and are able to do this themselves successfully and they'll continue to do it.

Speaker 2

At the same time, there are other businesses that have no retail presence whatsoever who provide services to dealerships. In our case, you're not going to find these customers on our dealer locator or likely even know they exist. We refer to these customers as dealership services. We've acquired several of them over time for paint protection film and window tint. And so we're in that business ourselves.

Speaker 2

As you analyze our industry, it's important to understand that scaling to meet high penetration rates in dealerships is something Few of the aftermarket installers are interested in as this scaling requires substantially more human capital and a constant reinvestment of cash flow into the Likewise, you don't really see dealership groups universally scale installation internally across their enterprise in a consistent way. It's typically locally decided and it's very much a patchwork in its implementation. So even still as dealerships continue to sell More and ultimately create more awareness for On the whole, this is not disruptive to the aftermarket in our view for several reasons. One, the aftermarket participates in this work by doing work for dealerships in some cases, as I mentioned a minute ago. And then enthusiast buyers who are still the largest part of this channel and who were the original buyers will often opt out of the dealership channel and take their new card directly into the aftermarket, seeking a more bespoke installation from someone they trust.

Speaker 2

And then 3rd, obviously, the market overall has continued to grow. So net net, the dealership's offering Is increasing attach rates by finding people that would never take their car into the aftermarket. And as dealerships continue to adopt We've seen interest from the OEMs begin to develop. And again, this interest is profit motivated. Installing PPS At or near the point of manufacturer delivery is attractive because the vehicles are located together for efficiency.

Speaker 2

The downside is you need a substantial physical footprint And human capacity to do a considerable number of vehicles as installation is still done manually without any currently Available automated installation processes. So there's a limit ultimately to the scale that can be achieved in that environment. Additionally, OEM programs are susceptible to being served by dealerships who would prefer to internalize their programs and not Select the manufacturer's option for the product because they believe they can generate more profit and have more control. And it's important to note again That the original and predominant enthusiast buyer may always prefer their local installer whom they know and trust and whose quality and workmanship they prefer. Yet like dealerships, OEMs still have the ability to reach consumers not captured by any other element to the channel And those that don't know about the product, which is helping to grow consumer awareness overall.

Speaker 2

So when you look at it in totality, We see the mix of channel activities as healthy and mandatory to the development of the market and we don't see direct Aggregate cannibalization of the business from one segment to another. As an example, even as you have seen more dealership participation in over the past Few years, the aftermarket is bigger than it's ever been for XPEL. In XPEL, we have various internal measures, including our DAP software For estimating our vehicle attach rates for our products and the related revenue mix. In particular, we can look at This attach rate as it relates to traditional paint protection, which would be the front end of a vehicle or the full car of a vehicle separate from say, many kits or wear and tear applications that would be additional. So as an example, in the case of Rivian with whom we have a factory program, Our U.

Speaker 2

S. XPEL aftermarket attach rates are higher than many other makes. In this case, the OEM program is incremental and is helping to grow attach rates overall. It's our view that initial buyers of a new model or a new brand Like the recent development of the EV manufacturers are more likely to skew towards enthusiasts. So we would expect Attachment rates to be higher initially, but over time, if there's more mass market appeal, particularly if the price point is more accessible, The buyer profile will change to be more similar with the overall industry dynamics.

Speaker 2

So put simply, the incremental buyer Of this type is less likely to be an enthusiast. This means over time, we might expect to see attach rates go down on a new vehicle as they expand production And their mass market appeal. So today, as an example, our U. S. Attach rate into Rivian is substantially higher than Tesla, for example, even excluding our OEM operation.

Speaker 2

And this is likely due to the early presence of the enthusiast buyer dominating the channel for a new vehicle. That said, as an example, our U. S. Porsche attach rate is substantially higher and actually multiples higher Yet again, because a large percentage of that core buyer are enthusiasts and because Porsche has a dealer network that exists and is very effective at selling the product. Other enthusiasts dominated and higher average price point makes follow similar trends.

Speaker 2

Overall, it will take a range of approaches to continue to expand the market of paint protection film beyond the 15% enthusiasts that I mentioned earlier and into the mainstream. We estimate 25% of consumers will never buy the product and they probably wouldn't take it for free because the pride of ownership of their vehicle is just not there. Those consumers simply don't care, but that leaves 50% to 60% of the new car buyer, in our estimation, That are open to the product if they learn about it, if they can access it easily before, during or after the sale process And if we can meet them with an appropriate price point to provide good value. To do that, we'll take a variety of sales channels and marketing activities to reach this group over time. So I know that's a lot to digest on the U.

Speaker 2

S. On our U. S. Go to market. But to summarize, our channel strategy uniquely positions us to be there Wherever the demand takes us and is a key part of our ability to drive sustained growth.

Speaker 2

So turning back to our quarterly results, Most of our other regions had solid quarters led by European region, which posted 43.5% growth over the prior year quarter In our Latin America region, which grew 58.4% over the prior year quarter. Canada's growth rate was impacted a bit by FX Using Q3 2022 exchange rates, Canada revenue would have grown approximately 10% as the Canadian dollar weakened substantially in that time. And as I mentioned previously, China's Q3 performance was consistent with our expectations and that we saw sequential growth over Q2 of this year, but still a 7% over Q3 2022, which was the highest quarter for last year. The Q4 forecast we received from our distribution in China is Positive and assuming we can ship all the product as forecast would indicate our Q4 revenue from China would be one of our highest quarters in recent years. First things can change and they have in the past, but we're optimistic that this will be a good quarter for China.

Speaker 2

I also want to update you that we remain on track to have our initial team in country at the end of the year as we assess a variety of aspects on our overall go to market in China. And of course, one of our goals as we work on this project is to eliminate the lumpiness of our China business in terms of sell in versus sell through. And as we're doing with China, we're also establishing our first facility in India, which will be open at the beginning of the year And looking at a more direct approach for that market as it develops and as it's in its infancy. As we've discussed in the past, our U. S.

Speaker 2

Business does have some seasonality in Q1, which is our lowest quarter. Q2 and Q3 trade off being our highest And then we typically see a drop off in Q4. Given that and our expectations for China, as I mentioned earlier, Assuming we can deliver on the forecast, we expect Q4 revenue to be in the $98,000,000 to $100,000,000 range, which We put our annual revenue growth rate toward the lower end of the 20% to 25% range we've discussed this year. On margin, Our gross margin for the quarter finished at 40.4%, which is a bit lower than our year to date run rate. We did have around $1,000,000 of Time adjustments in inventory for the quarter.

Speaker 2

And as we moved off our supply chain concerns we've had coming into the year and years prior We've improved the manufacturing throughput. We have remnants and off cuts and other material that is more commercially challenging Process that no longer needs to be retained as a safety stock. And so that's part of the adjustment that you see here. Our Processes in this area will continue to improve and already has. So perhaps some of that adjustment is probably out of period.

Speaker 2

And if you normalize for that, Our gross margin would have been a little less choppy than quarter to quarter this year, but I certainly don't want to take away from the big picture Where our improving gross margin profile has been terrific. So nothing's changed in terms of our outlook related to the opportunities for that gross margin expansion. We still expect to close the year at or near 42% gross margin and still expect our gross margin profile to continue to expand in 2024 and then beyond. In other business updates, we closed on 2 acquisitions in the 4th quarter with a combined purchase price of around $13,000,000 1 was a Canadian based installation chain of 6 locations that came to market. The other was a European based business Installing product for 2 OEMs at a small scale.

Speaker 2

Both of these will nicely complement our go to market strategy that we've discussed And you should add around $11,000,000 in full year 2024 revenue. We also have 2 acquisitions to close in the remainder of the year, 1 in the U. S. And 1 in Australia To supplement our direct model in that market that started last year with the acquisition of our distributor. Our acquisition pipeline remains healthy And we expect to deploy all of our excess cash into this strategy and we still think that this is the best use for our cash.

Speaker 2

The acquisition strategy focused on 3 core targets. 1st, we're looking to expand our distribution to other key markets globally where acquiring our distributors might make sense. Our Australia acquisition from last year that I mentioned a second ago is a great example of this where we have 3x the revenue we had prior to the acquisition, Highest margin profile in the system and we can directly execute on all facets of the go to market in country. As we've discussed before, the closer we are to the end customer, the more successful we are in that particular market as product awareness propagates. Secondly, we're looking into the channel for things like dealership services, where we can invest in a part of the market that we don't think is well served to tie into my remarks earlier.

Speaker 2

And finally, We'll always look at adjacent product or service lines to complement our current portfolio as a possible acquisition target. One example of an adjacent market is colored films. We get asked a lot about this. Today, you'll see vehicle wraps used for marketing purposes and for color change. Historically, that market is driven by vinyl films.

Speaker 2

And now over the past few years, you've seen the presence of more TPU Based colored films where TPU is what paint protection film is made of. And this is obviously then more similar in its construction to paint protection film. There are probably a half dozen to a dozen TPU based color products on the market today and then dozen or 2 dozen or more sort of Cast vinyl products, which have been the traditional mainstay of that business. Wrapping an entire vehicle with colored film via vinyl or TPU Have some of the same challenges as installation, given the current manual application process. It's a bit more difficult to install in some cases, because you may want to disassemble part of the vehicle to ensure all painted surfaces are covered, so you don't have any gaps or scenes in coverage.

Speaker 2

However, given the cost, quality and difficulty of full car installation, including the lack of a Reliable automated installation capability and the need for repairability of what's installed in the fleet, it's unlikely in our opinion, we'll see films replace paint In mass anytime soon, if ever, it's more likely they'll continue to be used as they are now or bespoke colors Not offered through a manufacturing process for things like contrast roofs, for graphics and marketing, and then for select vehicle parts That are painted offline today and integrated into a final build. Many of our aftermarket installers came to paint protection film business From the traditional colored wrap business because they found the business more attractive and a larger potential customer base. So we've had a wait and see approach to this market relative to our overall priorities and its future with us, even though it's Probably one of the next most adjacent markets in terms of product. In that context, should we decide to Participate in it, the colored wrap business should be seen as something that can expand the TAM of XPEL, not something that threatens to reduce it. Across all our product lines, our suppliers are very important to us and we've developed an extended base of raw materials and converting suppliers, in particular, for our paint protection film business over the years.

Speaker 2

Even as we've diversified that manufacturing using the asset light model and outsourced manufacturing model that we've used since inception, We've had a strong and longstanding 15 year relationship with EnterTek. Earlier this year, it was announced that PPG had formed a Joint venture with EnterTek around colored film products EnterTek had developed over a period of many years. We welcome the joint venture with EnterTek And there are many possible opportunities for collaboration with PPG, actively discussing ways in which we might do that with their senior leadership. Next, let me turn to our leadership team here and provide a brief update. As many of you know, Matt Moreau He has decided to retire from the business after serving as our Senior Vice President of Sales and Product.

Speaker 2

He joined the company in 2015 after we acquired his business in Canada And has held positions of increasing responsibility ever since. He will be missed. We wish him all the best. Also excited about 2 additions. Recently, Tony Remus has joined us as our VP of Revenue and the Commercial Revenue and Strategy Responsibility, Including our partnerships.

Speaker 2

And Tony has a wealth of automotive industry experience, including time running a top 50 dealership group And then later in Automotive Venture Capital. So he's a great addition to the team. And finally, we brought on Kim Steiner as our Vice President of People and Culture. And we have nearly 1,000 employees now and growing as we operate on the diverse business model. It's a critical role, really excited to have her on board.

Speaker 2

And our culture centers around doing what's best for the customer with a no tomorrow attitude, and Kim will be integral in helping drive that even further across the organization. We're also working on a number of internal changes to reflect our organization both around key operating functions, But even as importantly around key regions, Asia, as we mentioned earlier, Middle East and India going forward To ensure that we've got leadership in the region and that we have a sufficiently decentralized decision making process to remain the agile company that we have been and need to be. Finally, we just attended the annual SEMA show, which is the largest Aftermarket automotive event of its kind in one of the largest trade shows in existence. And really proud of our amazing Play there, which you may have seen on social media through the XPEL House, which showcased all of our products in an innovative way. I know our presence there was universally well received.

Speaker 2

We've got a lot of other great marketing initiatives going into 2024, including additional sponsorships and targeted marketing programs to drive More of that non enthusiast car buyer to the market for paint protection film as I discussed earlier. And then additionally, we have a new global platform Next year, our global web platform launching next year with enhanced e commerce for selling car care products to increase the number of touch points we have with our customers over the lifetime ownership of their vehicle. Before turning it over to Barry, I just want to take note, obviously, there's been quite a bit of external noise and conjecture during the quarter. This noise has been built on a great deal of speculation. We're on track for a strong year and remain focused on providing outstanding service to our customers.

Speaker 2

And I've never been more optimistic about the long term opportunity for our business. XPEL, we are a strong and industry leading business And our strength is based first on having the best team in the business and then on the fact that we have a very diverse business, Diverse by geography, by customers, by channels and by product lines and an intense focus on executing the go to market strategy. So with that, we'll turn it over to Barry.

Speaker 3

Thanks, Ryan, and good morning, everyone. Just a little bit more color on our revenue. If you look at the product lines, Combined paint protection film and cut bank revenue grew 8.4% in the quarter and was up sequentially a little under 4%. Our window film product line revenue grew 21.9 percent quarter over quarter to $18,800,000 which represented 18.3% of our revenue. And this was the 2nd highest quarter for the window film product line in our history coming off a record quarter in Q2.

Speaker 3

Revenue for the Vision product line, which included the total window film, which is included in total window film, grew 50% to $2,700,000 And this represented approximately 14% of total window film revenue and 2.6% of overall revenue. And sequentially, this was up approximately 12% over our previous high in Q2. Our OEM business also had a nice Quarter with revenue growing a little under 62% versus Q3 2022 to 3,900,000 And this was down sequentially a little bit as production stops in August for most of our European OEMs for vacation. So the Sequential decline was normal and expected. Our Fusion Ceramic Coating product revenue, which is included in our other revenue line, Grew 35% for the quarter to $1,500,000 and represented 1.5% of total revenue for the quarter.

Speaker 3

Our total installation revenue combining product and service grew 34.2% in the quarter and represented 17.2% of total revenue. And on a year to date basis, total revenue grew 18.4%. Our Q3 SG and A expense grew 29.5 percent to $23,900,000 and represented 23.3 percent of total revenue. And included in our Q3 SG and A was approximately $600,000 of costs related to one time We also incurred approximately $500,000 And one time costs related to some research and development around some new product development. If you normalize for that, SG and A would have grown approximately 25 for the quarter, representing approximately 22 percent of total revenue.

Speaker 3

EBITDA for the quarter grew 4.1% to 19,700,000 reflecting an EBITDA margin of 19.2%. And if you normalize for the items I mentioned previously, EBITDA would have grown 16.7 percent and EBITDA margin would have been 21.5%. Net income for the quarter grew 2.5% to $13,700,000 reflecting net income margin of 13.3%. And again, normalizing for those items that I mentioned, Net income would have grown 16.9 percent and net income margin would have been 15.2%. EPS finished at $0.49 per share for the quarter and normalized EPS finished at $0.56 per share.

Speaker 3

On a year to date basis, EBITDAs Grew 23.4 percent to $59,200,000 and net income grew 23.6 percent to 40,800,000 We did have an issue during the quarter where one of our suppliers began experiencing some abnormal quality issues And this we start seeing this in late Q2, early Q3, and they were unable to pinpoint the issue or really know when it was going to be resolved. And one thing that Ryan has been very clear about with our team is that we should never run out of product for our customers. If we were to be out of stock on something that our aftermarket customers need, it would really be devastating for them because most of them operate on a just in time inventory basis. And because of this, we do everything we can to not let stockouts happen. So when we saw these quality issues and not really having Any visibility into when they would be resolved, we had to increase our orders with alternate suppliers to ensure we were able to meet demand later in the quarter and Q4.

Speaker 3

Ultimately, the issue ended up getting resolved relatively quickly, which was good, without any customer facing impact. But by that time, we had more raw materials in the pipeline. Consequently, we ended the quarter with higher inventory than planned. Our days on hand were flat to Q2, but we'll see an increase in days on hand in Q4 and we should be back to normal in Q1 as the inventory sells through. Even with that, our cash conversion cycle did improve slightly in the quarter.

Speaker 3

Cash flow from ops for the quarter was $11,100,000 We had a bit of an anomaly on our cash flow reporting for the quarter related to our acquisitions that we closed subsequent to the quarter end. We had put approximately $7,400,000 in escrow in advance of the closing these closings. This amount sits in our prepaid Expense on our balance sheet and accordingly is reflected in our operating cash flows. And this will flip to investing in Q4 when we booked the acquisition. So absent this anomaly, operating cash flows would have been approximately $18,500,000 And if you compare that sequentially to Q2, It was slightly down due to the inventory we added related to the quality issue.

Speaker 3

Even with that, our cash We're in really good shape from our cash perspective. And we did pay off line of credit during the quarter, and we expect to be able to generate enough cash to execute on our immediate acquisition plans. And of course, this will always depend on deal size and we're certainly not opposed Some modest leverage where appropriate. And generally, we're still seeing deal multiples in the 4x to 6x range. So From a capital allocation perspective, these deals are the right thing to do and remain solid value adds for us.

Speaker 3

So another good quarter for us and we look forward to closing out the year strong. With that, operator, we'll now open the call up for questions.

Operator

Your first question is coming from Steve Dyer from Craig Hallum. Your line is

Speaker 4

live. Thanks. Good morning. Just I guess first on the inventory, do you anticipate any more inventory write downs? And then I guess even backing that out in the quarter, gross margin was a touch lighter than I think I would have Anything else kind of to call out there in the quarter in terms of sort of things that caught you by surprise in the gross margin line?

Speaker 2

No, Steve, I think we don't expect any more adjustments like that. I mean, obviously, over a longer period of time, there's always things that happen, but Sort of nothing planned. In the quarter, you've got China mix, you've got a little FX, you've got Lower labor utilization with some of the OEM, August shutdowns and things like that. So nothing Of consequence to point out probably just a few incremental pieces like that.

Speaker 4

Okay. And then your gross margin guidance for Q4 4 implies a pretty strong quarter even with a little bit lower revenue in the China mix, etcetera. Kind of help me understand kind of what sort of gives you that continued confidence that gross margins will really be pushing that 42% number.

Speaker 2

Well, I mean, we knew going into the year, looking at it on a full year basis, what our expectations were and we really kind of Running hot on that, to start the year. And we've had planned what we expected in terms of a strong Q4 for China all year, we've talked about that we expected the year to be back end loaded. So that's what our modeling Continues to suggest and then obviously revenue mix, currency, these things will matter for the Q4 like they did for the 3rd. But In aggregate, the whole year has been relatively consistent aside from say Q2 where we were really, Really running hot on gross margin, pushing above that 42%.

Speaker 4

Yes. A couple more questions, I guess, just on the quarter. I guess I've not heard you call out one time R and D expense for new product development before. Can you give any more details sort of what that is? Is that product Still in development, any color there?

Speaker 2

Yes. Steve, we've built over the past 5 years A substantial internal R and D team, R and D quality and adjacent functions, Both by people and then investment in equipment. But we also utilize third parties for certain projects Either we don't have the internal expertise for that we're trying to move faster on. So some of that happens and it's not really noteworthy based on the timing of the expense And when it occurs, in this case, it just kind of happened to hit in this quarter with a slightly larger amount alongside these other sort of one time expenses. So we called it out, but it really reflects sort of the continuing cadence of things we're doing, not a one off looking at how do we make our Existing products better in the markets we're in.

Speaker 2

And then as we look at the adjacencies, Where else might we want to go? So I wouldn't call it out to any specific area we're focused on. I think we just really called out due to the timing of how it presented.

Speaker 4

Got you. Okay. And then I guess as you look forward to next year, I know you only guide 1 quarter out, but you've typically kind of been running in that 20 plus percent range for a long time. Maybe that's aggressive in a year that it feels like we're going into a recession, etcetera. But I guess Any interest in taking a big picture swipe at how you're thinking about next year?

Speaker 2

Well, I mean, I agree with you. We've had The macro question and I guess we really had that coming into 2024 too, if you picture yourself at this time last year, We had it coming into 2023 rather. And this year, I think, by all accounts for everybody, probably ended up stronger than was thought in November of 2022. So I think with that caveat in mind, if we were to see kind of the tempo That we're in now continue. I think we would be looking in a 2024 environment at kind of a 15%, 20% sort of Organic growth rate, that's kind of how we see it.

Speaker 2

That then subject to change from sort of the inorganic acquisition components. And then obviously to the downside, it's the recession risk or the auto market loses steam From the pace it's been on, that would potentially challenge that to the downside. But I think we see enough Opportunity and we see angles for organic growth into the future to give us Kind of that sustained organic growth rate, are we going to hit 20% compounded organically year over year? That might be A little tough as you get to larger numbers, but I think if you could get to 15% to 15% plus that would be good in this environment.

Speaker 4

Yes, absolutely. And then lastly, I don't necessarily want to ask you to comment on somebody else's business, but you touched on the PPG Intratech Joint venture, there's been some chatter just around their ability or progress in embedding, I guess or a like alternative into the paint. We've done quite a bit of work around that and have not seen anything remotely That would suggest that that's happening, but give you an opportunity, I guess, to comment on it as you wish.

Speaker 2

Sure. Yes. No, We watch these things closely. I can tell you that there's no known technology that puts film inside paint That we're aware of and this is not something that our partners at PPG are doing. And so I think that what you're seeing On a broader basis is can you use films, to augment or replace paint in limited circumstances?

Speaker 2

That's what's been Kind of developing at a slow pace, probably for the past 10 years. But that's A far cry from some theoretical technology to put film inside paint and that doesn't exist.

Speaker 4

Okay, got it. Thanks guys. I'll pass it along.

Speaker 2

Thanks Steve.

Operator

Thank you. Your next Question is coming from Jeff Van Sinderen from B. Riley. Your line is live.

Speaker 5

Good morning, everyone. So maybe we could just Touch on your OEM business a little bit more. Maybe you can kind of give us your thoughts on how you see that business developing. I think you said you mentioned that you actually acquired a small OEM related If there's any more detail you can give us on that and just kind of overall speak to your outlook for the OEM business.

Speaker 2

Sure. I think, Jeff, we tried to give a lot more color to how we view the channel And our remarks this time, just because we do see all of these pieces as complementary, and on an individual unit basis, Yeah, you could cannibalize 1 unit from 1 channel to the other, but net net net, we see this as a way to grow awareness and reach beyond The traditional enthusiast buyer that has dominated our business. So from that end, I see more opportunity with the OEMs. It's not going to come to dominate the business, but it certainly has the ability to grow on a percent of total revenue basis And it's really complementary to everything else we're doing. And I think to understand about any product that's installed, Even if it's installed centralized in an OEM environment, you still have to be you still have to have the ability to service and repair it In the real world, and so that's another area where you have the OEM business intersect the need for the aftermarket channel.

Speaker 2

So it's something we're going to continue to pursue in view of trying to Create more awareness and expand the buyer for paint protection film and it likely will grow on a percent of revenue basis, But it's not going to grow to dominate our revenue. It's just going to be one piece of the overall pie.

Speaker 5

Okay. And then, maybe if you could give us any more color around what you're seeing in China and perhaps Speak to, I guess, how you're evolving the China business, a little more understanding and color around that. And then I think you also mentioned India, so maybe a quick Thought on approach to India?

Speaker 2

Yes. Jeff, I think if you look at all the lessons we've learned in our business over the years We know that we do exceptionally well when we get as close to the customer as possible. And that's led us to participate in the channel in a variety of ways, But including acquiring distributors in various countries and setting up in country. And For us, China was really always the exception to say that's the caveat to that strategy. And I think where we are now is saying, well, We need to have a much more open mind in terms of the best go to market for China To support the distribution there and really set it up on an even stronger platform for growth.

Speaker 2

And so the first thing we're doing is getting our team assembled. We've been working very closely with our, mass distributor in China and really put together a plan that says, how do we make this whole thing better? And I mentioned in the prepared remarks about sort of the lumpiness of sell through and sell in. Well, maybe we can do things around The inventory planning and inventory in country to make that easier for everybody is one example. The other side is we've just we've got to get much closer to the business, The kind of COVID two and a half years, you had much of the world not present in China from the outside and the market there continues To do its thing and so we've got to be increasingly present and increasingly close to it.

Speaker 2

So I think we're very active on that. I would expect To see what we're doing there evolve next year, for the better based on all the feedback we get and Whatever modifications to the go to market. And I guess similarly to India, India is a market that we have very little revenue from today, But we see the great prospects for development as the country development country continues to develop and Per capita incomes grow and the number of people at higher incomes continues to grow. And I think one of our lessons candidly from China Applied into India is that we need to be on the ground and we need to be present, not to say we have to there's no room for local And there's no room for a bifurcated go to market strategy. All those things are on the table, but we need to be there and be present at the very beginning.

Speaker 2

And so that's what you're seeing us do with India. We're relocating a leader from Texas to India to lead that. And I think you see that with the lessons we've had from distribution around the world and then also in particular lessons learned in China, Where you had a market that was rapidly developing. So I think you can kind of look at those in a similar way.

Speaker 5

Okay. Thanks for that. That's helpful. And then just one more quick one. Are there any more extraordinary items that you anticipate over the next couple of quarters that might impact the P and L?

Speaker 2

Well, I would say that we anticipate no. But everything that we're doing is with the long term View of the company in mind. So to the extent our acquisition cadence continues or increases or accelerated, you are going to see Things like legal expenses, if the product development and the research and development activities we have could be Further accelerated by outside resources like what you saw in the second half of this year, we're going to make those decisions, even if we feel it quarter to quarter. But all that said, there's nothing on the horizon to identify at this point, but we're always going to side on the Long term view of the company versus the short term in making those decisions.

Speaker 5

Okay, fair enough. Thanks for taking my questions. I'll take the rest offline.

Speaker 2

Thanks, Jeff.

Operator

Thank you. That concludes the Q and A portion of the call. I will now hand the conference back to management for closing remarks. Please go ahead.

Speaker 2

I'd like to thank everyone for participating today and really thank our entire team. We've had an amazing quarter. We've seen huge development in our team and people really going deep to further the initiatives we have, including folks taking on a lot more responsibility And then those that we've got relocating to other parts of the world to help drive the XPEL vision elsewhere. So Couldn't do it without them. Thank you very much and look forward to speaking to everyone soon.

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Earnings Conference Call
XPEL Q3 2023
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