Blue Bird Corporation (“Blue Bird”) (Nasdaq: BLBD), the leader in electric and low-emission school buses, announced today its fiscal 2022 first quarter results. GAAP net loss for the quarter of $4.1 million was $2.5 million higher than the same FY2021 fiscal period. Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter was $3.6 million, down $2.2 million from last year. Order backlog remains strong at a record 4,800 buses, worth approximately $500 million, which fills a large portion of FY2022 production.

Highlights

Blue Bird faced a challenging first quarter marked by supply chain disruptions and inflationary pressures. Primarily driven by the global COVID-19 pandemic, the company continued to be negatively impacted by rising raw material, freight and labor costs, as well as the worldwide microchip shortage. Blue Bird has also onboarded a second source supplier for one of the critical components that has been impacting production. In addition, Blue Bird brought its pricing in line with expected cost increases. The company announced a 4% price increase for new orders effective March 1^st, on top of a total 11% price increase announced through the summer of 2021.

As an employee-centric organization, Blue Bird continued to invest in its workforce and workplace upgrades to further improve safety, quality, cost and delivery. Blue Bird also advanced its Lean Transformation to implement a world class-operating system that improves efficiency, quality and production capacity while reducing costs.

The transformation enables Blue Bird to capitalize on significant growth opportunities tied to chassis building and the electrification of school buses.

“We are expanding our chassis business to motorhomes and electrified, last mile delivery vehicles,” said Matthew Stevenson, President and CEO of Blue Bird Corporation. “With a market size of more than 30,000 units we will effectively double our addressable market. Based on our world-class engineering capabilities and nearly 95 years of experience in bus chassis building, Blue Bird is uniquely qualified to serve these markets.

“Blue Bird also remains committed to further grow its share of emission-free electric activity and school buses in North America. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill allocates $5B in funding for electric and low-emission school buses. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is scheduled to start implementing the program by the end of March. Blue Bird anticipates orders to follow in 2H 2022.”

Added Stevenson: “Blue Bird is the proven technology leader for zero-emission electric activity and school buses. We anticipate scaling up our electric vehicle production capacity to 4,000 vehicles a year by 2024 to meet demand. Blue Bird continues to transform the transportation industry.”

2022 Guidance Confirmed

“We are expecting a challenging 1H for fiscal 2022 due to continued supply constraints and margin pressure, with the majority of the supplier cost increases taking effect on January 1, 2022,” said Razvan Radulescu, CFO of Blue Bird Corporation. “We still expect to see gradual relief beginning in fiscal Q3 as supply chain constraints are resolved due to new suppliers coming on board, and orders with the 11% price increase begin to be delivered. In Fiscal Q4 we expect to be at higher production levels and with normalized margins as the full 11% price increase goes into effect. Therefore, we are maintaining our guidance for fiscal 2022, previously released during our fiscal 2021 year-end call.”

Fiscal 2022 First Quarter Results

Net Sales

Net sales were $129.2 million for the first quarter of fiscal 2022, a decrease of $1.2 million, or 0.9%, from prior year period. Bus unit sales were 1,149 units for the quarter compared with 1,255 units for the same period last year. The $5.4 million decrease in bus segment sales was partially offset by an increase of $4.2 million in parts segment sales, driven by increased demand, as more busses are in operation as more schools have opened back up to in person learning, and by pricing actions taken by management to offset increases in purchased part costs.

Gross Profit

First quarter gross profit of $16.2 million represented an increase of $1.7 million from the first quarter of last year. The increase was primarily driven by higher parts segment sales volume and pricing actions taken by management to offset increases in purchased part costs. Gross profit margin improved 1.4 points to 12.5%.

Net Loss

Net loss was $4.1 million for the first quarter of fiscal 2022, which was $2.5 million higher than the same period last year. The increase was primarily driven by an increase of $3.5 million in SG&A, which was largely a result of share-based compensation expense as a result of the accelerated vesting of all outstanding stock awards for two of the Company's former executives, merit increases for all employees, and reversal of COVID-19 related extraordinary actions taken in the first quarter of fiscal 2021 to reduce labor costs. This increase in SG&A was partially offset by a $1.2 million increase in income tax benefit.

Adjusted Net Income

Adjusted Net Income was $(2.0) million, representing a decrease of $2.1 million compared with the same period last year. This decrease is primarily due to the $2.5 million increase in net loss. This was partially offset by a $0.7 million increase in share-based compensation.

Adjusted EBITDA

Adjusted EBITDA was $3.6 million, which was a decrease of $2.2 million compared with the first quarter last year. This decrease is primarily due to the $2.5 million increase in net loss.

Conference Call Details

Blue Bird will discuss its first quarter 2022 results in a conference call at 4:30 PM ET today. Participants may listen to the audio portion of the conference call either through a live audio webcast on the Company's website or by telephone. The slide presentation and webcast can be accessed via the Investor Relations portion of Blue Bird's website at www.blue-bird.com.

• Webcast participants should log on and register at least 15 minutes prior to the start time on the Investor Relations homepage of Blue Bird’s website at http://investors.blue-bird.com. Click the link in the events box on the Investor Relations landing page.

• Participants desiring audio only should dial 1-877-407-0784 or 1-201-689-8560

A replay of the webcast will be available approximately two hours after the call concludes via the same link on Blue Bird’s website.

About Blue Bird Corporation

Blue Bird (NASDAQ: BLBD) is recognized as a technology leader and innovator of school buses since its founding in 1927. Our dedicated team members design, engineer and manufacture school buses with a singular focus on safety, reliability, and durability. Blue Bird buses carry the most precious cargo in the world – the majority of 25 million children twice a day – making us the most trusted brand in the industry. The company is the proven leader in low- and zero-emission school buses with more than 20,000 propane, natural gas, and electric powered buses in operation today. Blue Bird is transforming the student transportation industry through cleaner energy solutions. For more information on Blue Bird's complete product and service portfolio, visit www.blue-bird.com. For Blue Bird's line of emission-free electric buses, visit www.bluebirdelectricbus.com.

Key Non-GAAP Financial Measures We Use to Evaluate Our Performance

This press release includes the following non-GAAP financial measures “Adjusted EBITDA,” "Adjusted EBITDA Margin," "Adjusted Net Income," "Adjusted Diluted Earnings per Share," “Free Cash Flow” and “Adjusted Free Cash Flow”. Adjusted EBITDA and Free Cash Flow are financial metrics that are utilized by management and the board of directors to determine (a) the annual cash bonus payouts, if any, to be made to certain members of management based upon the terms of the Company’s Management Incentive Plan, and (b) whether the performance criteria have been met for the vesting of certain equity awards granted annually to certain members of management based upon the terms of the Company’s Omnibus Equity Incentive Plan. Additionally, consolidated EBITDA, which is an adjusted EBITDA metric defined by our Amended Credit Agreement that could differ from Adjusted EBITDA discussed above as the adjustments to the calculations are not uniform, is used to determine the Company's ongoing compliance with several financial covenant requirements, including being utilized in the denominator of the calculation of the Total Net Leverage Ratio. Accordingly, management views these non-GAAP financial metrics as key for the above purposes and as a useful way to evaluate the performance of our operations as discussed further below.

Adjusted EBITDA is defined as net income or loss prior to interest income; interest expense including the component of operating lease expense (which is presented as a single operating expense in selling, general and administrative expenses in our GAAP financial statements) that represents interest expense on lease liabilities; income taxes; and depreciation and amortization including the component of operating lease expense (which is presented as a single operating expense in selling, general and administrative expenses in our GAAP financial statements) that represents amortization charges on right-of-use lease assets; as adjusted for certain non-cash charges or credits that we may record on a recurring basis such as stock-compensation expense and unrealized gains or losses on certain derivative financial instruments; net gains or losses on the disposal of assets as well as certain charges such as (i) significant product design changes; (ii) transaction related costs; (iii) discrete expenses related to major cost cutting initiatives; or (iv) costs directly attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic. While certain of the charges that are added back in the Adjusted EBITDA calculation, such as transaction related costs and operational transformation and major product redesign initiatives, represent operating expenses that may be recorded in more than one annual period, the significant project or transaction giving rise to such expenses is not considered to be indicative of the Company’s normal operations. Accordingly, we believe that these, as well as the other credits and charges that comprise the amounts utilized in the determination of Adjusted EBITDA described above, should not be used in evaluating the Company’s ongoing annual operating performance. We define Adjusted EBITDA Margin as Adjusted EBITDA as a percentage of net sales. Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA Margin are not measures of performance defined in accordance with GAAP. The measures are used as a supplement to GAAP results in evaluating certain aspects of our business, as described below.

We believe that Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA margin, Adjusted Net Income, and Adjusted Diluted Earnings per Share are useful to investors in evaluating our performance because the measures consider the performance of our ongoing operations, excluding decisions made with respect to capital investment, financing, and certain other significant initiatives or transactions as outlined in the preceding paragraph. We believe the non-GAAP measures offer additional financial metrics that, when coupled with the GAAP results and the reconciliation to GAAP results, provide a more complete understanding of our results of operations and the factors and trends affecting our business.

Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA margin, Adjusted Net Income and Adjusted Diluted Earnings per Share should not be considered as alternatives to net income or GAAP earnings per share as an indicator of our performance or as alternatives to any other measure prescribed by GAAP as there are limitations to using such non-GAAP measures. Although we believe the non-GAAP measures may enhance an evaluation of our operating performance based on recent revenue generation and product/overhead cost control because they exclude the impact of prior decisions made about capital investment, financing, and other expenses, (i) other companies in Blue Bird’s industry may define Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA margin, Adjusted Net Income, and Adjusted Diluted Earnings per Share differently than we do and, as a result, they may not be comparable to similarly titled measures used by other companies in Blue Bird’s industry, and (ii) Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA margin, Adjusted Net Income, and Adjusted Diluted Earnings per Share exclude certain financial information that some may consider important in evaluating our performance.

We compensate for these limitations by providing disclosure of the differences between Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA margin, Adjusted Net Income, and Adjusted Diluted Earnings per Share and GAAP results, including providing a reconciliation to GAAP results, to enable investors to perform their own analysis of our operating results.

Our measures of “Free Cash Flow” and "Adjusted Free Cash Flow" are used in addition to and in conjunction with results presented in accordance with GAAP and free cash flow and adjusted free cash flow should not be relied upon to the exclusion of GAAP financial measures. Free cash flow and adjusted free cash flow reflect an additional way of viewing our liquidity that, when viewed with our GAAP results, provides a more complete understanding of factors and trends affecting our cash flows. We strongly encourage investors to review our financial statements and publicly-filed reports in their entirety and not to rely on any single financial measure.

We define Free Cash Flow as total cash provided by/used in operating activities as adjusted for net cash paid for the acquisition of fixed assets and intangible assets. We use Free Cash Flow, and ratios based on Free Cash Flow, to conduct and evaluate our business because, although it is similar to cash flow from operations, we believe it is a more conservative measure of cash flow since purchases of fixed assets and intangible assets are a necessary component of ongoing operations.

Forward Looking Statements

This press release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements relate to expectations for future financial performance, business strategies or expectations for our business. Specifically, forward-looking statements include statements in this press release regarding guidance, seasonality, product mix and gross profits and may include statements relating to:

• Inherent limitations of internal controls impacting financial statements
• Growth opportunities
• Future profitability
• Ability to expand market share
• Customer demand for certain products
• Economic conditions (including tariffs) that could affect fuel costs, commodity costs, industry size and financial conditions of our dealers and suppliers
• Labor or other constraints on the Company’s ability to maintain a competitive cost structure
• Volatility in the tax base and other funding sources that support the purchase of buses by our end customers
• Lower or higher than anticipated market acceptance for our products
• Other statements preceded by, followed by or that include the words “estimate,” “plan,” “project,” “forecast,” “intend,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “seek,” “target” or similar expressions

These forward-looking statements are based on information available as of the date of this press release, and current expectations, forecasts and assumptions, and involve a number of judgments, risks and uncertainties. Accordingly, forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing our views as of any subsequent date, and we do not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date they were made, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required under applicable securities laws. The factors described above, as well as risk factors described in reports filed with the SEC by us (available at www.sec.gov), could cause our actual results to differ materially from estimates or expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements.