J&J Snack Foods' Q4 net sales ascend 28%, driving 187% rise in net earnings

J&J Snack Foods Corp. (Nasdaq: JJSF) reported an increase in net sales of 28% to $323.1 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2021, ended, Sep. 25,compared with with previous year's same quarter – and by 4%, compared with the pre-pandemic 2019 fourth quarter.

“We are pleased with the strong finish to the year and the positive trends we see across our business, including exceeding pre-COVID sales levels in the fourth quarter despite an incredibly challenging operating environment," said J&J president and chief executive Dan Fachner.

"While fiscal 2019 was one of our strongest years, our net sales for Q4 ’21 increased 4%, compared to the same period in fiscal 2019, driven by a 6% increase in our [foodservice] segment and 29% growth in our retail segment as traffic across many of our customers’ venues and outlets continues to rebound," Fachner added.

J&J fourth-quarter financial highlights:

• Sales were driven by growth in core products, including soft pretzels, churros, bakery and frozen beverages, as well as the continued success of our chicken bake handheld recently introduced into the club channel.
• Foodservice sales exceeded Q4 2020 by 35%, and surpassed Q4 ’19 by 6%.
• Retail segment sales were 9% below Q4 2020 when sales grew 41% benefiting from consumers being home during the pandemic. However, retail sales remained strong compared to pre-pandemic Q4 2019 levels, growing 29%.
• Frozen beverage segment sales beat Q4 2020 sales by 46%, led by frozen beverages growing over 104%; frozen beverage sales improved to just 4% below Q4 2019 levels led by strong growth across restaurant, convenience and amusement channels, partially offset by a slower recovery across our theater customers.

J&J's cross profit as a percentage of sales was 28.4% in the fourth quarter, compared wit 21.4% in same period last year, reflecting the operating leverage benefit of increased sales, favorable product mix and corresponding margin efficiencies.