Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL) Q2 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Russell Diez-Canseco: Thank you, Ben.

Operator: The last question comes from Robert Moskow of TD Cowen.

Robert Moskow: Congratulations, Thilo.

Thilo Wrede: Thanks, Rob.

Robert Moskow: You’re welcome. So I guess my question is about the stock price. It’s been a disappointing year, and I know there’s a lot of contingencies to cope with. But you’ve got $47 million of cash on the balance sheet now. And I think Thilo, you even said that you did a review and you found that some of these projects probably should be delayed. I imagine some of those are category expansion projects, which are inherently risky. Is there any thought between you and management and the Board about using some of that cash to buy back stock in this environment? Or is it just not possible given the capital structure?

Thilo Wrede: Yes. Rob, I think the — between management, myself, the Board, I think we would all agree that our stock is undervalued right now. But I would also say, at the current moment, there are plenty of growth opportunities that we want to go after where I would rather put my cash right now. Obviously, never say never, things can change. But with needed capacity expansion that has to come over the next however many months with new category entries still on the horizon. I want to make sure that we keep our powder dry so that we can act when we have an opportunity. And with that, as kind of the mindset, I would say, share buybacks. But right now, we’re not on the priority list.

Robert Moskow: Okay. Appreciate the certainty.

Russell Diez-Canseco: Thanks, Rob. Good to hear from you.

Operator: Thank you. I would now like to turn it back over to Matt Siler for closing remarks.

Matthew Siler: Thanks for your interest and time, everybody. Have a great day.