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Black Rifle Coffee continued to outperform sluggish coffee category in Q4 even while wrestling with headwinds of high green-coffee prices and tariffs, while advising investors it will continue to go slow on energy drink expansion so as not to risk stunting the core coffee biz. Salt Lake City-based BRC reported a 6.5% rise in net revenue to $112.7 mil in Q4. Wholesale revenue of its CPG items rose 8.4% to $72.9 mil driven by distribution gains and improved velocity in packaged coffee, both in grocery and mass. Over course of 2025, CPG items boosted their retail presence by 7.9 pts to 54.9% ACV, including 10-pt boost for RTD coffee to 55.9% ACV. DTC biz with which co had started rose 7.1% to $34.4 mil driven mainly by third-party ecomm partners (read that as Amazon and Walmart.com) tho its DTC arm remains crucial for fostering consumer ties and testing innovation. Its fledgling network of cafes dubbed Outposts slid 16.7% to $5.4 mil on lower transaction volumes and smaller register rings. Gross margin decreased 6.1 points to 32.1% because of green coffee inflation, tariffs and a non-cash impairment charge for raw material inputs related to a formulation change, partly offset by price hikes, productivity gains and favorable sales mix, the co indicated. Operating loss widened to $7.1 mil from $2.2 mil a year earlier.For full yr, revenue edged up 1.7% to $398.3 mil. Operating loss came in at $24.6 mil, reversing $3.8 mil operating gain a year earlier. Co closed year with $4.3 mil in cash on the books. For 2026 it's anticipating at least 7% growth to $398.3 mil and gross margin to come in at 34-36% range tho it continues to aim for 40% target.On investor call this morning, CEO Chris Mondzelewski boasted of its bagged coffees' growth of roughly 30% last year, triple the category's overall growth, with only Bustelo exhibiting stronger rise, per data shared in deck. That was based on 22% unit growth, at time Starbucks, Dunkin', Folgers and Peet's were all down, and 6% pricing. Crucially, he said, brand demonstrates comparable velocity to category despite pricing that's 40% higher, reinforcing strength of consumer demand.On RTD side, performance varied by channel, with grocery, mass and dollar doing best but category remaining under pressure in convenience. Since that channel reps more than half of tracked sales, that's a problem, but with BRC under pressure to get into the black, it will be judicious in addressing issue. "We're not assuming a category recovery and focusing on factors we can control," Chris advised investors. It's adding flavors to its Cold Brewed line, but scaling of entries will remain disciplined, he said.Mixed Performance on Energy but Patient Buildout Continues with KDP Black Rifle basically stuck to the plan with its energy launch in collaboration with Keurig Dr Pepper. Regional launch brought nearly 22% ACV across 19,400 retail doors, including 69% Walmart ACV (3,085 doors), 7% c-store ACV (11,900 doors) and 12% grocery ACV (3,840 doors). Monz told questioner that 2025 was "a great learning year," with some markets very successful to tune of 3-5 unit velocities and others less successful. But with need to prioritize resources for core coffee biz, BRC won't just drive ACV at great marketing expense, but rather will keep regional focus in 2026, mainly so-called "smile states" stretching across Sun Belt where core brand sees greatest strength. "We'll not ever pull more resources than we want to from coffee," he vowed.

Black Rifle Coffee Grows 6% in Q4, Weathering Sluggish Coffee Trends; Continues Patient Buildout of Energy Line but Careful Not to Overinvest

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