NEW YORK, April 2, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Report
entitled "A Slippery Slope Investment" outlines how WD-40 Company
("WD-40" or "the Company") faces 55%-60% downside risk to
approximately $75 - $85 per share. The full contents of the report
can be reviewed at www.sprucepointcap.com. Spruce Point believes
that WD-40 is widely misunderstood and believed to be defensive,
but in reality, is facing both long and short-term secular
pressures. With the Company recently upsizing and drawing down 100%
of its credit facility, a size 1,500% larger than the previous
recession in 2008-2009, we believe a massive hole in its balance
sheet has been exposed. Our forensic review and channel checks
indicate record bloated inventories, and material financial strain.
We believe it will have to drastically reduce its optimistic 3-7%
sales target and re-set investor expectations meaningfully lower.
Trading near all-time highs and at an unprecedented 6x sales and
27x EBITDA, we believe shares are a horrible risk/reward.
- At the Core, WD-40 is an Oil-Based Lubricant Being Sold at
Above Market Prices and Heavily Dependent on its Brand Equity: We
believe WD-40 to be a highly promotional business which has been
under long-term pressures even before the Coronavirus scare. WD-40
relies on a trade secret, and has no patents, to protect itself in
the market place from dozens of cheaper all-purpose and specialty
lubricants in a variety of saturated retail channels, and user end
markets. WD-40's heaviest users are maintenance and repair
specialists, notably in the auto and bike market. A long-term
challenge facing it is the electrification of cars, which have
fewer moving parts and require less regular maintenance. We believe
the product is also coming under increasing regulatory scrutiny. By
analyzing changes in its product fact sheet, we see that more
disclosures about the hazardous nature of the chemicals contained
in the product are being highlighted. WD-40 is not well suited for
a world in e-commerce. The Company added a product disclosure that
it doesn't recommend shipping the product in the air, and the FAA
has added WD-40 to its flammable product list.
- Investors Fail to Understand Changes in WD-40's Business That
Expose it to Much Greater Risk Today vs. the Last Crisis: We
believe the Company to be far from recession-proof. Late Friday on
March 27th, WD-40 drew the remainder
of its $150m credit facility. During
the prior crisis, it had a small $10m
facility that was never utilized. During the same period, sales
only grew 33%. We believe this gigantic draw down exposes a major
hole and problem with its business. WD-40 is levered only 0.7x Net
Debt to EBITDA and projected to generate $30m+ of free cash flow.
In our view, WD-40 has no visibility in an economic recession. It
missed FY 2009 sales and EPS estimates by 13% and almost 10% at the
mid-points, respectively. In FY 2008 it missed sales and EPS by 5%
and 13% and the mid-points, respectively. This time around, the
economic crisis is greater, and we expect a much larger miss of its
targets.
WD-40's business has grown much more international today compared
with the last financial crisis ten years ago. Today: 63% of sales
are international vs. 52% during the last crisis. WD-40 now
obscures country-level revenue detail. However, we estimate the U.K
is 37% of total revenues, up from 9% during the last crisis. We
estimate that 75% of WD-40's cash is in its U.K. subsidiary. First
Brexit, and now a coronavirus scare, has sent the Pound to
multi-year lows which we believe has compounded WD-40's challenges.
Based on our analysis, working capital to sales is currently 16.3%
of sales, almost double the 8.6% of sales in 2007.
- We Believe WD-40 Has Few, If Any, Growth Avenues Left and
Distribution Channels Look Full: As a 65+ year old company relying
on a core lubricant product, it's easy to understand that finding
new markets and introducing new and successful products can be
challenging. We observe that WD-40 is taking actions consistent
with a mature company, including investing less and less in R&D
every year, and covering-up disclosures about challenged products
and ventures. At the same time, WD-40 continues touting geographic
expansion with a $1bn market
opportunity. A year ago, it even listed Venezuela and Iran as market opportunities for its products.
By far, WD-40 has been promoting its ambitions in China, once claiming sales would be
$100m. Yet, 17 years ago it admitted
that 25% of the market was counterfeits. We find evidence that
counterfeits continue to plague its growth ambitions there.
Asia-Pacific and China have recently become an extreme weak
spot for the Company, and while it blames the issue on "formulation
changes" and China holidays, we
suspect there are more structural issues that will hamper its
ability to reach its lofty Chinese goals.
Recent channel checks and company disclosures indicate greater
promotion and channel incentives. Our channel checks show some
retailers offering their own store brands, like WalMart, and in
some cases offering competing products up to 60% lower in price
than WD-40's comparable product. In the home improvement and auto
center market, we find that PB Blaster is becoming a formidable
competitor, driving more intense price promotion. WD-40's Days
Inventory Outstanding and Cash Conversion Cycle are materially
higher than the past cycle.
- Covered by Just Two Bullish Analysts, No One Has Explored the
Downside Case Until Now: Despite a $2.7
billion market cap, WD-40 is largely under-followed by the
sell-side brokerage community. Instead, it appears the CEO has
sought endorsement from retail investors through channels such as
CNBC's Mad Money. The analysts push the Company narrative that
WD-40 is recession resistant, yet don't point out that during the
last crisis WD-40 wildly missed its targets and experienced
declining sales and EPS. We believe this time around, the magnitude
of the miss will be greater.
Sell-side analysts also point to the recent plunge in oil as a
catalyst to buy the stock. While we acknowledge that 33% of WD-40's
cost to produce a can is petroleum-based specialty chemicals, this
benefit comes at the same time as severely depressed economic
activity also affects sales. In addition, WD-40's competitors
(already pricing products below WD-40) get the same benefit and can
become even more price aggressive to take share. Currently trading
at 6x and 27x 2020E consensus sales and EBITDA, WD-40 is priced
beyond perfection. Once investors come to grips with the reality
that WD-40 will repeatedly miss aggressive forecasts set by
management, and reiterated by analysts, we believe its multiple
will compress to more realistic levels in-line with low/no growth
consumer product and specialty chemical peers. At a generous 2x and
12x sales and EBITDA multiple on our lower financial forecasts we
estimate 55% – 60% downside risk.
Spruce Point Capital has a short position in WD-40 (NASDAQ:
WDFC) and stands to benefit if its share price falls.
About Spruce Point Capital
Spruce Point Capital Management, LLC is a forensic
fundamentally-oriented investment manager that focuses on
short-selling, value, and special situation investment
opportunities.
Contact
Daniel Oliver
Spruce Point Capital Management
doliver@sprucepointcap.com
Spruce Point Capital Management, LLC is a member of the
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, CRD number 288248.
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SOURCE Spruce Point Capital Management, LLC