Slinger Bag, Inc., the parent of Slinger Bag, reported sales inched up 2.4 percent in its fiscal third quarter and surged 65.8 percent in the nine months ended January 31.

“We delivered a solid quarter, selling over 7,200 Slinger Bag launchers despite macro headwinds,” said Mike Ballardie, Slinger CEO. “Revenue comparisons to the third quarter of 2020 were skewed due to a backlog buildup of $700,000 in orders last year related to demand outstripping supply in the first and second quarters of 2020. Excluding this, quarterly revenue would have been up approximately 23 percent from last year. Margins were also restrained this quarter due to increased global logistics costs related to inbound freight from China as we built up inventory ahead of the Chinese New Year and the impact of our increased promotions around the holidays.

“Year-to-date revenue growth has been strong at over 66 percent, demonstrating continued global demand for the Slinger Bag launcher which has sold 20,000 units through the end of the third quarter versus approximately 19,000 for all of fiscal 2020.”

Ballardie continued, “We closed the transformational PlaySight and Gameface.AI acquisitions at the beginning of the fourth quarter that will now enable our ‘Watch, Play, Learn’ strategy and transform Slinger into a truly connected sports technology company. We are working to quickly integrate the technologies and launch this connected platform, starting with our new app in the coming few months. In addition, we have been working to identify financial synergies across the new group, and we expect to see the early signs of these during the fourth quarter. Still, the majority of the benefit will be in fiscal 2022. For the fourth quarter, given the uncertainty around global macro events, including the ongoing impact of COVID on core distribution markets such as South Africa, India and China, the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and inflation, we are taking a more cautious view on our sales forecasts for the Slinger Bag launcher over the near-term. As such, we are looking to total revenue for fiscal 2021 to be in the $16 million to 17 million range, representing 48-to-57 percent growth year-on-year.”

“Looking forward to fiscal 2022, we have several products and initiatives that we expect to impact the business positively. Over the next few weeks, we are targeting the next phase of our ‘Watch, Play, Learn’ strategy with the beta release of the Slinger App powered by the Gameface.AI artificial intelligence engine. The Slinger App will provide unique artificial intelligence-driven player analysis coupled with professional-level insights and drills to improve the performance of tennis players of all abilities. When this product is released commercially, it will be available for both iOS and Android in both a free version and a multi-tiered subscription offering.

“Around this fall, we are targeting the introduction of the Slinger Bag launcher for both the Pickleball and Padel markets. These products are already in global markets for final consumer testing, and the feedback to date is incredibly positive for both sports. Additionally, while the consolidated company works towards developing our connected platform, each entity will continue to build its existing business around recurring SaaS, services and device revenue. Early indications are that we will continue our aggressive revenue growth trajectory for fiscal 2022, of which around one-third should be recurring SaaS and Services revenue. Our objective as a business will be to end fiscal 2022, at a break-even adjusted EBITDA run rate,” concluded Ballardie.

Third Quarter Fiscal 2021 Financial Highlights versus Fiscal 2020:

  • Revenue of $4.2 million versus $4.1 million;
  • Gross profit of $1.0 million versus $0.9 million;
  • GAAP net loss and loss per share of ($2.4) million and ($0.06) versus ($1.3) million and ($0.05), respectively; and
  • Non-GAAP net loss and loss per share of ($2.3) million and ($0.05) versus ($0.7) million and ($0.02), respectively.

Third Quarter Fiscal 2021 Business Highlights:

  • Signed exclusive 4-year global tennis ball partnership agreement with Dunlop;
  • Extended Asia distribution agreement with Tennis Bot in the Philippines and Indonesia;
  • Framework Sports, Slinger’s UK distributor, expanded its distribution into Poland; and
  • Expanded distribution into Ecuador, Puerto Rico and Romania.

Year-to-date Fiscal 2021 Financial Highlights versus Fiscal 2020:

  • Revenue of $12.1 million versus $7.3 million;
  • Gross profit of $3.8 million versus $1.5 million;
  • GAAP net loss and loss per share of ($44.6) million and ($1.19) versus ($5.2) million and ($0.20), respectively; and
  • Non-GAAP net loss and loss per share of ($4.8) million and ($0.13) versus ($2.1) million and ($0.08), respectively.