Treace Medical Concepts Inc. continues to grow sales, but not at the pace investors were expecting a couple of years ago.
The Ponte Vedra-based company, which makes surgical products to treat bunions, saw its stock price plummet after a disappointing growth forecast in May 2024 and it hasn’t really recovered.
As part of its effort to regain enthusiasm on Wall Street, Treace Medical held an Investor Day in New York on Sept. 3 which included presentations by several surgeons who use the company’s expanding line of products to treat bunions.
“To us, it’s clear from the event that the company has made material progress against its multi-year endeavor to become a more-comprehensive, ‘one-stop-shop’ bunion correction solution provider,” Stifel analyst Rick Wise said in a research note after the presentations.
“As these product launches fully roll out in coming months, the company appears to have a compelling opportunity to expand its addressable procedures to include all forms of bunion correction,” he said.
“We believe there’s a real opportunity for us to double the business in the years ahead,” CEO John Treace said at the conference.
The company is projecting revenue of $224 million to $230 million this year, an increase of 7% to 10% from 2024.
Treace Medical’s sales rose 12% to $209 million last year, but the company had been projecting growth of 18% to 20% before lowering the forecast in May 2024.
Treace Medical launched an initial public offering in April 2021 at $17 per share and the stock traded as high as $37.17 in June 2021.
The stock plunged after the reduced forecast and ended 2024 at $7.44. It’s been trading near that level recently.
“Stepping back from the product launches, when we think about Treace’s set-up through the balance of FY25 and into FY26, we think shares are poised to move higher given the easier comps Treace faces from FY24 (and 1H25) coupled with new product introductions that should drive growth higher,” BTIG analyst Ryan Zimmerman said in a note after Investor Day.
“We note that Treace has been reporting steady results relative to expectations the past few quarters providing improved confidence to investors,” said Zimmerman, who maintains a “buy” rating on the stock.
Truist Securities analyst Richard Newitter raised his price target on the stock from $6.60 to $8 after the presentation but maintained a “hold” rating.
Newitter said in his note Treace Medical could have difficulty returning to its surgeon utilization rates of early 2024, “given stronger competition and still limited focus on the forefoot (whereas competitors offer full lower extremity portfolios).”
But he added “we think the setup in the near term is positive, and could bode well for revenue beats given the new product launches and headstart (vs. competition)” on some of its product segments.
Wise said the product launches “would seem to augur well for the company’s ability to drive sustained high-single-digit, and possible double-digit, sales growth in years ahead.”
“Still, while we left the event encouraged by management commentary, we would like to first gain greater clarity on the commercial success of this transition before rethinking our current Hold rating,” he said.
As had been rumored for months, The Kraft Heinz Co. announced Sept. 2 it is splitting into two publicly traded companies.
One of the yet unnamed companies will focus on North American grocery staples, including Maxwell House coffee.
The company’s only U.S. Maxwell House plant is in Downtown Jacksonville.
The North American Grocery Co.’s largest brands will be Oscar Mayer, Kraft Singles and Lunchables.
The other company, referred to as Global Taste Elevation, includes the Heinz, Philadelphia and Kraft Mac & Cheese brands.
The company has performed poorly since Kraft and Heinz merged in 2015. In an investor presentation, Kraft Heinz said the split will allow its brand operators to have better focus and improve performance.
“Our portfolio’s breadth across categories, geographies, and temperature states creates significant operational complexity, preventing some of our brands from realizing their full potential,” it said.
“With a broad portfolio, we’re spreading our resources thin, leading to diluted focus, and slower decision-making. This complexity also makes it challenging to allocate capital effectively, prioritize initiatives, and drive scale in our most promising areas.”
The Global Taste Elevation brands produced $15.4 billion in sales last year while North American Grocery had $10.4 billion.
“Both companies will have a greater strategic and operational focus to more effectively delight consumers and serve customers, while delivering sustainable, long-term value to our shareholders,” Kraft Heinz said.
The Maxwell House plant at 735 E. Bay St. in Downtown Jacksonville has been the brand’s only U.S. plant since Kraft sold a facility in California in 2017.
Maxwell House has been operating a plant at the Bay Street location since 1924.
Shoe Carnival Inc. said its second-quarter results show its plan to rebrand most of its stores into a different banner it owns is working.
The footwear retailer controlled by former Jacksonville Jaguars owner Wayne Weaver acquired a smaller chain called Shoe Station in 2021.
The company announced a year ago it would convert some of its Shoe Carnival stores to Shoe Station, which targets a more affluent customer than Shoe Carnival.
The early results went so well that the company decided it would convert most of its stores to Shoe Station, and Shoe Carnival said in a news release the results for its second quarter ended Aug. 2 produced “divergent trends (that) reinforced the rebanner strategy.”
Shoe Station net sales rose 1.6% while Shoe Carnival sales dropped 10.1% “as the sub-$40,000 income consumer remained pressured,” the company said.
“Our rebanner strategy continues to deliver strong results. Through year-to-date August, the Shoe Station banner is outperforming the Shoe Carnival banner by a wide margin, with margins up sharply over last year,” CEO Mark Worden said in the Sept. 4 news release.
“By Back-to-School 2026, Shoe Station will be our majority concept, positioning us for sustained growth with a higher-income customer base, stronger margins, and improved returns,” he said.
The company has previously said it expects 80% of its stores to operate as Shoe Station by March 2027.
At the end of the second quarter, the company operated 313 Shoe Carnival stores, 87 Shoe Station stores and 28 stores under another brand it owns called Rogan’s.
The company completed 20 conversions to Shoe Station during the quarter.
Shoe Carnival reported second-quarter earnings of 70 cents a share, down from 82 cents last year, with costs of converting stores reducing earnings by 21 cents a share in this year’s quarter.
Total sales for all of its stores fell 7.9% to $306.4 million in the quarter, with sales at stores open for more than one year dropping 7.5%.
Weaver is chairman of Shoe Carnival’s board and its largest shareholder. He and his wife, Delores, control 33.6% of the stock.
Jacksonville-based investment firm Riverstyx Capital Management LLC is launching a proxy fight against North Carolina-based jewelry company Charles & Colvard Ltd., saying it is nominating three directors for seats on the company’s five-member board.
Riverstyx, which controls 7.4% of Charles & Colvard’s stock, said in a Sept. 3 Securities and Exchange Commission filing that it is opposing a compensation plan that would allow company executives to acquire almost 40% of the stock.
“In short, this plan represents blatant self-enrichment at the expense of long-suffering shareholders,” Riverstyx founder Ben Franklin said in a letter to shareholders.
Franklin is one of Riverstyx’s three nominees for the board of directors.
Duc Pham, a California shareholder with 9.6% of the company’s stock, has also nominated himself for a board seat.
Charles & Colvard manufactures, markets and distributes jewelry. Its website says it created a lab-grown gemstone formed from silicon carbide called moissanite.
The company reported a net loss of $6.6 million in the nine months ended March 31 on sales of $11.9 million.
According to a proxy statement filed by Charles & Colvard Sept. 3, Riverstyx petitioned the North Carolina Business Court to compel the company to hold its annual meeting and a judge ruled Aug. 13 the company must hold the meeting Oct. 13.
Charles & Colvard did not hold a shareholder meeting in 2024 because it was struggling to complete its financial statements and dealing with other issues, the company said in the proxy.
The proxy recommends shareholders vote for the company’s slate of five director nominees.
“Our Board strongly urges you to discard and not to sign or return any proxy card sent to you by RiverStyx or Pham,” it said.
Safe & Green Holdings Corp. underwent a 1-for-64 reverse stock split that took effect Sept. 8, a move intended to increase its stock price and satisfy a $1 minimum price to keep its Nasdaq listing.
The reverse split means stockholders received one share for every 64 they previously owned. That reduced the number of shares outstanding from 32.9 million to 504,000.
The stock opened at $7.40 on Sept. 8 after the split.
Safe & Green’s main business was construction of modular buildings but it has been expanding this year with acquisitions in the energy industry.
The company was based in Jacksonville before moving its headquarters to Miami in 2023.