Following the release of its financial results on Wednesday, Sow Good Inc. (NASDAQ: SOWG) experienced a notable surge in its stock value on the US stock charts. During the after-market session, SOWG shares increased by 6.54%, reaching $16.79, while the regular session saw a dramatic rise of 41.85%, closing at $15.76.
Impressive First Quarter Performance
Due to the high demand from customers for its freeze-dried candies, Sow Good (SOWG) maintained its growth throughout the first quarter of 2024. Revenue for the first quarter of 2023 was $11.4 million, up 20% sequentially from the fourth quarter of 2023 and a notable rise year over year for SOWG.
Sow Good made significant strides in growing its retail launch pipeline and manufacturing capacity throughout the quarter. Having pivoted to freeze-dried candy production only in the first quarter of the previous year, Sow Good has quickly become a pioneer in this emerging product category.
Expanding Production Capabilities
From a production standpoint, Sow Good has been enhancing its internal and external capabilities to support its growth trajectory. The company successfully installed and operationalized its fifth freeze-drier and remains on track to activate a sixth by the third quarter of this year. Additionally, Sow Good has bolstered its co-manufacturing partnerships in China and Colombia.
As a result, the company achieved a production capacity of 4.5 million units during the first quarter, exceeding its initial projection of 4.25 million units. Looking ahead, Sow Good aims to reach a total capacity of up to 30 million units for the full year and is exploring further expansion opportunities. Recently, the company placed deposits on three additional freeze-driers expected to be operational within the next nine months.
Strategic Retail Expansion
In a strategic move to focus on enhancing its production resources, Sow Good paused new customer onboarding in the third quarter of 2023. With the growth in production capacity aligning with projections, the company has resumed new customer launches, significantly increasing store and SKU counts with current partners.
Reflecting its consistent retail performance, Sow Good plans to introduce five new SKUs and expand its presence to 300 Big Lots stores, with an increased footprint in nearly 2,000 Target stores this summer.