On Thursday, Malibu Boats (NASDAQ:MBUU) discussed fourth-quarter financial results during its earnings call. The full transcript is provided below.
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Summary
Malibu Boats reported strong financial performance in Q4 FY2026, with net sales increasing 42.7% to $295.5 million and adjusted EBITDA growing 72.7% to $33.9 million.
The company highlighted strategic initiatives such as the acquisition of Saxdor Yachts, which has expanded their portfolio and opened new market opportunities.
For FY2027, Malibu Boats expects net sales between $1.080 billion to $1.120 billion and adjusted EBITDA of $101 million to $109 million, reflecting cautious optimism given the macroeconomic environment.
Operational highlights include the successful integration of Saxdor, with plans for domestic production in Fort Pierce, Florida, and the introduction of new models across multiple brands.
Management emphasized the benefits of the MBI Advantage operating framework, which contributed to margin improvements and strategic growth, and highlighted a healthy dealer inventory position going into FY2027.
Full Transcript
OPERATOR
Good morning and welcome to Malibu Boats' conference call to discuss fourth quarter and annual fiscal 2026 results. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. Later we will conduct a question-and-answer session, and instructions will follow at that time. Please be advised that reproduction of this call, in whole or in part, is not permitted without written authorization of Malibu Boats. As a reminder, today's call is being recorded.
On the call today from management are Mr. Steve Mineto, Chief Executive Officer, and Mr. David Black, Chief Financial Officer. I will now turn the call over to Mr. Black to get us started. Please go ahead, sir.
David Black, Chief Financial Officer
Thank you, operator, and good morning, everyone. Welcome to Malibu Boats' fourth quarter fiscal year 2026 earnings conference call. I am David Black, Chief Financial Officer, and joining me today is Steve Mineto, our President and Chief Executive Officer. A press release covering the company's fourth quarter and fiscal year 2026 results was issued today, and a copy of that press release can be found in the Investor Relations section of the company's website.
I also want to remind everyone that our remarks on this call may contain certain forward-looking statements, including predictions, expectations, estimates, and other information that might be considered forward-looking, and that actual results could differ materially from those projected on today's call. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of today, and the company undertakes no obligation to update these for any new information or future events.
Factors that might affect future results are discussed in our filings with the SEC, and we encourage you to review our SEC filings for a more detailed description of these risk factors. Please also note that we will be referring to certain non-GAAP financial measures on today's call, such as adjusted EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA margin, adjusted net income, and free cash flow. Reconciliations of these non-GAAP financial measures to GAAP financial measures are included in our earnings release.
I will now turn the call over to Steve.
Steve Mineto, Chief Executive Officer
Thank you, David. Good morning, everyone. Our fourth quarter marked a strong finish to fiscal 2026 and demonstrated the power of our strategic execution. Net sales increased 42.7% to 295.5 million and adjusted EBITDA increased 72.7% to 33.9 million, with margin expanding 200 basis points versus the prior year. Importantly, that strength showed up in our legacy business before layering in Saxdor's full-quarter contribution. This is a direct result of the MBI Advantage operating framework, which is the operational excellence, central sourcing, and channel discipline we've been building into this company over the past year.
Zooming out to the full fiscal year, net sales came in at $914.6 million, roughly $29 million above the top end of the range we raised in May, driven by better-than-expected performance across the portfolio and the addition of Saxdor. We also delivered adjusted EBITDA of $73.9 million in the upper half of our guided range. In addition to a strengthened financial performance, nearly all aspects of fiscal 2026 were also filled with milestones, and it's worth walking through some of the highlights along the way.
In September, we hosted our first Investor Day since 2018, where we introduced the Build, Innovate, Grow framework that is anchoring our strategy. We laid out the four focus areas where we intend to compete in marine, and we framed the mid-cycle opportunity in front of us: roughly $1.5 billion of revenue at a 20% adjusted EBITDA margin and over $200 million of free cash flow. In that same month, we announced a six-year global partnership with the International Water Ski and Wakeboard Federation, naming Malibu the exclusive official towboat partner beginning this past January.
In November, David stepped into the CFO role, leading the finance team with focus and discipline and, most importantly, setting forth expectations that we know we can deliver. At the Miami International Boat Show in February, we were recognized with the NMMA Customer Satisfaction Index awards across five of our brands. On March 2, we closed the acquisition of Saxdor Yachts, the most significant milestone in our company's history that reinforces our premium positioning and expands our portfolio to the adventure day boat segment and provides international growth opportunities for our legacy brands.
Just last month we celebrated 50 years of Pursuit Boats, one of the founding brands of our saltwater fishing segment. Congratulations to that whole team on five decades and an amazing legacy of building award-winning sport fishing boats. Here's to the next 50. It's worth pausing on the backdrop this represents. This time last year the marine industry was still working through one of the most difficult stretches in its history, and our own results reflected that.
With legacy volumes under pressure across the portfolio, this quarter tells a different story. We saw unit volume growth in both our Cobalt and saltwater fishing segments, consolidated gross margin expansion of 190 basis points, and a meaningfully stronger bottom line. This is the kind of finish to a demanding year that reinforces our conviction in the Build, Innovate, Grow framework. On Build, we are deepening vertical integration and scaling centralized sourcing and category management, which contributed to our strong margin performance this year.
On Innovate, we are holding a pace of new product introduction no one else in the industry matches. And on Grow, we are not only growing with what we already have and taking share in our legacy businesses, but also adding to our portfolio in ways that drive value creation through M&A. Which brings me to the second part: Saxdor. The integration is progressing well in these first four months, and our early experience continues to reinforce the thesis we laid out when we announced the transaction.
It has opened a new category, a new geography, and access to a younger, affluent buyer profile that we believe is highly attractive in the current environment and can compound for decades. Conditions in the adventure day boat category that Saxdor competes in show it is one of the fastest growing in the industry, and families are drawn to it because it functions like a living room on the water, built for spending the day together rather than any single activity.
Our first domestically built Saxdor boat remains on schedule to be completed at our Fort Pierce, Florida facility later this fall, in the first half of this fiscal year. This is an important step in unlocking that facility's capacity and extending Saxdor's reach into North America. We are also laying the operational foundation underneath the brand, bringing Saxdor into our sourcing organization, giving that business the benefit of our procurement scale.
In just the first few months of ownership, Saxdor has cleared the high bar for acquisitions we described at Investor Day: a premium brand where we could add real value through our scale, our centralized sourcing, and a dealer network that is the envy of the industry. On the product side, Saxdor will introduce two new models at the Cannes Yachting Festival in September, continuing to build out that brand's lineup. And in April, the Saxdor 460GTC was named winner in the Motor Yacht 14–16 meter category at the Yacht Style Awards 2026 in Singapore, recognition that reflects Saxdor's continued commitment to innovation and design excellence.
We also invested meaningfully in innovation this year across all of our brands, and it starts with the voice of the customer feeding directly into our engineering teams. Our model year 2026 lineup added 11 new models across the portfolio, bringing new features as well as value to our product line and continuing the innovation pipeline that has been the hallmark of this platform. Looking ahead to model year 27, we are already executing against that plan.
Malibu launched the all-new 20 VTX in July, Axis introduced the T220 and T235 in July, Cobalt launched the new R26 and R26 Surf in August, and Pursuit launched the S288 and the OS 445 refresh in late July. We also rolled out a new console design across the Pathfinder 2600 and 2400 Hybrid models for Pursuit. Our award-winning dual console lineup transitioned to the Denali series for model year 27, reconnecting with a name that played an important role in the brand's history while establishing a distinctive identity as Pursuit's premier family adventure platform.
And in May, the Pursuit S388 Sport Center Console was recognized as a top product of 2026 by Boating Industry. In total, we plan to bring 13 new models to market across our legacy brands in fiscal 27, and we have more to share on the remaining new products as we get closer to the boat show season. Zooming back out, while we're seeing early signs of stabilization across the industry, we are contending with macro disruptions that continue to pressure the payment buyer, which is a key link to drive an inflection in this cycle.
That said, we have not seen a correlation between rising fuel prices and our retail boat sales at the upper end of the market, and usage has stayed strong. Our MBI customers are still on the water, still buying parts, still spending time at the dock, and that tells us the experience of boating with family remains the priority for our core buyer, even at a higher cost per gallon. For the payment-sensitive buyer who has been slower to return, we continued rolling out MBI Acceptance, giving our dealers financing and extended service tools to help close sales.
Applications have grown steadily since launch, including through the periods when we were not running promotional rate programs, which we think speaks volumes about the broader sensitivity of today's consumer. And in marine components, the team continued to build external customer engagement and won additional business during the year, another proof point that the Build pillar creates value well beyond just our own boats. With respect to the channel, dealer inventories decreased over the course of the year, reflecting our disciplined approach on managing wholesale shipments all year.
That is the right way to protect our dealers and our brands through a soft cycle, and it is why we enter fiscal 27 with a healthier channel than we started with. On summer retail, the industry improved modestly as we moved through our fourth quarter. Registrations were down roughly 3% for the April through June period, an improvement from the mid-single-digit decline in the March quarter. With that, the fiberglass segments where we compete remain more pressured than the broader market, though they improved sequentially as well.
That backdrop is consistent with what we've been describing all year, and it is the environment our fourth quarter results were delivered against. We like how we are positioned relative to the industry heading into fiscal 27, and we expect to build on the momentum we established this year while remaining intentional about our outlook until we see more durable evidence of a broader recovery. As we said at Investor Day, our capacity is already in place so we can meet recovery demand when it comes without a step-up in capital spending, and we do not need to rely on the market inflection to return our company to growth.
With that, I'll turn the call over to David for a detailed review of our fourth quarter and full-year financial results. David, thanks.
David Black, Chief Financial Officer
Our fourth quarter and full year results reflect strong execution across both our legacy business and our first full quarter of SAC Store’s contribution following the March 2nd close. Throughout my remarks, I'll make select references to both consolidated results and legacy results, which exclude SAC Store to provide a clear view of underlying sales drivers and year-over-year comparability. Net sales for the fourth quarter increased $88.5 million, or 42.7%, to $295.5 million compared to the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025, inclusive of $61.2 million from our new SAC Store segment, ahead of the $57 to $59 million of SAC Store revenue we guided to in May. On a legacy basis, net sales were $234.3 million, an increase of approximately 13.2% driven by increased unit volumes in our Cobalt and saltwater fishing segments, a favorable model mix across all three existing segments, and year-over-year price increases partially offset by decreased unit volumes. In our Malibu segment, total unit volume increased 19.2% to 1,456 units. This was composed of our legacy unit volume, which increased approximately 4.5% to 1,276 units, while SAC Store contributed 180 units in its first full quarter.
In our results by segment, net sales attributable to Malibu increased 3.2% to $82.9 million. Saltwater fishing net sales increased 11.1% to $80.9 million on higher wholesale shipments as dealer inventory levels firmed in pockets of the portfolio. Cobalt net sales increased 31% to $70.5 million, also on higher wholesale shipments and firming dealer inventory. From a mix perspective, on a legacy basis, Malibu represented approximately 43% of unit sales, saltwater fishing represented 26%, and Cobalt made up the remaining approximately 31%.
SAC Store is reported as a new fourth segment and we intend to build upon the disclosure going forward. Net sales per unit on a consolidated basis increased 19.7% to $203,000, driven by favorable mix including the addition of SAC Store and year-over-year price increases across the legacy segments. On a legacy basis, net sales per unit increased approximately 8.3% to approximately $184,000. While not included in this metric for the sake of comparability, SAC Store's net sales per unit was $340,000 in the quarter.
Turning to profitability, gross profit increased 59.4% to $52.2 million and gross margin expanded 190 basis points to 17.7%, driven by an increased mix of models that carry higher gross margin. For some further context on SAC Store's performance, the segment delivered fourth quarter adjusted EBITDA margin below the 10% to 11% range we guided to in May. Two things drove that. First, we deliberately added resources ahead of the higher volumes we expect this year, including the accelerated ramp of domestic manufacturing in Fort Pierce.
Second, we absorbed higher input costs in the quarter. The first of those is best characterized as an investment, where we are awaiting a return once we start turning that inventory into production ramps. It is the key to meeting North American demand, and we are very excited about the speed at which our team is moving to get the units to market. Selling and marketing expenses increased 25.7% to $6.8 million, driven primarily by higher personnel-related expenses associated with our new SAC Store segment.
However, as a percentage of sales, we are pleased to see selling and marketing expenses actually decrease 30 basis points to 2.3%. General and administrative expenses increased 68.8% to $31.8 million, driven primarily by acquisition and related expenses associated with SAC Store. The incremental cost of the new SAC Store segment and increases in incentive payment amortization expense increased $2.6 million to $4.3 million, reflecting the additional intangibles acquired in the SAC Store transaction.
GAAP net income for the quarter increased 53.7% to $7.4 million, or $0.37 per diluted share, and net income margin improved to 2.5% compared to 2.3% in the prior-year period. Adjusted EBITDA increased 72.7% to $33.9 million and adjusted EBITDA margin to 11.5% from 9.5% in the prior-year period. Included in this amount was SAC Store's adjusted EBITDA contribution of approximately $4 million. Non-GAAP adjusted net income per share was $0.90, an increase of 114.3% on a weighted average share count of approximately 19.7 million shares of Class A common stock.
Turning to the full year, net sales increased 13.3% to $914.6 million, including $84.3 million of revenue from SAC Store since the March 2 close. On a legacy basis, net sales were $830.3 million, an increase of approximately 2.8%. Unit volume increased 0.9% to 4,944 units as 246 units from SAC Store more than offset the decline in legacy unit volume. Legacy unit volume was approximately 4,698 units, down approximately 4.1% across our three legacy segments, consistent with the lower wholesale shipments we discussed earlier in the year.
Gross margin for the year was 16% compared to 17.8% in fiscal 2025, a decline of 180 basis points driven primarily by higher per-unit material and labor costs. Adjusted EBITDA for the year was $73.9 million, a decrease of 1.1%, and adjusted EBITDA margin was 8.1% compared to 9.3% in fiscal 2025. GAAP net income for the year decreased 88.8% to $1.7 million, or $0.09 per diluted share, primarily reflecting the acquisition and integration-related expenses tied to SAC Store.
Adjusted net income per share for the year was $1.52 on a weighted average share count of approximately 19.3 million shares. Turning to the balance sheet and cash flow, we ended the fiscal year with $74.4 million of cash and $165 million of long-term debt, giving us ample flexibility to support continued investment and return of capital to shareholders. For the full year, we generated $67.5 million of cash from operations, an increase of approximately $11 million year over year, and invested $24.7 million in capital expenditures, resulting in free cash flow of approximately $43.2 million and roughly 58% of adjusted EBITDA.
Subsequent to year end, on July 10, we completed a refinancing of our credit facility, extending the maturity date to July of 2031 and enhancing our financial flexibility. The new structure includes a $100 million term loan facility alongside a $250 million revolving facility, replacing our $350 million revolving credit facility, and adds multi-currency capability that directly supports our SAC Store European operations. This strengthens our liquidity position and gives us increased capacity to support our investment in the business, the SAC Store integration, and disciplined growth opportunities.
It was a proactive step that extends our duration and adds flexibility, with no change in our capital allocation priorities. On capital allocation, during fiscal 2026 we completed our repurchase program for the year, buying back approximately 1.24 million shares for approximately $33.9 million at an average price of $27.34, which is well below where we trade today and our 200-day moving average. While we chose to pause our open market purchases during the lender negotiations, our board authorized a new $70 million share repurchase program for fiscal 2027 in June, and we closed our refinancing in July.
This reflects our confidence in the business and our continued commitment to returning capital to shareholders. Net leverage finished the year at approximately 1.2 times and trends towards 1x on a pro forma basis, well inside our stated maximum of two and a half times even after financing the SAC Store acquisition. With that flexibility back in place, we remain opportunistic on capital allocation and well positioned to keep investing in the business as we move through fiscal 2027.
Turning to our outlook for fiscal 2027, for the full fiscal year we anticipate net sales of $1.080 billion to $1.120 billion and adjusted EBITDA of $101 million to $109 million. This returns us to a single consolidated outlook as we committed to in May and includes a full year ownership of SAC Store. Our guidance takes a prudent view of the industry retail demand given the macro backdrop in fiscal 2027 while still contemplating that MBI continues to outpace the broader powerboat market with low- to mid-single digit growth across our legacy brands and mid-teens growth at SAC Store following the investments we made into the brand over the last four months. We expect SAC Store’s segment adjusted EBITDA margin to improve throughout the year as domestic manufacturing scales and this year's investment in the platform annualizes. More broadly, our outlook also reflects tariff costs embedded at the currently enacted rates and the pricing actions we already have in market. As always, reconciliations of our guidance measures are addressed in our earnings release. For the first quarter of fiscal 2027, we anticipate net sales of $255 million to $265 million and adjusted EBITDA of $14 million to $16 million.
Please note first half margins will be lower than the second half, primarily driven by our investment and ramp at SAC Store. To close, we delivered a strong finish to fiscal 2026 on both sides of the business. Our legacy operations executed with discipline through a demanding environment. The SAC Store integration is progressing well in its first four months, and we ended the year with a stronger balance sheet and renewed capacity to return capital to shareholders.
With a refinanced credit facility, a new buyback authorization, and a differentiated portfolio, we are well positioned to execute through fiscal 2027 and to capture the mid-cycle opportunity we framed for you at the Investor Day. With that, I'd like to open the call up for questions.
OPERATOR
As a reminder, to ask a question, you will need to press star then one on your touchtone telephone. If your question has been answered or you wish to withdraw your question, please press star then two. Please stand by while we compile the Q and A roster. Our first question comes from Craig Kennison with Baird. Please go ahead.
Craig Kennison, Analyst at Baird
Hey, good morning Steve and David. Thanks for your time here. Question on SAC Store. Appreciate the breakout. David, wondering if you can maybe shed more light on the SAC Store impact on all of fiscal 2027 revenue and adjusted EBITDA guidance?
David Black, Chief Financial Officer
Yes, sure, Craig. So as we think about next year having a full year's worth of SAC Store in the numbers, the way that we're thinking about the top line is a growth rate in kind of the low teens on the revenue side of things and working a ramp up to that 10% to 11% range that we talked about on the EBITDA front. I think the first quarter, as you saw, will be a little bit weighted down just given the investment that we're making on the higher volumes that we're expecting through the remainder of the year.
But if you take that piece and then consider our expectation for the legacy brands, which is around low single digit to mid single digit growth on a year-over-year basis, that should get you the building blocks to see where our guidance is coming out for fiscal year 27.
Craig Kennison, Analyst at Baird
Thanks, David. Could you just give me the base on which you expect to grow low-teens revenue?
David Black, Chief Financial Officer
Yeah. So if you look at our year this year for SAC Store, you know we're looking at a $180 million number on a full year pro forma basis.
Craig Kennison, Analyst at Baird
Okay, perfect. And then on SAC Store in Fort Pierce, I know you have a lot of capacity there and you plan to ramp production. What's the right level of unit production out of Fort Pierce for SAC Store when you're fully ramped?
Steve Mineto, Chief Executive Officer
I think what we've said, Craig, in the past is that we could do upwards of 200-plus units out of that facility without any incremental capex investment. And so I think that that will be our first goalpost that we'll be working for. Obviously mix has some determination associated with that. Bigger boats take more space. But I think that's the original kind of number we were working with.
Craig Kennison, Analyst at Baird
Perfect, thank you.
OPERATOR
Our next question comes from Joe Altabella with Raymond James. Please go ahead.
UNKNOWN Analyst
Thanks. Hey guys. Good morning. I guess first question on fiscal 27, the outlook here. I appreciate the breakout between legacy and Saxdor, but could you tell us what you're thinking in terms of retail growth for the legacy business within that guidance?
David Black, Chief Financial Officer
Yes, we're expecting the market to be flat to down next year. I think it's going to be a similar cadence to what we've seen this year where it's going to be a little softer in the first half and progressively getting closer to a flattish year as we move into the back half of that. And so as you think about kind of the year-over-year comp, that's kind of what we're baking into our guidance for next year.
UNKNOWN Analyst
Okay. And so if we think about the low to mid single digit growth for Malibu, it sounds like you're thinking all of that and then some is going to come from ASPs with volumes probably down a little bit.
David Black, Chief Financial Officer
Part of it will be ASP, but part of it is also the destocking that we've had this year. Right. So you're going to get some of that benefit back next year just as the market stabilizes as we move along.
UNKNOWN Analyst
Okay, but I guess in terms of volumes, in terms of absolute units, you think wholesale and retail roughly in line for the fiscal year.
David Black, Chief Financial Officer
That's right.
UNKNOWN Analyst
Okay. And just one quick one on the input cost pressures you mentioned at Saxdor. Maybe talk about that a little bit more and why you didn't see that in the legacy business.
David Black, Chief Financial Officer
I think we saw some of that in the legacy business. I think it was known the centralized sourcing has been well underway and we've been able to offset a lot of that in kind of the legacy business. Obviously one of the workstreams that we are focused on on the integration side of things is the sourcing component as it relates to Saxdor. So we'll continue to focus on that and start to see some of those benefits, albeit later in the year.
UNKNOWN Analyst
Okay, great. Thank you.
OPERATOR
Our next question comes from Mike Albanese with Stonex. Please go ahead.
Mike Albanese, Analyst at Stonex
Hey, good morning guys. Thanks for taking my question. Can we just lift up the hood a little bit more on Cobalt volumes up 19%? Can you just remind us, were we comping some production cuts in that segment or, you know, is this kind of results some of your initiatives within MBI Advantage? You know, what's kind of underlying that you see that volume growth?
Steve Mineto, Chief Executive Officer
Yeah. I think obviously we did take production down in the prior year as we were managing through dealer inventory. But that brand continues to perform well from a market share perspective. And so you're seeing some of that translate through as the retail has continued to be strong and the demand is there for those brands.
Mike Albanese, Analyst at Stonex
Got it. Okay, thanks. And then can we just bifurcate a little bit on the margin improvement regarding kind of, you know, some of the, you know, maybe absorption leverage with some of your volumes being up here versus, you know, your centralized sourcing and kind of procurement initiatives and things of that nature?
David Black, Chief Financial Officer
Yeah, I mean, as you think about it for the quarter, I would say, you know, it's about, you know, half and half. Right. As you think about the breakout. Right. There's some volume, volume levers that you're getting just by just kind of the pure units piece of that. But then also as we think about the centralized sourcing and it running through the P&L, that's been sitting on the inventory side of things. That's how I would characterize it for the quarter.
Mike Albanese, Analyst at Stonex
Perfect. Thank you. Thanks, guys.
OPERATOR
Our next question comes from Gregory Miller with Truist. Please go ahead.
Gregory Miller, Analyst at Truist
Thanks. Good morning, Steve and David. First, I'd like to ask about Saxdor. Have you made any changes to the plant operations Finland and Poland from your due diligence post ownership?
Steve Mineto, Chief Executive Officer
No, Greg, we haven't made any plan changes. We're still manufacturing in Poland and in Larsmo. We've introduced the 460 production. So of course, you know, standing up a large boat such as that, and with the amount of orders that we have, we're working hard to be able to satisfy those. And as we said before, you know, the Fort Pierce is, I guess you can consider that a new operating line. But we're well underway in that integration workstream and already down the path of doing pilot boats, so we're on schedule for that.
So no major changes to the production side of Saxdor.
Gregory Miller, Analyst at Truist
Okay, switching gears, you mentioned in the earnings release about affirming dealer inventory levels in pockets of the portfolio specific to Cobalt and saltwater fishing. And I was hoping if you could elaborate on what you're seeing lately in trends.
David Black, Chief Financial Officer
Yeah, yeah. I mean on inventory as a whole, I think as the year progressed, inventories have decreased on a year-over-year basis. What's very important is kind of the health of that inventory and aged inventory across the portfolio. All the portfolio is in one of the best spots that we've seen in some time. So there's not a ton of inventory that we're concerned out there that's going to have to be cleared because of aging and required promotional dollars.
We're feeling pretty good about where we're landing at this time of year.
Gregory Miller, Analyst at Truist
Great. Thank you both.
OPERATOR
Our next question comes from Anna Glaskin with B. Riley. Please go ahead.
Anna Glaskin, Analyst at B. Riley
Hi, good morning. Thanks for taking my questions. First, I'd like to follow up on Greg's question on dealer inventory. Seems like we're in a much healthier place than maybe entering the prior fiscal year. But as we look to 27, are we assuming that wholesale and retail are fairly aligned with maybe some pockets for restocking given how depleted inventories got in certain areas. Thanks.
David Black, Chief Financial Officer
Yeah, I mean I think as we move along through the year, yes, I think the market we set some softness still to be in that first half of the year. So I think by the end of the year, yes, we're in a kind of matching retail to wholesale environment as we progress along.
Anna Glaskin, Analyst at B. Riley
Got it. Thanks. And then wanted to ask on margin in 4Q here, pretty meaningful step down or a step down in selling and marketing sequentially despite a ramp in sales. Is that a function of Saxdor being layered on? Do they have a lower selling and marketing percentage of sales than the legacy business and should we expect leverage throughout the year there as that business is layered on? Thanks.
David Black, Chief Financial Officer
Yeah, a couple things there. Yes. Some of that is kind of the leverage by the incremental Saxdor revenue that we have included into the mix. But then also as we think about the drivers that we talked about in the earnings release, we did see lower compensation and just program-related expenses as well. And so I think the run rate that you see kind of in that Q4 is a relatively consistent one that you would expect to see carry forward as we move along.
Anna Glaskin, Analyst at B. Riley
Got it, thanks.
OPERATOR
Our next question comes from Noah Zatzkin with KeyBanc Capital. Please go ahead.
Noah Zatzkin, Analyst at KeyBanc Capital Markets
Hi. Thanks for taking my questions. I guess first, any anecdotes or green shoots you could share in terms of MBI acceptance uptake where it's available. Are you seeing it convert incremental payment buyers versus prior? Thanks.
Steve Mineto, Chief Executive Officer
Yeah. What we're seeing is momentum behind that. The dealers are really accepting that and using it to retail boat. So we are seeing on the payment side we're seeing momentum in the number of applications coming in. As we stated in our remarks, even when it's non-promotional, it's still a tool that's being used and it's still a tool that helps the payment buyer be able to enter the market with one of our boats. So we're happy with where the program is going so far.
And it's basically still only nine months in existence.
Noah Zatzkin, Analyst at KeyBanc Capital Markets
Is there any way to kind of frame whether it's like innings or percentage of kind of dealers it's available in?
Steve Mineto, Chief Executive Officer
Not sure. So the percentage of dealers that are
Noah Zatzkin, Analyst at KeyBanc Capital Markets
utilizing it or kind of.
Steve Mineto, Chief Executive Officer
Rephrase your question. Yeah, yeah, we're signing. So we're signing on our dealers. So we're not at 100% of the dealer base across all of our brands. So we're continuing to—excuse me—we're continuing to work that and get all the dealers onto the program. Again, the dealers themselves have multiple tools that they can utilize for the buyer. And so we continue to sell this tool into our dealer base. So more work to be done. We're probably a third of the way to 40% of the way there on getting our dealer base signed up.
David Black, Chief Financial Officer
Maybe the only thing I'd add there is we are seeing that it's touching on that lower price point. And so as you think about the dealer makeup, it's going to be those dealers that carry the kind of lower price point brands that we offer today. So hopefully that's helpful context.
Noah Zatzkin, Analyst at KeyBanc Capital Markets
Yeah, very helpful. Maybe just one more, and this is kind of a longer dated question, but how are you thinking about the opportunity to grow legacy MBI brands in Europe and kind of where are you today? Thanks.
Steve Mineto, Chief Executive Officer
Yeah, we're excited about the opportunity of growing our legacy brand. So where we sit today, international retail for us and shipments are below 5% historically. And now with Saxdor, I think we said before we're going to kind of take a first step. Let's try to sell boats that are manufactured in the States, internationally at a higher pace than 5%. And then eventually, as we build that business and Saxdor's greater dealer network, who have already been inquiring about carrying our legacy brands, how do we build that up?
And eventually, if there's enough volume there, should we manufacture in Europe? That's way down the line, but it's an opportunity that we are looking at.
Noah Zatzkin, Analyst at KeyBanc Capital Markets
Thank you.
OPERATOR
Our next question comes from Jamie Katz with Morningstar. Please go ahead.
Jamie Katz, Analyst at Morningstar
Hey, good morning. I'm hoping you guys will maybe elaborate a little bit more on the order of your capital allocation priorities, just between return to shareholders through share buybacks or other investment opportunities, be it acquisitions or white space expansion.
David Black, Chief Financial Officer
Yeah. Hey, Jamie, this is David. No real change there. I think our priorities are the same. We're going to continue to invest in the business. Obviously we have some debt on the balance sheet now, so we'll pay that down as we have free cash flow as well. But also, you know, we're going to, you know, as the share price and, you know, we're going to be opportunistic and where we think the intrinsic value is, we'll always consider that as one of our priorities.
And then finally, you know, M&A, but disciplined M&A. The bar is high, especially when you think about the context of all the other priorities that I just listed for you. So no real change. What I would tell you is we're not going to look at one thing individually. And we showed that this year, you know, we completed one of the largest acquisitions that we have in our history. You know, we've refinanced our debt and we also repurchased 1.2 million shares, returning value to our shareholders.
So as you can see, we'll continue to keep that same philosophy as we move forward.
Jamie Katz, Analyst at Morningstar
Okay, and then can you give us a little insight as to what you are incorporating for input cost inflation? It seems like in some of the earnings calls that have recently occurred that inflation is ticking up. And I am wondering what percentage you guys are like thinking about as you think about what rolls into your EBITDA outlook.
David Black, Chief Financial Officer
Yeah, right now embedded, we're, you know, in that low to mid single digit range from an input cost perspective. Obviously that's, there's a lot of determining factors and things change on a daily basis, it feels like. But that's kind of what we're assuming at this point, given the information we have in front of us.
Jamie Katz, Analyst at Morningstar
Awesome, thank you.
OPERATOR
Our next question comes from Garrick Johnson with Seaport Research Partners. Please go ahead.
Garrick Johnson, Analyst at Seaport Research Partners
Thank you. Good morning. You discussed Saxdor EBITDA margins and mentioned they were a little bit lower because of the build out for Pierce. Is that because it's more expensive than you thought or happening earlier than you thought, or am I just off on that?
David Black, Chief Financial Officer
Yeah, no, it's just more earlier. We're speeding up the process. Right. And so, you know, we're taking the position that we need to invest now because there is enough demand out there that we want to be able to capture. And so that's more of a timing thing there, Garrick, than anything.
Garrick Johnson, Analyst at Seaport Research Partners
Okay. And then on Fort Pierce, do you have any, you know, metrics for us, perhaps how much more quickly you can get a boat to market, or perhaps how much more profitable each boat could be coming out of Fort Pierce, going
Steve Mineto, Chief Executive Officer
To the U.S., not yet. Garrick, it's pretty early. I mean, we're just running pilot boats and just building. I was down there two weeks ago with the team when we did the initial builds, and so a lot of that is being worked out. Standard work, setting up stations, and so on. Until that's all completed, we won't really have, you know, dialed-in numbers on what the costs are and advantages. So more to come on that. But like David said, we're trying to go faster than what we had in the plan, and that's what's driving a little bit of the early costs.
Garrick Johnson, Analyst at Seaport Research Partners
Gotcha. Okay, if I could just ask one more. You know, you mentioned optimizing the dealer network. I think it was in a press release. What have you guys done recently in the dealer network to optimize it?
Steve Mineto, Chief Executive Officer
Yeah. When we talk about that, it's tools that we deliver to the dealer network, how we support them. When we talk about optimization. So we have our co-op program, we have our financing program. We're changing the way we do some of our marketing and trying to drive support with our dealer base. So when we talk about optimization, it's a lot about how do we support the retail on an ongoing basis and what tools they need to be successful.
Garrick Johnson, Analyst at Seaport Research Partners
Okay, great. Thanks for the clarification. I wasn't sure if I meant you were expanding the dealer network, consolidating, but this is good. Thank you.
OPERATOR
I'm not showing any further questions at this time. This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.
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