MOREHEAD, Ky., Jan. 31, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — AppHarvest, Inc. (NASDAQ: APPH, APPHW), a leading AgTech company, public benefit corporation and Certified B Corp building some of the world’s largest high-tech indoor farms to grow affordable, nutritious fruits and vegetables at scale while providing good jobs in Appalachia, today announced that it expects to report achieving the higher end of its guidance range for full-year 2021 net sales and non-GAAP Adjusted EBITDA.
AppHarvest now expects to report 2021 net sales in the range of $8.9 to $9.1 million, versus a previously announced outlook of $7.0 to $9.0 million. AppHarvest also expects to report a net loss in the range of $170.0 to $172.5 million and now expects an Adjusted EBITDA loss in the range of $69.3 to 72.5 million, versus a prior outlook of an Adjusted EBITDA loss of $70.0 to $75.0 million.
“The AppHarvest team has been squarely focused on the core business, and solid execution in the fourth quarter during the ramp up of our second growing season positions us to come in at the high end of our full-year net sales guidance range. We remain on track to quadruple our number of operating farms this year—adding three new farms that together will expand tomato capacity and diversify our growing capabilities into salad greens and berries,” said AppHarvest President David Lee.
“Our first anniversary coincides with the full vesting of early investor shares that can enter trading, and we remain confident in our plan to deliver long-term value to all shareholders based on the operational improvements in our business and significant scale that we’re adding.”
With the operations team taking a data-driven approach including real-time performance management to enhance training, to implement a world-class supply chain planning process and to streamline the operations organization, the company is seeing significantly improved results in the percent of premium produce production and strong week-over-week labor productivity gains.
AppHarvest’s flagship Morehead, Ky. farm has been harvesting tomatoes since January 2021, and AppHarvest tomatoes have been sold in more than 1,000 stores and restaurants across six states.
Development
AppHarvest also announced the 15-acre Berea, Ky., salad greens facility and the 60-acre Richmond, Ky., tomato facility are both approximately 65% complete and expected to be fully operational by the end of 2022. A 30-acre Somerset, Ky., berry facility is more than 50% complete and is also expected to be operational by the end of 2022.
“We believe we are in the prime position to deliver positive cash flow as we complete our current development phase, adding three more large-scale farms in 2022,” said Lee. “Beyond the four farms, we plan to develop additional facilities only after securing the required capital, and we remain confident in our ability to do that and to be self-sufficient.”
Goodwill and Intangible Impairment
For the fourth quarter, the company expects to record a non-cash charge of approximately $59.9 million to impair the carrying value of goodwill and definite lived intangible assets related to the recent acquisition of Root AI, Inc. (now AppHarvest Technology, Inc. (ATI)), an artificial intelligence and robotics company. The impairment reflects current market valuations and strategic investment requirements as the company continues to develop commercial technologies through ATI. The company continues to believe in the strength of ATI to deliver robotics and software solutions to optimize its own high-tech farm network and to serve the broader controlled environment agriculture sector globally. With the advantage of being deployed in AppHarvest’s Morehead facility since the acquisition, the company’s universal harvesting robot has doubled in its picking capability in that period and the group has developed a farm operations software platform with multiple applications. Both the robotics and software are expected to become revenue-generating in 2023.
Conference Call and Webcast
The company will release its financial results for the fourth quarter and full year 2021 on Thursday, Feb. 24, 2022. The company will host a conference call and webcast to review its results the same day at 4:30 p.m. ET. The live conference call and replay are accessible as follows:
Live Webcast: The call will be streamed over the internet and accessible through the “Investors” section of the AppHarvest website at https://investors.appharvest.com. A replay will be available following the event.
Telephone: The call will be accessible by dialing 1-833-665-0607 (U.S./Canada) or 1-929-517-0397 (International) with the code 2558968. An audio replay will be available approximately two hours after the end of the conference call until March 4, 2022, at 1-855-859-2056 (U.S./Canada) or 1-404-537-3406 (International) with the code 2558968.
About AppHarvest
AppHarvest is an applied technology company in Appalachia developing and operating some of the world’s largest high-tech indoor farms, designed to grow non-GMO, chemical pesticide-free produce, using up to 90 percent less water than open-field agriculture and only rainwater while producing yields up to 30 times that of traditional agriculture on the same amount of land without agricultural runoff. The company combines conventional agricultural techniques with world-class technology including artificial intelligence and robotics to improve access for all to nutritious food, farming more sustainably, building a domestic food supply, and increasing investment in Appalachia. The company’s 60-acre Morehead, Ky. facility is among the largest indoor farms in the world. For more information, visit https://www.appharvest.com/.
