UP Q4 2022 Earnings

Call Details

• Call Title: Wheels Up Q4 2022 Earnings Call
• Date: March 9, 2023 at 3:00 PM UTC
• Management Team:
  • Keith Ferguson (Head of Investor Relations)
  • Kenny Dichter (Wheels Ops Chairman and Chief Executive Officer)
  • Todd Smith (Chief Financial Officer)

Call Summary

Financial Performance

• Revenue was $408M in Q4 2022, a record for the quarter and up nearly 20% year-over-year, which beat the company's guidance of approximately 15% year-over-year growth.
• Full-year revenue was $1.6B in 2022, up over 30% year-over-year.
• Active members grew 5% year-over-year while live flight legs decreased 5% year-over-year.
• Membership revenue was up 13% year-over-year in Q4 2022, and flight revenue was up 9% year-over-year in the quarter.
• Flight revenue per live flight leg was up 14% year-over-year in Q4 2022, and excluding AirPartner it was up 19% year-over-year.
• Aircraft management revenue was $62M in the quarter and other revenue was $50M in the quarter driven by AirPartner and increased aircraft sales.
• Adjusted contribution margin was 4.7% in Q4 2022 (non-GAAP), which was at the high end of the company's stated guidance range of 4.25% to 4.75%.

Guidance

• The company expects Q1 2023 revenue to increase mid-single digits year-over-year and expects a slower start in January with sequential improvement through February and March.
• Full-year 2023 revenue is guided to a range of $1.55B to $1.6B reflecting macro uncertainty and a focus on profitable, density-leveraging revenue.
• Q1 2023 adjusted contribution margin is expected in the 3.5% to 4.0% range, which management notes is lower than Q4 2022 due to seasonal revenue patterns.
• The company expects to exit 2023 with high single-digit adjusted contribution margins and average adjusted contribution margin of 6.5% to 7.5% for the year.
• Q1 2023 adjusted EBITDA loss is guided to a range of -$45M to -$50M, and full-year 2023 adjusted EBITDA loss is guided to -$110M to -$130M.
• GAAP net loss guidance is -$95M to -$105M for Q1 2023 and -$300M to -$320M for full-year 2023.