True, but Nike would need it. A man can dream, can't he? haha. Don't you find it weird that they incl MSLP logo in their commercial? Or do you think that's part of Tiger's deal (I really doubt Tiger has that leverage).

JYM has all the same products. They are @ the top of every chart.

MSLP is definitely slipping @ bb.com.

The top 10 protein bars may have a different time scale/metric (sales for the last 12 months) than the top 50 list (which I think has a shorter time span - like sales in the last month)

I don't know if this will add to your thoughts, but the way I look at it:

20% warrants in Capstone + option to buy out at a set price of $200M = value of some amount ~$10-$20M maybe more. Not sure how to price this option without knowing Capstone's books, but they mentioned the combined company would be $450M+ revenue with double digit profit.


If MSLP were to be acquired in the next 18months the acquiring company would also be acquiring the ability to purchase Capstone at a set value. So now you would be getting a fully integrated shop.

Let's say the buyout price is 1x revenue @ $450M. That values MSLP @ $250M and Capstone is set @ $200M.

MSLP must be shopping themselves at this point. The deal with Capstone is a way of making themselves look better as a holistic fully vertical company.

MSLP is extremely undervalued at the moment as this Capstone option is assigned no value at this point or maybe it doesn't deserve value. Who knows?

MSLP has slipped far down the top 10 lists for each category on bb.com. I wonder why this is happening. It's not a very positive sign.

I'm actually surprised that Nike would include MSLP logo/branding in their commercial. I would assume that is a huge no/no unless it specifically negotiated in by someone.

It would be unbelievable if Nike is cozying up to MSLP. Frankly, I don't understand why Nike isn't in this business. MSLP would be an amazing acquisition for them to fuel future growth.

Pyatt mentioned something big potentially happening @ Ohio State. OSU is a Nike/Coke school.

Seems like someone unloaded shares today

Let's say you have

At the start:
$10 in act recv
$10 in act pay

Your quarter looks like this:
$0 sales
-$5 loss
$0 acct rcv
$20 acct pay

What would your cash flow from operations be?

I really think they are out of Walmart.

Are they completely out of Walmart? On their website they only list Sams Club and CostCo along with the usuals under retailer section.

Of course it matters where they get their revenue.

If MSLP sells $10 drink for revenue, they have $6 costs lets say.

All this does is say $4 revenue from marketing $6 from BioZone with $6 cost...maybe $6-5% so $5.7 COGs (subtracting 3rd party margin).

If it was a 3rd party, then it would be $10 from marketing w/$6 of COGs.


They don't get $10 revenue from marketing AND $6 revenue for BioZone for selling a $10 product.

Net benefit is the 5% 3rd party margin they save. which is $0.30 in this example. Which gives them 3% margin upside.

Either way they recognize only $10 of revenue.

Again this is good, but not earth shattering. If it's internal sales to BioZone, they're just shifting revenue from one place to another. They may see upside of ~5% on that $7M which is ~$350k. This isn't $7M of external revenue coming in. If it were, that would be a game changer.

PJ I believe you are mistaken.

They definitely had huge cash losses. In Q4, they drew down accounts receivable $6.5M and inventory $3M and extended accounts payable $1M to be cash flow positive.

Of the $16.4M losses, $6.4M were non-cash items (depreciation & stock-based comp)

That equates to about $10M cash loss.

There was one big order for 30k @ $4.52. A 10k order for $4.51.

I wonder what drove the price up after that? bunch of small orders after and the stock drove higher. largest one after the 30k order was 6.65k @ $5.20.

Looks like MSLP is going hard after the international market. I hope they are able to deliver on it. This is where I think their bread and butter from branding can come from. Build the brand for much cheaper. Use Arnold as much as they can in those markets. Sell their gear.

Dominate South America and UK. Go after China & India.

That's should be their priority #1. For the amount of $$ they spent on Tiger, they probably could've signed the top actors/influencers in China,India, & Brazil.

If they can hold on to their US base and even build it, that's a bonus. I just see the US as too competitive. It will cost way more in marketing to penetrate the US.

Arnold is the ticket forward. If Tiger can make any type of comeback, that will be a cherry on top. Put Tiger on a world seniors tour if he can't make a comeback.

Slow roll-out. I'm cool with it. You expected them to have enough cash to build out inventory to stock the world? This is what happens when you want financial discipline. You can't go as fast.

One thing I hope MSLP can do is leverage the Terminator PR tour that Arnold will be on.

Give him a MSLP highlighter green wrist band for all his TV promotions so that the host can call it out on why he's wearing it...He can mention that it is for his dedication to his fans that take health seriously and use his Arnold line products available at a store near you.

Imagine the hype that would get if he gets to mention it on all the late night talk shows. That would be a worth $1M+ ad campaign right there.

Hopefully someone from MSLP marketing peruses this board.

Figured. The label should really call out the Green Tea + Ginseng. Why didn't they include that? They really need to differentiate @ point of sale.

I mean just write on the label: Green Tea + Ginseng = FOCUS. That would totally make their product stand out as different

Hopefully they are. I agree with you

Don't get your hopes up. I'm assuming it'll be the same partners they have now

Dude wtf are you taking about? Mslp has a close relationship with Boise. They have offices there.

That's competing directly with competition in a C-store. It will be different in various channels

Hope it's more than that. Red Bull/Monster et al can copy that

What sets the drinks apart from all the others? I don't think they've mentioned anything yet

Look at the pricing of Red Bull & Monster & Kickstart right next to it...This is going to be an extremely tough market to penetrate.

Also, the 2nd column and 4th column of drinks look exactly the same but one is Sport and the other is Sport Zero. To me that is ridiculous. Why confuse customers on flavors and brands? Make it easy on them to recognize and buy without thinking.

They should try to also find outlets where Red Bull/Monster are missing. Not sure where that would be...

I don't see how they could just turn on a dime from q4. I also believe they have baked in rev from new product lines that won't launch until q2 and should ramp throughout the year. I'm more interested in their cash position and how they handle that.

What would everyone like to see from q1?

Cash up to $4m?
Debt down to $8m? Or is $12m acceptable?
Rev@ $45m?

Where are you getting the laid off 60 employees from? Is this just speculation again?

Analyzing Q4 Cash Flow:

In Millions of USD (except for per share items) Q4 Cash Flow
Net Income/Starting Line -16.23
Depreciation/Depletion 0.33
Amortization 0.28
Deferred Taxes
Non-Cash Items 5.67
Changes in Working Capital 11.36

Cash from Operating Activities 1.42

Capital Expenditures -0.85
Other Investing Cash Flow Items, Total 2.77


Cash from Investing Activities 1.92


Financing Cash Flow Items 0
Total Cash Dividends Paid
Issuance (Retirement) of Stock, Net -2.56
Issuance (Retirement) of Debt, Net -2.67


Cash from Financing Activities -5.23

Foreign Exchange Effects -0.03

Net Change in Cash -1.93


They had a positive operating cash flow which is due to depleting inventory.

It also shows that they bought $2.56M of stock back in Q4. I believe this is the stock they bought back from BioZone @ $10 which seemed like a good idea at the time. I guess they didn't know how Q4 was going to shape up at that time, which is concerning. Imagine if they bought it back now @ $4 instead. This is after buying back $1.36M in Q3.

I'm curious at what debt they paid back for $2.67 when the $8M line is still maxed out.

That's definitely a positive spin on why they would be halted from insider buying. I'm sure there are negative reasons as well.

You don't think the CEO should be paid $250k? That's not outrageous. The $5m in stock is done and hopefully they stick to the plan they outlined without re-upping it. His incentives are aligned as he took a beating along side with us.

He'll be rich only when he sells. He should only sell some if he can get the stock up to $20 and get it uplifted to the nasdaq or nyse.

I think you're missing the fact that it is not rich. It's upper middle class. A newly straight out of residency doctor makes more.

I love your passion but this executive team is not transparent. They have not earned any trust. Q4 was a disaster no matter how you look at it. The share price got cut in half for a reason.

It's $5m in paper money. He hasn't sold any shares. He's Living off of his salary. $250k is nice but it's not rich.

They were at a 1.4 working capital ratio... Down to now ~1. The trend and how fast they got there (1Q) is what is scary.

He's not rich from any of this. I think he realizes that.

I too hope they efficiently use their capital and get to a space where they have enough cash in reserves + cash flow neutral (fueling growth)/positive (filling coffers).

I personally think they should curtail spending to see what organic growth they can achieve without crazy marketing spends...might take a hit on revenue growth but I'd rather have a rainy day fund before getting back to max rev growth.

I understand your frustration and am right there with you. Q1 is going to be make/break for them.

As long as they stick to the original stock plan, I'm fine with it. He has 500k shares that are now worth $5 vs. $14. He hasn't sold any so he isn't getting rich off of it. He should want that 500k to be worth $50 a pop just like we do.

I see a terrible draw down btw Q3 & Q4 of accounts receivable from $23M --> $16M and inventory $24M --> $21M.

While Accts payable only drew down from $28M-->$27M while accrued liabilities went up from $5M-->$7M.

None of that looks good. In fact, looks VERY VERY bad.

Current Assets went from $59M-->$46M while Current Liabilities increased $41M-->$43M.

Where do you see this positive working capital position at the end of Q4?

Totally understand your point. I think they saw their stock assets cut in half. As long as they don't re-up their stock package to adjust to a lower share price, then I think shareholders are aligned.

I'm very curious at how they seem so nonchalant about Q4 and their cash position. Hoping for the best in Q1. Would like to see them shore up their balance sheet.

They haven't sold any of their stock. It's worth more to them for it to go up than to get cut in half like it did. It's a fine balance between giving them LEAPs and awarding RSUs.

RSU's are awarded annually so it is in their best interest to have the stock price appreciate.

LEAPs can expire worthless due to outside influences. I don't want them doing unnatural acts just to boost the stock in a short-term play to make their LEAPs in the money before they expire.

RSUs on a vested schedule are a better methodology and also MUCH EASIER for accounting. Too many mark to market issues with LEAPs. It's why most tech companies in the bay area moved to RSU structures and away from options.