National Vision Holdings, Inc. (EYE)

Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

The following discussion contains management’s discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations and should be read together with the consolidated financial statements and the related notes thereto included elsewhere in this Form 10-K (this “Form 10-K”). This discussion contains forward-looking statements that reflect our plans, estimates and beliefs and involve numerous risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, those described in the “Risk Factors” section included in Part I. Item 1A. in this Form 10-K, as such risk factors may be updated from time to time in our periodic filings with the SEC. Actual results may differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements. You should carefully read “Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” in this Form 10-K.

We conduct substantially all of our activities through our indirect wholly-owned subsidiary, NVI, and its subsidiaries. We operate on a retail fiscal calendar that results in a given fiscal year consisting of a 52- or 53-week period ending on the Saturday closest to December 31. In a 52-week fiscal year, each quarter contains 13 weeks of operations; in a 53-week fiscal year, each of the first, second and third quarters includes 13 weeks of operations and the fourth quarter includes 14 weeks of operations. References herein to “fiscal year 2024” relate to

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the 52 weeks ended December 28, 2024, references herein to “fiscal year 2023” relate to the 52 weeks ended December 30, 2023 and references herein to “fiscal year 2022” relate to the 52 weeks ended December 31, 2022.

The disclosures contained in this Form 10-K are made only as of the date hereof, and we undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. For further information, please see “Risk Factors” and “Forward-Looking Statements.”

Overview

We are one of the largest optical retailers in the United States (the “U.S.”) and a leader in the attractive value segment of the U.S. optical retail industry. We believe that vision is central to quality of life and that people deserve to see their best to live their best, regardless of their budget. We achieve this by providing eye exams, eyeglasses and contact lenses to value-seeking consumers with an opening price point that strives to be among the lowest in the industry. We reach our customers through a diverse portfolio of 1,240 retail stores across four brands and multiple consumer websites as of fiscal year end 2024.

Brand and Segment Information

As of December 28, 2024, our operations consisted of one reportable segment:

•Owned & Host – As of fiscal year end 2024, our owned brands consisted of 1,036 America’s Best Contacts and Eyeglasses (“America’s Best”) retail stores and 122 Eyeglass World retail stores. In America’s Best stores, vision care services are provided by optometrists employed by us or by independent professional corporations or similar entities. America’s Best stores are primarily located in high-traffic strip centers next to value-focused retailers. Eyeglass World locations offer eye exams, provided primarily by independent optometrists and optometrists employed by independent professional corporations or similar entities, and have on-site optical laboratories that enable stores to quickly fulfill many customer orders and make repairs on site. Eyeglass World stores are primarily located in freestanding or in-line locations near high-foot-traffic shopping centers. Our Host brands consisted of 53 Vista Optical locations on select military bases and 29 Vista Optical locations within select Fred Meyer stores as of fiscal year end 2024. We have strong, long-standing relationships with our Host partners and have maintained each partnership for over 20 years. These brands provide eye exams primarily by independent optometrists. All brands utilize our centralized laboratories. This segment also includes sales from our America’s Best, Eyeglass World, and Military omni-channel websites.

Our consolidated results for all periods presented in this Form 10-K also include the following:

•Results of other operating segments — Our dedicated e-commerce website, which was previously managed by AC Lens and was transitioned to NVI. Our e-commerce website sells contact lenses and optical accessory products to retail customers, and recognizes revenue when products have been delivered to the customer. Managed care business conducted by FirstSight, our wholly-owned subsidiary that is licensed as a single-service health plan under California law, which issues individual vision plans in connection with our America’s Best operations in California.

•Corporate and other — Our corporate and other category represents unallocated corporate overhead expenses, which are a component of selling, general and administrative expenses and are comprised of various home office expenses such as payroll, occupancy costs and consulting and professional fees. Corporate overhead expenses also include field services for our four retail brands. Other expenses included in this category include certain non-cash charges, including asset impairment, stock-based compensation expense, and the impact of certain events, gains, or losses excluded from the assessment of segment performance.

•Effects of unearned and deferred revenue — Reportable segment information is presented on the same basis as our consolidated financial statements, except reportable segment sales which are presented on a cash basis, including point of sales for managed care payors and excluding the effects of unearned and deferred revenue, consistent with what our chief operating decision maker (“CODM”) regularly reviews. We present the effects of unearned and deferred revenues separately from our reportable segment information. See Note 16. “Segment Reporting” in our consolidated financial statements. Deferred revenue represents the timing difference of when we collect the cash from the customer and when services related to product protection plans and eye care club memberships are performed. Increases or decreases in deferred revenue during the reporting period represent cash collections in excess of, or below the recognition of, previous deferrals. Unearned revenue represents the timing difference of when we collect cash from the customer and delivery/customer acceptance, and includes sales of prescription eyewear during approximately the last seven to ten days of the reporting period.

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Trends and Other Factors Affecting Our Business

During fiscal 2024, we implemented transformation initiatives intended to accelerate long-term growth and strengthen profitability, including new additions to our executive leadership team, continued expansion of exam capacity, new traffic-driving initiatives, and a review of our store fleet. Additionally, we continued to make progress against our continued growth initiatives, including the expansion of our remote medicine capabilities; focusing on the recruiting and retention of optometrists; increasing our marketing efficiency and omnichannel capabilities; increasing our participation in vision insurance programs; and the further digitization of our stores and corporate office. Going into fiscal 2025, we will be focused on expanding our target demographic, implementing new pricing architecture, enhancing the customer and patient experience, and optimizing cost structure, which are designed to strengthen our core business, improve our results of operations, and drive long-term shareholder value.

We opened 69 new stores in 2024 and completed a comprehensive review of our portfolio of stores to optimize our fleet for profitability and overall performance. As a result of the comprehensive review, we closed 12 stores and converted four Eyeglass World stores to America’s Best stores in 2024 and plan to close an additional 27 stores by the end of 2026. In connection with this review, we have recorded certain impairment of intangible assets, property and equipment and ROU assets, as well as one-time non-recurring exit charges associated with the closures. Refer to Note 1. “Description of Business and Basis of Presentation” and Note 11. “Fair Value Measurement” for information on the impairment charges and costs incurred related to the store fleet review.

We are continuing to invest in the digitization of our stores, including remote medicine capabilities and an EHR platform. As of December 28, 2024, remote medicine technology has been enabled in over 730 of our America’s Best locations. We believe remote medicine not only helps provide more access to eye care for patients, it also helps address constraints in exam capacity. We have also invested in the transition to an EHR platform. We anticipate continuing the investment in remote medicine primarily in America’s Best stores in the near term, adding select locations where feasible and advantageous and depending on the state-by-state regulatory environment. While the remote medicine and EHR platforms have increased exam capacity, revenue and profitability, we have experienced higher costs applicable to revenue as a percentage of revenue, when compared with in-store exams.

The overall economic environment continues to be challenging and macroeconomic factors that may affect customer spending patterns, and thereby our results of operations, include inflation, employment rates, business conditions, changes in the housing market, the availability of credit, interest rates, tax rates and policies, fuel and energy costs and overall consumer confidence in future economic conditions, as well as global political, socio-economic, cultural, and geopolitical uncertainty.

We operate in the highly competitive and fragmented U.S. optical retail industry. We face competition from mass merchants, specialty retail chains, online retailers and independent eye practitioners and opticians, along with large national retailers. Increased consolidation activity in the industry may enable our competitors to benefit from purchasing advantages and the ability to leverage management capabilities across a larger business base. Along with our competitors, we are affected by a number of various trends and factors, including, but not limited to, economic conditions, availability of vision care professionals, inflation, consumer preferences and demand.

Our ability to continue to attract and retain qualified vision care professionals impacts exam capacity and our operations, like those of many of our competitors, depend on our ability to offer both eyewear and eye exams. We believe factors such as an increasingly challenging recruiting market (in particular for new graduates), preferences for adjusted work schedules, and the demand for optometrists exceeding supply in certain areas during fiscal year 2024 have caused constraints in vision care professional availability and therefore exam capacity which are continuing. As a result, recruiting and retaining optometrists has become more challenging and the costs to employee or retain optometrists have increased and may increase further, potentially materially. Targeted wage investments, including increases in compensation for our optometrists and associates, and flexibility initiatives have impacted our costs applicable to revenue and selling, general and administrative expenses. We anticipate that wage pressures in certain markets will continue in 2025. Wage investment pressure and increases to costs applicable to revenue from increases in raw materials prices may not be able to be fully offset by leverage from revenue growth, productivity efficiency and, as appropriate, various pricing actions. We are continuing to strategically invest in recruitment and retention initiatives, including flexible adjusted work schedules, along with continuing our implementation of remote medicine technologies, which has expanded our offerings while also increasing costs.

While there are ranges of customer behaviors based on demographics and other factors, we estimate that our customers typically replace their eyeglasses every two to three years and their contact lenses every six to 12 months, reflecting the predictability of these recurring purchase behaviors; however, the effects of the current macroeconomic environment and geopolitical uncertainty, resulted in reduced customer demand in 2024 and have

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caused shifts in consumer behaviors and preferences, which impact the demand for our products. As a result, the predictability of recurring purchase behavior for the future remains uncertain.

In addition to the central factors impacting our business outlined above, we have identified the following key drivers, challenges and risks on which we are focused and which are detailed below.

Inflation

Elevated inflation can result in increased costs and greater profitability pressure for us. While pressures from increases to the price of our raw materials have had an impact on our costs applicable to revenue in fiscal year 2024, we have been able to offset these pressures with efficiencies in our laboratory network, pricing actions and lower freight costs. We anticipate that pressures from increases to our raw materials prices could have an impact on our costs applicable to revenue in fiscal year 2025. Such an inflationary environment and labor market challenges can also result in wage pressures in certain markets. Wage investments as a result of inflation and an increasingly competitive recruiting market for vision care professionals that became more acute during the COVID -19 pandemic and related effects have had, and may continue to have, an impact on our profitability.

New Store Openings

We expect that new stores will continue to be a key driver of growth in our net revenue and operating profit in the future. Our results of operations have been and will continue to be materially affected by the timing and number of new store openings. As stores mature, profitability typically increases significantly. The performance of new stores is dependent upon factors such as the availability of optometrists, implementation and operation of remote medicine technology, the time of year of a particular opening, the amount of store pre-opening costs, labor and occupancy costs in the specified market, level of participation in managed care plans, and location, including whether they are in new or existing markets. During fiscal 2024, we announced plans to temporarily moderate new store openings in 2025 to 30-35 new stores, after which time we expect to return to our more recent store opening cadence as strategic initiatives begin to take hold.

Comparable Store Sales Growth

Comparable store sales growth is a key driver of our business. Many factors affect comparable store sales, including:

•consumer confidence, preferences and buying trends and overall economic trends including inflation and the amount and timing of tax refunds;

•the availability of optometrists and other vision care professionals;

•advertising strategies;

•participation in managed care programs;

•the recurring nature of eye care purchases;

•our ability to identify and respond effectively to customer preferences and trends;

•our ability to provide an assortment of high quality/low-cost product offerings that generate new and repeat visits to our stores;

•foot traffic in retail shopping centers where our stores are predominantly located;

•the customer experience we provide in our stores;

•our ability to source and receive products accurately and timely;

•changes in product pricing, including promotional activities;

•the number of items purchased per store visit;

•the number of stores that have been in operation for more than 12 months;

•impact of competition and consolidation in the U.S. optical retail industry;

•impact and timing of weather-related store closures; and

•public health emergencies which may exacerbate the effects and relevant risk exposures listed above.

A new store is included in the comparable store sales calculation during the 13th full fiscal month following the store’s opening. Closed stores are removed from the calculation for time periods that are not comparable. In the past, we have closed stores as a result of poor store performance, lease expiration or non-renewal and/or the terms of our arrangements with our Host partners.

Managed Care and Insurance

Managed care has become increasingly important to the optical retail industry. An increasing percentage of our customers receive vision care insurance coverage through managed care payors. Our participation in these programs represent an increasingly significant portion of our overall revenues and represented approximately 40% and 37% of our overall revenues from continuing operations in fiscal years 2024 and 2023, respectively. While we have relationships with almost all vision care insurers in the U.S. and with all of the major carriers, currently, a relatively small number of payors comprise the majority of our managed care revenues, subjecting us to concentration risk. As

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our participation in managed care programs continues to expand, we have incurred and expect to incur additional costs related to this area of our business. Our comparable store sales growth as noted above as well as overall future operational success could depend on our ability to negotiate, maintain and extend contracts with managed vision care companies, vision insurance providers and other third-party payors, several of whom have significant market share. Coverage and payment levels are determined at each third-party payor’s discretion, and we have limited control over a third-party payor’s decision-making with respect to coverage and payment levels. Coverage restrictions and reductions in reimbursement levels or payment methodologies may negatively impact our sales and profits. In addition, as our participation in managed care programs continues to approach overall industry penetration levels, we expect our associated managed care revenue growth rate to slow over time.

Infrastructure Investment

Our historical results of operations reflect the impact of our ongoing investments in infrastructure to support our growth. We have made and continue to make significant investments in information technology systems, including those to support our point-of-sale system, ERP, CRM, e-commerce platforms, supply chain systems, marketing, and personnel, as well as experienced industry executives, and management and merchandising teams to support our long-term growth objectives. We intend to continue to make targeted investments in our infrastructure to support our growth and continue the digitization of our stores and corporate office.

Pricing Strategy

We are committed to providing our products to our customers at low prices. We have historically employed a simple, low price/high value strategy and seek to balance our pricing and growth in a way that consistently delivers savings to our customers. Inflationary pressures, including elevated wages, consumer confidence and preferences and increased raw material costs, could impact our profitability and lead us to attempt to offset such increases through various pricing actions. From time to time, and increasingly in connection with our new transformation initiatives, we have taken and may continue to take pricing actions and introduce limited-time promotions or new offers designed to increase demand traffic, awareness and drive sales. Effective January 26, 2025, we implemented a $10 price increase to each of our America’s Best signature offer and our Eyeglass World opening offer. We believe that these changes will enable us to continue to offer the best possible value and service to our customers at prices that allow us to maintain our brands’ strong value propositions in the marketplace.

Interim Results and Seasonality

Historically, our business has realized a higher portion of net revenue, operating income, and cash flows from operations in the first half of the fiscal year, and a lower portion of net revenue, operating income, and cash flows from operations in the fourth fiscal quarter. The first half seasonality is attributable primarily to the timing of our customers’ income tax refunds and annual health insurance program start/reset periods. We believe that many customers in our target market of value-seeking consumers may rely on tax refunds to pay for eyewear and eye care. A delay in the issuance of tax refunds or changes in the amount of tax refunds can accordingly have a negative impact on our quarterly financial results in the first half of the year. Consumer behavior with respect to the utilization of tax refund proceeds is also subject to change.

With respect to our fourth quarter results, compared to other retailers, our products and services are less likely to be included in consumers’ holiday spending budgets, therefore reducing spending on personal vision correction during the weeks preceding December 25th of each year. Additionally, although the period between December 25th and the end of our fiscal year is typically a high-volume period, the net revenue associated with substantially all orders of prescription eyeglasses and contact lenses during that period is deferred until the following fiscal period due to our policy of recognizing revenue only after the product has been accepted by the customer, further contributing to higher revenue results in the first half of the year. Our quarterly results may also be affected by the timing of new store openings and store closings, the amount of sales contributed by new and existing stores, the timing of certain holidays, and the timing of weather-related store closures.

For both fiscal years 2024 and 2023, approximately 24% of our revenue was recorded in the fourth quarter, but approximately 25% of annual SG&A costs were recorded in the respective fourth quarters of these fiscal years.

Termination of our Walmart partnership and wind down of AC Lens operations

Effective as of February 23, 2024, the Company has completed the transition of 229 Walmart Vision Center stores. Additionally, the agreements governing our provision of contact lens distribution and related services to Walmart and Sam’s Club terminated during the second quarter of 2024 and the Company wound down the majority of AC Lens operations, including the closure of its Ohio distribution center, which largely supported the wholesale distribution and e-commerce contact lens services that the Company provided to Walmart and Sam’s Club. We have transitioned the order fulfillment functions previously handled by AC Lens to a third-party vendor. While we are

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seeking to reduce costs and replace lost business with new America’s Best or Eyeglass World stores and by other means, including pricing actions, we may not be successful in our efforts, which could impact our revenues and profitability. In fiscal years 2024 and 2023, we have incurred costs in connection with the termination of our partnership with Walmart and related wind down of AC Lens operations. As a result of the termination of our partnership with Walmart and wind down of AC Lens operations, our former Legacy reportable segment and the majority of our former AC Lens operations as well as related effects of unearned and deferred revenue met the criteria to be presented as discontinued operations. The plan has been substantially completed and we do not anticipate additional material costs related to this plan. Refer to Note 2. “Discontinued Operations” and Note 3. “Details of Cost Savings Plan” for more information on these costs.

How We Assess the Performance of Our Business

We consider a variety of financial and operating measures in assessing the performance of our business. The key measures we use to determine how our consolidated business and operating segments are performing are net revenue, costs applicable to revenue, and selling, general, and administrative expenses, which are described further in Note 16. “Segment Reporting” and Note 1. “Business and Significant Accounting Policies,” to our consolidated financial statements included in Part II. Item 8. of this Form 10-K. In addition, we also review store growth, Adjusted Comparable Store Sales Growth, Adjusted Operating Income, Adjusted Operating Margin, Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA Margin and Adjusted Diluted EPS.

Net Revenue

We report as net revenue amounts generated in transactions with retail customers who are the end users of our products, services, and plans. Comparable store sales growth and new store openings are key drivers of net revenue and are discussed below. Also, the timing of unearned revenue can affect revenue recognized in a particular period.

Costs Applicable to Revenue

Customer tastes and preferences, product mix, changes in technology, significant increases or slowdowns in production, and other factors impact costs applicable to revenue. The components of our costs applicable to revenue may not be comparable to other retailers.

Selling, General and Administrative

SG&A generally fluctuates consistently with revenue due to the variable store, field office and corporate support costs; however, some fixed costs slightly improve as a percentage of net revenue as our net revenues grow over time.

New Store Openings

The total number of new stores per year and the timing of store openings has, and will continue to have, an impact on our results. We opened 69 stores during fiscal year 2024. During fiscal 2024, we announced plans to temporarily moderate new store openings in 2025 to 30-35 new stores, after which time we expect to return to our more recent store opening cadence as strategic initiatives begin to take hold. We will continue to monitor and determine our plans for future new store openings based on health, safety and economic conditions.

Adjusted Comparable Store Sales Growth

We measure Adjusted Comparable Store Sales Growth as the increase or decrease in sales recorded by the comparable store base in any reporting period, compared to sales recorded by the comparable store base in the prior reporting period, which we calculate as follows: (i) sales are recorded on a cash basis (i.e., when the order is placed and paid for or submitted to a managed care payor, compared to when the order is delivered), utilizing cash basis point of sale information from stores; (ii) stores are added to the calculation during the 13th full fiscal month following the store’s opening; (iii) closed stores are removed from the calculation for time periods that are not comparable; (iv) sales from partial months of operation are excluded when stores do not open or close on the first day of the month; and (v) when applicable, we adjust for the effect of the 53rd week. Quarterly, year-to-date and annual adjusted comparable store sales are aggregated using only sales from all whole months of operation included in both the current reporting period and the prior reporting period. When a partial month is excluded from the calculation, the corresponding month in the subsequent period is also excluded from the calculation. There may be variations in the way in which some of our competitors and other retailers calculate comparable store sales. As a result, our adjusted comparable store sales may not be comparable to similar data made available by other retailers.

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Adjusted Comparable Store Sales Growth is a non-GAAP financial measure, which we believe is useful because it provides timely and accurate information relating to the two core metrics of retail sales: number of transactions and value of transactions. We use Adjusted Comparable Store Sales Growth as the basis for key operating decisions, such as allocation of advertising to particular markets and implementation of special marketing programs. Accordingly, we believe that Adjusted Comparable Store Sales Growth provides timely and accurate information relating to the operational health and overall performance of each brand. We also believe that, for the same reasons, investors find our calculation of Adjusted Comparable Stores Sales Growth to be meaningful.

Adjusted Operating Income, Adjusted Operating Margin, Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA Margin, and Adjusted Diluted EPS (collectively, the “Company Non-GAAP Measures”)

The Company Non-GAAP Measures are key measures used by management to assess our financial performance. The Company Non-GAAP Measures are also frequently used by analysts, investors and other interested parties. We use the Company Non-GAAP Measures to supplement U.S. GAAP measures of performance to evaluate the effectiveness of our business strategies, to make budgeting decisions, to establish discretionary annual incentive compensation and to compare our performance against that of other peer companies using similar measures. See “Non-GAAP Financial Measures” for definitions of the Company Non-GAAP Measures and for additional information.

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Results of Operations

The following table summarizes key components of our results of operations for the periods indicated, both in dollars and as a percentage of our net revenue.

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Fiscal Year 2024 compared to Fiscal Year 2023

Certain components of our operations met the requirements to be classified as discontinued operations. Refer to Note 2 “Discontinued Operations” for information related to our discontinued operations. Unless otherwise noted, the discussion of U.S. GAAP results below is based on results from continuing operations.

Net revenue

The following presents, by segment and by brand, comparable store sales growth, stores open at the end of the period and net revenue for fiscal year 2024 compared to fiscal year 2023.

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(1)We calculate total comparable store sales from continuing operations based on consolidated net revenue from continuing operations excluding the impact of (i) other segments revenue, (ii) sales from stores opened less than 13 months, (iii) stores closed in the periods presented, (iv) sales from partial months of operation when stores do not open or close on the first day of the month and (v) if applicable, the impact of a 53rd week in a fiscal year. Brand-level comparable store sales growth is calculated based on cash basis revenues consistent with what the CODM reviews, and consistent with reportable segment revenues presented in Note 16. “Segment Reporting” in our consolidated financial statements.

(2)Percentages reflect line item as a percentage of net revenue, adjusted for rounding.

(3)Adjusted Comparable Store Sales Growth from continuing operations includes the effect of deferred and unearned revenue as if such revenues were earned at the point of sale, resulting in a decrease of 0.6% and a decrease of 0.1% from total comparable store sales growth from continuing operations based on consolidated net revenue from continuing operations for fiscal years 2024 and 2023, respectively.

Total net revenue of $1,823.3 million for fiscal year 2024 increased $66.9 million, or 3.8%, from $1,756.4 million for fiscal year 2023. Of the increase, approximately 90% was driven by growth from new store sales, approximately 30% was driven by Adjusted Comparable Store Sales Growth from continuing operations and approximately 10% was driven by the timing of unearned revenue, partially offset by approximately 20% from converted and closed stores and 10% from lower revenue from our dedicated e-commerce consumer website, DiscountContacts.com.

Comparable store sales growth and Adjusted Comparable Store Sales Growth from continuing operations for fiscal year 2024 were 1.9% and 1.3%, respectively, both primarily driven by higher average ticket.

During fiscal year 2024, we opened 66 new America’s Best stores and three new Eyeglass World stores and closed 11 America’s Best stores, five Eyeglass World stores, and one Military store as a result of the host partner’s decision to cease its overall operations at the location; we also converted 24 Eyeglass World Stores to America’s Best stores. Overall, store count grew 4.4% from the end of fiscal year 2023 to the end of fiscal year 2024 (exclusive of the aforementioned conversions, we had 55 net new America’s Best stores, and two net Eyeglass World stores and one net Military store closed).

Net product sales comprised 80.2% and 81.0% of total net revenue for fiscal years 2024 and 2023, respectively. Net product sales increased $39.9 million, or 2.8% during fiscal year 2024 compared to fiscal year 2023, primarily due to a $30.7 million, or 2.8%, increase in eyeglass sales, and a $6.0 million, or 2.0%, increase in contact lens sales.

Net sales of services and plans increased $27.0 million, or 8.1%, driven primarily by higher exam revenues of $25.8 million, or 12.4%.

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Owned & Host segment net revenue. Net revenue increased $64.2 million, or 3.7%, driven primarily by new store openings and comparable store sales growth, partially offset by converted and closed stores.

Effects of unearned and deferred revenue. Unearned and deferred revenue positively impacted net revenue by $8.3 million during fiscal year 2024 compared to fiscal year 2023. Net revenue was positively impacted by $8.0 million due to the timing of unearned revenue. Net revenue was positively impacted by $0.3 million due to higher recognition of product protection plan revenue in fiscal year 2024 compared to fiscal year 2023, partially offset by higher sales of club memberships.

Costs applicable to revenue

Costs applicable to revenue of $764.1 million for fiscal year 2024 increased $29.4 million, or 4.0%, from $734.7 million for fiscal year 2023. As a percentage of net revenue, costs applicable to revenue increased from 41.8% for fiscal year 2023 to 41.9% for fiscal year 2024. This increase as a percentage of net revenue was primarily driven by lower eyeglass mix of 50 basis points and growth in optometrist-related costs of 40 basis points and other mix and margin effects of 20 basis points. These costs were partially offset by a 100-basis-point effect from higher exam revenue.

Costs of products as a percentage of net product sales decreased from 29.8% for fiscal year 2023 to 29.6% for fiscal year 2024 primarily driven by other mix and margin effects.

Owned & Host segment costs of products. Costs of products as a percentage of net product sales decreased from 28.7% for fiscal year 2023 to 28.6% for fiscal year 2024 primarily driven by other mix and margin effects, partially offset by lower eyeglass mix.

Costs of services and plans as a percentage of net sales of services and plans decreased from 93.2% for fiscal year 2023 to 91.9% for fiscal year 2024. The decrease was primarily driven by higher eye exam revenue, partially offset by growth in optometrist-related costs.

Owned & Host segment costs of services and plans. Costs of services and plans as a percentage of net sales of services and plans decreased from 93.1% for fiscal year 2023 to 91.8% for fiscal year 2024. The decrease was primarily driven by higher eye exam revenue, partially offset by growth in optometrist-related costs.

Selling, general and administrative

SG&A of $938.5 million for fiscal year 2024 increased $33.8 million, or 3.7%, from fiscal year 2023. As a percentage of net revenue, SG&A was 51.5% for fiscal year 2023 compared with 51.5% for fiscal year 2024. SG&A as a percentage of net revenue was primarily impacted by lower performance-based incentive compensation of 80 basis points, offset by higher occupancy of 30 basis points, as well as legal and professional expenses of 30 basis points and litigation settlement of 20 basis points.

Owned & Host segment SG&A. SG&A as a percentage of net revenue increased from 38.7% for fiscal year 2023 to 39.5% for fiscal year 2024 driven primarily by higher payroll and occupancy expense.

Depreciation and amortization

Depreciation and amortization expense of $91.3 million for fiscal year 2024 increased $1.5 million, or 1.6%, from $89.9 million for fiscal year 2023 primarily driven by new store openings and investments in remote medicine technology, partially offset by lower depreciation of labs and distribution center.

Asset impairment

We recognized $39.9 million during fiscal year 2024 primarily for impairment related to the Eyeglass World goodwill, Fred Meyer contracts and relationships intangible asset, and tangible long-lived assets and ROU assets associated with our retail stores during fiscal year 2024, compared to $2.7 million recognized in fiscal year 2023. The impairment of Eyeglass World goodwill was due primarily to reduced projections of future growth and profitability. The Fred Meyer contracts and relationships intangible asset impairment was due to the decision to close certain Fred Meyer stores in fiscal year 2025. Refer to Note 5. Goodwill and Intangible Assets for more details on the Eyeglass World goodwill and Fred Meyer contracts and relationships intangible asset. The store asset impairment charge is related to our Owned & Host segment and is driven by lower than projected customer sales volume in certain stores, and other entity-specific assumptions and also reflects the effects of certain store closure decisions made as part of the Company’s store optimization review in the current period. We considered multiple factors including, but not limited to: forecasted scenarios related to store performance and the likelihood that these scenarios would be ultimately realized; and the remaining useful lives of the assets. Asset impairment expenses were recognized in corporate and other.

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Interest expense, net

Interest expense, net, of $16.2 million for fiscal year 2024 increased $1.8 million, or 12.9%, from $14.3 million for fiscal year 2023. The increase was primarily a result of lower income on cash balances of $3.7 million and lower derivative income of $1.3 million, partially offset by lower interest expense on our debt of $2.6 million.

Income tax provision

Our effective tax rates for fiscal year 2024 and fiscal year 2023 were (5.8)% and 62.9%, respectively. The change in effective tax rates reflects our statutory federal and state rate of 25.2% and 25.2%, respectively, the partial disallowance of the Eyeglass World goodwill impairment loss for income tax purposes and other permanent items.

Discontinued Operations

Income (loss) from discontinued operations, net of tax, was $(1.3) million for fiscal year 2024 compared to $(69.4) million for fiscal year 2023. Net revenue, costs applicable to revenue and SG&A from discontinued operations decreased by $238.6 million, $154.0 million and $65.3 million, respectively, as compared to fiscal year 2023, primarily due to the current year including the discontinued operations results only for a partial period prior to the termination of our partnership with Walmart and the wind-down of AC Lens operations. Income (loss) from discontinued operations, net of tax also reflects $79.5 million of asset impairment charges in fiscal year 2023 that did not recur in fiscal year 2024. Income tax benefit increased by $0.9 million, due to lower income (loss) before income taxes in the current period as compared to the prior year and the partial disallowance of the Legacy segment goodwill impairment loss for income tax purposes in the prior year period as well as other permanent items related to discontinued operation.

Fiscal Year 2023 compared to Fiscal Year 2022

Certain components of our operations met the requirements to be classified as discontinued operations. Refer to Note 2 “Discontinued Operations” for information related to our discontinued operations. Unless otherwise noted, the discussion of U.S. GAAP results below is based on results from continuing operations.

Net revenue

The following presents, by segment and by brand, comparable store sales growth, stores open at the end of the period and net revenue for fiscal year 2023 compared to fiscal year 2022.

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(1)We calculate total comparable store sales from continuing operations based on consolidated net revenue from continuing operations excluding the impact of (i) other segments revenue, (ii) sales from stores opened less than 13 months, (iii) stores closed in the periods presented, (iv) sales from partial months of operation when stores do not open or close on the first day of the month and (v) if applicable, the impact of a 53rd week in a fiscal year. Brand-level comparable store sales growth is calculated based on cash basis revenues consistent with what the CODM reviews, and consistent with reportable segment revenues presented in Note 16. “Segment Reporting” in our consolidated financial statements.

(2)Percentages reflect line item as a percentage of net revenue, adjusted for rounding.

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(3)Adjusted Comparable Store Sales Growth from continuing operations includes the effect of deferred and unearned revenue as if such revenues were earned at the point of sale, resulting in a decrease of 0.1% and 0.2% from total comparable store sales growth from continuing operations based on consolidated net revenue from continuing operations for fiscal year 2023 and 2022, respectively.

Total net revenue of $1,756.4 million for fiscal year 2023 increased $111.7 million, or 6.8%, from $1,644.7 million for fiscal year 2022. The increase was driven by approximately 60% from new store openings and 50% from Adjusted Comparable Store Sales Growth from continuing operations, partially offset by closed stores and effects of deferred and unearned revenue.

Comparable store sales growth and Adjusted Comparable Store Sales Growth from continuing operations for fiscal year 2023 were 3.4% and 3.3%, respectively, both reflecting an increase in customer transactions and higher average ticket.

During fiscal year 2023, we opened 58 new America’s Best stores and 12 new Eyeglass World stores and closed six America’s Best stores. The total net new locations in fiscal year 2023 for America’s Best and Eyeglass World were 52 and 12, respectively. Overall, store count grew 5.7% from the end of fiscal year 2022 to the end of fiscal year 2023.

Net product sales comprised 81.0% and 81.5% of total net revenue for fiscal years 2023 and 2022, respectively. Net product sales increased $82.9 million, or 6.2% during fiscal year 2023 compared to fiscal year 2022, primarily due to a $68.8 million, or 6.6%, increase in eyeglass sales and a $12.6 million, or 4.4%, increase in contact lens sales.

Net sales of services and plans increased $28.8 million, or 9.5%, driven primarily by higher exam revenues of $30.4 million, or 17.1%.

Owned & Host segment net revenue. Net revenue increased $112.7 million, or 7.0%, driven primarily by new store openings and comparable store sales growth.

Effects of unearned and deferred revenue. Unearned and deferred revenue negatively impacted net revenue by $0.8 million during fiscal year 2023 compared to fiscal year 2022. Net revenue was positively impacted by $4.4 million due to the timing of unearned revenue. Net revenue was negatively impacted by $5.2 million due to higher sales of club memberships and product protection plans, and lower recognition of product protection plan revenue in fiscal year 2023 compared to fiscal year 2022.

Costs applicable to revenue

Costs applicable to revenue of $734.7 million for fiscal year 2023 increased $67.0 million, or 10.0%, from $667.7 million for fiscal year 2022. As a percentage of net revenue, costs applicable to revenue increased from 40.6% for fiscal year 2022 to 41.8% for fiscal year 2023. This increase as a percentage of net revenue was primarily driven by higher growth in optometrist-related costs of 160 basis points and by 60 basis points due to reduction in components of service revenue, including product protection plan revenue, and other mix and margin effects. These costs were partially offset by a 100-basis point effect from higher exam revenue.

Costs of products as a percentage of net product sales decreased from 30.0% for fiscal year 2022 to 29.8% for fiscal year 2023 primarily driven by increased eyeglass mix and higher eyeglass margin.

Owned & Host segment costs of products. Costs of products as a percentage of net product sales decreased from 28.9% for fiscal year 2022 to 28.7% for fiscal year 2023 primarily driven by increased eyeglass mix and higher eyeglass margin.

Costs of services and plans as a percentage of net sales of services and plans increased from 87.3% for fiscal year 2022 to 93.2% for fiscal year 2023. The increase was primarily driven by higher growth in optometrist-related costs and lower product protection plans revenues, partially offset by higher eye exam revenue.

Owned & Host segment costs of services and plans. Costs of services and plans as a percentage of net sales of services and plans increased from 88.6% for fiscal year 2022 to 93.1% for fiscal year 2023. The increase was primarily driven by higher growth in optometrist-related costs, partially offset by higher eye exam revenue.

Selling, general and administrative

SG&A of $904.8 million for fiscal year 2023 increased $72.1 million, or 8.7%, from fiscal year 2022. As a percentage of net revenue, SG&A increased from 50.6% for fiscal year 2022 to 51.5% for fiscal year 2023. The increase in SG&A as a percentage of net revenue was primarily driven by higher performance-based incentive compensation of 80 basis points, higher payroll of 50 basis points, as well as 20 basis points of other expenses, such as stock-based compensation expense, partially offset by lower advertising expense of 60 basis points.

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Owned & Host segment SG&A. SG&A as a percentage of net revenue decreased from 38.9% for fiscal year 2022 to 38.7% for fiscal year 2023 driven primarily by lower advertising expense, partially offset by higher payroll.

Depreciation and amortization

Depreciation and amortization expense of $89.9 million for fiscal year 2023 increased $1.2 million, or 1.3%, from $88.7 million for fiscal year 2022 primarily driven by an increase in investments in remote medicine technology and new store openings, partially offset by a shift to cloud-based software investments that are amortized in SG&A.

Asset impairment

We recorded impairment charges of $2.7 million for fiscal year 2023 compared to $5.5 million recognized in fiscal year 2022, related to tangible long-lived assets and ROU assets associated with our Owned & Host segment, which were driven by lower than projected customer sales volume in certain stores, and other entity-specific assumptions. We considered multiple factors including, but not limited to: forecasted scenarios related to store performance and the likelihood that these scenarios would be ultimately realized; and the remaining useful lives of the assets. Asset impairment expenses were recognized in corporate and other.

Other expense (income), net

Other expense (income), net was $(0.1) million for fiscal year 2023 compared to $(2.6) million for fiscal year 2022. This change was primarily a result of a gain of $2.7 million in Other expense (income), net in fiscal year 2022 that did not occur in fiscal year 2023 in connection with the acquisition of our equity method investee by a third party. See Note 1. “Business and Significant Accounting Policies” for further details.

Interest expense, net

Interest expense, net, of $14.3 million for fiscal year 2023 increased $13.9 million from $0.5 million for fiscal year 2022. The increase was primarily a result of lower derivative income of $15.8 million and higher Term Loan A expense of $5.4 million, partially offset by higher income on cash balances of $6.8 million.

Income tax provision

Our effective tax rates for fiscal year 2023 and fiscal year 2022 were 62.9% and 29.7%, respectively. The change in effective tax rates reflects our statutory federal and state rate of 25.2% and 25.4%, respectively, tax impacts of consolidated VIEs and non-deductible compensation expense as well as effects of other permanent items.

Discontinued Operations

Income (loss) from discontinued operations, net of tax, was $(69.4) million for fiscal year 2023 compared to $5.4 million for fiscal year 2022. Net revenue, costs applicable to revenue, and SG&A from discontinued operations increased by $9.4 million, $8.3 million, $4.4 million, respectively, as compared to fiscal year 2022. The revenue increase was primarily driven by increases in wholesale fulfillment. Income (loss) from discontinued operations, net of tax also reflects $79.4 million of asset impairment charges in fiscal year 2023 due to impairments of goodwill, intangible assets, and tangible long-lived assets in connection with the termination of the Walmart partnership and the wind-down of AC Lens operations. Year over year changes in the income tax provision (benefit) reflect lower income (loss) before income taxes in fiscal year 2023 as compared to fiscal year 2022, the disallowance of the Legacy segment goodwill impairment loss for income tax purposes in fiscal year 2023 as well as other permanent items related to discontinued operations.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

Adjusted Operating Income, Adjusted Operating Margin, EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA Margin and Adjusted Diluted EPS

We define Adjusted Operating Income as net income (loss), plus interest expense (income), net and income tax provision (benefit), further adjusted to exclude stock-based compensation expense, (gain) loss on extinguishment of debt, asset impairment, litigation settlement, secondary offering expenses, management realignment expenses, long-term incentive plan expenses, ERP and CRM implementation expenses and certain other expenses. We define Adjusted Operating Margin as Adjusted Operating Income as a percentage of net revenue. We define EBITDA as net income (loss), plus interest expense (income), net, income tax provision (benefit) and depreciation and amortization. We define Adjusted EBITDA as net income (loss), plus interest expense (income), net, income tax provision (benefit) and depreciation and amortization, further adjusted to exclude stock-based compensation expense, (gain) loss on extinguishment of debt, asset impairment, litigation settlement, secondary offering expenses, management realignment expenses, long-term incentive plan expenses, ERP and CRM implementation expenses and certain other expenses. We define Adjusted EBITDA Margin as Adjusted EBITDA as a percentage of net revenue.

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We define Adjusted Diluted EPS as diluted earnings (loss) per share, adjusted for the per share impact of stock-based compensation expense, (gain) loss on extinguishment of debt, asset impairment, litigation settlement, secondary offering expenses, management realignment expenses, long-term incentive plan expenses, amortization of debt discounts and deferred financing costs of our term loan borrowings, amortization of the conversion feature and deferred financing costs related to our 2025 Notes when not required under U.S. GAAP to be added back for diluted earnings (loss) per share, derivative fair value adjustments, ERP and CRM implementation expenses, certain other expenses, less the tax effect of these adjustments including tax expense (benefit) from stock-based compensation.

When presenting Adjusted Operating Income from continuing operations, EBITDA from continuing operations and Adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations we use the same definitions for Adjusted Operating Income, EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA, respectively, and also exclude income (loss) from discontinued operations, net of tax. When presenting Adjusted Diluted EPS from continuing operations, we use the same definition for Adjusted Diluted EPS, and also exclude diluted earnings (loss) per share from discontinued operations. When presenting Adjusted Operating Margin from continuing operations, we use Adjusted Operating Income from continuing operations as a percentage of total net revenue. When presenting Adjusted EBITDA Margin from continuing operations, we use Adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations as a percentage of total net revenue.

EBITDA and the Company Non-GAAP Measures can vary substantially in size from one period to the next, and certain types of expenses are non-recurring in nature and consequently may not have been incurred in any of the periods presented below.

EBITDA and the Company Non-GAAP Measures have been presented as supplemental measures of financial performance that are not required by, or presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP, because we believe they assist investors and analysts in comparing our operating performance across reporting periods on a consistent basis by excluding items that we do not believe are indicative of our core operating performance. Management believes EBITDA, and the Company Non-GAAP Measures are useful to investors in highlighting trends in our operating performance, while other measures can differ significantly depending on long-term strategic decisions regarding capital structure, the tax jurisdictions in which we operate and capital investments. We also use EBITDA and the Company Non-GAAP Measures to supplement U.S. GAAP measures of performance in the evaluation of the effectiveness of our business strategies, to make budgeting decisions, to establish discretionary annual incentive compensation and to compare our performance against that of other peer companies using similar measures. Management supplements U.S. GAAP results with Non-GAAP financial measures to provide a more complete understanding of the factors and trends affecting the business than U.S. GAAP results alone. We continue to evaluate our use of the Company Non-GAAP measures in the context of the development of our business, and may introduce or discontinue certain measures in the future as we deem appropriate.

EBITDA and the Company Non-GAAP Measures are not recognized terms under U.S. GAAP and should not be considered as an alternative to net income or income from operations as a measure of financial performance or cash flows provided by operating activities as a measure of liquidity, or any other performance measure derived in accordance with U.S. GAAP. Additionally, these measures are not intended to be a measure of free cash flow available for management’s discretionary use as they do not consider certain cash requirements such as interest payments, tax payments and debt service requirements. In evaluating EBITDA and the Company Non-GAAP Measures, we may incur expenses in the future that are the same as or similar to some of the adjustments in this presentation. Our presentation of EBITDA and the Company Non-GAAP Measures should not be construed to imply that our future results will be unaffected by any such adjustments. Management compensates for these limitations by primarily relying on our U.S. GAAP results in addition to using EBITDA and the Company Non-GAAP Measures.

The presentations of these measures have limitations as analytical tools and should not be considered in isolation, or as a substitute for analysis of our results as reported under U.S. GAAP. Some of these limitations are:

•they do not reflect costs or cash outlays for capital expenditures or contractual commitments;

•they do not reflect changes in, or cash requirements for, our working capital needs;

•EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted Operating Income do not reflect the interest expense (income), net or the cash requirements necessary to service interest or principal payments, on our debt;

•EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted Operating Income do not reflect period to period changes in taxes, income tax provision or the cash necessary to pay income taxes;

•they do not reflect the impact of earnings or charges resulting from matters we consider not to be indicative of our ongoing operations;

•although depreciation and amortization are non-cash charges, the assets being depreciated and amortized will often have to be replaced in the future, and EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA do not reflect cash requirements for such replacements; and

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•other companies in our industry may calculate these measures differently than we do, limiting their usefulness as comparative measures.

Because of these limitations, EBITDA and the Company Non-GAAP Measures should not be considered as measures of discretionary cash available to invest in business growth or to reduce indebtedness.

The following table reconciles our Adjusted Operating Income from continuing operations, Adjusted Operating Margin from continuing operations, EBITDA from continuing operations, Adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations, Adjusted EBITDA Margin from continuing operations to Net income margin from continuing operations; and Adjusted Diluted EPS from continuing operations to Diluted EPS from continuing operations for the periods presented:

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____________

(a)Non-cash charges related to stock-based compensation programs, which vary from period to period depending on the timing of awards and performance vesting conditions.

(b)Reflects the extinguishment (gain) loss related to the repurchase of the 2025 Notes of $100.0 million and $217.7 million during fiscal years 2023 and 2024, respectively.

(c)Reflects write-off related to non-cash impairment charges, primarily impairment of Eyeglass World goodwill, impairment of Fred Meyer contracts and relationship asset, and impairment of property, equipment and lease-related assets on closed or underperforming stores and certain store closure decisions made as part of the Company’s store optimization review.

(d)Expenses associated with settlement of certain litigation.

(e)Amortization of deferred financing costs and other non-cash charges related to our debt. We adjust for amortization of deferred financing costs related to the 2025 Notes only when adjustment for these costs is not required in the calculation of diluted earnings per share under U.S. GAAP.

(f)The adjustments for the derivative fair value (gains) and losses have the effect of adjusting the (gain) or loss for changes in the fair value of derivative instruments and amortization of AOCL for derivatives not designated as accounting hedges. This results in reflecting derivative (gains) and losses within Adjusted Diluted EPS during the period the derivative is settled.

(g)Costs related to the Company’s ERP and CRM implementation.

(h)Other adjustments include amounts that management believes are not representative of our operating performance (amounts in brackets represent reductions in Adjusted Operating Income, Adjusted Diluted EPS and Adjusted EBITDA), which are primarily related to costs associated with the digitization of paper-based records of $5.8 million and $2.2 million for fiscal years 2024 and 2023, respectively, costs related to an early lease termination of $0.7 million for fiscal year 2024 and our share of (gains) losses on equity method investment of $(2.7) million for fiscal year 2022, other expenses and adjustments. Other adjustments for both Adjusted Operating Income and Adjusted Diluted EPS include amortization of the increase in carrying values of finite-lived intangible assets resulting from the application of purchase accounting following the acquisition of the Company by affiliates of KKR & Co. Inc. Adjusted Diluted EPS is also adjusted to include debt issuance costs.

(i)Represents the income tax effect of the total adjustments at our combined statutory federal and state income tax rates, excluding a portion of Eyeglass World goodwill impairment charge, which was disallowed for income tax purposes, and including tax expense (benefit) from stock-based compensation.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

Our primary cash needs are for inventory, payroll, store rent, advertising, capital expenditures associated with new stores and updating existing stores, as well as information and remote medicine technology and infrastructure, including our corporate office, distribution centers and laboratories. When appropriate, the Company may utilize excess liquidity towards debt service requirements, including voluntary debt prepayments, or required interest and principal payments, if any, as well as repurchases of common stock or other securities, based on excess cash flows. The most significant components of our operating assets and liabilities are inventories, accounts receivable, prepaid expenses and other assets, accounts payable, deferred and unearned revenue and other payables and accrued expenses. We exercise prudence in our use of cash and closely monitor various items related to cash flow including, but not limited to, cash receipts, cash disbursements, payment terms and alternative sources of funding. We continue to be focused on these items in addition to other key measures we use to determine how our consolidated business and operating segments are performing. We believe that cash on hand, cash expected to be generated from

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operations and the availability of borrowings under our revolving credit facility will be sufficient to fund our working capital requirements, liquidity obligations, anticipated capital expenditures and payments due under our existing debt for the next 12 months and thereafter for the foreseeable future. Depending on our liquidity levels, conditions in the capital markets and other factors, we may from time to time consider the prepayment, refinancing or issuance of debt, issuance of equity or other securities, the proceeds of which could provide additional liquidity for our operations, as well as modifications to our Term Loan A where possible.

In August 2024, we established an incremental term loan in the amount of $115.0 million and used the proceeds of this borrowing in addition to cash on hand to repurchase $217.7 million of aggregate principal amount of the 2025 Notes. Refer to Note 6. "Debt" for more information. Depending on market conditions and other factors, we may elect to repurchase all or a significant portion of our 2025 Notes outstanding principal balance of $84.8 million prior to their maturity on May 15, 2025, utilizing cash on hand and/or one or more of the additional liquidity sources noted above. Our ability to maintain sufficient liquidity may be affected by numerous factors, many of which are outside of our control. We primarily fund our working capital needs using cash provided by operations. Our working capital requirements for inventory will increase as we continue to open additional stores.

As of fiscal year end 2024, we had $73.9 million in cash and cash equivalents and $293.6 million of availability under our revolving credit facility, which includes $6.4 million in outstanding letters of credit.

The following table summarizes cash flows provided by (used for) operating activities, investing activities and financing activities for the periods indicated:

Net Cash Provided by Operating Activities

Cash flows provided by operating activities decreased by $39.4 million to $133.6 million, during fiscal year 2024 from $173.0 million during fiscal year 2023 as a result of a decrease in non-cash reconciling items of $56.3 million and changes in net working capital and other assets and liabilities of $20.5 million, partially offset by an increase in net income of $37.4 million as compared to fiscal year 2023. Both the increase in net income and decrease in non-cash adjustments were primarily driven by the termination of the Walmart partnership and related impairment charges of $79.7 million in the prior year period, partially offset by impairments of long-lived assets and intangible assets of $40.1 million in the current year period.

Decreases in other liabilities used $50.3 million in year-over-year cash primarily due to decreases in compensation related accruals. Decreases in accounts payable used $16.2 million in year-over year cash. These were partially offset by decreases in trade receivables which contributed $44.2 million in year-over-year cash and decreases in inventories which contributed $22.1 million in year-over-year cash during fiscal year 2024. These changes in working capital during fiscal year 2024 are primarily due to the AC Lens wind down and the Walmart partnership termination.

Cash flows provided by operating activities increased by $53.8 million to $173.0 million, during fiscal year 2023 from $119.2 million during fiscal year 2022 as a result of changes in net working capital and other assets and liabilities, which contributed an additional $81.9 million in cash, partially offset by a decrease in net income and non-cash reconciling items of $28.0 million as compared to fiscal year 2022.

Working capital was most significantly impacted by changes in other liabilities and accounts receivable. Increases in other liabilities contributed $54.6 million in year-over-year cash primarily due to increases in compensation related accruals. Decreases in accounts receivable balances contributed $17.0 million in year-over-year cash primarily due to payments of deferred social security taxes in fiscal year 2022 pursuant to the CARES Act that did not recur in fiscal year 2023, and a decrease in managed care receivables due to timing.

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Net Cash Used for Investing Activities

Net cash used for investing activities decreased by $19.7 million, to $96.1 million, during fiscal year 2024 from $115.8 million during fiscal year 2023. The decrease was primarily due to lower investments in doctor and in-store lab equipment, labs and distribution center, and new stores. We purchased $95.5 million in capital items during fiscal year 2024. Approximately 80% to 85% of our capital spend is related to our expected growth (i.e., new stores, remote medicine infrastructure, EHR, optometric equipment, additional capacity in our optical laboratories and distribution centers, and our IT infrastructure and omni-channel platform related investments).

Net cash used for investing activities increased by $4.9 million, to $115.8 million, during fiscal year 2023 from $110.9 million during fiscal year 2022. The increase was primarily due to investments in our labs and distribution centers, and store remodeling costs, partially offset by decreased investments in remote medicine. We purchased $114.8 million in capital items during fiscal year 2023.

Net Cash Provided by (Used for) Financing Activities

Net cash used for financing activities decreased $23.5 million, from $136.8 million use of cash during fiscal year 2023 to $113.3 million use of cash during fiscal year 2024. The decrease in cash used for financing activities was primarily due to an increase in proceeds from long-term debt related to the additional borrowings of $115.0 million and decreases in purchases of treasury stock of $25.3 million partially offset by increased principal payments of debt due to the repurchase of $217.7 million aggregate principal amount of the 2025 Notes for an aggregate cash repurchase price of $215.0 million in fiscal year 2024 as compared with the repurchase of the 2025 Notes for $99.3 million in fiscal year 2023.

Net cash used for financing activities increased $52.3 million, from $84.6 million use of cash during fiscal year 2022 to $136.8 million use of cash during fiscal year 2023. The increase in cash used for financing activities was primarily due to a repurchase of $100.0 million aggregate principal amount of the 2025 Notes for an aggregate cash repurchase price of $99.3 million in fiscal year 2023, partially offset by decreases in purchases of treasury stock of $56.0 million during fiscal year 2023 as compared with 2022.

Debt

The following table sets forth the amounts owed under our term loan and the 2025 Notes and the interest rate on such outstanding amounts, and the amount available for additional borrowing thereunder, as of the end of fiscal year 2024:

____________

(1)At December 28, 2024, the amount available under our revolving credit facility reflected a reduction of $6.4 million of letters of credit outstanding.

(2)Refer to Note 6. Debt for the interest rates used on the term loan and revolving credit facility. The 2025 Notes pay interest semi-annually in arrears on May 15 and November 15 of each year, commencing on November 15, 2020, at an annual rate of 2.50%.

Share Repurchase Authority

Effective November 8, 2021, the Company's Board of Directors authorized the Company to repurchase up to $50 million aggregate amount of shares of the Company's common stock. On November 29, 2021, the Company’s Board of Directors authorized an increase from $50 million to $100 million in aggregate amount of shares of the Company’s common stock that may be repurchased under the Company’s current share repurchase program. On February 23, 2022, our Board of Directors authorized a $100 million increase to the share repurchase authorization, for a total authorization of $200 million. The Company’s original share repurchase authorization expired on December 30, 2023, and had remaining capacity of $25 million. Effective February 23, 2024, the Board authorized the Company to repurchase up to $50 million aggregate amount of shares of the Company’s common stock until January 3, 2026. As of December 28, 2024, $50 million remains available under the share repurchase authorization. During fiscal years 2023 and 2022, the Company repurchased 1.1 million shares of its common stock for $25 million and 2.7 million shares of its common stock for $80 million, respectively, under the share repurchase program. The

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authorization permits the Company to make purchases of its common stock from time to time in the open market or privately negotiated transactions, and pursuant to pre-set trading plans meeting the requirements of all applicable securities laws and regulations. The timing and amounts of any such repurchases will depend on a variety of factors, including the market price of the Company’s shares, general market and economic conditions, legal requirements and tax implications. The Company expects to fund the share repurchases using cash on hand.

Capital Expenditures

We expect capital expenditures in fiscal year 2025 to be approximately between $90 million and $95 million and to be used primarily in supporting the Company’s growth through investments in new and existing stores, remote medicine, EHR, optical laboratories, and IT infrastructure. We expect to fund capital expenditures with cash flows from operations, but may also use existing cash balances or funds available through our revolving credit facility.

Material Cash Requirements

As of fiscal year end 2024, our current and long-term material cash requirements include the following commitments and contractual obligations:

____________

(a)Refer to Note 6. “Debt” for more information on the 2025 Notes and Note 15. “Earnings Per Share” for the treatment of earnings per share in relation to the 2025 Notes.

(b)Refer to Note 6. “Debt” to our consolidated financial statements for more information on our term loan.

(c)Refer to Note 6. “Debt” for more information on our revolving credit facility.

(d)We have estimated our interest payments on our term loan based on Term Secured Overnight Financing Rate as of the end of fiscal year 2024. Amounts and timing may be different from our estimated interest payments due to potential voluntary prepayments, borrowings and interest rate fluctuations.

(e)We lease our retail stores, optometric examination offices, distribution centers, office space and all of our optical laboratories with the exception of our St. Cloud, Minnesota lab, which we own. The vast majority of our leases are classified as operating leases under current accounting guidance. Although rent expense on operating leases is recorded in SG&A on a straight-line basis over the term of the lease, contractual obligations above represent required cash payments. Our lease arrangements require us to pay executory costs such as insurance, real estate taxes and common area maintenance and some of our leases are based on a percentage of sales. These expenses are generally variable, not included above, and were approximately $37.7 million during fiscal year ended 2024. Refer to Note 10. “Leases” for our current and long-term lease payment obligations.

(f)For leases classified as finance leases, the finance lease asset is recorded as property and equipment and a corresponding amount is recorded as a long-term debt obligation in the Consolidated Balance Sheets at the net present value of the minimum lease payments to be made over the lease term for new finance leases. We allocate each lease payment between a reduction of the lease obligation and interest expense using the effective interest method. Finance lease amounts above represent required contractual cash payments in the periods presented. Refer to Note 10. “Leases” for our current and long-term lease payment obligations.

(g)Other commitments include minimum purchase commitments with certain trade vendors and contractual agreements to purchase goods or services in the ordinary course of business.

In addition to lease commitments and contractual obligations, our material cash requirements also include operating expenses such as payroll, store rent, and advertising expenses, which we expect to fund primarily with existing cash balances and cash flows from operations.

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We follow U.S. GAAP in making the determination as to whether to record an asset or liability related to our arrangements with third parties. Consistent with current accounting guidance, we do not record an asset or liability associated with long-term purchase, marketing and promotional commitments, or commitments to philanthropic endeavors. We have disclosed the amount of future commitments associated with these items in our consolidated financial statements. We are not a party to any other off-balance sheet arrangements.

Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates

The preparation of financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions about future events that affect amounts reported in our consolidated financial statements and related notes, as well as the related disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements. Management evaluates the accounting policies, estimates and judgments on an ongoing basis. We base our estimates and judgments on historical experience and various other factors that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances. Actual results may differ from these estimates under different assumptions and conditions.

We have evaluated the accounting policies used in the preparation of the Company’s consolidated financial statements and related notes and believe those policies to be reasonable and appropriate. Certain of these accounting policies require the application of significant judgment in selecting appropriate assumptions for calculating financial estimates. By their nature, these judgments are subject to an inherent degree of uncertainty. These judgments are based on historical experience, trends in the industry, information provided by customers and information available from other outside sources, as appropriate. More information on all of our significant accounting policies can be found in Note 1. “Business and Significant Accounting Policies,” to our consolidated financial statements, as well as in certain other notes to the consolidated financial statements as indicated below.

Revenue Recognition

At our America’s Best brand, our signature offer is two pairs of eyeglasses and a free eye exam for one low price. Since an eye exam is a key component in the ability for acceptable prescription eyewear to be delivered to a customer, we concluded that the eye exam service, while capable of being distinct from the eyeglass product delivery, was not distinct in the context of the two-pair offer. As a result, we do not allocate revenue to the eye exam associated with the two-pair offer, and we record all revenue associated with the offer in net product sales when the customer has received and accepted the merchandise.

We recognize revenue across our product protection plan and club membership contract portfolio based on the value delivered to the customers relative to the remaining services promised under the programs. We determine the value delivered based on the expected timing and amount of customer usage of benefits over the terms of the contracts. A 100 basis point change in our estimate of value delivered to customers compared to expected customer usage of benefits would have affected revenues in fiscal year 2024 by approximately $2 million; this amount would have been recognized at different times over the contract period.

Unearned revenue at the end of a reporting period is estimated based on processing and delivery times throughout the current month and generally ranges from approximately seven to ten days. All unearned revenue at the end of a reporting period is recognized in the next fiscal period. A one-day increase in our estimate of the average days needed to process delivery would have affected revenues in fiscal year 2024 by approximately $4 million, which would ultimately have been recorded in the next fiscal year.

The Company considers its revenue from managed care customers to include variable consideration and estimates such amounts associated with managed care customer revenues using the history of concessions provided and cash receipts from managed care providers; a 100 basis point change in our rate of concessions granted would have reduced our revenues in fiscal year 2024 by approximately $2 million.

See Note 9. “Revenue from Contracts with Customers” in our audited consolidated financial statements for additional information.

Impairment of P&E and ROU assets

In evaluating store-level property and equipment and ROU assets for recoverability and impairment, we may consider multiple factors including financial performance of the stores, regional and local business climates, future plans for the store operations and other qualitative factors. We estimate the fair value of the asset group using an income approach based on discounted cash flows, which requires estimates and assumptions of forecasted store revenue growth rates and store profitability. We consider market-based indications of prevailing rental rates, lease incentives and discount rates for retail space when estimating the fair value of ROU assets. Developing the estimates and assumptions used in our recovery and impairment evaluations require significant judgment.

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We had $362.2 million of property and equipment, net, and ROU assets of $408.6 million as of December 28, 2024. Changes in estimates and assumptions used in our impairment testing of property and equipment could result in future impairment losses, which could be material. We recognized impairments of property and equipment and ROU assets of $10.1 million, $2.7 million and $5.5 million in fiscal years 2024, 2023 and 2022, respectively. Refer to Note 11. “Fair Value Measurement” for further information on impairments recognized in fiscal year 2024.

Impairment of Goodwill and Intangible Assets

We calculate the fair value of our reporting units using the income approach based on discounted cash flows analysis whereby estimated after-tax cash flows are discounted using a weighted average cost of capital. The cash flows used in the analysis are based on financial forecasts developed internally by management and require significant judgment. Significant unobservable inputs used in the fair value measurement of the reporting units include, but are not limited to, revenue growth rates, costs applicable to revenue, SG&A and discount rates. These assumptions are sensitive to future changes in the business profitability, changes in our business strategy, customer concentration risk and external market conditions, among other factors. See Note 5. “Goodwill and Intangible Assets” for further detail on goodwill impairment. As of December 28, 2024, we had $698.3 million of goodwill, $240.5 million of non-amortizing intangible assets, and $8.3 million of other intangible assets, net of accumulated amortization. Changes in estimates and assumptions used in our impairment testing could result in future impairment losses, which could be material. Significant judgments and assumptions are required in our impairment evaluations.

Our America’s Best reporting unit was not at risk of failing the annual goodwill impairment test in fiscal year 2024. A hypothetical 100 basis point increase in the discount rate used to estimate the fair value of the America’s Best reporting unit would not result in goodwill impairment in fiscal year 2024. As part of the annual goodwill impairment test in fiscal year 2024, the carrying value of the Eyeglass World reporting unit was written down to its estimated fair value, resulting in a $19.2 million impairment charge in fiscal year 2024. A hypothetical 100 basis point increase in the discount rate used to estimate the fair value of the Company’s Eyeglass World reporting unit would result in additional goodwill impairment of approximately $19 million. Given the recent performance of the Eyeglass World brand, our impairment test reflected assumptions for future revenue growth and profitability that we believe to be achievable; changes to the growth assumptions or future strategy for this brand may negatively affect the fair value of the associated goodwill asset. Future changes in a reporting unit’s business profitability, expected cash flows, changes in business strategy and external market conditions, among other factors, could require us to record an impairment charge for goodwill.

When evaluating indefinite-lived, non-amortizing trademarks and trade names for impairment, we use the relief-from-royalty method to estimate fair value, whereby an estimated royalty rate is determined based on comparable licensing arrangements, which is then applied to the revenue projections for the subject asset. The estimated fair value is calculated using a discounted cash flow analysis. We record an impairment charge as the excess of carrying value over estimated fair value. The fair value of the Eyeglass World trade name asset approximately equals its carrying value; changes to the growth assumptions or future strategy for this brand may negatively affect the fair value of this asset. A hypothetical 100 basis point increase in discount rates used to estimate the fair value of the Company’s trademarks and trade names would not result in an impairment of the America’s Best asset, but result in an approximate $5 million impairment of the Eyeglass World asset. A 10 basis point decrease in the royalty rates used in the analyses would not result in an impairment of America’s Best asset, but result in an approximate $5 million impairment of the Eyeglass World asset in fiscal year 2024.

If impairment indicators related to finite-lived, amortizing intangible assets are present, we estimate cash flows expected to be generated over the remaining useful lives of the related assets based on current projections. If the projected net undiscounted cash flows are less than the carrying value of the related assets, we then measure impairment based on a discounted cash flow model and record an impairment charge as the excess of carrying value over the estimated fair value. The carrying value of the Fred Meyer contract and relationship intangible asset was written down to its estimated fair value, resulting in a $10.5 million impairment charge in fiscal year 2024. The Fred Meyer impairment testing was performed due to our decision to close certain Fred Meyer stores as part of our fleet review in fiscal year 2024.

Refer to Note 1. “Business and Significant Accounting Policies”, Note 5. “Goodwill and Intangible Assets”, and Note 11. “Fair Value Measurement” for further detail on impairment of goodwill and intangible assets.

Income Taxes

Income tax accounting involves the use of estimates and complex judgments in a number of areas including the recognition of deferred tax assets and liabilities and the evaluation of uncertain tax positions. Our net deferred liability balance as of December 28, 2024 was $77.9 million. As future events, including tax law changes, are unpredictable, we continue to monitor developments in the tax landscape and adjust our assumptions and estimates

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accordingly. Changes in our assumptions and estimates could result in material changes to these balances. See Note 8. “Income Taxes” to our consolidated financial statements.

Inventories

Inventory shrinkage is estimated and recorded throughout the period in cost of sales based on historical results and current inventory levels. Inventory values are adjusted for estimated obsolescence and written down to net realizable value (“NRV”) based on estimates of current and anticipated demand, customer preference, merchandise age, planned promotional activities, compliance with contact lens vendor return policies, and estimates of future retail sales prices. Actual shrinkage is recorded throughout the year based upon periodic physical counts. As of December 28, 2024, our total inventory balance was $93.9 million. A 10% increase in the obsolescence and shrinkage reserves will not have a material impact on our financial position. See Note 1. “Business and Significant Accounting Policies” to our consolidated financial statements.

Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements

For information on recently issued accounting pronouncements, see Note 1. “Business and Significant Accounting Policies” to our consolidated financial statements.

Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

The following discussion contains management’s discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations and should be read together with the consolidated financial statements and the related notes thereto included elsewhere in this Form 10-K (this “Form 10-K”). This discussion contains forward-looking statements that reflect our plans, estimates and beliefs and involve numerous risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, those described in the “Risk Factors” section included in Part I. Item 1A. in this Form 10-K, as such risk factors may be updated from time to time in our periodic filings with the SEC. Actual results may differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements. You should carefully read “Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” in this Form 10-K.

We conduct substantially all of our activities through our indirect wholly-owned subsidiary, NVI, and its subsidiaries. We operate on a retail fiscal calendar that results in a given fiscal year consisting of a 52- or 53-week period ending on the Saturday closest to December 31. In a 52-week fiscal year, each quarter contains 13 weeks of operations; in a 53-week fiscal year, each of the first, second and third quarters includes 13 weeks of operations and the fourth quarter includes 14 weeks of operations. References herein to “fiscal year 2023” relate to the 52 weeks ended December 30, 2023, references herein to “fiscal year 2022” relate to the 52 weeks ended December 31, 2022 and references herein to “fiscal year 2021” relate to the 52 weeks ended January 1, 2022.

The disclosures contained in this Form 10-K are made only as of the date hereof, and we undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. For further information, please see “Risk Factors” and “Forward-Looking Statements.”

Overview

We are one of the largest optical retailers in the United States (the “U.S.”) and a leader in the attractive value segment of the U.S. optical retail industry. We believe that vision is central to quality of life and that people deserve to see their best to live their best, regardless of their budget. We achieve this by providing eye exams, eyeglasses and contact lenses to value seeking and lower income consumers with an opening price point that strives to be among the lowest in the industry. We reach our customers through a diverse portfolio of 1,413 retail stores across five brands and 13 consumer websites as of fiscal year end 2023.

Brand and Segment Information

As of December 30, 2023, our operations consisted of two reportable segments:

•Owned & Host – As of fiscal year end 2023, our owned brands consisted of 957 America’s Best Contacts and Eyeglasses (“America’s Best”) retail stores and 148 Eyeglass World retail stores. In America’s Best stores, vision care services are provided by optometrists employed by us or by independent professional corporations or similar entities. America’s Best stores are primarily located in high-traffic strip centers next to value-focused retailers. Eyeglass World locations offer eye exams, provided primarily by independent optometrists and optometrists employed by independent professional corporations or similar entities, and have on-site optical laboratories that enable stores to quickly fulfill many customer orders and make repairs on site. Eyeglass World stores are primarily located in freestanding or in-line locations near high-foot-traffic shopping centers. Our Host brands consisted of 54 Vista Optical locations on select military bases and 29 Vista Optical locations within select Fred Meyer stores as of fiscal year end 2023. We have strong, long-standing relationships with our Host partners and have maintained each partnership for over 20 years. These brands provide eye exams primarily by independent optometrists. All brands utilize our centralized laboratories. This segment also includes sales from our America’s Best, Eyeglass World, and Military omni-channel websites.

•Legacy – As of fiscal year end 2023, we managed the operations of, and supplied inventory and laboratory processing services to, 225 Vision Centers in Walmart retail locations. On July 20, 2023, we received a notice of non-renewal from Walmart of the Walmart MSA. The Walmart MSA terminated on February 23, 2024 and we no longer operate Vision Centers for Walmart. Refer to Note 2. “Termination of Walmart Partnership” included in Part II. Item 8. of this Form 10-K for further information. During fiscal year 2023, sales associated with this arrangement represented 7.1% of consolidated net revenue.

Our consolidated results for all periods presented in this Form 10-K also include the following activity recorded in our Corporate/Other category:

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•Our e-commerce platform managed by AC Lens comprising multiple proprietary branded websites and third-party websites with established retailers and mid-sized vision insurance providers. AC Lens handles site management, CRM and order fulfillment and also sells a wide variety of contact lenses, eyeglasses and eye care accessories. In 2024, we will wind down AC Lens operations, including the closure of the Ohio distribution center, which largely supported the wholesale distribution and e-commerce contact lens services that the Company has provided to Walmart and Sam’s Club. We are reviewing our portfolio of websites and deciding how best to position the portfolio after the wind down of the AC Lens operations.

•Wholesale contact lenses distribution to Walmart and Sam’s Club by AC Lens. We incur costs at a higher percentage of sales than other product categories. AC Lens sales associated with Walmart and Sam’s Club contact lenses distribution arrangements represented 6.9% of consolidated net revenue during fiscal year 2023. In connection with the MSA Termination, AC Lens has delivered notices of non-renewal of the agreements it has with Walmart and Sam’s Club such that those agreements are expected to terminate on June 30, 2024.

•Managed care business conducted by FirstSight, our wholly-owned subsidiary that is licensed as a single-service health plan under California law, which issues individual vision plans in connection with our America’s Best operations in California and, until the termination of the agreement between FirstSight and Walmart on February 23, 2024, arranged for the provision of optometric services at the offices next to certain Walmart stores throughout California.

•Unallocated corporate overhead expenses, which are a component of selling, general and administrative expenses and are comprised of various home office expenses such as payroll, occupancy costs and consulting and professional fees. Corporate overhead expenses also include field services for our five retail brands.

Reportable segment information is presented on the same basis as our consolidated financial statements, except reportable segment sales which are presented on a cash basis, including point of sales for managed care payors and excluding the effects of unearned and deferred revenue, consistent with what our chief operating decision maker (“CODM”) regularly reviews. Reconciliations of segment results to consolidated results include financial information necessary to adjust reportable segment revenues to a consolidated basis in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“U.S. GAAP”), specifically the change in unearned and deferred revenues during the period. There are no revenue transactions between reportable segments, and there are no other items in the reconciliations other than the effects of unearned and deferred revenue. See Note 15. “Segment Reporting” in our consolidated financial statements included in Part II. Item 8. of this Form 10-K.

Deferred revenue represents the timing difference of when we collect the cash from the customer and when services related to product protection plans and eye care club memberships are performed. Increases or decreases in deferred revenue during the reporting period represent cash collections in excess of, or below the recognition of, previous deferrals.

Unearned revenue represents the timing difference of when we collect cash from the customer and delivery/customer acceptance, and includes sales of prescription eyewear during approximately the last seven to 10 days of the reporting period.

Trends and Other Factors Affecting Our Business

We have remained focused on our long-term growth initiatives despite the ongoing macroeconomic uncertainty. We opened 70 new stores in 2023, and as of December 30, 2023 enabled remote medicine in over 500 stores.

Our core growth initiatives include, but are not limited to, continuing with the expansion of our remote medicine capabilities; maintaining and improving our optometric retention levels; increasing our marketing efficiency and omnichannel capabilities; increasing our participation in vision insurance programs; the further digitization of our stores and corporate office; continuing to position ourselves to capture whitespace opportunity for our stores; and incorporating our corporate sustainability strategy into our operations.

We operate in the highly competitive and fragmented U.S. optical retail industry. We face competition from mass merchants, specialty retail chains, online retailers and independent eye practitioners and opticians, along with large national retailers. Increased consolidation activity in the industry may enable our competitors to benefit from purchasing advantages and the ability to leverage management capabilities across a larger business base. Along with our competitors, we are affected by a number of various trends and factors, including, but not limited to, economic conditions, availability of vision care professionals, inflation, consumer preferences and demand.

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The overall economic environment continues to be challenging and macroeconomic factors that may affect customer spending patterns, and thereby our results of operations, include inflation, employment rates, business conditions, changes in the housing market, the availability of credit, interest rates, tax rates and fuel and energy costs.

As part of our growth strategy we are investing in the digitization of our stores, including remote medicine capabilities and an EHR platform. As of December 30, 2023, remote medicine technology has been enabled in over 500 of our America’s Best locations. We believe remote medicine not only helps provide more access to eye care for patients, it also helps address constraints in exam capacity. We have also invested in the transition to an EHR platform. We anticipate continuing the investment in these capabilities primarily in America’s Best stores in the near term, including implementing the EHR platform in all America’s Best locations by the end of 2024. While the remote medicine and EHR platforms have increased exam capacity, revenue and profitability, we have experienced higher costs applicable to revenue as a percentage of revenue, when compared with in-store exams.

Our ability to continue to attract and retain qualified vision care professionals may affect exam capacity. Our operations, like those of many of our competitors, depend on our ability to offer both eyewear and eye exams. We believe the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on vision care professional availability, including a competitive recruiting market and preferences for adjusted work schedules, and the demand for optometrists exceeding supply in certain areas during fiscal year 2023 have caused constraints in exam capacity which are continuing. Due to these factors, the costs to employ or retain optometrists have increased and may increase further, potentially materially. Targeted wage investments, including increases in compensation for our optometrists and associates, and flexibility initiatives have impacted our costs applicable to revenue and selling, general and administrative expenses. We anticipate that wage pressures in certain markets will continue in 2024. Wage investment pressure and increases to costs applicable to revenue from increases in raw materials prices may not be able to be fully offset by leverage from revenue growth, productivity efficiency and, as appropriate, various pricing actions. We are continuing to strategically invest in recruitment and retention initiatives, including flexible adjusted work schedules, along with continuing our implementation of remote medicine technologies, which has expanded our offerings while also increasing costs.

While there are ranges of customer behaviors based on demographics and other factors, it is estimated that optical consumers typically replace their eyeglasses every two to three years and their contact lenses every six to 12 months, reflecting the predictability of these recurring purchase behaviors; however, the effects of the current macroeconomic environment and geopolitical uncertainty, as well as the ongoing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, resulted in reduced customer demand in 2023 and have caused shifts in consumer behaviors and preferences, which impact the demand for our products. As a result, the predictability of recurring purchase behavior for the future remains uncertain.

In addition to the central factors impacting our business outlined above, we have identified the following key drivers, challenges and risks on which we are focused and which are detailed below.

Inflation

Rising inflation can result in increased costs and greater profitability pressure for us. While pressures from increases to the price of our raw materials have had an impact on our costs applicable to revenue in fiscal year 2023, we have been able to offset these pressures with efficiencies in our laboratory network, pricing actions and lower freight costs. We anticipate that pressures from increases to our raw materials prices could have an impact on our costs applicable to revenue in fiscal year 2024. Such an inflationary environment and labor market challenges can also result in wage pressures in certain markets. Wage investments as a result of inflation and an increasingly competitive recruiting market for vision care professionals due to the pandemic and related effects have had, and may continue to have, an impact on our profitability.

New Store Openings

We expect that new stores will be a key driver of growth in our net revenue and operating profit in the future. Our results of operations have been and will continue to be materially affected by the timing and number of new store openings. As stores mature, profitability typically increases significantly. The performance of new stores is dependent upon factors such as the time of year of a particular opening, the amount of store pre-opening costs, labor and occupancy costs in the specified market, level of participation in managed care plans, and location, including whether they are in new or existing markets.

Comparable Store Sales Growth

Comparable store sales growth is a key driver of our business. Many factors affect comparable store sales, including:

•consumer confidence, preferences and buying trends and overall economic trends including inflation and the amount and timing of tax refunds;

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•the availability of optometrists and other vision care professionals;

•advertising strategies;

•participation in managed care programs;

•the recurring nature of eye care purchases;

•our ability to identify and respond effectively to customer preferences and trends;

•our ability to provide an assortment of high quality/low-cost product offerings that generate new and repeat visits to our stores;

•foot traffic in retail shopping centers where our stores are predominantly located;

•the customer experience we provide in our stores;

•our ability to source and receive products accurately and timely;

•changes in product pricing, including promotional activities;

•the number of items purchased per store visit;

•the number of stores that have been in operation for more than 12 months;

•impact of competition and consolidation in the U.S. optical retail industry;

•impact and timing of weather-related store closures; and

•public health emergencies, like COVID-19, which may exacerbate the effects and relevant risk exposures listed above.

A new store is included in the comparable store sales calculation during the 13th full fiscal month following the store’s opening. Closed stores are removed from the calculation for time periods that are not comparable. In the past, we have closed stores as a result of poor store performance, lease expiration or non-renewal and/or the terms of our arrangements with our Host and Legacy partners.

Managed Care and Insurance

Managed care has become increasingly important to the optical retail industry. An increasing percentage of our customers receive vision care insurance coverage through managed care payors. Our participation in these programs represent an increasingly significant portion of our overall revenues and represented approximately 35% of our overall revenues in fiscal year 2023. While we have relationships with almost all vision care insurers in the U.S. and with all of the major carriers, currently, a relatively small number of payors comprise the majority of our managed care revenues, subjecting us to concentration risk. As our participation in managed care programs continues to expand, we have incurred and expect to incur additional costs related to this area of our business. Our comparable store sales growth as noted above as well as overall future operational success could depend on our ability to negotiate, maintain and extend contracts with managed vision care companies, vision insurance providers and other third-party payors, several of whom have significant market share. Coverage and payment levels are determined at each third-party payor’s discretion, and we have limited control over a third-party payor’s decision-making with respect to coverage and payment levels. Coverage restrictions and reductions in reimbursement levels or payment methodologies may negatively impact our sales and profits. In addition, as our participation in managed care programs continues to approach overall industry penetration levels, we expect our associated managed care revenue growth rate to slow over time.

Infrastructure Investment

Our historical results of operations reflect the impact of our ongoing investments in infrastructure to support our growth. We have made and continue to make significant investments in information technology systems, including those to support our point-of-sale system, ERP, supply chain systems, marketing, and personnel, as well as experienced industry executives, and management and merchandising teams to support our long-term growth objectives. We intend to continue to make targeted investments in our infrastructure to support our growth and continue the digitization of our stores and corporate office.

Pricing Strategy

We are committed to providing our products to our customers at low prices. We generally employ a simple, low price/high value strategy that consistently delivers savings to our customers without the need for extensive promotions. Inflationary pressures, including wage investments, consumer confidence and preferences and increased raw material costs, could impact our profitability and lead us to attempt to offset such increases through various pricing actions. Effective May 9, 2022, we changed the price of our America’s Best signature offer to “two pairs of eyeglasses for $79.95, including a free eye exam” from its prior $69.95 price. Effective March 14, 2022, we changed the price of our Eyeglass World opening offer to “two pairs of eyeglasses for $89” from its prior price of $78. We believe that these changes will enable us to continue to offer the best possible value and service to our customers at prices that allow us to maintain our brands’ strong value propositions in the marketplace.

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Interim Results and Seasonality

Historically, our business has realized a higher portion of net revenue, operating income, and cash flows from operations in the first half of the fiscal year, and a lower portion of net revenue, operating income, and cash flows from operations in the fourth fiscal quarter. The first half seasonality is attributable primarily to the timing of our customers’ income tax refunds and annual health insurance program start/reset periods. We believe that many customers in our target market are value seeking and lower income consumers who rely on tax refunds to pay for eyewear and eye care. A delay in the issuance of tax refunds or changes in the amount of tax refunds can accordingly have a negative impact on our quarterly financial results in the first half of the year. Consumer behavior with respect to the utilization of tax refund proceeds is also subject to change.

With respect to our fourth quarter results, compared to other retailers, our products and services are less likely to be included in consumers’ holiday spending budgets, therefore reducing spending on personal vision correction during the weeks preceding December 25th of each year. Additionally, although the period between December 25th and the end of our fiscal year is typically a high-volume period, the net revenue associated with substantially all orders of prescription eyeglasses and contact lenses during that period is deferred until the following fiscal period due to our policy of recognizing revenue only after the product has been accepted by the customer, further contributing to higher revenue results in the first half of the year. Our quarterly results may also be affected by the timing of new store openings and store closings, the amount of sales contributed by new and existing stores, the timing of certain holidays, and the timing of weather-related store closures. Changes in consumer behavior driven by lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have resulted in a departure from seasonal norms we have experienced in recent years and may continue to disrupt the historical quarterly cadence of our results of operations for an unknown period of time.

For fiscal years 2023 and 2022, approximately 24% and 23% of our revenue was recorded in the fourth quarter, but approximately 25% and 26% of annual SG&A costs were recorded in the respective fourth quarters of these fiscal years.

Walmart partnership termination

The termination of the Walmart partnership and related wind down of AC Lens operations will impact our revenues and profitability. Effective as of February 23, 2024, the Company has completed the transition of 229 Walmart Vision Center stores. Additionally, the agreements governing our provision of contact lens distribution and related services to Walmart and Sam’s Club will terminate effective as of June 30, 2024. The Company will wind down its remaining AC Lens operations, including the closure of its Ohio distribution center, which largely supported the whole distribution and e-commerce contact lens services that we provided to Walmart and Sam’s Club. We are planning to transition the order fulfillment functions currently handled by AC Lens to a third-party vendor. While we are seeking to reduce costs and replace lost business with new America’s Best or Eyeglass World stores and by other means, including non-headline pricing actions, we may not be successful in our efforts, which could impact our revenues and profitability. In fiscal year 2023, we have incurred costs in connection with the MSA Termination and related wind down of AC Lens operations. We anticipate that we will incur approximately $8 million of additional costs in fiscal year 2024.

How We Assess the Performance of Our Business

We consider a variety of financial and operating measures in assessing the performance of our business. The key measures we use to determine how our consolidated business and operating segments are performing are net revenue, costs applicable to revenue, and selling, general, and administrative expenses, which are described further in Note 1. “Business and Significant Accounting Policies,” to our consolidated financial statements included in Part II. Item 8. of this Form 10-K. In addition, we also review store growth, Adjusted Comparable Store Sales Growth, Adjusted Operating Income, Adjusted Operating Margin, Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA Margin and Adjusted Diluted EPS.

Net Revenue

We report as net revenue amounts generated in transactions with retail customers who are the end users of our products, services, and plans. Comparable store sales growth and new store openings are key drivers of net revenue and are discussed below. Also, the timing of unearned revenue can affect revenue recognized in a particular period.

Costs Applicable to Revenue

Customer tastes and preferences, product mix, changes in technology, significant increases or slowdowns in production, and other factors impact costs applicable to revenue. The components of our costs applicable to revenue may not be comparable to other retailers.

Selling, General and Administrative

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SG&A generally fluctuates consistently with revenue due to the variable store, field office and corporate support costs; however, some fixed costs slightly improve as a percentage of net revenue as our net revenues grow over time.

New Store Openings

The total number of new stores per year and the timing of store openings has, and will continue to have, an impact on our results. We opened 70 stores during fiscal year 2023. We will continue to monitor and determine our plans for future new store openings based on health, safety and economic conditions.

Adjusted Comparable Store Sales Growth

We measure Adjusted Comparable Store Sales Growth as the increase or decrease in sales recorded by the comparable store base in any reporting period, compared to sales recorded by the comparable store base in the prior reporting period, which we calculate as follows: (i) sales are recorded on a cash basis (i.e., when the order is placed and paid for or submitted to a managed care payor, compared to when the order is delivered), utilizing cash basis point of sale information from stores; (ii) stores are added to the calculation during the 13th full fiscal month following the store’s opening; (iii) closed stores are removed from the calculation for time periods that are not comparable; (iv) sales from partial months of operation are excluded when stores do not open or close on the first day of the month; and (v) when applicable, we adjust for the effect of the 53rd week. Quarterly, year-to-date and annual adjusted comparable store sales are aggregated using only sales from all whole months of operation included in both the current reporting period and the prior reporting period. When a partial month is excluded from the calculation, the corresponding month in the subsequent period is also excluded from the calculation. There may be variations in the way in which some of our competitors and other retailers calculate comparable store sales. As a result, our adjusted comparable store sales may not be comparable to similar data made available by other retailers. We did not revise our calculation of Adjusted Comparable Store Sales Growth for the temporary closure of our stores to the public as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Adjusted Comparable Store Sales Growth is a non-GAAP financial measure, which we believe is useful because it provides timely and accurate information relating to the two core metrics of retail sales: number of transactions and value of transactions. We use Adjusted Comparable Store Sales Growth as the basis for key operating decisions, such as allocation of advertising to particular markets and implementation of special marketing programs. Accordingly, we believe that Adjusted Comparable Store Sales Growth provides timely and accurate information relating to the operational health and overall performance of each brand. We also believe that, for the same reasons, investors find our calculation of Adjusted Comparable Stores Sales Growth to be meaningful.

Adjusted Operating Income, Adjusted Operating Margin, Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA Margin, and Adjusted Diluted EPS (collectively, the “Company Non-GAAP Measures”)

The Company Non-GAAP Measures are key measures used by management to assess our financial performance. The Company Non-GAAP Measures are also frequently used by analysts, investors and other interested parties. We use the Company Non-GAAP Measures to supplement U.S. GAAP measures of performance to evaluate the effectiveness of our business strategies, to make budgeting decisions, to establish discretionary annual incentive compensation and to compare our performance against that of other peer companies using similar measures. See “Non-GAAP Financial Measures” for definitions of the Company Non-GAAP Measures and for additional information.

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Results of Operations

The following table summarizes key components of our results of operations for the periods indicated, both in dollars and as a percentage of our net revenue.

Fiscal Year 2023 compared to Fiscal Year 2022

Net revenue

The following presents, by segment and by brand, comparable store sales growth, stores open at the end of the period and net revenue for fiscal year 2023 compared to fiscal year 2022.

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_________

(1)We calculate total comparable store sales based on consolidated net revenue excluding the impact of (i) Corporate/Other segment net revenue, (ii) sales from stores opened less than 13 months, (iii) stores closed in the periods presented, (iv) sales from partial months of operation when stores do not open or close on the first day of the month and (v) if applicable, the impact of a 53rd week in a fiscal year. Brand-level comparable store sales growth is calculated based on cash basis revenues consistent with what the CODM reviews, and consistent with reportable segment revenues presented in Note 15. “Segment Reporting” in our consolidated financial statements included in Part II. Item 8. of this Form 10-K, with the exception of the Legacy segment, which is adjusted as noted in clause (ii) of footnote (3) below.

(2)Percentages reflect line item as a percentage of net revenue, adjusted for rounding.

(3)There are two differences between total comparable store sales growth based on consolidated net revenue and Adjusted Comparable Store Sales Growth: (i) Adjusted Comparable Store Sales Growth includes the effect of deferred and unearned revenue as if such revenues were earned at the point of sale, resulting in a decrease of 0.1% and an increase of 0.7% from total comparable store sales growth based on consolidated net revenue for fiscal years 2023 and 2022, respectively, and (ii) Adjusted Comparable Store Sales Growth includes retail sales to the Legacy partner’s customers (rather than the revenues recognized consistent with the management & services agreement with the Legacy partner), resulting in a decrease of 0.1% and a decrease of 0.1% from total comparable store sales growth based on consolidated net revenue for the fiscal years 2023 and 2022, respectively.

Total net revenue of $2,126.5 million for fiscal year 2023 increased $121.1 million, or 6.0%, from $2,005.4 million for fiscal year 2022. The increase was driven by approximately 55% from growth from new store sales, 40% from Adjusted Comparable Store Sales Growth, 10% by our AC Lens business, partially offset by closed stores and effects of deferred and unearned revenue.

During fiscal year 2023, we opened 58 new America’s Best stores and 12 new Eyeglass World stores and closed six America’s Best stores and one Legacy store as a result of our Legacy partner’s decision to cease its overall operations at the location. During the fourth quarter of 2023, we also transitioned four Legacy stores to Walmart leading up to the MSA Termination. The total net new locations in fiscal year 2023 for America’s Best and Eyeglass World are 52 and 12, respectively. Overall, store count grew 4.4% from the end of fiscal year 2022 to the end of fiscal year 2023.

Comparable store sales growth and Adjusted Comparable Store Sales Growth for fiscal year 2023 were 3.1% and 2.9%, respectively, both reflecting an increase in customer transactions and higher average ticket.

Net product sales comprised 82.0% and 82.2% of total net revenue for fiscal years 2023 and 2022, respectively. Net product sales increased $95.8 million, or 5.8% during fiscal year 2023 compared to fiscal year 2022, primarily due to a $71.8 million, or 6.4%, increase in eyeglass sales, a $16.1 million, or 4.2%, increase in contact lens sales and a $6.6 million, or 4.7%, increase in wholesale fulfillment.

Net sales of services and plans increased $25.2 million, or 7.1%, driven primarily by higher exam revenues of $30.9 million, or 15.8%, increase which was partially offset by a $4.1 million, or 11.7%, decrease in management fees from our Legacy partner and a $3.1 million, or 4.1%, decrease in product protection plan revenues.

Owned & Host segment net revenue. Net revenue increased $112.7 million, or 7.0%, driven primarily by new store openings and comparable store sales growth.

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Legacy segment net revenue. Net revenue decreased $1.0 million, or 0.6%, driven primarily by negative comparable store sales growth.

Corporate/Other segment net revenue. Net revenue increased $9.6 million, or 4.0%, driven primarily by increases in wholesale fulfillment.

Net revenue reconciliations. The impact of reconciliations negatively impacted net revenue by $0.2 million during fiscal year 2023 compared to fiscal year 2022. Net revenue was positively impacted by $5.0 million due to the timing of unearned revenue. Net revenue was negatively impacted by $5.2 million due to higher sales of club memberships and product protection plans, and lower recognition of product protection plan revenue in fiscal year 2023 compared to fiscal year 2022.

Costs applicable to revenue

Costs applicable to revenue of $1,000.9 million for fiscal year 2023 increased $75.3 million, or 8.1%, from $925.6 million for fiscal year 2022. As a percentage of net revenue, costs applicable to revenue increased from 46.2% for fiscal year 2022 to 47.1% for fiscal year 2023. This increase as a percentage of net revenue was primarily driven by higher growth in optometrist-related costs of 150 basis points and by 60 basis points due to reduction in components of service revenue, including product protection plan revenue, and other mix and margin effects. These costs were partially offset by a 90-basis point effect from higher exam revenue and a 30-basis point effect from increased eyeglass mix and higher eyeglass margin.

Costs of products as a percentage of net product sales decreased from 38.6% for fiscal year 2022 to 38.1% for fiscal year 2023 primarily driven by increased eyeglass mix and higher eyeglass margin.

Owned & Host segment costs of products. Costs of products as a percentage of net product sales decreased from 28.9% for fiscal year 2022 to 28.7% for fiscal year 2023 primarily driven by increased eyeglass mix and higher eyeglass margin.

Legacy segment costs of products. Costs of products as a percentage of net product sales decreased from 46.8% for fiscal year 2022 to 45.2% for fiscal year 2023. The decrease was primarily driven by a higher mix of managed care customer transactions versus non-managed care customer transactions. Legacy segment managed care net product revenue is recorded in net product sales while revenue associated with servicing non-managed care customers is recorded in net sales of services and plans. Eyeglass and contact lens product costs for both managed care and non-managed care net revenue are recorded in costs of products. Increases in managed care mix decrease costs of products as a percentage of net product sales and have a corresponding negative impact on costs of services as a percentage of net sales of services and plans in our Legacy segment.

Costs of services and plans as a percentage of net sales of services and plans increased from 81.0% for fiscal year 2022 to 88.0% for fiscal year 2023. The increase was primarily driven by higher growth in optometrist-related costs, lower product protection plan revenues and lower management fees from our Legacy partner, partially offset by higher eye exam revenue.

Owned & Host segment costs of services and plans. Costs of services and plans as a percentage of net sales of services and plans increased from 88.6% for fiscal year 2022 to 93.1% for fiscal year 2023. The increase was primarily driven by higher growth in optometrist-related costs, partially offset by higher eye exam revenue.

Legacy segment costs of services and plans. Costs of services and plans as a percentage of net sales of services and plans increased from 44.9% for fiscal year 2022 to 50.6% for fiscal year 2023. The increase was primarily driven by lower management fees from our Legacy partner and growth in optometrist-related costs.

Selling, general and administrative

SG&A of $991.9 million for fiscal year 2023 increased $76.5 million, or 8.4%, from fiscal year 2022. As a percentage of net revenue, SG&A increased from 45.6% for fiscal year 2022 to 46.6% for fiscal year 2023. The increase in SG&A as a percentage of net revenue was primarily driven by higher performance-based incentive compensation of 70 basis points, higher payroll of 50 basis points, as well as 50 basis points of other expenses, such as stock-based compensation and expenses related to the termination of the Walmart partnership, partially offset by lower advertising expense of 50 basis points and other operating expenses of 20 basis points.

Owned & Host segment SG&A. SG&A as a percentage of net revenue decreased from 38.9% for fiscal year 2022 to 38.7% for fiscal year 2023 driven primarily by lower advertising expense, partially offset by higher payroll.

Legacy segment SG&A. SG&A as a percentage of net revenue decreased from 38.3% for fiscal year 2022 to 37.6% for fiscal year 2023 driven primarily by lower payroll and lower advertising expense.

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Depreciation and amortization

Depreciation and amortization expense of $98.3 million for fiscal year 2023 decreased $1.7 million, or 1.7%, from $100.0 million for fiscal year 2022 primarily driven by a decrease in amortization of intangible assets as a result of impairing the Walmart contracts and customer relationship asset during fiscal year 2023 and a shift to cloud-based software investments that are amortized in SG&A, partially offset by investments in remote medicine technology and new store openings.

Asset impairment

We recorded impairment charges of $82.4 million for fiscal year 2023 compared to $5.8 million recognized in fiscal year 2022. The majority of the impairment charges in the current period were recorded in connection with the termination of the Walmart partnership and included impairments at our Legacy and AC Lens operating segments. Refer to Note 2 “Termination of Walmart Partnership” included in Part II. Item 8. of this Form 10-K for further information. In addition, we recorded impairment charges of $2.8 million related to tangible long-lived assets and ROU assets associated with our Owned & Host segment for fiscal year 2023, which were driven by lower than projected customer sales volume in certain stores, and other entity-specific assumptions. We considered multiple factors including, but not limited to: forecasted scenarios related to store performance and the likelihood that these scenarios would be ultimately realized; and the remaining useful lives of the assets. Asset impairment expenses were recognized in Corporate/Other.

Other expense (income), net

Other expense (income), net was $(0.2) million for fiscal year 2023 compared to $(2.6) million for fiscal year 2022. This change was primarily a result of a gain of $2.7 million in Other expense (income), net in fiscal year 2022 that did not occur in fiscal year 2023 in connection with the acquisition of our equity method investee by a third party. See Note 1. “Business and Significant Accounting Policies” for further details.

Interest expense, net

Interest expense, net, of $14.3 million for fiscal year 2023 increased $13.9 million, or 3001%, from $0.5 million for fiscal year 2022. The increase was primarily a result of lower derivative income of $15.8 million and higher Term Loan A expense of $5.4 million, partially offset by higher income on cash balances of $6.8 million.

Income tax provision

Our effective tax rates for fiscal year 2023 and fiscal year 2022 were (6.7)% and 30.7%, respectively. The change in effective tax rates reflects our statutory federal and state rate of 25.2% and 25.4%, respectively, the disallowance of the Legacy segment goodwill impairment loss for income tax purposes and other permanent items.

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Fiscal Year 2022 compared to Fiscal Year 2021

Net revenue

The following presents, by segment and by brand, comparable store sales growth, stores open at the end of the period and net revenue for fiscal year 2021 compared to fiscal year 2020.

_________

(1)We calculate total comparable store sales based on consolidated net revenue excluding the impact of (i) Corporate/Other segment net revenue, (ii) sales from stores opened less than 13 months, (iii) stores closed in the periods presented, (iv) sales from partial months of operation when stores do not open or close on the first day of the month and (v) if applicable, the impact of a 53rd week in a fiscal year. Brand-level comparable store sales growth is calculated based on cash basis revenues consistent with what the CODM reviews, and consistent with reportable segment revenues presented in Note 15. “Segment Reporting” in our consolidated financial statements included in Part II. Item 8. of this Form 10-K, with the exception of the Legacy segment, which is adjusted as noted in clause (ii) of footnote (3) below.

(2)Percentages reflect line item as a percentage of net revenue, adjusted for rounding.

(3)There are two differences between total comparable store sales growth based on consolidated net revenue and Adjusted Comparable Store Sales Growth: (i) Adjusted Comparable Store Sales Growth includes the effect of deferred and unearned revenue as if such revenues were earned at the point of sale, resulting in an increase of 0.7% from total comparable store sales growth based on consolidated net revenue for fiscal year 2021 and (ii) Adjusted Comparable Store Sales Growth includes retail sales to the Legacy partner’s customers (rather than the revenues recognized consistent with the management & services agreement with the Legacy partner), resulting in a decrease of 0.1% and a decrease of 0.1% from total comparable store sales growth based on consolidated net revenue for the fiscal years 2022 and 2021, respectively.

Total net revenue of $2,005.4 million for fiscal year 2022 decreased $74.1 million, or 3.6%, from $2,079.5 million for fiscal year 2021. The decrease was driven primarily by reduced Adjusted Comparable Store Sales Growth and to a lesser extent the negative impact of unearned revenue, partially offset by growth from new store sales and recognition of deferred revenue.

During fiscal year 2022, we opened 69 new America’s Best stores and 11 new Eyeglass World stores and closed four America’s Best stores. The total net new locations in fiscal year 2022 for America’s Best and Eyeglass World are 65 and 11, respectively. Overall, store count grew 5.9% from the end of fiscal year 2021 to the end of fiscal year 2022.

Comparable store sales growth and Adjusted Comparable Store Sales Growth for fiscal year 2022 were (7.5)% and (7.6)%, respectively, primarily due to a decrease in customer transactions, and to a lesser extent, lower average ticket. The decreases in comparable store sales growth and Adjusted Comparable Store Sales growth during fiscal year 2022 reflect overall economic trends impacting customer demand, constraints affecting exam capacity in certain markets and the Omicron COVID-19 variant impacting customer transactions.

Net product sales comprised 82.2% and 82.6% of total net revenue for fiscal years 2022 and 2021, respectively. Net product sales decreased $70.0 million, or 4.1% during fiscal year 2022 compared to fiscal year 2021, primarily due to a $80.7 million, or 6.7%, decrease in eyeglass sales, which was partially offset by a $6.4 million, or 1.7%, increase in contact lens sales and a $4.3 million, or 3.2%, increase in wholesale fulfillment.

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Net sales of services and plans decreased $4.1 million, or 1.1%, driven primarily by a $7.1 million, or 16.9%, decrease in management fees from our Legacy partner, which was partially offset by a $5.6 million, or 2.9%, increase in exam revenues.

Owned & Host segment net revenue. Net revenue declined $66.3 million, or 3.9%, driven primarily by negative comparable store sales growth partially offset by new store openings.

Legacy segment net revenue. Net revenue declined $13.6 million, or 8.2%, driven by negative comparable store sales growth.

Corporate/Other segment net revenue. Net revenue increased $6.5 million, or 2.8%, driven primarily by increases in wholesale fulfillment.

Net revenue reconciliations. The impact of reconciliations negatively impacted net revenue by $0.7 million during fiscal year 2022 compared to fiscal year 2021. Net revenue was negatively impacted by $14.2 million due to the timing of unearned revenue. The balance of unearned revenue reflected increased sales in the last week of fiscal year 2022 compared to the same period in 2021. Net revenue was positively impacted by $13.5 million due to higher sales of product protection plan and club memberships in fiscal year 2021 compared to fiscal year 2022, thus causing recognition of previous deferrals to exceed cash collected for sales in fiscal year 2022.

Costs applicable to revenue

Costs applicable to revenue of $925.6 million for fiscal year 2022 increased $20.8 million, or 2.3%, from $904.8 million for fiscal year 2021. As a percentage of net revenue, costs applicable to revenue increased from 43.5% for fiscal year 2021 to 46.2% for fiscal year 2022. This increase as a percentage of net revenue was primarily driven by higher growth in optometrist-related costs, reduced eyeglass mix and lower eyeglass margin.

Costs of products as a percentage of net product sales increased from 36.8% for fiscal year 2021 to 38.6% for fiscal year 2022 primarily driven by reduced eyeglass mix and lower eyeglass margin.

Owned & Host segment costs of products. Costs of products as a percentage of net product sales increased from 27.4% for fiscal year 2021 to 28.9% for fiscal year 2022 primarily driven by reduced eyeglass mix and lower eyeglass margin.

Legacy segment costs of products. Costs of products as a percentage of net product sales decreased from 47.7% for fiscal year 2021 to 46.8% for fiscal year 2022. The decrease was primarily driven by a higher mix of managed care customer transactions versus non-managed care customer transactions. Legacy segment managed care net product revenue is recorded in net product sales while revenue associated with servicing non-managed care customers is recorded in net sales of services and plans. Eyeglass and contact lens product costs for both managed care and non-managed care net revenue are recorded in costs of products. Increases in managed care mix decrease costs of products as a percentage of net product sales and have a corresponding negative impact on costs of services as a percentage of net sales of services and plans in our Legacy segment.

Costs of services and plans as a percentage of net sales of services and plans increased from 75.2% for fiscal year 2021 to 81.0% for fiscal year 2022. The increase was primarily driven by higher growth in optometrist-related costs, which were partially offset by higher eye exam revenue.

Owned & Host segment costs of services and plans. Costs of services and plans as a percentage of net sales of services and plans increased from 80.1% for fiscal year 2021 to 88.6% for fiscal year 2022. The increase was primarily driven by higher growth in optometrist-related costs, which were partially offset by higher eye exam revenue.

Legacy segment costs of services and plans. Costs of services and plans as a percentage of net sales of services and plans increased from 40.7% for fiscal year 2021 to 44.9% for fiscal year 2022. The increase was primarily driven by higher growth in optometrist-related costs.

Selling, general and administrative

SG&A of $915.4 million for fiscal year 2022 increased $14.6 million, or 1.6%, from fiscal year 2021. As a percentage of net revenue, SG&A increased from 43.3% for fiscal year 2021 to 45.6% for fiscal year 2022. The increase in SG&A as a percentage of net revenue was primarily driven by increases in store payroll, other corporate overhead, including legal, professional, travel and entertainment, and occupancy expense, partially offset by lower performance-based incentive compensation and lower advertising expense. The Company paid $5.0 million of discretionary bonuses during fiscal year 2022.

SG&A for fiscal year 2022 and fiscal year 2021 includes $0.6 million and $1.5 million, respectively, of incremental costs directly related to adapting the Company’s operations during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Owned & Host segment SG&A. SG&A as a percentage of net revenue increased from 36.7% for fiscal year 2021 to 38.9% for fiscal year 2022 driven primarily by higher payroll and occupancy expense, partially offset by lower advertising expense.

Legacy segment SG&A. SG&A as a percentage of net revenue increased from 35.0% for fiscal year 2021 to 38.3% for fiscal year 2022 driven primarily by higher payroll expense.

Depreciation and amortization

Depreciation and amortization expense of $100.0 million for fiscal year 2022 increased $2.9 million, or 3.0%, from $97.1 million for fiscal year 2021 primarily driven by new store openings and investments in remote medicine.

Asset impairment

We recognized $5.8 million for impairment primarily of tangible long-lived assets and ROU assets associated with our retail stores in fiscal year 2022 compared to $4.4 million recognized in fiscal year 2021. The store asset impairment charge is primarily related to our Owned & Host segment and is driven by lower than projected customer sales volume in certain stores and other entity-specific assumptions. We considered multiple factors including, but not limited to: forecasted scenarios related to store performance and the likelihood that these scenarios would be ultimately realized; and the remaining useful lives of the assets. The asset impairment expense for fiscal year 2021 also includes $0.8 million, related to a write-off of certain software assets that were deemed to be obsolete. Asset impairment expenses were recognized in Corporate/Other.

Other expense (income), net

We recognized a gain of $2.7 million and $2.4 million in Other expense (income), net in fiscal years 2022 and 2021, respectively, in connection with the acquisition of our equity method investee by a third party. See Note 1. “Business and Significant Accounting Policies” for further details.

Interest expense, net

Interest expense, net, of $0.5 million for fiscal year 2022 decreased $25.2 million, or 98.2%, from $25.6 million for fiscal year 2021. The decrease was primarily a result of lower derivative costs of $19.0 million on our interest rate derivatives, reduced term loan outstanding balance and income on cash balances.

Income tax provision

Our effective tax rate for fiscal year 2022 was 30.7%, reflecting our statutory federal and state rate of 25.4% and effects of other permanent items. Our effective tax rate for fiscal year 2021 was 14.1%, reflecting a benefit of $16.5 million primarily from the exercise of stock options and stranded tax effect associated with our matured interest rate swaps during the first quarter of 2021.

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Non-GAAP Financial Measures

Adjusted Operating Income, Adjusted Operating Margin, EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA Margin and Adjusted Diluted EPS

We define Adjusted Operating Income as net income, plus interest expense (income), net and income tax provision (benefit), further adjusted to exclude stock-based compensation expense, loss on extinguishment of debt, asset impairment, litigation settlement, secondary offering expenses, management realignment expenses, long-term incentive plan expenses, amortization of acquisition intangibles, ERP implementation expenses and certain other expenses. We define Adjusted Operating Margin as Adjusted Operating Income as a percentage of net revenue. We define EBITDA as net income, plus interest expense (income), net, income tax provision (benefit) and depreciation and amortization. We define Adjusted EBITDA as net income, plus interest expense (income), net, income tax provision (benefit) and depreciation and amortization, further adjusted to exclude stock-based compensation expense, loss on extinguishment of debt, asset impairment, litigation settlement, secondary offering expenses, management realignment expenses, long-term incentive plan expenses, ERP implementation expenses and certain other expenses. We define Adjusted EBITDA Margin as Adjusted EBITDA as a percentage of net revenue. We define Adjusted Diluted EPS as diluted earnings per share, adjusted for the per share impact of stock-based compensation expense, loss on extinguishment of debt, asset impairment, litigation settlement, secondary offering expenses, management realignment expenses, long-term incentive plan expenses, amortization of acquisition intangibles, amortization of debt discounts and deferred financing costs of our term loan borrowings, amortization of the conversion feature and deferred financing costs related to our 2025 Notes when not required under U.S. GAAP to be added back for diluted earnings per share, derivative fair value adjustments, ERP implementation expenses, certain other expenses, and tax expense (benefit) from stock-based compensation, less the tax effect of these adjustments.

EBITDA and the Company Non-GAAP Measures can vary substantially in size from one period to the next, and certain types of expenses are non-recurring in nature and consequently may not have been incurred in any of the periods presented below. EBITDA and the Company Non-GAAP Measures have been presented as supplemental measures of financial performance that are not required by, or presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP, because we believe they assist investors and analysts in comparing our operating performance across reporting periods on a consistent basis by excluding items that we do not believe are indicative of our core operating performance. Management believes EBITDA, and the Company Non-GAAP Measures are useful to investors in highlighting trends in our operating performance, while other measures can differ significantly depending on long-term strategic decisions regarding capital structure, the tax jurisdictions in which we operate and capital investments. We also use EBITDA and the Company Non-GAAP Measures to supplement U.S. GAAP measures of performance in the evaluation of the effectiveness of our business strategies, to make budgeting decisions, to establish discretionary annual incentive compensation and to compare our performance against that of other peer companies using similar measures. Management supplements U.S. GAAP results with Non-GAAP financial measures to provide a more complete understanding of the factors and trends affecting the business than U.S. GAAP results alone. We continue to evaluate our use of the Company Non-GAAP measures in the context of the development of our business, and may introduce or discontinue certain measures in the future as we deem appropriate.

EBITDA and the Company Non-GAAP Measures are not recognized terms under U.S. GAAP and should not be considered as an alternative to net income or income from operations as a measure of financial performance or cash flows provided by operating activities as a measure of liquidity, or any other performance measure derived in accordance with U.S. GAAP. Additionally, these measures are not intended to be a measure of free cash flow available for management’s discretionary use as they do not consider certain cash requirements such as interest payments, tax payments and debt service requirements. In evaluating EBITDA and the Company Non-GAAP Measures we may incur expenses in the future that are the same as or similar to some of the adjustments in this presentation. Our presentation of EBITDA and the Company Non-GAAP Measures should not be construed to imply that our future results will be unaffected by any such adjustments. Management compensates for these limitations by primarily relying on our U.S. GAAP results in addition to using EBITDA and the Company Non-GAAP Measures.

The presentations of these measures have limitations as analytical tools and should not be considered in isolation, or as a substitute for analysis of our results as reported under U.S. GAAP. Some of these limitations are:

•they do not reflect costs or cash outlays for capital expenditures or contractual commitments;

•they do not reflect changes in, or cash requirements for, our working capital needs;

•EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted Operating Income do not reflect the interest expense (income), net or the cash requirements necessary to service interest or principal payments, on our debt;

•EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted Operating Income do not reflect period to period changes in taxes, income tax provision or the cash necessary to pay income taxes;

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•they do not reflect the impact of earnings or charges resulting from matters we consider not to be indicative of our ongoing operations;

•although depreciation and amortization are non-cash charges, the assets being depreciated and amortized will often have to be replaced in the future, and EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA do not reflect cash requirements for such replacements; and

•other companies in our industry may calculate these measures differently than we do, limiting their usefulness as comparative measures.

Because of these limitations, EBITDA and the Company Non-GAAP Measures should not be considered as measures of discretionary cash available to invest in business growth or to reduce indebtedness.

The following table reconciles our Adjusted Operating Income, Adjusted Operating Margin, EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA Margin to net income; and Adjusted Diluted EPS to diluted EPS for the periods presented: