The Joint Corp. (JYNT) 2026年第三季度业绩电话会：盈利能力改善，销售预期下调

核心要点

• 2026年第三季度营收同比增长1%至1360万美元，而全系统销售额同比下降3.1%至1.233亿美元。
• 同店销售额下降1.9%，较第二季度的下降2.8%和第一季度的下降4.2%实现环比改善。管理层将持续的疲软部分归因于消费者支出承压、新患者减少以及患者月均支出下降。
• 持续经营业务净利润从29万美元增至150万美元。持续经营业务调整后EBITDA从140万美元增至230万美元，反映出轻资产特许经营商模式带来的经营杠杆效应。
• 单店活跃会员数实现同比与环比双增长。转化率、留存率、会员留存时长以及每位活跃会员的总支出亦有所改善，但月均支出仍面临压力。
• The Joint将2026年全系统销售额预期下调至5.08亿至5.12亿美元，目前预计同店销售额将下降2.5%至3.5%。综合调整后EBITDA指引维持在1250万至1350万美元不变。
• 2026年新开门店平均约3个月即可实现盈亏平衡，而以往通常需要约18个月。管理层预计，在进一步优化门店组合后，门店数量增长将于2027年恢复。

关键财务数据

业务与经营表现

本季度会员趋势有所改善。单店活跃会员数较上年同期及2026年第二季度均有所增加，同时转化率和留存率表现增强。会员在The Joint的留存时间更长，在合作期内贡献的总支出也有所增加。

每月1次和2次就诊的灵活套餐有助于转化新患者并减少现有会员的流失。然而，管理层表示，这些套餐导致每位患者的月均支出被稀释了约2美元，抵消了会员增长带来的部分近期效益。

公司计划于2027年1月推出配备6个AI智能体的AI驱动潜在客户管理平台。管理层认为，该系统具备跟进销售线索、预约登记和解答常见问题的能力，有望在2027年内开始为同店销售额增长做出贡献。

更为严格的选址、实力更强的加盟运营商以及更严格的开业前营销要求，正为门店拓展提供有力支持。2026年新开门店平均约3个月即可实现盈亏平衡，而以往通常需要约18个月。

截至第三季度末，The Joint旗下门店总数为930家；该季度内新开4家，关闭15家，重新特许经营26家。剩余15家直营或托管门店的转让工作仍在推进中。转让全部完成后，公司预计将不再拥有直营或托管门店。

公司还继续回购区域开发商权益。包括得克萨斯州在内，公司在2026年宣布了5项区域收购，涵盖189家门店。这些交易预计每年可减少约300万美元的区域开发商特许权使用费支出，其中约三分之一的效益被内部管理成本所抵消。

10月1日，The Joint支付了800万美元重新购回涵盖141家特许经营门店的得克萨斯州区域开发商权益。此外，最高达200万美元的追加对价与未来两年的区域总销售额挂钩。

管理层指引

管理层表示，调整后的展望反映了前九个月的业绩表现，以及消费者支出持续面临的宏观经济压力。公司预计门店数量增长将于2027年恢复，并将提振同店销售额列为该年度的首要任务。

在剩余所有权转让完成后，管理层将83%至85%的毛利率、占营收40%至42%的一般及行政开支、接近营收3%的资本支出以及60%至70%的自由现金流转化率视为基准参数，而非长期目标。这些参数对应19%至21%的调整后EBITDA利润率以及13%至15%的净利润率。

风险与关注事项

• 消费者支出承压继续导致新患者客流和患者月均支出减少。
• 灵活会员方案改善了转化率和留存率，但目前稀释了每位患者的月均支出。
• 尽管会员指标和生命周期价值指标有所改善，全系统销售额和同店销售额仍处于负增长状态。
• 门店组合优化正在缩减门店规模，预计年末门店总数将比2025年年末减少约50家。
• AI潜客平台、门店扩张及新增诊疗服务带来的预期效益，取决于具体执行成效及患者接受度。
• 第三季度现金流受到一笔150万美元法律和解款项的影响，而在季度结束后，收购得克萨斯州权益需支付800万美元现金。

分析师问答亮点

管理层将新开门店更强劲的表现归因于更严格的选址、资金实力更雄厚的多店运营商以及开业前强制执行的潜客开发规范。公司证实，大部分门店网络精简工作应在2026年完成，门店数量预计将在2027年恢复增长。

针对灵活会员机制，管理层表示，低频次套餐兼具获客和留存功能。它们不仅转化了更多初诊患者，还为那些无法负担或无法用完每月4次就诊的会员提供了避免退会的替代方案。公司目前仍在优化销售流程，以确保这些套餐带来的主要是增量业务。

在被问及同店销售额下滑时，管理层表示这是消费者端压力与运营因素共同作用的结果。通胀和汽油价格被列为本季度面临的压力，而平均支出的下降则部分抵消了会员转化率和留存率提升带来的效益。

业绩电话会完整纪要

完整财报电话会议逐字稿

管理层陈述

Operator

Good day, and welcome to The Joint Corporation Third Quarter 2026 Financial Results Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] Please note this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Richard Land with Alliance Advisors. Please go ahead.

Richard Land

Thank you, Danielle, and good afternoon, everyone. Joining us on the call today are President and CEO Sanjiv Razdan and CFO Scott Bowman. Please note we are using a slide presentation that can be found on The Joint's IR website.

This afternoon, The Joint Corp. issued a press release for the third quarter ended September 30, 2026. The release is available on the company's website. Please be advised that today's discussion, including any financial and related guidance to be provided, consists of forward-looking statements as defined by securities laws. These statements are based on information currently available to us and involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual future results, performance and business prospects, and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed in or implied by these statements. Some important factors that could cause such differences are discussed in the Risk Factors section of The Joint Corp.'s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date the statements are made, and the company assumes no obligation to update them except to the extent required by applicable securities laws. Management uses non-GAAP financial measures such as EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA, and free cash flow. The description of these measures is included in the press release issued earlier this afternoon, and reconciliations to the most directly comparable GAAP measures are included in the appendix to the presentation and press release, both available in the Investors tab of our website.

With that, I'll now turn the call over to Sanjiv Razdan. Sanjiv, please go ahead.

Sanjiv Razdan

Thank you, Richard, and good afternoon, everyone. Our third quarter results show that the actions we have taken to strengthen patient engagement and reshape our operating model are beginning to work together. We are encouraged by progress in several of our leading patient metrics, while recognizing that the consumer environment continues to weigh on spending and our comparable sales. Our active membership count grew during the quarter as our initiative to win back lapsed patients gained momentum. Patients are also staying with us longer and spending more over the course of their relationship with The Joint, supporting higher patient lifetime value.

At the same time, ongoing pressure on consumer spending led to fewer new patients and lower average patient spend per month, which weighed on comp sales. Comp sales were negative 1.9% in the third quarter, improving from negative 2.8% in the second quarter and negative 4.2% in the first quarter. Financially, we continue to see the benefits of our capital-light model with revenue growth and stronger profitability from continuing operations. Scott will walk through the results in more detail. Overall, we are pleased to see that the underlying membership and lifetime value trends are improving and our franchisor model is producing stronger profitability. Our updated outlook takes a realistic view of the consumer, while our focus remains squarely on returning to positive comp sales.

Turning to Slide 5, let me briefly highlight our third quarter financial results. Revenue increased 1% year-over-year to $13.6 million. System-wide sales were $123.3 million, down 3.1% from the prior year period, while comp sales were negative 1.9% versus negative 2.8% in the second quarter. Net income from continuing operations increased by $1.2 million to $1.5 million, compared with $290,000 in the third quarter of 2025. Adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations increased by $900,000 to $2.3 million compared with $1.4 million in the prior year period. Together, these results reflect the improving operating leverage of our franchisor model.

Turning to Slide 6, now turning to membership and patient metrics, we saw encouraging progress during the quarter. Conversion and retention improved, supporting active membership growth. Active members per clinic increased compared with prior year period and compared with the second quarter of 2026. We also increased the average number of months per active member and total dollars per active member, improving patient lifetime value. In short, members are staying with us longer and spending more over their relationship with The Joint.

However, lower average patient spend per month partially offset these benefits, which is why the underlying gains have not yet translated into positive comps. While the longer-term value of the patient relationship is improving, near-term spending remains under pressure. Our focus remains on building the active member base and delivering value in a way that supports patients and the franchisees through the current environment.

Turning to Slide 7, we are pursuing growth in 3 ways: improving comp sales, expanding our clinic network, and responding to growing consumer interest in longevity and health span. I'll start with comp sales, where our initiatives follow the patient journey: attracting new patients, converting them to members, and keeping them engaged longer.

First, we are improving new patient acquisition by strengthening lead management. We are on track to launch a new AI-powered lead management platform supported by 6 AI agents in January 2027. We believe it can begin contributing to comp sales growth during 2027. Among other things, it has the capability to follow up on leads, book appointments, and answer frequently asked questions. This builds on our broader digital efforts to help more patients find The Joint and understand how we can help. Our SEO and AI visibility work continues to support online discovery with our AI visibility score remaining in the mid-70s ahead of competitors across key search topics. We also recently updated our website to highlight our doctors' experience and address common patient questions about pain and specific conditions, helping turn online interest into clinic visits.

Second, we are improving conversion through flexible membership plans. Our flexible membership options give patients more choice while preserving the affordability and accessibility of The Joint model. Lowering the barrier to joining helps us convert more first-time visitors into members and gives existing members a reason to stay rather than cancel.

Third, we are improving retention and winning back lapsed patients. These patients already know The Joint and have benefited from our membership model when they were previously in discomfort. During the third quarter, targeted outreach and promotions helped drive higher lapsed patient win back compared with the prior year period, supporting active membership growth. The cost to bring back a lapsed patient is significantly lower compared to the cost to acquire someone new to The Joint.

And finally, we are also improving member engagement by personalizing the experience for our MVPs, or most valuable patients, to increase their lifetime value. During the third quarter, we launched new app features addressing some of their most requested needs, including adding clinic wait times, which doctor is on schedule, in-app registration, along with birthday and membership anniversary recognition.

Turning to Slide 8, beyond improving comp sales, we are also focused on expanding our clinic network using 3 strategies. First, we are improving new clinic economics. Our 2025 clinic class continues to outperform prior year cohorts and clinics opened in 2026 are performing even better. For example, our recent average time to break even for new 2026 clinics is approximately 3 months compared with approximately 18 months historically. This performance has been supported by more disciplined site selection and more rigorous pre-opening protocols.

Second, we are attracting franchisees with the capacity to expand. We are targeting well-capitalized, experienced multi-site operators while supporting strong existing franchisees that are interested in adding locations. Our compact clinic footprint, low capital requirement, and lean staffing model are well suited to multi-unit ownership.

And third, we are advancing development in reacquired regional developer territories. Buying back RD rights allows us to support franchisees directly, strengthen clinic performance, and recruit operators for specific markets. Across the 5 territories that we reacquired this year, we have identified potential for more than 150 additional clinics, providing a meaningful development opportunity. Supporting all 3, we recently signed with a franchise broker network to accelerate franchisee recruitment and drive new clinic openings.

Turning to Slide 9, our third growth opportunity is to elevate the patient experience and our care offerings to align with growing consumer interest in longevity, health span, mobility, and noninvasive whole body care. As Americans live longer, there is a growing consumer need for improving health span. We believe that The Joint model of improving patient mobility and lowering pain is relevant to this need. We are using consumer research to better understand patient needs and personalize the experience, which is helping us to match our offerings with patients' demands. Pain relief and improved mobility remain central to our message alongside the quality of the patient experience. Our goal is to help patients get back to doing the things they love and encourage long-term engagement.

We are in early stages of testing proprietary clinical care protocols with measurable health outcomes. This includes mobility scores, giving patients clear visibility into their improvement in mobility, pain, and functional health over time, all with the intent of providing our patients with more personalized care and the motivation for consistent ongoing care. And finally, we are piloting complementary retail offerings, including orthotics and nutritional supplements, as we evaluate additional ways to address patient needs and supporting our positioning around mobility and whole body care.

Let's turn to Slide 10. Now, moving on to re-franchising efforts. Supporting these growth priorities is our transition to a capital-light, pure-play franchisor model. With re-franchising substantially complete, our management team is focusing more directly on franchisee support, patient acquisition, and network development with less operational complexity from company-owned clinics. The ownership transfers for our 15 remaining company-owned or managed clinics continue to progress as lease assignments and related steps are completed. Once those transfers are complete, we will have no remaining company-owned or managed clinics.

The benefits of the model are increasingly visible in our results. Through the first 9 months of 2026, net income from continuing operations improved to $2.3 million from a net loss of $1.2 million a year ago, while adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations increased to $5.9 million from $1.5 million. This structure is helping to improve margins, profitability, and cash generation from continuing operations. While we still have work to do to restore consistent system-wide growth, the business is leaner and better positioned to convert future growth into earnings and cash flow.

With that, I'll turn it over to Scott.

Scott Bowman

Thanks, Sanjiv. First, I'll review some key operating metrics. System-wide sales in the third quarter were $123.3 million, a decline of 3.1% compared with the same period last year. Comp sales were negative 1.9% versus negative 2.8% in the second quarter, consistent with the sequential progression that Sanjiv discussed earlier. Adjusted EBITDA from consolidated operations was $3.3 million, in line with the third quarter of 2025.

Turning to Slide 13, I'll review the financial results in more detail. Revenue increased 1% to $13.6 million from $13.4 million in the prior year period. Royalty fees increased 2% to $8.3 million, outpacing system-wide sales, as refranchised clinics generated royalties that were not included in the prior year period. Cost of revenues was $2.4 million, down 10% from the same period last year, primarily reflecting lower regional developer royalty costs as we continue to reacquire RD territories. Selling and marketing expense was $2.7 million, down 4% from the prior year period, primarily due to lower system sales. Depreciation and amortization expense was $262,000, while G&A expense decreased 6% to $6.9 million from $7.3 million in the third quarter of 2025.

Net income from continuing operations was $1.5 million, compared with $290,000 in the same period last year. Including discontinued operations, consolidated net loss was $117,000, or $0.01 per share, compared with consolidated net income of $855,000, or $0.06 per diluted share in the prior year period. Adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations increased to $2.3 million from $1.4 million a year ago, reflecting the improved operating leverage of our franchisor model.

Now onto the balance sheet and liquidity. Unrestricted cash at the end of the third quarter was $18.3 million compared with $22.2 million at the end of the second quarter. Subsequent to quarter end, we paid $8 million at closing to reacquire the Texas RD rights. Operating cash flow was negative $128,000, and free cash flow was negative $509,000 in the third quarter, primarily reflecting a $1.5 million payment in the quarter for a legal settlement from 2024. This compares to operating cash flow of $1.8 million and free cash flow of $1.5 million in the prior year period. We expect free cash flow to improve as the remaining ownership transfers are completed. We maintain our $20 million line of credit with JPMorgan Chase, which remains fully undrawn and available through August 2029. Together, our cash position and undrawn credit facility provide flexibility to execute our capital allocation framework while maintaining appropriate liquidity.

Turning to Slide 15, our approach to capital allocation remains balanced. Our first priority is to invest in initiatives that support sustainable system-wide growth. We also evaluate regional developer territory buybacks and share repurchases based on their expected returns, strategic value, and the liquidity needs of the business. RD territory buybacks improve our economics by allowing us to recapture approximately two-thirds of the royalties previously paid to the regional developer. They also give us a more direct relationship with franchisees, supporting the operating and development priorities Sanjiv outlined.

As I just noted, on October 1, we reacquired the Regional Developer Rights for Texas, our largest RD territory, representing 141 franchised clinics, for $8 million in cash at closing, and up to $2 million in potential additional consideration tied to gross sales in the region over the next 2 years. Including Texas, we have announced 5 RD territory buybacks in 2026, totaling 189 clinics. Together, these territories are expected to reduce RD royalties by approximately $3 million on an annualized basis, with about one-third of that benefit offset by internal cost to manage them.

Share repurchases are another way to create value and return capital to shareholders when market conditions make them an attractive use of cash. During the third quarter, we repurchased approximately 461,000 shares for $3.8 million at an average price of $8.30 per share, completing the $12 million authorization approved in November 2025. Subsequent to the quarter end, our board approved an additional $5 million authorization, giving us continued flexibility to repurchase shares opportunistically. We will continue to balance these uses of capital while preserving appropriate liquidity and capacity to invest in the business.

On to Slide 16, let's discuss our clinic count. Total clinic count was 930 at the end of the third quarter. During the quarter, we opened 4 clinics, closed 15 clinics, and refranchised 26 clinics. Our newer clinics continue to perform well, supporting our confidence that our more disciplined approach to operator quality, site selection, and opening support is producing a healthier foundation for future unit growth. We continue to work with franchise owners to optimize the existing clinic base. This includes closing underperforming clinics, which we expect will result in the overall clinic count at year-end being approximately 50 clinics below year-end 2025. We expect to get back to clinic growth beginning next year.

On Slide 17, I'd like to briefly revisit the financial profile of our pure-play franchisor model. The Joint is now operating with a right-sized structure with lower G&A expense and improved profitability from continuing operations. We continue to view the model parameters previously introduced as starting points once the remaining ownership transfers are complete rather than long-term targets. As a reminder, these starting points include gross margin of 83% to 85% of revenue, G&A expense of 40% to 42% of revenue, capital expenditures of approximately 3% of revenue, and free cash flow conversion of 60% to 70%. Together, these starting points would imply an adjusted EBITDA margin of 19% to 21% and a net income margin of 13% to 15%. We intend to build on this profile in 2027 and beyond.

On Slide 18, we are updating our full year 2026 financial guidance to reflect results through the first 9 months and continued macroeconomic pressure on consumer spending. We now expect system-wide sales of $508 million to $512 million, compared with our prior range of $519 million to $552 million. System-wide comp sales are expected to be in the range of negative 3.5% to negative 2.5%, compared with our prior range of negative 3% to positive 3%. We are reiterating our consolidated adjusted EBITDA guidance of $12.5 million to $13.5 million. As noted earlier, we expect total clinic count at year-end 2026 to be approximately 50 units below year-end 2025 as we continue to optimize the existing clinic base.

Our updated outlook reflects continued pressure on consumer spending. At the same time, improvements in active membership, retention, patient lifetime value, and newer clinic performance give us confidence that the business is well-positioned to return to growth as our initiatives take hold.

With that, I'll turn it back over to Sanjiv.

Sanjiv Razdan

Thanks, Scott. Let me look at Slide 20. The third quarter reflects meaningful progress in the areas that will support the long-term health of the business. We grew our active membership count, with members staying with us longer. Total dollars per active member increased, and conversion and retention are improving. Together with stronger new clinic performance, these are important building blocks for future growth. We are confident that the underlying operating indicators are moving in the right direction. The business is structurally stronger and our priorities remain clear.

Our priority for 2027 is clear. We are single-mindedly focused on improving comp sales.

With that, operator, we are ready for questions.

Operator

[Operator Instructions] The first question comes from Jeremy Pearlman from Maxim Group. Please go ahead.

分析师问答

Jeremy Pearlman

Firstly, you mentioned that some of the newer franchised clinics are actually performing well. What do you attribute that to, and how do you replicate that to the current franchise base?

Sanjiv Razdan

Yes, great question, Jeremy. Thank you. This is Sanjiv. We attribute that to 3 fundamental things.

#1, the rigor that we are applying to site selection is exponentially more than what we have applied historically.

#2, we have brought on some very well-capitalized, strong operators, boots on the ground, and the openings that we've seen with them are very strong.

#3, and perhaps most importantly, we are enforcing compliance with pre-opening protocols of how we expect franchisees to market a clinic even before it opens. In a membership-based model, it's highly critical to have a strong lead generation even before the doors open to make sure that the franchisee and the clinic gets to break-even sales very, very quickly. We feel like we have that playbook, and we are not allowing any clinic to open without compliance with that playbook, and we're also supporting our franchisees in their ability to achieve the outcomes.

Jeremy Pearlman

Okay, I understand. That's great. And then maybe just, you know, you're rationalizing the actual base. You said there's going to be 50 or fewer locations by the end of this year compared to year-end 2025, is that just pretty much all the rationalization? And '27, I think you mentioned that's when you're going to start to, you know, the openings back up and...

Sanjiv Razdan

That is accurate.

Jeremy Pearlman

Okay, that's great. And then just the last question referring, you know, you said your active membership is up. That has to do with a new membership structure. So is that new membership structure generating incremental patient demand or is it primarily improving retention among existing customers?

Sanjiv Razdan

Yes, let me provide some additional context to that. So first of all, we're really pleased and encouraged that we have more active members in our system per clinic today than we did same time last year. To frame something we've shared previously, the average household income of our patients tends to be somewhere between $60,000 to $110,000. The lower end of that income band is also what is now often referred to as the bottom of the K-shaped economy. Those members are pressured in terms of disposable income.

We had done a significant amount of research earlier this year and last year to understand what the shifting consumer needs were. And what we learned was 3 things: patients stop staying with us because they're no longer in pain, they don't want to pay the membership fee or they feel unable to afford the membership fee for much longer, and often they don't have the time to enjoy up to 4 visits per month that their standard membership allows.

So as a result of that, we introduced some flexible membership options which were not only lower priced but also allowed them lower frequency of visits. These have been leveraged by our teams to help convert new patients into members and also prevent existing members from canceling their memberships. So what we're finding is that as a result, our retention is much higher, our conversion is much higher, and the patients that have come on to these flexible plans are staying with us for longer because this comes at a price and a visit frequency that they feel meets their needs better. So that is what we're seeing.

Now what is the upside of this? The upside is that the overall lifetime value is increasing, both in time spent and dollars. The downside of it is that in the short term, we are seeing a spend dilution per patient per month of roughly, to give you a sense, about $2. So when you think about $2, it's not in itself an enormous amount, but it is meaningful enough to erode the benefit at the moment of the upside that we're seeing in active members.

So we are now working to double down on retention and double down on improving our conversion and leveraging these. That's a long way of saying 2 things: 1, we are converting more patients into members as a result of these options, and 2, we're also preventing more cancellations as a result of these options.

Scott Bowman

Yes, just 2 quick thoughts here. Those new plans that Sanjiv mentioned...

Sanjiv Razdan

Yes, I can handle that. Oh, yes, sure.

Scott Bowman

The intent, 1 is for 2 visits a month, 1 for 1 visit a month. And 1 of the use cases is if, like Sanjiv said, if they can't afford or don't have the time for 4 visits a month, they can do 2 visits a month with the optionality of buying more visits for $25. So that's a really good step down if somebody doesn't want the full wellness plan, you can step them down to that. If somebody wants to cancel, they come in and they want to cancel their plan because they don't have the money or time, we can offer that or we can offer the 1-visit plan that has been very popular.

We're still optimizing the sales process of that to make sure that the sales of those plans are mostly incremental, which in most cases they are. There's some fine-tuning we'll continue to do, though. But we feel like those 2 plans really round out our offering, especially in times where people are a little strained financially. It works very well in that situation. So as we continue to optimize that mix, we think good things will happen. We're already seeing the retention and conversion improvement, early days, but there'll be more to come.

Jeremy Pearlman

Okay, great. And then just last question, you know, how much of the same-store comp sales decrease, how much do you attribute that to weakness in the underlying consumer versus maybe the franchise owner is not operating as well as he could be?

Scott Bowman

Yes. I mean, I think it's probably a combination. I mean, I think the macro, I don't think it's changed that much. You know, I think gas prices and overall inflation has had probably a little bit larger impact in the quarter. So I think there's that. So I think these new plans have helped us, but as Sanjiv mentioned, they've been somewhat offset by the lower average spend in the near term.

Jeremy Pearlman

All right. Thank you for all that information. I'll hop back into the queue.

Operator

This concludes our question and answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Sanjiv Razdan for closing remarks.

Sanjiv Razdan

Thank you all for joining us today. Have a great day. And remember, at The Joint, we always have your back. Thank you, operator. Let's close out the call.

Operator

The conference is now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.

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