The Joint Corp. 2026 Q2 Earnings Call

Please go ahead. Thank you, Rebecca, 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 Investor Relations website. This afternoon, The Joint Corp. issued a press release for the second quarter ended June 30, 2026. If you do not already have a copy, it can also be found 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 filing 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, free cash flow and system-wide sales. A 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 of which are available in the Investors tab of our website. With that, I'll now turn the call over to Sanjiv Razdan. Sanjiv, please go ahead. Thank you, Richard.

Good afternoon, everyone. The second quarter was a period of continued execution of our Joint 2.0 initiative, with our results reflecting the progress we are making toward a stronger, more profitable financial profile as a capital-light, pure-play franchisor. This was underscored by a $560,000 year-over-year improvement in consolidated net income and a $1.4 million increase in Adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations, reflecting the improved operating leverage of the current business. Meanwhile, we delivered 152% year-over-year growth in cash flow from operating activities, resulting in a $1.6 million increase in free cash flow. These improvements were driven by continued progress on our refranchising initiative, disciplined capital allocation and significant improvement in our patient retention levels. First, on refranchising. Our three previously announced clinic sale bundles are progressing well, with buyers already operating the clinics under management service agreements while lease assignments are completed and remaining ownership transfers are finalized.

Taken together, these transactions mean The Joint effectively operates today as a capital-light, pure-play franchisor. Second, on patient retention, we posted our best quality retention rate in over five years, a direct result of the new flexible and expanded plan options introduced earlier this year. These initiatives are working as intended, reducing attrition while making our offerings more attractive to patients. Third, on capital allocation, we remained disciplined during the quarter, repurchasing approximately $677,000 of shares while also investing in the business and completing three regional developer territory buybacks in the quarter, bringing the year-to-date total to four.

Together, these actions reflect our conviction in the long-term value of this business and our commitment to disciplined, balanced capital deployment. Combined with our progress on optimizing the clinic portfolio, they are driving higher profitability and stronger free cash flow. Turning to slide five, I'll touch on some of our Q2 financial highlights, which reflect the combined benefit of this execution. Revenue grew 14% year-over-year to $15.2 million. Adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations was $1.5 million compared to $88,000 in Q2 2025, an increase of $1.4 million, underscoring the operating leverage we are generating as we shift toward more royalty and fee-based franchise revenue. Consolidated net income increased to $653,000 compared to $93,000 in Q2 2025.

Cash flow from operating activities grew 152% year-over-year to $2.2 million, driving a $1.6 million increase in free cash flow to $1.9 million. Turning to slide six. Now I'd like to provide a little bit more background on the status of our re-franchising efforts. Since entering into the sale agreement covering the Southern California clinic bundle, ownership has been transferred for 32 clinics to date, and the remaining 13 clinics are being operated by the buyer under management service agreements while lease assignments are finalized. For the Northern California bundle, a signed asset purchase agreement is in place for four clinics. Finally, for the Southeast bundle, a signed asset purchase agreement is in place I beg your pardon. Finally, for the Southeast bundle, ownership has been transferred for six clinics to date, with the remaining 15 clinics also operating under management service agreements pending lease reassignments.

Once ownership transfers are finalized across these clinic bundles, we will have only three remaining company-owned or managed clinics, effectively positioning the company to realize the full benefits of our pure-play, capital-light franchise model. Turning to slide seven. While our re-franchising efforts nearly behind us, we have more capacity to concentrate on driving growth through franchise system support, new patient acquisition, and long-term network development. We see a significant opportunity to further strengthen new patient acquisition and to win back lapsed patients. This, along with patient retention, remains our primary near-term focus, and we're leaning into targeted marketing and optimized membership offerings to capture demand more effectively. We've done extensive research recently on our consumer base, and that work is sharpening our focus on the patient and the user experience.

For example, as a result of these consumer insights, we are piloting a proprietary set of clinical care protocols, which, amongst other things, will provide quantifiable mobility scores to our patients. Our 2025 class of 29 clinic openings continue to outperform prior year cohorts, and the new clinics so far this year are performing even better. In addition, we are working to bring on well-capitalized franchisees with strong multi-site operating experience to support our portfolio optimization efforts as well as to drive net new clinic growth. Also, as we directly engage franchisees previously supported by regional developers, we are finding opportunities to elevate both the quality of operations and the pace of clinic development. As mentioned on our last call, our longer-term journey will prioritize growth through new channels, expansion into under-penetrated U.S. markets, and potential entry into our first international markets.

This longer-term strategy is expected to address shifting consumer trends, including growing interest in longevity, health span, mindfulness, sleep quality, posture, and non-invasive whole body care. Chiropractic care and The Joint's unique model is exceptionally well-positioned against this backdrop. Moving to slide eight. Turning to our marketing efforts and how we are driving top-line momentum. Our messaging continues to center on chiropractic care for pain relief, helping patients improve their mobility and get back to doing the things they love. We're increasingly emphasizing the quality of the patient experience alongside this. This message tends to attract patients who stay with us longer. We have seen sequential improvement in active member growth each month this year. We are also increasing focus on our MVPs, or Most Valuable Patients, by exploring ways to personalize their experience, bringing additional value to membership, and ultimately driving LTV or long-term value.

Another focus is on winning back lapsed patients who are familiar with The Joint and have benefited from our membership model in the past. On the digital side, our ongoing SEO and AI visibility optimization work is driving higher organic traffic and lead quality. Our AI visibility score has held steady in the high 70s, keeping us ahead of competitors on key search topics. Meanwhile, we are seeing continued positive trends in traffic and high intent actions on our local clinic microsites. During Q2, we expanded our offering of more flexible plans to drive conversion and longer-term retention. Lastly, in July, we rolled out our $5 and $10 pricing increases to additional clinics, bringing the total number of clinics that have opted to take pricing to over 500.

Feedback to date continues to indicate no meaningful patient pushback. We are using this data to ensure pricing changes support revenue optimization without impacting patient acquisition or retention. Turning to slide nine, I'll speak to how these initiatives are translating into comps and retention. Comp sales were negative 2.8% in the second quarter, an improvement compared to the first quarter. As I mentioned, our flexible membership options drove our best patient retention rate in over five years this quarter. Pricing optimization efforts also continued. Together with improving active member trends, these factors are driving consistent recovery in comp trends. We expect comp sales trends to improve throughout the balance of this year. Growing our active member base remains a central driver of comp sales improvement. We will continue to drive growth through stronger lead generation, improved retention, and winning back lapsed patients.

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