cbdMD, Inc. (YCBD): History, Ownership, Mission, How It Works & Makes Money

Given the volatile nature of the cannabidiol (CBD) market, how does a company like cbdMD, Inc. (YCBD) not only survive but also strategically reset its financial foundation for long-term growth?

As a seasoned analyst, I can tell you that their story in the 2025 fiscal year is one of aggressive capital structure cleanup and disciplined cost management, evidenced by the expected improvement in their Net Loss to between $1.9 million and $2.1 million, a significant reduction from the prior year's $3.7 million loss.

This financial discipline, coupled with eliminating approximately $6.7 million in accrued dividends by converting preferred stock, raised their book value above the critical NYSE American threshold, providing the strategic flexibility needed to push their core CBD and emerging Farm Bill-compliant Delta-9 offerings like Herbal Oasis seltzers.

You need to understand the mechanics of how their primary direct-to-consumer model-which still accounted for 77% of their net sales in Q2 2025-is adapting to a flat revenue environment, where net sales are projected to land between $19.1 million and $19.3 million for the full fiscal year.

cbdMD, Inc. (YCBD) History

You want a clear line of sight on cbdMD, Inc.'s journey, and the story is one of rapid brand building followed by a sharp focus on profitability and strategic diversification in a tough regulatory environment. The company's evolution is marked by a pivot from aggressive marketing to disciplined cost management, culminating in its first-ever quarterly positive non-GAAP Adjusted EBITDA in fiscal year 2025.

Given Company's Founding Timeline

Year established

cbdMD, Inc. was established in 2014.

Original location

The company is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Founding team members

While the initial founding team members are not publicly detailed, the company's early trajectory was significantly shaped by a key leadership transition in 2017 when Martin A. Sumichrast was appointed as Chairman and Co-Chief Executive Officer. The current leadership, as of late 2025, is spearheaded by CEO and CFO Ronan Kennedy, who took the CEO role in March 2023.

Initial capital/funding

Specific information regarding the precise initial capital or seed funding for the company's establishment is not publicly available. Still, recent funding efforts are clear: in October 2025, the company closed a Series B Preferred Private Placement, raising gross proceeds of $1.7 million, with net proceeds of $1.5 million.

Given Company's Evolution Milestones

Given Company's Transformative Moments

The company's trajectory has been defined by strategic moves to professionalize its operations and diversify its revenue base while navigating a challenging regulatory landscape. The shift from a high-growth, high-spend model to a focus on profitability is the biggest change.

• The Profitability Pivot: Achieving a positive non-GAAP Adjusted EBITDA of $214,000 in the first quarter of fiscal 2025 was a game-changer, proving the operating model could generate cash. For the full fiscal year 2025, the net loss is expected to improve significantly, ranging from $1.9 million to $2.1 million, down from a $3.7 million loss in 2024.
• Brand and Product Diversification: The move beyond core CBD products into hemp-derived Delta-9 THC seltzers (Herbal Oasis) and functional mushroom supplements (ATRx) is a clear hedge against CBD market saturation and regulatory uncertainty.
• Financial Restructuring for Compliance: The October 2025 $1.7 million Series B financing was crucial, aimed at strengthening the balance sheet and supporting efforts to regain full compliance with the NYSE American listing requirements, which is a defintely necessary action.
• Revenue Stabilization: Despite industry peers reporting declines, the company's full-year fiscal 2025 net sales are expected to be essentially flat, projected between $19.1 million and $19.3 million, showing a successful defense of its market share.

Understanding these shifts is key to projecting future performance. You can dig deeper into the company's capital structure and shareholder base by Exploring cbdMD, Inc. (YCBD) Investor Profile: Who's Buying and Why?

cbdMD, Inc. (YCBD) Ownership Structure

cbdMD, Inc. (YCBD) is a publicly traded company, but its ownership structure is heavily weighted toward retail investors, with institutional holdings remaining a relatively small fraction of the total float. This means day-to-day trading by individual investors drives much of the stock's volatility, which is typical for smaller-cap companies in the cannabidiol (CBD) space.

The company operates under the governance of a publicly elected Board of Directors, but strategic direction is heavily influenced by the executive team who have been focused on cost discipline and operational changes, which they project will narrow the net loss for fiscal year 2025 to a range of $1.9 million to $2.1 million.

Given Company's Current Status

cbdMD, Inc. is a publicly listed company trading on the NYSE American exchange under the ticker symbol YCBD. A major capital structure change occurred in May 2025 with a one-for-eight reverse stock split and the automatic conversion of all Series A Preferred Stock into Common Stock, which consolidated the total shares outstanding to approximately 8.91 million. This move was a clear action to clean up the balance sheet by eliminating roughly $6.7 million in accrued dividend liabilities. The company is a trend-aware realist, and this move was defintely aimed at maintaining compliance with NYSE American listing requirements.

Given Company's Ownership Breakdown

As of late fiscal year 2025, the majority of the company's shares are held by public and retail investors, which can lead to higher price swings. Institutional investors, including mutual funds, hold a modest but growing stake. Here's the quick math on who owns the common stock, based on shares outstanding of approximately 8.91 million:

This breakdown shows that while institutions are present, the company is not institutionally controlled. The relatively high public float percentage means you have a more direct influence on the share price than you would with a mega-cap stock.

Given Company's Leadership

The company is steered by a lean, operationally focused leadership team, many of whom have been in their roles since the turnaround strategy began. The leadership is focused on disciplined cost management to achieve continued earnings improvement.

• Ronan Kennedy: Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Chief Financial Officer (CFO). He has held the CFO role since late 2020 and Interim CEO since March 2023, joining the Board of Directors in December 2024.
• Brad Whitford: Chief Accounting Officer (CAO). He has served in this role since March 2023, having previously been the Vice President of Finance.
• Dr. Sibyl Swift: Chief Science Officer (CSO) and Vice President of Regulatory Affairs. Her background includes time at the FDA's Office of Dietary Supplement Programs, which is critical for navigating the complex CBD regulatory landscape.
• Zeb Booker: Chief Technology Officer (CTO). He brings over 15 years of experience in technology and operations within the manufacturing and CBD industries.
• Wade Brown: Vice President of Marketing. He is tasked with driving strategic growth and optimizing acquisition channels across the company's brands.

The leadership's commitment to a durable, long-term business for shareholders is clear. To understand the strategic foundation they are building upon, review the Mission Statement, Vision, & Core Values of cbdMD, Inc. (YCBD).

cbdMD, Inc. (YCBD) Mission and Values

cbdMD, Inc.'s core purpose in the current environment is less about flowery language and more about a hard-nosed commitment to financial stability and market leadership, aiming to be the most trusted and recognized cannabinoid brand in a volatile industry.

This focus is defintely reflected in their 2025 fiscal year targets, where they are driving toward a net loss improvement to a range of between $1.9 million and $2.1 million, a significant step down from the 2024 net loss of $3.7 million.

Given Company's Core Purpose

As a seasoned analyst, I see cbdMD, Inc.'s core purpose mapped directly to their operational and financial priorities. Their cultural DNA is currently one of discipline and resilience, which is necessary to navigate the complex regulatory landscape of the CBD and hemp-derived product market.

Here's the quick math: achieving a non-GAAP adjusted EBITDA profit of $214,000 in the first quarter of fiscal 2025, compared to a loss in the prior year, shows their commitment to a sustainable, thriving business model. That's the real-world mission right now.

• Achieve Profitability: Prioritize financial discipline to deliver a profitable full-year in 2025.
• Strengthen Capital Structure: Resolve listing challenges and capital structure issues, like the successful conversion of Series A Preferred Stock in 2025, which eliminated approximately $6.7 million in accrued dividend liabilities.
• Expand Distribution: Scale their wholesale business, which saw a 22% increase in net sales for Q2 2025 compared to the prior year quarter.

Official mission statement

While the company does not publish a single, formal mission statement in recent filings, their stated operational goals serve as the functional mission: to strengthen the business, sharpen the operating model, and create a more stable foundation for long-term growth.

This mission is grounded in their product quality, which is focused on a comprehensive line of U.S.-produced, highly trusted, and recognized THC-free CBD products, plus their expansion into the Farm Act compliant Delta 9 and functional mushroom markets with brands like Herbal Oasis and ATRx Labs.

Vision statement

The company's vision is to be a major player in the emerging sectors of the cannabinoid market, ensuring they are the preferred brand in their category, which is a clear, ambitious goal.

Their vision for fiscal 2025 is to steer a path toward continued earnings improvement over 2024, driven by disciplined cost management. Their forecasted annual revenue of $34 million for fiscal year 2025, though a forecast, shows the scale of the growth they are targeting.

• Be one of the most trusted and recognized CBD brands in the United States.
• Establish Herbal Oasis as a major player in the fast-emerging hemp-derived beverage sector.
• Focus on enhancing customer acquisition, experience, and retention in the e-commerce direct-to-consumer business, which generated $3.9 million in Q1 2025 sales.

You can see more on their shareholder focus by Exploring cbdMD, Inc. (YCBD) Investor Profile: Who's Buying and Why?

Given Company slogan/tagline

The company uses marketing language that connects directly to the consumer benefit of their products, moving beyond just the ingredient (CBD) to the feeling and outcome they provide.

• Just feel good.
• Start unlocking the best version of you!
• #BetterWithCBD.

cbdMD, Inc. (YCBD) How It Works

cbdMD, Inc. operates as a diversified wellness company, primarily generating revenue by manufacturing and distributing a comprehensive portfolio of hemp-derived cannabinoid products and functional supplements across multiple consumer categories. They focus on a direct-to-consumer e-commerce model, which accounted for approximately 77% of their net sales in the second quarter of fiscal year 2025, plus a growing wholesale distribution channel.

The company has sharpened its focus on disciplined cost management and expanding into high-growth, federally compliant categories like hemp-derived beverages to stabilize revenue, which is projected to be around $19.2 million for the full fiscal year 2025.

cbdMD, Inc.'s Product/Service Portfolio

cbdMD, Inc.'s Operational Framework

The company's operational framework centers on maintaining high gross margins and controlling selling, general, and administrative (SG&A) expenses to drive toward profitability. For instance, gross profit remained healthy, ranging from 61% to 66% across the first three quarters of fiscal 2025.

• Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) Focus: E-commerce remains the primary sales channel, generating approximately $3.6 million in the second quarter of 2025, which provides better margin control than wholesale.
• Cost Discipline: SG&A expenses were reduced significantly, partly by eliminating the headquarters lease and cutting payroll, reflecting a deliberate effort to improve the bottom line.
• Distribution Expansion: Wholesale net sales increased by 22% in Q2 2025, driven by new distribution partnerships and a push for the Herbal Oasis brand in states like Florida and Minnesota.
• Capital Management: A strategic private placement in October 2025 raised $1.7 million in gross proceeds, earmarked for working capital and brand distribution expansion, putting the company in a stronger cash position.

Here's the quick math: The focus on cost control is working, with the expected fiscal 2025 Net Loss improving to approximately $2.0 million, down from a $3.7 million loss in the prior year.

cbdMD, Inc.'s Strategic Advantages

The company's market success is enabled by a few key advantages that differentiate it in a crowded and complex regulatory environment. You need to look for stability and diversification in this sector.

• Established Brand Trust: cbdMD is one of the most recognized and trusted cannabidiol brands in the U.S., which is a defintely high barrier to entry in a market sensitive to quality and efficacy.
• Multi-Category Diversification: Operating across four distinct brands-core CBD, pet CBD, functional mushrooms, and hemp-THC beverages-provides diversified revenue streams and hedges against regulatory shifts in any single category.
• Financial Outperformance: The company achieved positive sequential and year-over-year revenue growth in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025, a stark contrast to the 8% to 10% declines reported by many public peers.
• Product Innovation: Continuous product enhancement, like new formulations for sleep and calm, along with the launch of high-potential products like Herbal Oasis, keeps the portfolio relevant to shifting consumer preferences.

For a deeper dive into the numbers behind this operational shift, you should read Breaking Down cbdMD, Inc. (YCBD) Financial Health: Key Insights for Investors.

cbdMD, Inc. (YCBD) How It Makes Money

cbdMD, Inc. generates revenue primarily through the sale of its cannabidiol (CBD) and Farm Bill-compliant Delta-9 products, which include tinctures, gummies, topicals, and pet products. The company's business model is centered on a dual-channel distribution strategy: a high-margin direct-to-consumer e-commerce platform and a lower-margin, but broader-reach, wholesale network.

Here's the quick math: For the third quarter of fiscal 2025, total net sales were $4.6 million, a figure that shows the company's reliance on its online channel for the bulk of its income.

cbdMD, Inc.'s Revenue Breakdown

The company's revenue streams for the third quarter of fiscal 2025 highlight a clear preference for the direct-to-consumer (DTC) channel, which offers better control over pricing and customer relationships.

Business Economics

The economic engine of cbdMD, Inc. is built on maintaining a high gross margin (Gross Profit / Net Sales) despite a challenging and consolidating market. The company is defintely focused on cost management to navigate regulatory uncertainty in the CBD space.

• Gross Margin: The company consistently maintains a strong gross margin, which was 61% in Q3 2025 and 62% in Q2 2025. This indicates efficient cost of goods sold (COGS) relative to sales price, which is a leading figure in the industry.
• Pricing Strategy: The DTC channel allows for premium pricing and direct control over promotional activities, which supports the high gross margin. Wholesale pricing is lower to incentivize distributors and brick-and-mortar retailers, but this channel is also seeing the steepest decline.
• Cost Control: Management has executed significant cost-saving initiatives, including reductions in payroll, professional fees, and the elimination of a headquarters lease, which helped reduce Selling, General, and Administrative (SG&A) expenses.
• Strategic De-risking: A key financial move in 2025 was the conversion of Series A Preferred Stock, which eliminated approximately $6.7 million in accrued dividend liabilities, significantly improving the company's balance sheet and book value to $6.1 million as of June 30, 2025.

The core challenge is translating that strong gross margin into net profitability while reversing the revenue decline. You can read more about the company's long-term focus here: Mission Statement, Vision, & Core Values of cbdMD, Inc. (YCBD).

cbdMD, Inc.'s Financial Performance

Fiscal Year 2025 results show a business stabilizing its foundation through aggressive cost management, even as the top-line revenue remains essentially flat compared to the prior year.

• Fiscal 2025 Net Sales: Preliminary unaudited results for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2025, project net sales between $19.1 million and $19.3 million, which is essentially flat compared to the $19.5 million in fiscal 2024.
• Net Loss Improvement: The company expects a substantial improvement in its net loss for FY2025, narrowing the loss from $3.7 million in the prior year to a range of $1.9 million to $2.1 million. This is a direct result of disciplined cost management.
• Non-GAAP Adjusted EBITDA: The company achieved a positive non-GAAP adjusted EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization) of $214,000 in Q1 2025, a major milestone, though this metric reverted to a loss of $624,000 in Q3 2025, showing volatility.
• Working Capital: As of June 30, 2025, the company had a working capital of $2.0 million, an improvement from a previous deficit, which gives them some operational breathing room.

cbdMD, Inc. (YCBD) Market Position & Future Outlook

cbdMD, Inc. is currently focused on stabilizing its core business through aggressive cost control and expanding into higher-growth, federally compliant product categories like Delta-9 THC and functional supplements. The company's preliminary fiscal year 2025 revenue is expected to land between $19.1 million and $19.3 million, which is essentially flat year-over-year, indicating a challenging market position despite a narrower expected net loss of $1.9 million to $2.1 million.

Honestly, the immediate future hinges on successful brand diversification and maintaining NYSE American listing compliance. You can review the full financial health breakdown here: Breaking Down cbdMD, Inc. (YCBD) Financial Health: Key Insights for Investors.

Competitive Landscape

The U.S. CBD market is highly fragmented, and while cbdMD, Inc. is a recognized brand, it remains a small player. Based on its projected $19.2 million in FY 2025 revenue against the estimated $7.68 billion U.S. CBD market, its calculated market share is approximately 0.25%. This is a nano-cap position against multi-billion dollar conglomerates and established hemp-focused leaders.

Opportunities & Challenges

The company is making strategic moves to improve profitability and capture new market segments, but it must navigate significant financial and regulatory headwinds. Here's the quick math on the potential: eliminating approximately $9 million in annualized operating costs (as seen in competitor Charlotte's Web's similar initiatives) is crucial for a company with only $19.2 million in revenue.

Industry Position

cbdMD, Inc. sits in the 'Nano Cap' tier with a market capitalization of around $5.04 million, positioning it as a niche player in the broader $7.68 billion U.S. CBD market. While the company is one of the most recognized CBD brands, its financial performance is not keeping pace with the industry's projected growth.

• Focus on cost discipline: SG&A expenses are down, aiming for continued earnings improvement in fiscal 2025.
• Product differentiation: The shift toward Farm Bill-compliant Delta-9 products like Herbal Oasis is a smart move to capture the 'functional beverage' trend.
• Financial stability: The $1.7 million capital raise in October 2025, providing $1.5 million in net proceeds, is a necessary lifeline for working capital and strategic initiatives.
• Gross margins are healthy at 62% (Q2 2025), but the scale is defintely the problem.

The company is in a turnaround phase, shifting from a pure-play CBD model to a diversified botanical wellness portfolio, but its small size makes it vulnerable to market swings and regulatory uncertainty.