How did operating expenses and SG&A ratio change year‑over‑year, and what does that imply for cost‑control?
Answer
The short news‑release excerpt you supplied only gives the headline‑level sales figures for Q2 2025 (total net sales + 25.1 % to $116.6 M, with the Stoker’s segment up 62.9 % and Zig‑Zag down 6.9 %).
It does not include the specific numbers for:
- Operating expenses (i.e., total cost of goods sold + selling, general & administrative expenses + other operating costs) for Q2 2025 and Q2 2024, and
- The SG&A (selling, general & administrative) expense ratio – the proportion of SG&A to net sales – for the two periods.
Because those line‑items are missing from the excerpt, we cannot calculate the year‑over‑year change in operating expenses or the SG&A ratio directly from the information you posted.
How to interpret the metrics when the data is available
If the full press release (or the company’s earnings filing) does provide the numbers, the typical analysis would look like this:
| Metric | How it’s calculated | What a higher vs. lower change means |
|---|---|---|
| Operating expenses (absolute) | Sum of all operating cost items for the quarter. Compare Q2 2025 to Q2 2024. | Increase: expenses are rising faster than sales, potentially eroding margin. Decrease: the company is containing cost growth, which can boost profitability. |
| SG&A expense ratio | SG&A expense ÷ Net sales (expressed as a %). Compare the % for Q2 2025 vs. Q2 2024. | Declining ratio: SG&A is growing slower than sales – a sign of effective cost‑control and operating leverage. Expanding ratio: SG&A is growing faster than sales – a warning that cost discipline may be slipping. |
Example interpretation
Scenario A – Operating expenses rise modestly, SG&A ratio falls:
Operating expenses +10 % while net sales +25 % → operating margin expands.
SG&A ratio drops from 12 % to 9 % → the company is extracting more “free cash” from each sales dollar, indicating strong cost‑control.Scenario B – Operating expenses rise sharply, SG&A ratio expands:
Operating expenses +30 % while net sales +25 % → margin compression.
SG&A ratio climbs from 9 % to 13 % → SG&A is out‑pacing sales, suggesting weaker cost discipline and a need for tighter expense management.
What to do next
- Locate the full earnings release – The complete Turning Point Brands Q2 2025 results (usually posted on the company’s investor‑relations website or the SEC’s EDGAR system) will list “Operating expenses” and “SG&A expense” as separate line items, together with the SG&A expense ratio (or the data needed to compute it).
- Calculate the YoY change:
- Operating‑expense change = (Operating expense 2025 – Operating expense 2024) ÷ Operating expense 2024 × 100 %
- SG&A ratio change = (SG&A 2025 ÷ Net sales 2025) – (SG&A 2024 ÷ Net sales 2024).
- Operating‑expense change = (Operating expense 2025 – Operating expense 2024) ÷ Operating expense 2024 × 100 %
- Assess cost‑control using the framework above – a declining SG&A ratio alongside modest expense growth signals good cost‑control; an expanding ratio or expense growth out‑pacing sales signals the opposite.
Bottom line
From the information you provided alone, we cannot quantify the year‑over‑year change in operating expenses or the SG&A ratio, nor directly comment on cost‑control performance. However, once the missing figures are obtained, the simple percentage‑change and ratio‑change calculations outlined above will let you determine whether Turning Point Brands has tightened its cost structure (improved cost‑control) or whether expenses are eroding the benefits of its strong sales growth.