MusclePharm might seem the same to you…but it’s radically different from my POV! But for anyone new to these quarterly content pieces, FitLife Brands sells more than 250 SKUs across 13 supplement brands…each with a slightly different product portfolio and sales channel strategy. In total, the FitLife Brands portfolio is sold through more than 20K retail locations globally. But throughout this content, you’ll hear me categorize the FitLife Brands portfolio into three segments: Legacy FitLife Brands, Mimi’s Rock Corporation, and MusclePharm. In the first quarter of 2025, FitLife Brands Inc. (NASDAQ: FTLF) had revenues of $15.9 million...which was down 4% YoY. But while there's strategic initiatives going on that involve the legacy FitLife Brands and Mimi's Rock segments, the most intriguing activity within FitLife Brands is also currently its smallest segment (i.e. MusclePharm). In the first quarter of 2025, MusclePharm segment revenue was just under $2.0 million...which decreased 6% YoY. And maybe you’re hearing that result…thinking to yourself “that’s not too terrible,” but I'll explain just how terrible that internal thought actually is about these MusclePharm quarterly numbers. I was quite confident that FitLife Brands understood it’s a marathon (and not a sprint) with MusclePharm. Moreover, the last 5-7 years of MusclePharm brand mismanagement had provided a sizable amount of unlocked value that was just waiting to come out. Furthermore, doing the required “hard work” upfront to rebuild the foundation of MusclePharm for the long haul would inherently unlock enough short-term financial results to appease shareholders around the acquisition ROI. Yet…that’s not happening right now! Instead, FitLife Brands has surprised me (and not in a good way), believing it would be better served in reaching arbitrary segment-level financial goals by not learning from various past MusclePharm experiences (like what became major underlying drivers of its bankruptcy) or how FitLife Brands is chasing a ready-to-drink beverage mirage with zero “route-to-market” expertise. When product-based differentiation proves unable to provide a long-term defensible moat within low barriers-to-entry CPG categories like sports nutrition, distinctiveness can transform a product from commodity into a perfect experiential foundation for brand storytelling. It’s the strategic substance with signature style that sets your CPG brand apart from the landscape of lesser alternatives. And throughout the initial first-half of the “athletes’ company” existence, MusclePharm had a distinctive brand identity that absolutely defined and then delivered its authentic self. But when FitLife Brands acquired MusclePharm in late-2023, it wrongfully assumed MusclePharm still had ample distinctiveness in the marketplace…or at least a sufficient amount to trigger emotional responses with enough consumers to justify its current strategic gameplan. That was a miscalculation…one that I believe will require FitLife Brands to thoroughly contemplate its strategic decision to “sprint the race without knowing its distance.” Finally, I end on a more positive note...examining the Russell 2000 Index inclusion possibility and likely M&A announcements coming soon with FitLife Brands.

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