Global value-added distributor Climb Global Solutions, Inc., recently announced its fourth-quarter results. The data shows that the company has grown substantially since the end of 2023. Following the news, CEO Dale Foster spoke with Channel Insider to share where the distributor has set its focus for 2025.
Strong fourth quarter and year-over-year results point to strong 2025 momentum
Climb’s announcement highlights double-digit sales, income, and EBITDA growth quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year.
The comparison between fourth quarter 2024 and fourth quarter 2023 shows:
- Net sales increased 51% to $161.8 million.
- Net income increased 33% to $7.0 million or $1.52 per diluted share.
- Adjusted EBITDA increased 75% to $16.1 million.
In comparing the full year 2024 to the full year results of 2023, Climb reports:
- Net sales increased 32% to $465.6 million.
- Net income increased 51% to $18.6 million or $4.06 per diluted share.
- Adjusted EBITDA increased 61% to $39.6 million.
The company credits this growth partially to organic increases across its segments and throughout North America and EMEA. The company’s July 2024 acquisition of DSS also contributed to overall growth in the latter half of 2024.
“We’re in the right spot at the right time in distribution,” Foster said.
AI, Citrix replacements, and more: where Foster has his eyes set this year
With 2024 reporting in the rearview mirror, Climb is now sharing details on its key focus areas in 2025. Foster says that 2024’s growth came with challenges for the company’s global workforce, and he knows the continued success of Climb is predicated on his team.
“To borrow the sports analogy, if you have better players, then you have a better team, and good coaching then makes that team even better,” Foster said. “We knew it was going to be a little rough, but everyone started to see the light at the end of the tunnel, and our focus this year is really on celebrating our team.”
From a technical perspective, Foster says the company is not changing its focus on emerging vendors. According to Foster, the distributor assessed over 100 vendor partnerships in 2024 and signed only 13 of them.
“We could go bigger and wider, but that’s really not what we want to do,” said Foster. “The value we bring to our customers is that we focus on bringing emerging technologies to the market. There could be 10 more ‘Climbs’ in the market, and we probably still wouldn’t have much competition. We have to focus on what fits into our core pillars and what our partners need.”
That emerging technology is spread across several core solutions, and Foster also acknowledges that most of it now includes an AI component baked into the technology. Because of AI demand, Foster also sees a revitalization in the market for interest in data-centric technology that addresses the complex energy and sustainability concerns posed by increasing demand for data centers worldwide.
Foster also highlighted Citrix’s recent changes in go-to-market, acknowledging that Climb no longer works with the company and is focused on replacing Citrix with similar solutions already in its offering.
“It does feel similar to what Broadcom did with VMware, just in terms of cutting off ways to go-to-market and relationships with distributors in favor of more direct plays,” Foster said. “I never really panic, though. We know we have the sales expertise, the alternative vendor partners, and the overall strategies to fill that space and move forward.”
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