Live Ventures Deploys AI Engine to Forecast Demand, Cut Costs, and Accelerate Retail Margins
Rhea-AI Summary
Live Ventures (Nasdaq: LIVE) announced that its Flooring Liquidators subsidiary has deployed an AI-driven operational intelligence system to convert transactional data into local demand forecasts, optimize inventory placement, and improve delivery efficiency across its network.
The rollout embeds AI into daily operations across 30+ branches, uses a three-phase program called No Excuses AI to monitor weekly performance, generate prioritized alerts, and interrogate root causes, and reports a >80% reduction in damage rates after improved planning and sequencing.
Positive
- Damage rates reduced by more than 80%
- AI performance manager deployed across 30+ branches
Negative
- None.
Key Figures
Market Reality Check
Peers on Argus
Peers show mixed moves: some like KIRK and NHTC are positive while others such as TTSH, HVT, and RECT are slightly negative, suggesting LIVE’s -1.17% move was more stock-specific than sector-driven.
Historical Context
| Date | Event | Sentiment | Move | Catalyst |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 11 | Full-year earnings | Positive | +19.8% | Turnaround to profitability with margin expansion and higher Adjusted EBITDA. |
| Dec 04 | Earnings preview | Neutral | -2.1% | Announcement of timing and details for upcoming earnings release and call. |
| Nov 18 | Operations update | Positive | -3.2% | Precision Marshall hit 99.98% same-day shipment and launched new portal. |
| Nov 11 | Portfolio growth | Positive | -4.4% | Vintage Stock posted higher revenue, better margins, and strong same-store comps. |
| Sep 17 | Turnaround update | Positive | -6.9% | Company reported major net income swing and strong run-rate revenue. |
LIVE has delivered several fundamentally positive updates, yet multiple past news events with strong operational or financial progress were followed by negative price reactions, with only the most recent full-year earnings showing a clearly positive alignment.
Over the last six months, Live Ventures has highlighted a turnaround story and portfolio modernization. On Sep 17, 2025, it reported a swing to $21.7M net income and strong Adjusted EBITDA growth, yet shares fell. Subsequent news on Vintage Stock and Precision Marshall’s operational gains in Nov 2025 also saw negative reactions. By Dec 11, 2025, full-year 2025 results with improved margins and higher Adjusted EBITDA finally drew a +19.78% move. Today’s AI deployment at Flooring Liquidators fits this ongoing modernization narrative across the portfolio.
Market Pulse Summary
This announcement highlights Live Ventures’ application of AI at Flooring Liquidators to guide inventory placement, consolidate shipments, and cut damage rates by more than 80%, while managing performance across 30+ branches. It extends the company’s recent modernization trajectory seen in other portfolio businesses. Investors may watch for quantified financial impacts of these initiatives in future filings and whether efficiency gains translate into margin expansion at the segment and consolidated levels.
Key Terms
artificial intelligence technical
business intelligence technical
AI-generated analysis. Not financial advice.
LAS VEGAS and FAIRFIELD, Calif., Jan. 21, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Live Ventures Incorporated (Nasdaq: LIVE) (“Live Ventures”), a diversified holding company, today announced that its Flooring Liquidators, Inc. (“Flooring Liquidators”) subsidiary has deployed artificial intelligence as a core operational intelligence system, transforming raw transactional data into predictive business insights that are reshaping inventory placement, delivery efficiency, and in-store availability.
Rather than using AI as a back-office tool, Flooring Liquidators has embedded intelligence directly into day-to-day operations. AI-driven demand forecasting now translates real-time sales, inventory movement, and regional buying patterns into forward-looking decisions, enabling the company to position the right products closer to customers before demand peaks.
“One of the most powerful shifts we’ve made is letting AI convert raw data into operational intelligence,” said Dr. Thomas Price III, Vice President of Operations and Logistics at Flooring Liquidators. “We can see what is selling, where it is accelerating, and how patterns are forming. That allows us to act early instead of reacting late.”
By forecasting demand at the local level, Flooring Liquidators is consolidating shipments, optimizing truckloads, and dramatically reducing unnecessary transportation and handling. Select stores now function as regional pickup nodes, ensuring inventory is rarely more than a short transfer away from installers and customers.
Improved planning and sequencing have reduced damage rates by more than eighty percent while increasing overall throughput.
To fine-tune every aspect of operations, the company is deploying an AI-driven performance management system that goes well beyond traditional business intelligence.
Called "No Excuses AI," the system automatically monitors weekly performance across all 30+ branches, identifying anomalies and interacting with local managers to identify specific, actionable solutions.
In the system’s first phase, an intelligent alert-generator analyzes thousands of transactions weekly across multiple dimensions such as year-over-year sales comparisons by branch and product category. The system automatically generates prioritized alerts categorized by severity.
In the second phase, an AI-powered interrogation program helps to define problems clearly and steer managers away from generic excuses. The system uses AI to parse managers’ responses and zero in on specific causes and promising solutions.
Phase three is future-facing: The system will auto-detect patterns before sales drop, suggest proven solutions, track execution, and continuously improve the solution.
For Jon Isaac, President and CEO of the parent company, this automated performance manager and the other AI-powered successes at Flooring Liquidators reflect a broader transformation taking place across the Live Ventures portfolio. “We are applying AI where it creates immediate advantage,” Isaac said. “Flooring Liquidators demonstrates how intelligent systems can elevate a traditional retail and distribution business without losing its human core. We’re making similar strides in all our companies.”
About Flooring Liquidators
Founded in 1997, Fairfield, California-based Flooring Liquidators is a leading retailer and installer of flooring, carpeting, and countertops for consumers, builders, and contractors in California, Nevada, and the Midwest.
About Live Ventures
Live Ventures Incorporated (Nasdaq: LIVE) is a diversified holding company focused on acquiring and operating domestic middle-market companies with strong cash flows and durable market positions. Its portfolio companies incorporate AI, robotics, data-based analytics, and other advanced systems to transform conventional operations into more efficient, competitive enterprises for the revolutionary AI era.
Forward-Looking and Cautionary Statements
Certain statements in this press release contain or may suggest “forward-looking” information within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, each as amended, that are intended to be covered by the “safe harbor” created by those sections. Words such as “will,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “future,” “intends,” “plans,” “believes,” “estimates,” and similar statements are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Live Ventures may also make forward-looking statements in its periodic reports filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Forms 10-K and 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K, in its annual report to stockholders, in press releases and other written materials, and in oral statements made by its officers and directors to third parties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and there are a number of important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in any forward-looking statements made by the Company, including, but not limited to, plans and objectives of management for future operations or products, the market acceptance or future success of our products, and our future financial performance. The Company cautions that these forward-looking statements are further qualified by other factors including, but not limited to, those set forth in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2025. Additionally, new risk factors emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for us to predict all such risk factors, or to assess the impact such risk factors might have on our business. Live Ventures undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Contact:
Live Ventures Incorporated
Greg Powell, Director of Investor Relations
725.500.5597
gpowell@liveventures.com
www.liveventures.com
Source: Live Ventures Incorporated
FAQ
What did Live Ventures (LIVE) announce about AI on January 21, 2026?
How many branches does Flooring Liquidators' AI system monitor for Live Ventures (LIVE)?
What is No Excuses AI and how does it affect Flooring Liquidators for LIVE?
Did Live Ventures (LIVE) quantify operational improvements from the AI deployment?
Will the AI deployment at Flooring Liquidators affect inventory and delivery for LIVE shareholders?
