(Bloomberg) -- Soho House & Co Inc.’s membership revenue beat expectations as it posted a loss, signaling a years-long pursuit of growth over profit may be starting to bear fruit.  

Membership revenue in the first quarter came in at $100.2 million, according to a statement Friday, topping estimates of $97.1 million. The record wait list, currently at 102,000, helped boost membership 17% from this time last year. 

The company reported a net loss of $46 million on sales of $263.1 million, compared with analysts’ expectations of a $46.4 million loss on sales of $262.6 million. 

Soho House recently expanded into Southeast Asia and Latin America and has repeatedly stressed that new locations aren’t immediately profitable.

Investors have largely been unwilling to wait. The club’s stock has declined 63% since it went public in 2021 as it focused on expansion over profit. Ron Burkle, the company’s controlling shareholder, hinted in March he may take the club private after a scathing short-seller report suggested Soho House might meet the same fate as bankrupt WeWork Inc. Soho House denied the report. 

The club operator raised the low end of its full-year guidance on adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization by $2 million, with the range now set between $157 million and $165 million. It reaffirmed its forecasts for revenue and membership revenue. 

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