Hasbro Q2 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Quartr
Provided by Quartr
August 3, 2023

There are 10 speakers on the call.

Operator

Good morning, and welcome to Hasbro's Second Quarter 2023 Earnings Conference Call. At this time, all parties will be in listen only mode. Today's conference is being recorded. If you have any objections, you may disconnect at this time. At this time, I'd like to turn the call over to Ms.

Operator

Kristin Levy, Senior Manager, Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Speaker 1

Thank you, and good morning, everyone. Joining me today are Chris Cox, Hasbro's Chief Executive Officer and Gina Goetter, Hasbro's Chief Financial Officer. Today, we will begin with Chris and Gina providing commentary on the company's performance. Then we will take your questions. Our earnings release and presentation slides Today's call are posted on our investor website.

Speaker 1

The press release and presentation include information regarding non GAAP adjustments and non GAAP financial measures. Our call today will discuss certain adjusted measures, which exclude these non GAAP adjustments. A reconciliation of GAAP to non GAAP measures Please note that whenever we discuss earnings per share or EPS, We are referring to earnings per diluted share. Before we begin, I would like to remind you that during this call and the question and answer session that follows, Members of Hasbro Management may make forward looking statements concerning management's expectations, goals, objectives and similar matters. There are many factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from the anticipated results or other expectations expressed in these forward looking statements.

Speaker 1

These factors include those set forth in our annual report on Form 10 ks, our most recent 10 Q, In today's press release and in our other public disclosures, today's guidance assumes we retain the non core Entertainment Film and TV Business notwithstanding the agreement we just entered into with Lionsgate to sell this business. That transaction is subject to customary closing condition and regulatory approvals. Following closing of that transaction, we plan to update our guidance. We undertake no obligation to update any forward looking statements made today to reflect events or circumstances occurring after the date of this call. I would now like to introduce Chris Cox.

Speaker 1

Chris?

Speaker 2

Thanks, Kristen, and good morning. Today, I'm pleased to announce that Hasbro has entered into a definitive agreement to sell our E1 film and TV business to Lionsgate For approximately $500,000,000 consisting of cash of $375,000,000 and the assumption of production financing loans. This purchase will include a team of talented employees, a content library of nearly 6,500 titles, Active productions for non Hasbro owned IP like The Rookie, Yellowjackets and Naked and Afraid franchises E1's Canadian film and TV operations and the E1 unscripted business, which will include rights for producing Hasbro based shows Like Play Doh squished. We expect the transaction to complete by the end of 2023. Hasbro will use the proceeds to retire a minimum of $400,000,000 of floating rate debt by the end of the year and for other general corporate purposes.

Speaker 2

Hasbro Entertainment will be the new marquee for our ongoing entertainment efforts After the sale closes, under the leadership of Olivier Dumont, the current Head of E1 Family Brands, Hasbro Entertainment's mission is to develop, finance and produce entertainment based on the rich vault of Hasbro owned brands. We'll bring to life new original ideas designed to fuel all areas of Hasbro's blueprint, including toys, Publishing, gaming, licensed consumer products and location based entertainment. We'll retain a focused team of Creative Development and Business Affairs experts to shepherd the 30 plus Hasbro based projects in development, working with the best studios and distribution platforms Hollywood, including ongoing development of the Transformers and GI Joe franchises, Play Doh, D and D, Magic: The Gathering and our board game portfolio. As part of the sale, we expect to move to an asset light model for future live action entertainment, Relying on licensing and partnerships with select co productions like our previously announced Transformers 1 animated film And the D and D live action television series, both with our partners at Paramount. The sale of E1 is another important in our transformation at Hasbro.

Speaker 2

Last year, we articulated a plan to turn around Hasbro, driving growth in fewer, bigger, more profitable brands, Improving our consumer focus, execution and innovation and building our operational excellence to fuel our bottom line and create sustainable performance. At the highest level, it's a plan about re centering Hasbro and what has helped us create one of the most valuable portfolios of brands in toys and games, The timeless power of play. I'm pleased to report in Q2, we've made substantial progress against these goals. Hasbro delivered better than planned operating results for the Q2, including revenue of $1,200,000,000 And adjusted operating profit of $137,000,000 which includes a $25,000,000 charge we took For the D and D Honor Among Thieves feature film, the movie is among the best reviewed films of 2023 and has performed well in streaming, But the box office didn't meet expectations. POS in the quarter was at or ahead of market and when factoring exited businesses was ahead of market.

Speaker 2

Through the first half, Peppa Pig, Transformers, Play Doh, D and D, Magic: The Gathering and Hasbro Games Have all grown point of sale. According to SERCANA, the G9 global toy and game market declined 7% through year to date June. We gained share among the G9 in 3 of our 5 focus categories: Action Figures Behind Growth in Transformers, Arts and Craft with Play Doh and in games behind Monopoly. Our direct fan focused business Hasbro Pulse Increased point of sale by 54% in the quarter. Rise of the Beast is one of the top box office performers of the year And it's driven an 83% improvement in Transformers POS since its release.

Speaker 2

The Gathering launched What we believe will be the biggest release in our history with Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle Earth. D and D generated nearly 2,000,000 new registered users on D and D Beyond through the first half of the year. Our licensing business continues to grow, including the release of 1 of the biggest mobile games in the last 5 years, Monopoly Go from our partners at Scopely, which since its debut has been number 1 in downloads in 87 countries on the Apple App Store And 49 countries on Google Play. Our operational excellence efforts have driven over $84,000,000 of cost savings year to date, Money we are using to both fund inventory reduction and clearance efforts and key growth initiatives like direct, data analytics and digital. And speaking of inventory, our sales teams have been busy reducing our owned and operated inventory in our Toys and Games segment by 24% year over year and our retail inventory by 16%.

Speaker 2

While headwinds and uncertainty continue to exist in the toy and game category as a whole, A better than planned start to the year so far for Hasbro sets us up for success in the back half. Gina will share more in her remarks, but at a high level, We're maintaining our guidance for our Consumer Products segment and raising guidance for our Wizards of the Coast and Digital Games segment. Due to the writers and actors strikes and underperformance of D and D Honor Among Thieves, we are lowering our guidance for entertainment. Magic is on track for a record Q3 with favorable set release timing buoying results. D and D should have a strong second half, Powered by excitement for the upcoming PC and console releases of Baldur's Gate 3 from our partners at Larian.

Speaker 2

Urby is already a hot seller with initial allocation selling out in under 72 hours. Most of our toy and game innovations have only just begun to hit shelves, including the new preschool line for Lucasfilm's Young Jedi Adventures, Our new AR game, Twister Air, new blaster innovation with Nerf Double Punch and hot new game crossovers like Barbie Monopoly. And with much improved inventory levels and the bulk of our inventory management efforts phasing down in Q3, we see an opportunity for meaningful margin improvement as the year progresses, particularly as we go into the Q4. Net, we exit our first half With a solid quarter and positive operating indicators for our second half in our core segments. Our inventories are greatly improved.

Speaker 2

We are growing share in key brands and we are making the improvements necessary to our supply chain and cost structure to see sustained operating margin growth over the mid and long term. We also are making the necessary choices to right size our entertainment footprint. Strong brands with quality innovation and execution will be more important than ever in a more unpredictable environment. That's one of the reasons I'm excited by the potential of our new leadership team, who are already bringing a more disciplined approach to our operations And a palpable step up in product innovation. We continue to move up and to the right on our change curve, evolving our cost savings initiatives to a continuous Relentless improvement model.

Speaker 2

Our supply chain is becoming a competitive advantage with costs back down to near pre pandemic levels and positioned favorably versus competition. We are seeing momentum with key retailers. Our digital portfolio is tighter and making rapid strides. And we are reinventing our approach to data analytics, product development and long term innovation. Paired with our approach to focused entertainment through partners that both inspires and connects to a tight business plan and economic engine, We are positioned well for the medium to long term.

Speaker 2

I'd now like to turn over the call to Gina Goetter, our Chief Financial Officer. Gina?

Speaker 3

Thanks, Chris, and good morning, everyone. As Chris laid out, we delivered a solid quarter with revenue coming in ahead of expectations And proof points emerging across several of our transformation initiatives. We also announced the sale of the E1 film and TV business, a step that simplifies our strategy and our focus on toys and games. As we look to the quarter, total Hasbro revenue of 1,200,000,000 of certain licensees and markets within the Consumer Products segment and we had fewer planned releases for Wizards of the Coast. The Entertainment segment revenue was down 3%, primarily due to the exit of non core businesses in 2022.

Speaker 3

Excluding these divestitures, the Film and TV and Family Brands businesses were up 5% versus prior year. Adjusted operating profit of $137,000,000 was down 43% versus last year. In addition to the revenue decline, we incurred higher inventory closeout costs as we continue to right size inventory back to healthier levels. Profit was also negatively impacted by an impairment taken on Dungeons and Dragons on or Among Thieves as a result of box office results coming in below expectations. Adjusted earnings per share of $0.49 was 57% below last year due to the factors noted and includes unfavorable impacts related to taxes and interest expense.

Speaker 3

The adjusted results Exclude the impact of a $296,000,000 film and TV impairment. Through the Q2, the ongoing writer and actor strikes Have had minimal impact in our results. However, as the strikes continue, our 2023 outlook for entertainment has come down. The adjusted results also exclude incremental costs attributed to the operational excellence program and amortization associated with the E1 acquisition. Looking at year to date results.

Speaker 3

Revenue of $2,200,000,000 was down 12% below last year, driven by declines in the Consumer Products segment and planned timing shifts across entertainment. Wizards segment revenue is down Adjusted operating profit of $184,000,000 was down 52% versus last year as we continue to incur higher costs associated with clearing inventory as well as absorb the impact from the D and D film impairment. Year to date adjusted EPS is $0.49 driven by the factors noted above. Looking at our brand performance, our franchise brands were down 5% in the quarter year to date. These brands represent our biggest and most profitable brands and are just over 60% of our revenue.

Speaker 3

Within Franchise Brands, we delivered Significant Q2 revenue growth in Transformers and Dungeons and Dragons, driven by the uplift from the movie releases. Additionally, Peppa Pig grew as a result of growth in entertainment and digital gaming. Our partner brand revenue is down 21% for the quarter. More than 60% of the loss is a result of the licenses we exited at the end of last year. Sales of Hasbro products for Spider Man by Marvel are up with an over 100% increase in POS Since the release of Spider Man: Across the Spider Verse and further supported by the preschool series and new product releases, Partner Brands continue to play a vital role in our portfolio for kids, fans and retailers around the world.

Speaker 3

Across our portfolio brands, the declines are driven by the reprioritization of investment to support the franchise brands as well as discontinuances across the retail footprint. However, one of our relaunched portfolio brands, Furby, is off to a promising start. Looking at operating margin, 2nd quarter adjusted operating margin of 11.3% Was 6.70 basis points below last year. The single biggest impact in the quarter is the volume decline in mix of business. Through the first half of the year, we prioritize cleaning up the portfolio and reducing inventory levels across the CP business, resulting in higher than normal closeout costs.

Speaker 3

Also as planned, we had one less magic release within the Wizards segment, which created an unfavorable mix and fixed cost absorption impact. Additionally, as we shifted to leverage license IP within Wizards, We incurred higher royalty expense resulting in a 1.7 margin point loss. Momentum is accelerating on our cost savings program and year to date we have accumulated $32,000,000 of gross cost savings within supply chain And an additional $52,000,000 of gross cost savings within operating expense, the combined $84,000,000 of gross savings Are more than offsetting cost inflation and have allowed us to reinvest back into the business to support higher levels of marketing spend, Fund our inventory reduction efforts and fuel key strategic initiatives required to deliver our long term targets. Cumulatively, since we began the savings program in 2022, we have reduced our cost base and delivered gross savings of $104,000,000 And we remain on track to deliver our in year savings goal of $150,000,000 And finally, to round out the margin drivers, we had a negative 280 basis point impact in other items, which includes the $25,000,000 impairment on the D and D film. As Chris mentioned, We made significant progress in lowering inventory levels.

Speaker 3

We reduced total owned inventory 16% versus prior year, primarily driven by a 24% reduction in the Consumer Products segment inventory. We expect to see inventory reductions through the 1st part Q3 and stabilizing to more normalized levels by the end of the year. From a retail inventory perspective, their inventory was Also down 16% and the lion's share of directions are behind us. Looking more closely at Segment performance was in the quarter. Wizards of the Coast and Digital Gaming segment revenue was down 11%.

Speaker 3

Overall tabletop gaming revenue, which includes both Magic and D and D declined 17% given release timing. The decline in tabletop was partially offset by 33% growth in digital gaming, including the addition of D and D Beyond, which we acquired last May and growth in Arena. Segment margins declined in line with expectations driven by higher royalty expense and a step up in investment to support future brand growth and product development. Moving to the Consumer Products segment. Total CP revenue was down 11% in the quarter, driven by declines in POS trends and the focus on clearing inventory.

Speaker 3

Looking at the key drivers for the quarter, 5 points of the decline was driven by planned license exits. Another three points of decline was driven by toy and game volume given the broad category trends and retailers taking a more focused approach with their inventories. Four points of decline came from pricing and mix, driven by additional closeout costs as we work through higher inventory levels. And finally, we achieved one point of growth from licensed consumer products as we reenergized focus on leveraging our IP across categories. In the quarter, the Entertainment segment declined 3%, primarily due to business exits late last year.

Speaker 3

This was partially offset by 3% growth in film and TV behind scripted TV growth as well as film revenue from Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. In addition, Family Brands revenue increased 14%, driven by content sales, including for Peppa Pig. The adjusted operating loss for the Q2 includes the $25,000,000 Dungeon and Dragon Honor Among Thieves production asset impairment charge. Today, we announced the sale of our E1 film and TV business to Lionsgate. Overall, the business that we're selling represented Approximately 85% of the revenue and just over 60% of the adjusted operating profit of the total entertainment segment last year.

Speaker 3

Wrapping up with Hasbro Inc. We delivered $119,000,000 of operating cash year to date, which is $29,000,000 behind last year, driven by lower receivables coming out of 2022. Through June, we repaid $91,000,000 of long term debt and spent $112,000,000 on capital expenditures, led by investments in Wizards of the Coast for future digital gaming releases. And we've returned $194,000,000 of Capital to our shareholders via dividends. In the quarter, we booked a 26.3% underlying tax rate, which compares to 21.6% in Q2 of last year.

Speaker 3

The higher rate is driven by our entertainment business losses and higher withholding taxes, plus a shift in the geographical mix of income. Additionally, we had $4,800,000 of additional interest Turning to our 2023 guidance. The outlook across the Consumer Products segment remains on track and Wizards of the Coast segment is better than original expectations. For the Entertainment segment, we are updating guidance The guidance assumes film and TV is included for the entire fiscal year and we will update once the close is complete. Based on this, we now expect total Hasbro, Inc.

Speaker 3

Revenue down 3% to 6%. As we look at the 3 primary segments, This guidance continues to assume that the CP business will be down mid single digits, which is consistent with our initial outlook. We are planning for POS trends to continue stabilizing in the back half of the year and this coupled with stronger execution Will result in modest back half revenue growth. We now expect that Wizards of the Coast will deliver high single digit revenue growth compared to our original guidance of mid single digits. We are confident in the back half releases slated for Magic And digital licensing should also be supported by the continued success of Monopoly GO!

Speaker 3

And the upcoming release of the AAA role playing game, And finally, for Entertainment, we are now expecting revenue declines of 25% to 30%, which incorporates The impact of the writers and actors strikes on production deliveries in the back half of the year. Adjusted operating margin is now expected to be up 20 basis points to 50 basis points versus last year's adjusted operating margin. The margin outlook for CP and Wizards of the Coast are the same or better than our previous guidance. The guidance reflects unfavorable changes in entertainment given the strikes as well as the D and D impairments. This margin guidance continues to expect $150,000,000 of in year cost savings, driven by our operational excellence program, as well as assumes that the cost to clear inventory reduces in the back half of the year.

Speaker 3

Despite the headwind from the Entertainment segment, We continue to expect 2023 adjusted EBITDA to be relatively flat to prior year. And based on our current forecast, we continue to expect to generate $600,000,000 to $700,000,000 of operating cash flow. From a capital allocation standpoint, our priorities are to invest behind the business, pay down debt and return excess cash to shareholders via dividends. We expect to use the cash generated from the sale of the E1 film and TV To pay down debt, which will accelerate the reduction of our overall debt by a minimum of $400,000,000 and advance our progress towards achieving our 2.5 times long term leverage target. In terms of earnings per share, despite adjusted EBITDA guidance remaining unchanged, the film and TV business has created additional volatility Impacting below the line items, including interest expense and tax rate.

Speaker 3

Through the Q2, film and TV has created an approximate $0.20 negative impact on the full year. Given this as well as the divestiture, we are withdrawing total Hasbro Inc. Earnings Our remaining segments are continuing to grow their EPS contribution versus original expectations and versus last year Behind strong Wizards growth and cost savings momentum. I am 3 months in at Hasbro and every day I am more Excited about the opportunities ahead for this amazing company. We have a lot of work ahead of us to deliver the year, but we are making progress and gaining momentum With today's announcement of the sale of the E1 film and TV business being the latest milestone.

Speaker 3

And with that, I'll turn it back over to Chris to wrap up.

Speaker 2

Thanks, Gina. While our overall guidance is down for the year, the puts and takes are contained in the segment that we have found a better home for and a company adept at driving value. Our core business is making tangible progress. And while the next 6 months will present entertainment related We will emerge a more focused, more profitable and more predictable business. This will enable us to continue to fund our and fans of all ages.

Speaker 2

We'll now pause to take questions.

Speaker 4

Thank you.

Operator

At this time, we'll be conducting a question and answer Thank you. And our first question is from the line of Andrew Eerkwitz with Jefferies. Please proceed with your questions.

Speaker 5

Hey, great. Thank you. Good luck joining, Gene. It's great to have you on board. The increase in guidance around WOTC, Could you go through the puts and takes there?

Speaker 5

Is that driven largely by Magic, better expectations on Baldur's Gate now that it launches today or Monopoly Gov. Just go walk through some of the changes there.

Speaker 2

Yes, sure. Thanks. And thanks, Andrew. Yes. At a high level, I'd say it's bullishness around Magic and good progress with our digital licensing portfolio, Baldur's Gate and Monopoly Go included.

Speaker 2

I'll turn it over to Gina to go through more details.

Speaker 3

Good morning, Andrew. Thanks for the welcome. I don't know that I have additional color to add. I do think that Our performance in the 1st part of the year overall for Watsi in the digital segment has been on our expectation. We're seeing some good Progress with Lord of the Rings, we're really excited about that launch.

Speaker 3

That came out in June. So the bulk of the revenue gain will be a pickup here in Q3. And as Chris said, the launches that we've got scheduled for the back half of the year, we're feeling really good about.

Speaker 2

Yes. I should note that Lord of the Rings is not a It's not a standard set. We think it's more of an evergreen set that will have

Speaker 5

a longer

Speaker 2

tail. And our in year expectation is that Within 7 months of it releasing, it will be the number one set of all time for Magic. It should cross $200,000,000 before the end of the calendar year. The last set that did that was Modern Horizons 2 and it took about 2 years for it to do that.

Speaker 5

Got it. That's super helpful and great color. I appreciate it. Just kind of thinking about the digital strategy going forward that sits within Wizards of the Coast. Could you give us an update On your thoughts there, E1 is gone now.

Speaker 5

We can kind of start focusing on the video games and segments. You have some internal studios. So could you just kind of give us an update on Where everything stands and what the primary driver is going to be there 1 year out, 3 years out

Speaker 2

maybe? Yes. At a high level, I'd say it's a balanced strategy between working with licensed partners, which is very high profit for us We've been fortunate to have some fantastic partners like Scopely and Larian, who we think are making knock it out of the park games. And then patiently investing on a milestone basis with our own internal studio development and publishing capability development. When you look at a game like Baldur's Gate 3, I view that as the equivalent of a blockbuster movie release.

Speaker 2

Just to put in perspective, we think Baldur's Gate 3 has the potential to be a game of the year contender. It will engage millions of highly targeted fans and be highly accretive to the D and D brand. And just to kind of put in financial perspective, We will likely make more money on Baldur's Gate 3 than we have made on all of our film licensing for the last 5 to 10 years combined. So it's not only a great brand win, it's a great financial win for us. And I think it's a heavy focus of the company moving forward.

Speaker 2

We purposely stated in this release that we're a leading toy and game company. We are squarely focused on that. And I would say the emphasis is on the gaming part of that.

Speaker 5

Got it. That's really helpful. I appreciate it.

Operator

Thanks, Chris. No worries. Our next question is from the line of Arpine with UBS, please proceed with your questions.

Speaker 4

Hi, good morning and thank you for the question. I was wondering if you could help us bridge margin guidance Down about 25 basis points at midpoint, but then what you want to be up is actually up and what you want to be down is actually down. You have high margin gaming revenue outlook Up, but lower margin entertainment segment revenue actually lower. And I know you mentioned margin for Wizard is actually unchanged or better And then incremental headwind from impairment charges, I guess, is there anything else that you would point out in bridging that?

Speaker 3

No, Arpine, good morning. This is Gina. No, I think you've got it square on. Our margin guide down, we were a little bit more bullish Starting the year at 30 to 60 bps and now we're saying 20 to 50 and that is really all about the impairment that we within D and D and what is happening within the film and TV segment itself, the broader entertainment itself. When we look at our core business, our Toys business, our games business, that margin profile is healthy and actually a little bit better than what we expected it to be.

Speaker 3

We're seeing some nice momentum in our cost savings initiatives and you can see that in the margin bridges that we provided. You can see that starting to pull through the P and L And that really starts to accelerate as we look to the back half of the year. So the call down in margin, all about entertainment, all about what happened with the D and D impairment, And our core businesses that we are keeping are doing quite well.

Speaker 4

That's very helpful. Thank you, Gina. And I know you aren't giving EPS guidance at this point, but you mentioned $0.50 of dividend film EPS headwind and then additional $0.10 to $0.20 of headwind. Could you maybe go over high level, just basic math on calculating close to no more than $0.25 in operating profit That you're giving up with this sale and then that's obviously partially offset by run rate interest expense cost savings down the road. Maybe if you could kind of Point out whether that thinking is correct, high level, and then if you could break down that $0.50 a little bit more.

Speaker 3

Sure. I will try my best to answer that math question. So when you our guidance that we originally had given was 445 to 450 And what we communicated was that to date, so through the 1st 6 months, we've had a $0.50 headwind by the Entertainment segment. And what we anticipate in the back half of the year is that's going to be another $0.20 So all in our earnings per share guidance, If we were continuing to give guidance, would come down by $0.70 all in the film and TV, all in the entertainment segment. Again, our core business, toy and game and the digital part of our business that is actually performing ahead of expectation.

Speaker 3

There's some puts and takes within tax and interest expense. So that kind of nets against that, but the call down in earnings per share, all in entertainment.

Speaker 4

Super helpful. Thank you.

Operator

Yes. Our next question is from the line of Jamie Katz with Morningstar. Please proceed with your questions.

Speaker 6

Hey, good morning. I know you guys are not really guiding on the sale of E1, but I'm hoping that you Conframe the size of what will be left after these assets are sold. Will it be 10% Of the Entertainment business. And then with that sale, is there any reason that cost of goods sold and program production costs Wouldn't go back closer to 2019 levels just as we think through sort of the math of How that segment has impacted the overall P and L? Thanks.

Speaker 3

Sure. Good morning, Jamie. In the slide deck that we Provided we put a chart in there to try to dimensionalize the total entertainment segment and the piece of the business that is being divested. So about 85% of this segment is going with the sale in terms of its revenue and then the balance of 15% is staying with And it will be embedded in the new kind of view of entertainment and of how we're approaching it moving forward. In terms of how to think about production costs, I'd have to go back to where we were in 2019 to see precisely if we're up, down or sideways from that.

Speaker 3

But yes, you can assume The E1 business was spending $500,000,000 $600,000,000 of in production dollars that that will we will not be they will not be spending that or we will not be spending that amount of money moving forward.

Speaker 2

We'll be up versus 2019 simply because we continue to invest in some co productions with Paramount like we're doing with Transformers 1, which is a new animated film that will come out next year. And then we're also doing Production for things like D and D TV series. Now that is a cost plus model that Paramount is fully funding. So we get the production margin from that plus like a licensing fee for being an IP owner on something like that. And then also, we're retaining the E1 Family Brands portion of the purchase, which is a big value portion of the purchase with big brands like And so that's incremental to 2019 as well.

Speaker 2

But as Gina states, it's far lower than the run rate we've been on for the last several years.

Speaker 6

Right. And then I think there was some prepared remarks that said there was momentum with key retailers. So any further color on that would be helpful. Thanks.

Speaker 2

Yes. We won't name them by name, but certainly it's nice to have clean inventories and inventories reduced. If you look at like our top 3 or 4 retailers, I feel pretty good about where we're going with them. Some of them are taking still a pretty aggressive stance on inventory management and so we're working with them. But others are really leaning in then seeing an opportunity to build share and have great kind of on shelf availability.

Speaker 2

So and e commerce continues to gallop forward and consume share in the category. We just had a great Amazon Prime Day. We have had really good discussions with our major retailers around top toys for the holiday. So I'm cautiously optimistic that you're going to see Hasbro gain share in terms of what our key retailers announced. We're already starting to talk to them about 2024 2025.

Speaker 2

And with our new management team, I think we've tightened up the innovation muscle quite a bit, And we'll have some momentum going into that year, particularly as we see what folks like Tim Kilpin, who's our new leader of our toy team, Head's up the sleeve in terms of new product innovation.

Speaker 6

Thank you. Very helpful.

Operator

Our next question is from the line of Eric Handler with ROTH MKM. Please proceed with your question.

Speaker 7

Good morning and thanks for the question. I believe you said that Hasbro Pulse POS was up 54%. I wonder if you could talk a little bit about that business and size it and talk about some of the growth plans for that?

Speaker 2

Yes, sure. And good morning, Eric. Nice to talk. So Hasbro Pulse, as we talked about back in October at our Investor Day, Direct to consumer is important to us. It's a great way for us to learn from our consumers, see how they shop, see what they want.

Speaker 2

And our initial efforts are very focused on kind of like that dedicated fan segment, both what we do for Secret Lair, With what we do at Wizards of the Coast, what we do with kind of the D and D fan, with D and D Beyond in terms of digital goods. And then Hasbro Pulse is more about kind of like that fan economy segment, and that's performed super well. It's a great partnership With our Disney business, there's a lot of Star Wars that goes through there. There's a lot of Marvel. There's a lot of super high end transformers and Hasbro owned items like the Robison auto transforming Optimus Prime, that we released last year and an auto transforming Grimlock, that we just recently announced and a great opportunity for us to sell high end items.

Speaker 2

I would scope the business right now in the kind of the $100,000,000 to $200,000,000 range. I think we see significant upside for that. Call it potentially a TAM or a TAM opportunity for Double, maybe 2.5 times that over the next couple of years. And as we start to build critical mass and capabilities in that segment, Concentric circles over time, respecting the fact that we have a lot of great third party retailer relationships, and making sure that we model kind of the mix

Speaker 7

Great. That's helpful. And also, I wonder if you could just talk About retailer sentiment as you go as orders start coming in for the holiday season and How do you think retailers are feeling right now as they think about the last month and a half of the year?

Speaker 2

Well, I think it depends on the retailer. We have a couple of retailers who are really leaning in and see a share building opportunity. We have a retailer or 2 who are taking a cautious view towards consumer discretionary as a whole and aggressively managing their inventory. And I think a little bit of an over under on our guidance moving forward and why we're not raising our guidance in consumer products is just making sure that we understand where those I definitely think Q4 is going to be a more traditional Q4, kind of a 20 2018, 2019, it's going to be very end of the quarter focused. I think Black Friday is going to be important.

Speaker 2

I think the lead up And the drumbeat into Christmas is going to be important. And then also, I think array of bullishness that we have in the quarter is we have basically an Couple of days of shopping prior to Christmas. And then for our fiscal year, we have an extra week, because we ended our fiscal year last year, I think on December 26. We have a full extra week of potential shopping, which is probably about $60,000,000 to $70,000,000 of incremental POS.

Operator

Great. Thank you. Our next question is from the line of Fred Wightman with Wolfe Research. Please proceed with your question.

Speaker 7

Hey, guys. I just wanted to come back to Wizards. And if we think back And if we just think about the film impairment and the softer box office, does that put those targets at risk? Or is there enough traction and momentum in some other areas To offset that?

Speaker 2

Yes. I mean, good morning, Fred. I would say The underlying thesis of our D and D business was all about digital. To me, entertainment is a kicker. It helps to enable broader exposure to what's traditionally a mid core to hardcore gaming brand.

Speaker 2

And what digital allows us to do is to kind of take that Tabletop role playing game TAM that we have in the world, which is probably about 80,000,000 people who participate in those hobbies and frequent that kind of channel And take our brand like D and D to 800,000,000 people who play role playing games. And so I think Baldur's Gate 3 is just First of several new digital initiatives you're going to see from us, that span how we can try to transform tabletop role playing gaming To an even richer kind of theater of the mind experience to more traditional video games from us and partners like Larian.

Speaker 7

Makes sense. And then on the supply chain side, it feels like you guys have really emphasized that for the past few quarters. I'm wondering if you could Frame sort of where you see the supply chain today versus where you think it could be and then maybe what that ultimately means for the consumer products margin over the next Few years.

Speaker 3

Good morning, Fred. I would say we're making really good progress within the supply chain. I know that the company has talked about that in previous quarters. This quarter especially you can see the benefits starting to flow through within logistics. So a lot of the focus from the team has been around our logistics network, How we're planning for inventory, how we're kind of our order patterns working with our retailers all around inventory and in order management and you can start to see that We expect that to continue to accelerate as we move into the back half of the year.

Speaker 3

The overall logistics environment is continuing to moderate, so that will help us as well. So not only do we have a lot of efforts underway in that space, but the overall well as working with all of our partners and getting a little bit closer to the operation with all of our manufacturers, That will provide another opportunity for us, more so in 2024 than in 2023.

Operator

Makes sense. Thanks a lot. Our next question is from the line of Jason Haas with Bank of America. Please proceed with your questions.

Speaker 8

Hey, good morning and thanks for taking my questions. I wanted to follow-up on some of the numbers that were given earlier in the year Regarding some of the headwinds you were facing for the consumer products business. So I recall the expectation or I think at the beginning of the year, You'd said that there was $135,000,000 of excess retail inventory. So I was curious, apologies if I missed it, but how much of that have you worked through So far this

Speaker 2

year? Yes. So I don't have a specific number to quantify the 135,000,000 But our retailer inventory is down 16% year over year. I think we feel like our retailer inventory is at a pretty Productive level. I would say that through the balance of the year, our retailer inventory will end the year down, But probably not 16% down.

Speaker 2

Our own inventory, we still are a little bit elevated versus what we would typically be, But we are down quite a bit versus 2021, about 24% or so. And I think we'll end the year at around that level, both for consumer products and for Wizards of the Coast. And that will get us to Something that's more consistent to like what we ended at 2021 and within range of a more traditional level.

Speaker 8

Got it. That's helpful. Another figure, I think it was tied to that, but it was you had said that there's $300,000,000 of headwinds. I think it was from exited licenses, FX and then also that inventory, and the expectation was about you'd see about 60% of that headwind in the first half. So I was curious if that so far Has it materialized as you had expected?

Speaker 2

Yes. If you look at our POS For the first half of the year, we are down high single digits In POS, but when you take out those exited licenses, we're down low single digits. And as we get into the back half of the year, The impact of those licenses lessened because we were our sell in was a little heavier as a percentage in In the front half of the year and as we were getting ready to kind of exit them and our retailers were kind of taking their inventory positions down to prepare for other master toy licenses to enter, It just makes sense that way.

Speaker 3

And Jason, just to add some color on the actual number, I would say of that $300,000,000 We're about halfway through that with the balance to come in the back half.

Speaker 8

That's great. Thank you.

Operator

Thank you. Our next question is from the line of Steven Lasek with Goldman Sachs. Please proceed with your question.

Speaker 9

Hey, great. Thank you. Maybe for Gina, with this being your first earnings call since getting settled in, I was wondering if you could maybe talk a little bit more about your Thank you for thinking through leveraging capital allocation on the go forward, especially with E1, the sale of E1 now behind us. In particular, I'd be curious if you see any incremental opportunities on the investment or capital returns front over the next few years.

Operator

Thank you.

Speaker 3

Sure. Good morning, Stephen. Yes, the sale of V1 Absolutely helps us in terms of getting down to our leverage target. So we will use the majority of the proceeds from that sale to pay down our floating rate debt And start getting the balance sheet in a healthier position. As we move forward, as we think about capital allocation, first and foremost, Our priority is to invest back into the business.

Speaker 3

Our second priority is then to keep cleaning up that balance sheet and getting that leverage ratio down. And then the 3rd piece is to continue giving money back to our shareholders. Our primary vehicle has been dividends. We've paid out dividends through the 1st part of the year. We Back to continue paying out dividends in the back half of the year.

Speaker 3

As we turn the corner into 2024 and beyond, I think we will most likely add share Repurchases back into the mix of capital allocation, but for now in the near term here, our first three levers are invest, Pay down debt and then give back money via dividends.

Speaker 9

Got it. And then for Chris, I'm not sure if you've given this metric before, but since you mentioned it around Border's Gate, I was wondering if you could remind us how much money you've made in film licensing over the last 5 or 10 years? Any approximatizing would be helpful.

Speaker 2

We would have to get back to you, Stephen. I don't have that off the top of my head. It's not tremendous.

Speaker 9

Understood. Thank you.

Operator

Thank you. At this time, we have reached the end of the question and answer session. And I'll turn the call back over to Kristin Levy for closing remarks.

Speaker 1

Thank you for joining the call today. The replay will be available on our website in approximately 2 hours. Additionally, management's prepared remarks Hasbro Management will be participating in the Goldman Sachs Communicopia and Technology Conference on September 6. Hope to see you there.

Operator

This concludes today's conference. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation.

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Earnings Conference Call
Hasbro Q2 2023
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