Hasbro Earnings Call For the 2nd Quarter Of 2018

Earlier today Hasbro released its its numbers for the 2nd quarter of 2018. It is not really pretty. And Star Wars toys revenue is down again. Click through for some details!

Update: there is a new article on the front page. Apparently, Star Wars toys revenue did not decline after all and actually things are better than the presentation let on. Things were clarified in the earnings call following the presentation by Hasbro CEO Brian Goldner. Please read the new article which goes into all the details!

Here are the key takeaways from Hasbro’s earnings call earlier today:

• Revenue is down 7% in the USA and Canada. It’s down 11% in Europe (compared to Q2 2017). It’s down by 22% in Europe for the first six months of 2018 (compared to the first half of 2017)
• Operating profit margin is 9.7% of net revenues (compared to 10.3% in Q2 2017)
• Partner brands are down by 10% (it was 6% for Q1 2018). Partner brands saw growth for Beyblades and Marvel but that was “more than offset” (verbatim quote) by the other brands. Hasbro used the exact same wording here as for their 1st quarter earnings three months ago. What other brands declined? Star Wars, for example, and any other Disney brand, such as Frozen. For the first six months of 2018 Partner Brands revenue is down by 8%.

Hasbro does not mention Star Wars once in its presentation for the 2nd quarter results. We can only say that revenue for Star Wars is definitely down again, since Partner Brands overall are down by 10% with Marvel and Beyblade actually showing growth which was more than offset by the other partner brands, according to Hasbro.

Hasbro says things have unfolded as expected. They attribute the 2nd quarter results on the Toys R Us Bankruptcy in the USA and UK. And for Europe they also cite clearing excess retail inventory (a very polite way of saying it was unsold toys) as a major factor for the 11% decline in revenues.

So what can we say with certainty? Star Wars sales are down again. 2017 was not a particularly good year, but 2018 seems to continue the trend. We can’t say how much Star Wars sales declined, since Hasbro didn’t release any official numbers. But with Solo a box office flop and The Last Jedi a somewhat problematic movie it will surprise probably no one that the negative trend is continuing in 2018.

I suppose Hasbro, and other toy manufacturers, will feel the effects of the TRU bankruptcy for a while longer. TRU still had a considerable market share before its demise and it will be difficult for the remaining competitors to make up for that.

And I can say with some certainty that “excess retail inventory” in Europe was/is a real problem. But now things go in the other direction: it’s very diffcult to find anything but 5 POA Star Wars toys.

So this is how things are. Star Wars is in stormy waters and with no movie until December 2019 I suppose revenue will decline even more in the months ahead. Episode IX absolutely has to kickstart merchandise sales again.

Sources:
Hasbro 2nd Quarter 2018 Earnings Presentation (PDF File)
Hasbro 2nd Quarter Earnings Summary Website

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