Q1 2026 Earnings Call Transcript

Good morning, and welcome to the Hasbro First Quarter 2026 Earnings Call. [Operator Instructions] Today's conference is being recorded. If you have any objections, you may disconnect at this time. Finally, I'd like to turn the call over to Fred Wightman, Vice President, Hasbro Investor Relations. Please go ahead, sir.

Thank you, and good morning, everyone. Joining me today are Chris Cocks, Hasbro's Chief Executive Officer; and Gina Goetter, Hasbro's Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer. We'll begin today's call with Chris and Gina providing commentary on the company's performance before taking your questions. Our earnings release and presentation slides for today's call are posted on our investor website.

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 is included in the press release and presentation. 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. These factors include those set forth in our annual report on Form 10-K, our most recent 10-Q, in today's press release and in our other public disclosures. 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 Cocks. Chris?

Thanks, Fred, and good morning, everyone. Hasbro started 2026 with momentum, revenue grew 13%, powered by Wizards of the Coast, while Consumer Products posted point-of-sale growth and share gains across our key gem squared categories. These results reinforce our confidence in the Playing to Win strategy as Hasbro's Deep IP Vault, industry-leading licensing capabilities and world-class partners position us for success today and into the future. Let's dig into results, starting with Wizards of the Coast.

Q1 showed that Magic's record 2025 was no fluke. Lorwyn Eclipsed, which debuted in January, became the best-selling Magic Premier set of all time and delivered the highest engagement in organized play statistics we've seen since the pandemic. We follow that with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Universe is Beyond Collaboration that outpaced internal expectations, more proof that our multi-franchise strategy is expanding the Magic audience. Backlist was once again a standout, setting a quarterly record, thanks to demand for Avatar, the last Airbender and Final Fantasy.

We're only 1 quarter into the year, but 2026 already represents the third largest Backlist year in Magic's history. We're seeing record demand to extend beyond tabletop and digital into live experiences too. MagicCon Las Vegas sold more than 23,000 badges making it the largest Magic event ever. That demand is global.

MagicCon Amsterdam is on track to sell out as well. From our tentpole MagicCon to weekly organized play events across more than 11,000 Wizards Play Network stores, the flywheel of new player acquisition, distribution growth and durable retention are showing up in the numbers. Magic's momentum has carried into Q2 where secrets and strict saving already has surpassed Lorwyn Eclipsed as the largest Magic Premier set ever. The rest of the year features a blockbuster universe is beyond slate with Marvel superheroes, The Hobbit and Star Trek.

And yesterday in partnership with The Walt Disney Company, we announced Magic Arena will feature full digital rights for the upcoming Marvel Super Heroes launch. This is a meaningful step forward in our strategy to extend the Magic ecosystem across platforms and reach new fans wherever they play. Outside of Magic, Wizards of the Coast teams are polishing our AAA video game launches. EXODUS from Archetype and Warlock from Invoke.

Both titles remain on schedule to launch next year, and we're excited to share EXODUS' extended showcase with fans later this summer. D&D is on a great trajectory. We launched Dungeon Masters, our first official D&D actual play series on YouTube, featuring talent from Baldur's Gate 3 alongside top treaters in the tabletop space. Turning to Consumer Products.

We're continuing to see POS momentum with positive trends in first quarter that have continued through the end of April. With lean retailer inventories, we remain on plan to grow the segment for the year. Our focus on Gen Square categories. those parts of the toy industry that are gamified, entertainment-driven, multi-purchase and multigenerational continues to pay dividends. These are structurally advantaged categories with above-industry growth and we gained share in many of our key categories in the first quarter.

Looking ahead, we're 2 days away from Star Wars' return to theaters for the first time since 2019 with The Mandalorian and Grogu. We have a strong lineup of product on shelves and its early demand for our ultimate Grogu is any indication fans are as excited as we are. We have 3 additional tentpole releases ahead, including Disney and Pixar's Toy Story 5, Spiderman, Brand New Day and Marvel Studios Avengers Doomsday. That is a stacked content lineup that creates real opportunity across consumer products.

With positive early reads from FIFA MONOPOLY, including blaster boxes that are resonating with collectors and live sellers alike, category first innovation from the PLAY-DOH brand this summer and K-pop Demon Hunter's product hitting shelves in July, there's a lot to look forward to at Hasbro. Before I hand off to Gina to walk through the financials, I want to offer a sincere thank you to our team and partners for delivering a great start to 2026. I want to give a special call out to our IT, sales, finance and operations teams who have kept Hasbro open for business despite the cybersecurity incident and enhanced precautions we have taken.

With that, I'll turn it over to Gina.

Thanks, Chris, and good morning, everyone. We delivered a strong start to 2026 with Q1 results on track across revenue, profit and margin. Net revenue in the first quarter was $1 billion, up 13% year-over-year driven by performance in Wizards. Adjusted operating profit of $287 million increased 29% with an adjusted operating margin of 28.7%, up 360 basis points versus last year from favorable business mix and cost savings.

Adjusted earnings per diluted share were $1.47, up 41% year-over-year, reflecting strong operating leverage and disciplined execution. Looking more closely at the segments, Wizards momentum continued. Segment revenue grew 26% to $582 million behind the strength in Magic. Operating profit increased 29% to $298 million with a 51.2% operating margin, up 140 basis points versus last year.

Product mix and scale were more than able to offset the headwind of higher royalty and operating expense. The Magic ecosystem remained healthy through the quarter, with both Backlist and Secret Lair posting double-digit growth, and we achieved meaningful distribution gains within the Wizards Play Network, underscoring the durability of the franchise. Digital and licensing revenue was up 3% and MONOPOLY Go delivered $41 million of revenue, in line with our expectations. Consumer Products revenue was $398 million, essentially flat year-over-year with growth in toy and game volume, offset by a decline in licensing as we lap challenging prior year comparison.

Adjusted operating loss was $41 million, a decline of roughly $10 million versus last year on an adjusted basis. The loss reflects higher royalty expense, incremental tariffs, and the impact of prior year licensing strength. As we move through the quarter, POS performance was in line with expectations, and both owned and retail inventory levels remain healthy, providing a good setup in advance of key theatrical windows as well as the upcoming seasonal builds. The Entertainment segment delivered $20 million in revenue and $20 million in adjusted operating profit which was also in line with expectations.

Q1 profitability was favorably impacted by the timing of entertainment-backed revenues in the Consumer Products segment, namely for PEPPA PIG. Our cost transformation efforts delivered $37 million in gross savings, which has us on track for our full year commitment of $150 million. Total Hasbro adjusted EBITDA was $339 million and up 24% versus last year behind planned efficiencies across supply chain, product development and SG&A supporting margin expansion even as we absorbed elevated royalties and incremental investments for our upcoming 2027 digital game launches. From a balance sheet and cash flow perspective, we generated $338 million in operating cash flow funded $50 million in strategic investments and returned $99 million to shareholders via our dividend, and we started share repurchases under our recently authorized share repurchase program.

Finally, we issued $400 million of new notes with the proceeds going towards fully repaying the November 2026 maturities and the balance applied to the repurchase of higher rate longer-dated debt. We are encouraged by our strong start to the year and believe we are well positioned to continue the momentum and deliver on our full year financial commitments. The macro environment continues to require agility including absorbing and offsetting the impact of rising oil costs across the business, which impacts our freight, resin and packaging costs. While the impact of higher inputs won't be realized until the back half of 2026, we have several actions underway across a variety of operating levers, including freight optimization, mix management and operating spend reductions to mitigate the impact.

As we look to our full year outlook, we are maintaining guidance for the year. We continue to expect consolidated revenue to grow 3% to 5% year-over-year on a constant currency basis, with growth planned across each segment. We expect adjusted operating margins of 24% to 25% and adjusted EBITDA in the range of $1.4 billion to $1.45 billion. At the segment level, Wizards is on track to deliver mid-single-digit revenue growth with operating margins in the low 40% range.

The volume growth is absorbing the impact of incremental royalties and back half investments behind our 2027 digital game releases, EXODUS and Warlock. From a phasing standpoint, revenue growth remains robust during the first half of the year, supported by the upcoming Marvel Super Heroes release, before moderating in the back half due to tougher Q4 compares. On operating margin, year-to-go performance incorporates higher royalties as well as a step-up in operating expenses behind video game marketing spend and other investments. Consumer Products is expected to grow low single digits for the year with adjusted operating margins in the 6% to 8% range.

Relative to our initial guidance, the CP margin range reflects the benefit of lower tariff expense, offset by higher oil-related input costs with continued productivity and pricing mix providing further support. Operating margin continues to strengthen as we move through the year, driven by volume leverage and these productivity step-ups. Entertainment segment revenue is expected to be slightly positive year-over-year with operating margins of approximately 50%. Our capital allocation priorities remain unchanged.

We will continue to invest in the business, specifically behind our highest return growth opportunities led by Wizards, digital gaming and licensing. Second, we are focused on paying down debt and maintaining a healthy balance sheet, and we remain firmly committed to returning cash to shareholders through our dividend and share repurchases. As part of today's release, the Board has authorized the second quarter dividend. In connection with the cyber incident that occurred at the end of March, we expect 3 impacts to 2026. First, we expect to incur approximately $20 million of additional operating expenses associated with remediation.

These expenses are onetime and will not impact adjusted EBITDA. Second, we expect approximately $40 million to $60 million of consumer products revenue to be delayed from Q2 to the back half of the year. Given the strong POS we're seeing, along with the upcoming entertainment slate, we have good line of sight into the recovery. And finally, given our delay in invoicing, we expect some receivables to shift from Q2 into Q3, impacting cash flow.

All these impacts are embedded in our guidance. As we wrap up, Q1 gives us a clean foundation. We are on track. Our capital allocation priorities are clear, and we are focused on execution.

Wizards is providing growth momentum. Consumer products is stable and improving, and our cost discipline continues to translate into real margin performance. We are managing through a dynamic macro environment and changing consumer patterns with clarity and focus. And we remain fully committed to delivering on our full year guidance.

Before we open the line for questions, I want to echo Chris' comments and again recognize the Hasbro teams for their outstanding work navigating a dynamic environment over the past few months. Their focus, agility and execution have helped mitigate the impact of the cyber event and have us on track to deliver the year. With that, I'll turn it back to the operator for questions.

[Operator Instructions] Our first question comes from the line of Megan Clapp with Morgan Stanley.

Maybe we can start with the guidance. So you reiterated the full year. You obviously had a really nice beat at least versus what consensus was looking for in the first quarter and talked a lot about the momentum you're seeing quarter-to-date. At the same time, you talked about some higher costs for CP, but maintaining the guide there with lower tariff rates coming through as well.

So can you just help us understand whether the guidance iteration at this point is just consistent with your typical approach from what we've seen in terms of holding guidance after the first quarter? Or is there anything incremental that you're seeing either on the demand or the cost side. A lot has obviously changed in the last couple of months, that's giving you any less confidence in the outlook for either of the key segments.

Megan, Gina and I will take this in turns. I would say it's the former. It's consistent with our typical practice. It's early in the year.

We've got a lot of new releases coming out. We've got a lot of entertainment on tap, and we think that's the prudent move. I would say Q1 was a great start to the year. I think there's a lot of tailwinds that are buoying the business.

And in terms of some of the headwinds we have, like the cost of oil and uncertainty around tariffs. I think Gina and the team, particularly in the supply chain side and the operations side are increasingly getting a better and better handle on our cost structure and ability to navigate that.

Yes, Megan. The only other piece that I'd add to what Chris just said is we're still working through the final phases of our cyber remediation. So again, using Chris' word of prudent just taking all those factors together, it just -- it made sense for us to hold this quarter. But we're very pleased with how the first quarter performed.

Okay. That's super helpful. And then maybe could you just put a finer point on what we should expect for the second quarter? I think if I'm doing my math correctly, that $40 million to $60 million of CP revenue is maybe 5-ish points and I think previously you had expected, the segment to be up maybe double digits, low double digits in the second quarter, just on the easy lap from last year.

So maybe CP up high single digits now. And any commentary on Wizards as we think about the second quarter, just trying to put a finer point on...

Got it. Yes. Let's segment the pieces for consumer products as we came into the year, remember, we thought Q2 was going to be our big quarter because we were lapping all of the noise from tariffs last year. But given the cyber event, it now shifts out to Q3. So we still expect Q2 for consumer products to grow, albeit it's going to be kind of a low single-digit rate.

And then we expect that double-digit growth to really come into Q3. We think most of that $40 million to $60 million is going to shift into Q3. There will be some trickle on into Q4, but most of it is just a shift from Q2 and into Q3. And for Wizards, Q2 is looking quite robust. I mean it's -- we had a big quarter last year. We expect this quarter to be really big, but behind both Strixhaven and then the superheroes launch. And then for Wizards as we go into Q3 and Q4, that's where you start to see some more moderated growth rates.

Our next question comes from the line of Eric Handler with ROTH Capital Partners.

I wonder if you could give a little bit of an update regarding your tariff claims? How big of a claim have you filed? And any expectation about when you may or may not get anything back?

Yes, good question. So roughly think about it as $50 million is the rough size of our claim. We are in the reconciliation process. So right now in terms of timing that, that part of the refund hasn't been given a time line. So it's not embedded in any of our outlook for this year right now. We're still waiting to understand when the government is going to get to that piece of the rebate process.

Okay. And then just looking at your cash flow statement, your cash flow from operations was very strong at $200 million increase year-over-year. A good swing in working capital. Is that going to be something that reverses? Or you track are you just getting better cash conversion as we go throughout the rest of the year?

Yes, good question. I would say in the first quarter, it was a lot of Magic because of the strength in Magic deliveries, both in terms of Q4 Magic as well as Q1 Magic that is contributing to the higher cash flow. We're going to see, given the cyber event, a little bit of lumpiness in cash as we move through the year. Our invoicing was shut off for a while.

So the cash flow that we would have expected in Q2, some of it is going to come into Q3. So as we sit here in July, you're going to see us with a much lower operating cash flow, and then that will pick up and kind of recover as we move into Q3 and Q4.

Our next question comes from the line of Xian Siew with BNP Paribas.

It seems like your first-party, your premier set like Lorwyn, Strixhaven are having really strong momentum. Could you maybe talk a little bit about whether you're seeing consumers who came into the Magic ecosystem via maybe a universe beyond collab and then kind of coming in again for a first-party set? Anything you're kind of seeing on that trend?

Yes, we're definitely seeing that. In 1 quarter, we've done the third highest year ever of backlist sales. And that just means we're creating new Magic layers. That -- and that's powering new hobby stores and new WPN stores and creating a virtuous cycle for us.

So I would say from a top line perspective to a bottom line perspective to an engagement funnel perspective, Magic is extremely healthy. And Universes Beyond is probably the most successful new player adoption initiative that we've ever done.

Okay. Great. Very helpful. And then on the second half guide for Wizards, I think you mentioned kind of more moderated growth rates. So I guess maybe to put a finer point, you're expecting still growth in the back half for Wizards, or how should we kind of think about that?

I think Q4 is going to be the comp for Magic and Wizard just because we had a pretty big one last year. Q2 should be pretty good. Q3 should be pretty good. Q4 is the one where that might be down.

Yes. In total, I would say our back half, call it, up low single-digit rates when you combine both what we're going to see in Q3 versus the decline in Q4.

Our next question comes from the line Gerrick Johnson with Seaport Research Partners.

On the network breach, perhaps you could provide a few more details. What specifically was delayed where was it like specific lines or specific factories? And is there any risk of further delays? And do the delays affect anything that's time sensitive like shelf date for Spider-Man or Star Wars?

Yes, Gerrick. So we're not going to talk a ton about the details of the breach itself, but know that it didn't really impact any of our suppliers, because we use co-manufacturers for all of our supply. So as it happened, we took down all of our systems to protect the environment, and what we've been working through since the end of March is bringing all of those systems back online, and we prioritize getting all of our financial systems stood up so that we could report our earnings and file our Q, and we are now in the process of turning back on all of our other systems impacting order management, shipping, invoicing, et cetera.

We are on track to have that done by, call it, June time line. So we are proceeding at pace. The situation itself has been contained. We don't see -- foresee any future risk here.

It's not just a matter of us getting everything back operational.

Okay. Great. And then on Magic on tabletop, what kind of printing capacity card stock availability, card stock pricing, those sort of metrics? How are they trending this year versus last year?

Well, I'd say trading cards is probably the hottest category in all toying games. I mean I think it's fair to say the category is going to eclipse building sets either this year or next year in terms of total size, just given the trends. So supply is always a challenge, especially with a bunch of new entrants. I think the good news is we have a lot of long-standing and diversified supply chain relationships.

We have multiple paper and card stock sources that we validated from multiple different countries, like we have a U.S. supplier, a German supplier and a Japanese supplier, just to name 3. So I feel pretty good about our ability to chase demand. Where we might see some impact is on some shorter-term demand like if something vaporizes or sells out really fast, we used to be able to accommodate a reprint inside of 6 weeks. Now that's more like 3 to 4 months. But I think when you look at the backlist rates, the Magic Consumer, both the player and the collector is sticking around and being patient and they're willing to buy it.

And we've helped to accommodate that behavior by extending the time lines about how long cards stay in rotation. So it used to be a card would stay in rotation for 18 to 24 months, and now it's more like 32 to 36 months. So there's multiple ways to help to compensate when we do have little increases here and there in our ability to provide supply.

Our next question comes from the line of Kylie Cohu with Jefferies.

Target reported earnings earlier this morning as well. And on their call, they sounded pretty cautious on inventory buys. I was curious what you guys were hearing from retailers and if there was any changes in retailer posture specifically?

I think the retailers are behaving the way that we would expect them to behave. And we've got a lot of good products in a lot of categories that are growing very, very quickly. And our POS is good. Our Gem squared approach, gamified entertainment, multi-purchase, multigenerational.

Those categories in 2025 grew about 22%, while the balance of the toy industry declined 3%. And so I think when our retailers see growth in those kinds of categories and those kind of brands with those kinds of demographics, they tend to have fairly liberal open-to-buy orders.

Yes, I agree. I mean we came into the year with pretty healthy inventories, both owned and retail, and we continue to see that play through as we move through the first quarter. So adding on to what Chris said, plus the entertainment fleet that we have coming up, we feel like we're in a really good position with our retailers.

Great. That's super helpful. And then you flagged oil-related cost pressure from freight resin and packaging really impacting more of the back half. Can you help us quantify any expected gross margin impact?

How is that kind of -- how are you mitigating that with pricing mix, productivity actions? And is this pressure largely contained to consumer products? Or is there any meaningful spillover in Wizards?

Yes. Great question. It's largely contained to consumer products. I mean, obviously, freight impacts the entire company, but I would say most of it just given where resin goes is in our consumer products.

The rough impact for this year is about $30 million, and that is assuming that oil stays around that $100 price per barrel. And so we have some favorability that's coming in from tariffs. There's roughly about a $15 million good guide from when we started the year on tariffs, plus, we've taken other actions to accelerate productivity, accelerate some of the cost savings that we had within operating expense. We're managing our mix and pricing environment differently.

So we feel like we're going to be able to mitigate the impact of just that kind of oil increase as we move through the back half. But you're right, it's all really Q3 and Q4 related, but our margins are planned to grow in consumer products in both Q3 and Q4. That's how much kind of ammo we've put on to it to be able to offset.

Our next question comes from the line of Arpine Kocharyan with UBS.

I wanted to follow up on some of the earlier comments on Magic. And I know you don't like to provide breakdown of different magic releases, but would it be possible at all to give us a sense of how much of Q1 outperformance was driven by Ninja Turtles? And how much of that set continues to contribute into Q2 Magic revenue?

Ninja Turtles did at or above our expectations for the quarter. And I'd tell you what I think really overperformed was Lorwyn Eclipsed. It not just beat the prior best-selling set -- first-party set. It did it by quite a handsome margin.

And the great news is Secrets of Strixhaven, which came out just 3 months later, handily beat Lorwyn Eclipsed as well. So we're seeing good underlying demand, whether it's universe is beyond or first-party IP.

That's super helpful. And Chris, maybe this is a bigger picture question on Magic Arena. I think Arena is sub 10%, 15% of the business today when it was first rolled out, I think it was as high as 2025 as the Magic business. And you've said previously that we could see Arena revamp to be more aligned with the strong growth you've seen in the rest of this business.

The deal you announced for Arena, I guess, is that part of the upside and in line of what we should see more of? Or down the road, there is more strategically that you're considering for Arena?

Well, I think it's important for us. So I think the one you're talking about is with The Walt Disney Company and getting Marvel and Spiderman on there and future Marvel sets. It's important for us to have one-to-one compatibility between what a person can buy in a hobby shop or in a Walmart with what they can play online. That's just a more fun and more complete ecosystem.

So I definitely think that's going to be a tailwind for digital Magic and for Magic as a whole. I think, though, what you're seeing with Arena and why it's a shrinking percentage of total Magic sales is Arena was designed for one format of play, which is called standard, which is kind of a one-on-one, very competitive form of play. It's a lot of fun, and it's popular, but a lot of Magic's growth has been through collectibility through things like we've done with collector boosters and secret layer as well as more socially oriented play like we've seen with Commander, which is now the most popular format of play in Magic.

And so I think in the future, what you'll see from us as we invest in new digital iterations of Magic, both on Arena and outside of arena, is leaning into those insights that have driven the overall ecosystem. So more universe is beyond more collectibility, more tradability and more social kind of multiplayer oriented play. And I think we'll -- we're working on those. I think those will kind of roll out over the course of a couple of years, and it will be both from the Arena team as well as other talented teams that we work with.

Our final question this morning comes from the line of Anthony Bonadio with Wells Fargo.

So I guess just to follow up on the magic launches. Given the success you've seen with Strixhaven and Lorwyn, I guess does that at all change your thoughts on the mix of Universes Beyond versus owned IP SET? And just more broadly, how you're thinking about that mix at this point?

I think we're always playing with what the right mix is. And really, it's kind of a combination of the creative inspiration of the Magic team feedback from the audience, what's available when and just kind of have the vagaries of release cadences. I think we're at a decent place right now. Could it be plus or minus 10% in terms of how much is first party versus how much is universe is beyond.

Yes. Do I think things like the new Netflix series which is going to be killer, probably one of the biggest animation events that certainly for fans that Netflix has helped to invest in, I think that could influence the first-party mix in a positive direction. And I think at the end of the day, it's just a win. It's a win for our fans because there'll be more of them and more excitement.

It's a win for us because we'll be able to sell more magic sets, and ultimately, it will be a win for our universe is beyond partners because there'll just be more people buying Magic and playing Magic and more opportunity for them to participate in it as well.

Got it. That's helpful. And then just on Monopoly GO, it seems like that eased a little bit sequentially in Q1, but it's pretty consistent over the last few quarters. So can you just talk a little bit more what you're seeing there? And then what's included in guidance?

Yes. MONOPOLY GO continues to, frankly, be a juggernaut. The Scopely team is absolutely killing it. They've got a great game.

They've got great partnerships and fantastic collabs. And like that's going to be a game that's going to meaningfully drive fan engagement for years and years to come and meaningfully contribute to Hasbro's bottom line. It's basically the equivalent of a couple of blockbuster movies worth of incremental licensing and product sales for us every year, which is just fantastic. And we really appreciate the partnership with Scopely, and we really appreciate the engagement our fans have in that game.

Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, that concludes our question-and-answer session and we'll conclude our call today. We thank you for your interest and participation. You may now disconnect your lines.