A monopoly game sits under the Hasbro logo during Brand Licensing Europe at ExCel on November 18, 2021 in London, England.
John Keeble | Getty Images
Toy company Hasbro reported a more than 20% hit to its fourth-quarter revenue and issued a downbeat 2024 forecast Tuesday morning. Shares of the company plunged about 10% in premarket trading.
Here’s how Hasbro performed in the fourth quarter compared with estimates from LSEG, formerly known as Refinitiv:
- Earnings per share: 38 cents vs. 66 cents per share expected.
- Revenue: $1.29 billion vs. $1.36 billion expected.
For the last three months of 2023, Hasbro lost $1.06 billion, or $7.64 per share, drastically wider than losses of $128.9 million, or 93 cents, a year earlier. After major adjustments related to goodwill and intangible assets, the company reported adjusted earnings per share of 38 cents, still well below analyst estimates.
For the full year 2023, revenue declined 15% to $1.29 billion, including double-digit sales drops in its consumer products and entertainment segments. Hasbro did see an increase in revenue, however, in its Wizards of the Coast and digital gaming segment, primarily due to licensing revenue related to “Baldur’s Gate 3” and “Monopoly Go.”
The company reduced its inventory by more than 50% compared to the year prior.
“2023 was a productive year for Hasbro, although not without some challenges,” Chief Financial Officer Gina Goetter said in a statement. “As we navigated the current environment, we took aggressive steps to optimize our inventory, reset the cost structure, and sharpen our portfolio focus on play with the eOne film and TV divestiture.”
Hasbro expects further revenue declines in the year ahead. In the Wizards of the Coast segment, the company expects a 3% to 5% revenue dip, coupled with a 7% to 12% hit to the consumer products business. The company expects overall adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization of $925 million to $1 billion.
The company now expects to cut $750 million in costs by the end of 2025, up from a previous target of $350 million to $400 million.
In December, the toymaker laid of 1,100 employees after it had already cut 15% of its workforce earlier in the year.
