Tough Times at Hasbro

[Dave]

Hasbro laying off 1,100 world building employees

[McMetal]

Wow, they’re closing the Rhode Island office too?

I have been laid off two weeks before Christmas before too…IT SUCKS. 

[Nicklab]

They're closing offices in Providence, RI.  The main Hasbro office is in Pawtucket, RI.

Agreed on the timing - it's never good, especially during the holidays.  I question the leadership at Hasbro.  From what I've read the Hasbro CEO is making $9 million a year.  And it seems like the company has stumbled since former CEO Brian Goldner passed away in 2021 following his illness.

That article cited success over at Mattel, but it's in light of the cultural phenomenon of the Barbie movie this year.  But that could be a blip on the radar in the big picture of the toy industry.

[Jeff]

Hmmm... McFarlane Toys and Hasbro sign multi-brand licensing agreement.

Putting this in here because this seems to be happening more and more where Hasbro farms it's own IP out to other people for the figures/toys.  They did it with Funko stuff, and then with Super7 to do TF and GI Joe ReAction figures (and Super 7 will soon be doing 3.75" o-ring figures too).  Now they are doing something here with McFarlane and comics/page puncher stuff rather than try to do their own comic-pack type things.

I wonder if this is all part of the new strategy related to the layoffs.  Farm out the IP to let the other guys design and develop things targeted to kids or collectors and that puts less development time/cost on Hasbro, but they still get a piece of the action from the licensing.  Hasbro can focus on the core business of transforming robots and 6" Classified stuff and let the other guys chase the other lines/sizes.

[Diddly]

Hasbro seems like a mess in general these days. Their supply chain management is beyond FUBAR, as you probably already know from the piles of figures showing up at discount stores like Ross and Ollie's. My local retail stores have had empty pegs for Hasbro's lines going on over 2 years now. For example, I have never a single plastic-free packaging Star Wars figure at retail. I only saw the exclusive Indiana Jones 6 inch figures but nothing from the main line. On occasion I see Marvel Legends, but it's rare. I'm still not sure if my local stores are just managed poorly (said stores are still having issues stocking things like milk and toilet paper) or if it's 100% on Hasbro. Either way, this is not great news.

[Jeff]

The more I read, the more it becomes clear that the biggest factor for Hasbro's struggles isn't the supply chain or trying to recover from a stimulus funded toy buying boom during COVID.  It's buying eOne for $4 billion in 2019 and then selling it in pieces a couple years later for $385 million (music business) and $500 million (movie/TV). 

That ****** them over so hard.  They basically spent $3billion for the Peppa Pig and PJ Masks led "family brands" business (which is all they kept from eOne).  It set them back a TON of money in integration costs and then divestiture costs, all happening at the worst possible time with all of the other things happening in 2019-2023 - COVID supply chain issues, economic factors, etc.

I'm hoping that the recent price drops (DLX Jango down to $25, Retro TPM 6-pack down to $60) are a sign they realized they went too far with the price hikes and are trying to find a better balance.  We will see what impact that new "Epic Heroes" 3.75" line has on things too.  Will that be an outlet for things collectors want too or just 5POA aimed at kids?

[Jedi Idej]

I was going to say pretty much the same thing. They've picked up so many properties. Some have made money and some have been losers. Can't fault them for that. But it does suck that it means they have to slash jobs and increase prices.

Do they announce breakdowns by sectors? I've never seen theirs. Would be interesting to see how TVC and The Black Series compare to other toys if their financial release is that granular.

[Scott]

https://investor.hasbro.com/node/35441/html

You’ll have to read through quite a bit of corporate speak but the 10k does speak of strong Star Wars and Marvel sales YoY 22 from 21…the 23 10k
Isn’t out yet but it should be telling of where the problems are…Jeff’s right I suspect…you can take that large of a write down and not have to cover it in other parts of the business.

[Jedi Idej]

Wowza. That is an eyeful. Let me see how far i can go before it knocks me out to sleep. Thanks for the link.

[Nicklab]

Hmmm... McFarlane Toys and Hasbro sign multi-brand licensing agreement.

Putting this in here because this seems to be happening more and more where Hasbro farms it's own IP out to other people for the figures/toys.  They did it with Funko stuff, and then with Super7 to do TF and GI Joe ReAction figures (and Super 7 will soon be doing 3.75" o-ring figures too).  Now they are doing something here with McFarlane and comics/page puncher stuff rather than try to do their own comic-pack type things.

I wonder if this is all part of the new strategy related to the layoffs.  Farm out the IP to let the other guys design and develop things targeted to kids or collectors and that puts less development time/cost on Hasbro, but they still get a piece of the action from the licensing.  Hasbro can focus on the core business of transforming robots and 6" Classified stuff and let the other guys chase the other lines/sizes.

"Page Punchers"?  I guess that's the name of the line that I've been seeing from McFarlane featuring a comic packed with an action figure.  Considering that Transformers and GI Joe are part of this, I wonder if they're going to be re-printing old Marvel comic titles with these figures?

[Dave]

Scott - you’re right.  I scanned through last year’s 10k and Star Wars and Marvel revenues were both up (they don’t break out the details but they stated this in the commentary).  Overall their license payments for things like Star Wars and Marvel were lower, but they don’t break out the individual brand payments.

I’m sure they had other cost challenges due to inflation, supply chain problems, etc., but it appears both Star Wars and Marvel did well in 2022.

They may have made some bad bets in acquisitions, but hopefully they find a way to keep investing in Star Wars as it seems to be doing well for them.

[Diddly]

That is a good point about the bad bets. Do we know how much Hasbro invested in the plastic-free packaging? Good idea, but of course swappers ruined it.