Latest news with #RegulationG
Forbes
2 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
Should We Standardize Non-GAAP Reporting?
There is a weak case at best for standardizing non-financial KPIs such as same store sales. Leave the rest of the existing regulation as is. Standardizing Regulators have long struggled with whether and how to standardize non-GAAP reporting. The SEC, via Regulation G and additional rules in 2016, put in common-sense rules on non-GAAP numbers requiring firms to reconcile the non-GAAP number to the GAAP number. In addition, the SEC requires that: (i) the firm cannot present misleading non-GAAP numbers, defined mostly as excluding normal, recurring, cash operating expenses necessary to operate a firm's business; (ii) the firm cannot present inconsistent non-GAAP measure across periods; (ii) the non-GAAP measure cannot exclude gains; and (iv) non-GAAP numbers should clearly label the adjustment. The policy question is whether we should go beyond this? The FASB has a proposal asking whether they need to do something about standardizing financial KPIs. One hypothesis would be that non-GAAP numbers are not all useless or fudged in that the exclusions and inclusions signal information (however costly). There is a fair amount of academic research supporting this perspective. Some complain that GAAP has become excessively restrictive, and we need to give firms leeway to communicate the idiosyncratic aspects of the business model via non-GAAP numbers. The opposing camp would argue that these adjustments to GAAP numbers are opportunistic, and the policy maker must protect the uninformed investors from such opportunism. So, what should the policy maker do? The reality, I suspect, lies somewhere in the middle. Some exclusions potentially make business sense. One-time items, say a litigation settlement, potentially mess with an analyst's projection of continuing performance. As long as that exclusion is disclosed, I can live with that exclusion. However, excluding depreciation, interest expense and taxes, which are normal business expenses, personally make little business sense to me. I often joke in class with my students, 'imagine a world where the student does not pay interest on student loans, does not pay NYC city, NY state and federal taxes, and pays no rent (loosely the capacity cost or DA in EBITDA). Of course, you are rich after these exclusions.' I suggest a mid-way compromise: (i) leave non-GAAP numbers as is, as long as the firm reconciles the non-GAAP number to the GAAP number and follows the SEC's earlier guidance on consistency; (ii) if there is no comparable GAAP number, such as same store sales or the number of subscribers and customers, there may be some value to standardizing what same store sales might look like, for instance, in the retail industry. Consider same store sales disclosure for Home Depot in the 10-K of 2024 and compare that to Lowes, its closest competitor. Home Depot reports something called, 'comparable sales,' defined as: 'Comparable Sales. Comparable sales is a measure that highlights the performance of our existing locations and websites by measuring the change in net sales for a period over the comparable prior period of equivalent length. Comparable sales includes sales at all locations, physical and online, open greater than 52 weeks (including remodels and relocations) and excludes closed stores. Retail stores become comparable on the Monday following their 52 week of operation. Acquisitions are typically included in comparable sales after they have been owned for more than 52 weeks. Our comparable sales results for fiscal 2024 exclude the 53rd week and compare weeks 1 through 52 in fiscal 2024 to the 52-week period reported for fiscal 2023. The method of calculating comparable sales varies across the retail industry. As a result, our method of calculating comparable sales may not be the same as similarly titled measures reported by other companies. Total comparable sales decreased 1.8% in fiscal 2024, reflecting a 1.0% decrease in comparable customer transactions and a 0.9% decrease in comparable average ticket compared to fiscal 2023.' Lowes reports, in its annual report for 2024, 'A comparable location is defined as a retail location that has been open longer than 13 months. A location that is identified for relocation is no longer considered comparable in the month of its relocation. The relocated location must then remain open longer than 13 months to be considered comparable. A location we have decided to close is no longer considered comparable as of the beginning of the month in which we announce its closing. Operating locations which are sold are included in comparable sales until the date of sale. Comparable sales include online sales, which positively impacted comparable sales in fiscal 2024, fiscal 2023, and fiscal 2022 by approximately 50 basis points, 25 basis points, and 45 basis points, respectively. The comparable sales calculation for fiscal 2022 was calculated using sales for a comparable 52-week period.' Even for two very similar, closely tracked peers such as Home Depot and Lowe's, there are subtle differences in comparability in the 'comparable' sales numbers: One of the challenges of standardizing non-financial KPIs is that these KPIs are likely to differ depending on the industries using them. Retail uses same store sales. Streaming services and cable companies report number of subscribers. Airlines use available seat miles. Does the rule maker want to get into the business of regulating KPIs by industry? Standardization can cause new problems Trevor Harris, emeritus professor at Columbia Business School, my colleague worries, 'standardization of non-GAAP numbers is going to cause more issues. I think part of the general problem is that people want everything in a summary statistic which cannot really work, and we assume all investors use the measures being reported. So, part of the answer is to put some of the responsibility back on investors instead of adding more regulation which will never cover everything. When I created economically consistent measures in Model Ware at Morgan Stanley, there were many cases where I had to arbitrate and provide consistency. No regulation can deal with all the idiosyncrasies in complex companies. Another dimension of this is why is comparability a holy grail? Lowes and Home Depot are more similar, but not homogenous. If people cannot adjust for 52 versus 53 weeks, why add more burden on the companies if they don't operate that way?' An ex-standard setter, who wished to stay anonymous, points out another important wrinkle - the constant pressure from industry to adopt income-increasing metrics or rules that make companies look good: 'If I was in charge of the FASB, I might think twice about taking on such a project. An example was earnings per share. It was the first GAAP metric and at one time was viewed as critical to investment decision making. Because many believed it was critical to investment decision making, the gaming of the standard became a popular sport. So much so, that the FASB was constantly trying to issue guidance to address the most recent scheme to boost EPS. The literature became voluminous and complex. A former FASB Chairman told me that he believed the EPS standard was one of the FASB's biggest mistakes and that in his view the FASB should not set standards for how to compute metrics used by investors.' In sum, there is a weak case at best for some kind of standardization of non-financial KPIs. On balance, I suggest we leave Regulation G and the SEC's 2016 rules as is. In my view, these rules strike a reasonable balance between giving firms discretion to tell their story without giving investors information to detect managerial opportunism.
Business Wire
03-05-2025
- Business
- Business Wire
Berkshire Hathaway Inc. First Quarter 2025 Earnings Release
OMAHA, Neb.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Berkshire's operating results for the first quarters of 2025 and 2024 are summarized in the following paragraphs. However, we urge investors and reporters to read our 10-Q, which has been posted at The limited information that follows in this press release is not adequate for making an informed investment judgment. Earnings of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries for the first quarters of 2025 and 2024 are summarized below. Earnings are stated on an after-tax basis. (Dollar amounts are in millions, except for per share amounts). Net earnings per average equivalent Class A Share $ 3,200 $ 8,825 Net earnings per average equivalent Class B Share* $ 2.13 $ 5.88 Expand Average equivalent Class A shares outstanding 1,438,223 1,439,370 Average equivalent Class B shares outstanding 2,157,335,139 2,159,055,134 Expand * Per share amounts for the Class B shares are 1/1,500 th of those shown for Class A. Expand Generally Accepted Accounting Principles ('GAAP') require that we include the changes in unrealized gains/losses of our equity security investments as a component of investment gains (losses) in our earnings statements. In the table above, investment gains (losses) include losses of approximately $7.4 billion in the first quarter of 2025 and $9.7 billion in the first quarter of 2024 due to changes during the first quarters of 2025 and 2024 in the amount of unrealized gains that existed in our equity security investment holdings. Investment gains (losses) also include after-tax realized gains on sales of investments of $2.4 billion in the first quarter of 2025 and $11.2 billion in the first quarter of 2024. The amount of investment gains (losses) in any given quarter is usually meaningless and delivers figures for net earnings per share that can be extremely misleading to investors who have little or no knowledge of accounting rules. An analysis of Berkshire's operating earnings follows (dollar amounts are in millions). * Includes foreign currency exchange losses of approximately $713 million in 2025 and foreign currency exchange gains of approximately $597 million in 2024 related to non-U.S. Dollar denominated debt. Also includes interest and dividend income related to U.S. Treasury Bills and other investments not directly owned by a Berkshire insurance subsidiary or certain non-insurance operating companies of $869 million in 2025 and $303 million in 2024. Expand On March 31, 2025, there were 1,438,223 Class A equivalent shares outstanding. At March 31, 2025, insurance float (the net liabilities we assume under insurance contracts) was approximately $173 billion, an increase of $2 billion since yearend 2024. Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures This press release includes certain non-GAAP financial measures. The reconciliations of such measures to the most comparable GAAP figures in accordance with Regulation G are included herein. Berkshire presents its results in the way it believes will be most meaningful and useful, as well as most transparent, to the investing public and others who use Berkshire's financial information. That presentation includes the use of certain non-GAAP financial measures. In addition to the GAAP presentations of net earnings, Berkshire shows operating earnings defined as net earnings exclusive of investment gains (losses). Although the investment of insurance and reinsurance premiums to generate investment income and investment gains or losses is an integral part of Berkshire's operations, the generation of investment gains or losses is independent of the insurance underwriting process. Moreover, as previously described, under applicable GAAP accounting requirements, we are required to include the changes in unrealized gains (losses) of our equity security investments as a component of investment gains (losses) in our periodic earnings statements. In sum, investment gains (losses) for any particular period are not indicative of quarterly business performance. About Berkshire Berkshire Hathaway and its subsidiaries engage in diverse business activities including insurance and reinsurance, freight rail transportation, utilities and energy, manufacturing services and retailing. Common stock of the company is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, trading symbols BRK.A and BRK.B. Cautionary Statement Certain statements contained in this press release are 'forward looking' statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are not guaranties of future performance and actual results may differ materially from those forecasted. — END —
Associated Press
28-04-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
Domino's Pizza® Announces First Quarter 2025 Financial Results
Global retail sales growth (excluding foreign currency impact) of 4.7% U.S. same store sales decline of 0.5% International same store sales growth (excluding foreign currency impact) of 3.7% Global net store decline of 8, including 17 net store openings in the U.S. and 25 net store closures internationally Income from operations decreased 0.2%; excluding the $3.2 million negative impact of foreign currency exchange rates on international franchise royalty revenues, income from operations increased 1.4% ANN ARBOR, Mich., April 28, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Domino's Pizza, Inc. (Nasdaq: DPZ), the largest pizza company in the world, announced results for the first quarter of 2025. 'Domino's Q1 results demonstrate that our Hungry for MORE strategy continues to drive market share growth in QSR Pizza across both our US and international businesses,' said Russell Weiner, Domino's Chief Executive Officer. 'Sustained market share growth reflects a company's ability to control what is under its control, a key to long term success. In the face of a challenging global macroeconomic environment, our Hungry for MORE strategic pillars are working together to drive MORE sales, MORE stores and MORE profits, annually. This is how we will deliver long term value for our franchisees and shareholders.' First Quarter 2025 Operational and Financial Highlights (Unaudited): The tables below outline certain statistical measures utilized by the Company to analyze its performance, as well as key financial results. This historical data is not necessarily indicative of results to be expected for any future period. Refer to Comments on Regulation G below for additional details, including definitions of these statistical measures and certain reconciliations. Quarterly Dividend Subsequent to the end of the first quarter of 2025, on April 23, 2025, the Company's Board of Directors declared a $1.74 per share quarterly dividend on its outstanding common stock for shareholders of record as of June 13, 2025, to be paid on June 30, 2025. Share Repurchases During the first quarter of 2025, the Company repurchased and retired 115,280 shares of common stock for a total of $50.0 million. As of March 23, 2025, the Company had a total remaining authorized amount for share repurchases of $764.3 million. Comments on Regulation G In addition to the GAAP financial measures set forth in this press release, the Company has included non-GAAP financial measures within the meaning of Regulation G, including free cash flow, income from operations, excluding foreign currency impact and Consolidated Adjusted EBITDA. The Company has also included metrics such as global retail sales, global retail sales growth (excluding foreign currency impact), same store sales growth, net store growth, food basket pricing change, impact of changes in foreign currency exchange rates on international franchise royalty revenues and the leverage ratio, which are commonly used statistical measures in the quick-service restaurant industry that are important to understanding Company performance. The Company uses 'global retail sales,' a statistical measure, to refer to total worldwide retail sales at Company-owned and franchise stores. The Company believes global retail sales information is useful in analyzing revenues because franchisees pay royalties and advertising fees that are based on a percentage of franchise retail sales. The Company reviews comparable industry global retail sales information to assess business trends and to track the growth of the Domino's Pizza brand and believes they are indicative of the financial health of the Company's franchisee base. In addition, supply chain revenues are directly impacted by changes in franchise retail sales in the U.S. and Canada. As a result, sales by Domino's franchisees have a direct effect on the Company's profitability. Retail sales for franchise stores are reported to the Company by its franchisees and are not included in Company revenues. 'Global retail sales growth' is calculated as the change of U.S. Dollar global retail sales against the comparable period of the prior year. 'Global retail sales growth, excluding foreign currency impact' is calculated as the change of international local currency global retail sales against the comparable period of the prior year. Changes in global retail sales growth, excluding foreign currency impact, are primarily driven by same store sales growth and net store growth. The Company uses 'same store sales growth,' a statistical measure, which is calculated by including only retail sales from stores that also had sales in the comparable weeks of both periods. International same store sales growth is calculated similarly to U.S. same store sales growth. Changes in international same store sales are reported excluding foreign currency impacts, which reflect changes in international local currency sales. Same store sales growth for transferred stores is reflected in their current classification. The Company uses 'net store growth,' a statistical measure, which is calculated by netting gross store openings with gross store closures during the period. Transfers between Company-owned stores and franchised stores are excluded from the calculation of net store growth. The Company uses 'food basket pricing change,' a statistical measure, which is calculated as the percentage change of the food basket (including both food and cardboard products) purchased by an average U.S. store (based on average weekly unit sales) from U.S. supply chain centers against the comparable period of the prior year. The Company believes that the food basket pricing change is important to investors and other interested persons to understand the Company's performance. As food basket prices fluctuate, revenues, cost of sales and gross margin percentages in the Company's supply chain segment also fluctuate. Additionally, cost of sales, gross margins and gross margin percentages for the Company's U.S. Company-owned stores also fluctuate. The Company uses 'free cash flow,' which is calculated as net cash provided by operating activities, less capital expenditures, both as reported under GAAP. The most directly comparable financial measure calculated and presented in accordance with GAAP is net cash provided by operating activities. The Company believes that the free cash flow measure is important to investors and other interested persons, and that such persons benefit from having a measure which communicates how much cash flow is available for working capital needs or to be used for repurchasing debt, making acquisitions, repurchasing common stock or paying dividends. The Company uses 'income from operations, excluding foreign currency impact,' which is calculated as income from operations as reported under GAAP, less the 'impact of changes in foreign currency exchange rates on international franchise royalty revenues,' a statistical measure. The most directly comparable financial measure calculated and presented in accordance with GAAP is income from operations. The impact of changes in foreign currency exchange rates on international franchise royalty revenues is calculated as the difference in international franchise royalty revenues resulting from translating current period local currency results to U.S. dollars at current period exchange rates as compared to prior period exchange rates. The Company believes that the impact of changes in foreign currency exchange rates on international franchise royalty revenues is important to investors and other interested persons to understand the Company's international royalty revenues given the significant variability in those revenues and that can be driven by changes in foreign currency exchanges rates. International franchise royalty revenues do not have a cost of sales component, so changes in these revenues have a direct impact on income from operations. The Company uses 'Consolidated Adjusted EBITDA,' which is calculated as Segment Income as defined by the Company under Accounting Standards Codification 280, Segment Reporting, less corporate administrative costs that have not been allocated to a reportable segment including labor, computer expenses, professional fees, travel and entertainment, rent, insurance and other corporate administrative costs. Consolidated Adjusted EBITDA is defined in the base indenture governing the Company's securitized debt. The Company uses Consolidated Adjusted EBITDA to determine future business objectives and targets and for long-range planning, as well as to evaluate total Company operating performance for the purposes of determining certain variable performance-based compensation. The Company believes Consolidated Adjusted EBITDA is a reliable barometer for the overall success of the Company. It is also used to calculate the leverage ratio (defined below), and other ratios defined in the indenture governing the Company's securitized debt. As such, Consolidated Adjusted EBITDA is important to investors and other interested persons to understand the financial performance of the Company, and to assess the ability of the Company to meet its financial obligations. The Company uses the 'leverage ratio1,' which is calculated as the Company's securitized debt related to its fixed-rate notes from the recapitalizations completed in 2021, 2019, 2018, 2017 and 2015 and borrowings under its variable funding notes, divided by Consolidated Adjusted EBITDA on a trailing four quarters basis. The Company has historically operated with a leverage ratio between four and six times. The Company reviews its leverage ratio on at least a quarterly basis and believes its leverage ratio is important to investors and other interested persons to understand the capital structure of the Company, and to assess the ability of the Company to meet its financial obligations. The reconciliation of the leverage ratio for the first quarters of 2025 and 2024 is as follows below. Conference Call Information The Company will file its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q today. As previously announced, Domino's Pizza, Inc. will hold a conference call today at 8:30 a.m. (Eastern) to review its first quarter 2025 financial results. The webcast is available at and will be archived for one year. About Domino's Pizza® Founded in 1960, Domino's Pizza is the largest pizza company in the world, with a significant business in both delivery and carryout. It ranks among the world's top public restaurant brands with a global enterprise of more than 21,300 stores in over 90 markets. Domino's had global retail sales of over $19.2 billion in the trailing four quarters ended March 23, 2025. Its system is comprised of independent franchise owners who accounted for 99% of Domino's stores as of the end of the first quarter of 2025. In the U.S., Domino's generated more than 85% of U.S. retail sales in 2024 via digital channels and has developed many innovative ordering platforms. Order – Company Info – Media Assets – Please visit our Investor Relations website at to view news, announcements, earnings releases, investor presentations and conference webcasts. SAFE HARBOR STATEMENT UNDER THE PRIVATE SECURITIES LITIGATION REFORM ACT OF 1995: This press release contains various forward-looking statements about the Company within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (the 'Act') that are based on current management expectations that involve substantial risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from the results expressed in, or implied by, these forward-looking statements. The following cautionary statements are being made pursuant to the provisions of the Act and with the intention of obtaining the benefits of the 'safe harbor' provisions of the Act. You can identify forward-looking statements by the use of words such as 'anticipates,' 'believes,' 'could,' 'should,' 'estimates,' 'expects,' 'intends,' 'may,' 'will,' 'plans,' 'predicts,' 'projects,' 'seeks,' 'approximately,' 'potential,' 'outlook' and similar terms and phrases that concern our strategy, plans or intentions, including references to assumptions. These forward-looking statements address various matters including information concerning future results of operations and business strategy, our anticipated profitability, estimates in same store sales growth, store growth and the growth of our U.S. and international business in general, our ability to service our indebtedness, our future cash flows, our operating performance, trends in our business and other descriptions of future events reflect the Company's expectations based upon currently available information and data. While we believe these expectations and projections are based on reasonable assumptions, such forward-looking statements are inherently subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from our expectations are more fully described in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including under the section headed 'Risk Factors' in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 29, 2024. Actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, including but not limited to: our substantial indebtedness as a result of our recapitalization transactions and our ability to incur additional indebtedness or refinance or renegotiate key terms of that indebtedness in the future; the impact a downgrade in our credit rating may have on our business, financial condition and results of operations; our future financial performance and our ability to pay principal and interest on our indebtedness; the strength of our brand, including our ability to compete in the U.S. and internationally in our intensely competitive industry, including the food service and food delivery markets; our ability to successfully implement our growth strategy, including through our participation in the third-party order aggregation marketplace; labor shortages or changes in operating expenses resulting from increases in prices of food (particularly cheese), fuel and other commodity costs, labor, utilities, insurance, employee benefits and other operating costs or negative economic conditions; the effectiveness of our advertising, operations and promotional initiatives; shortages, interruptions or disruptions in the supply or delivery of fresh food products and store equipment; the additional risks our international operations subject us to, which may differ in each country in which we and our franchisees do business; our ability and that of our franchisees to successfully operate in the current and future credit environment; the impact of social media or a boycott on our business, brand and reputation; the impact of new or improved technologies and alternative methods of delivery on consumer behavior; new product, digital ordering and concept developments by us, and other food-industry competitors; our ability to maintain good relationships with and attract new franchisees, and franchisees' ability to successfully manage their operations without negatively impacting our royalty payments and fees or our brand's reputation; our ability to successfully implement cost-saving strategies; changes in the level of consumer spending given general economic conditions, including interest rates, energy prices and consumer confidence or negative economic conditions in general; our ability and that of our franchisees to open new restaurants and keep existing restaurants in operation and maintain demand for new stores; the impact that widespread illness, health epidemics or general health concerns, severe weather conditions and natural disasters may have on our business and the economies of the countries where we operate; changes in foreign currency exchange rates; changes in income tax rates; our ability to retain or replace our executive officers and other key members of management and our ability to adequately staff our stores and supply chain centers with qualified personnel; our ability to find and/or retain suitable real estate for our stores and supply chain centers; changes in government legislation and regulations, including changes in laws and regulations regarding information privacy, payment methods, advertising and consumer protection and social media; adverse legal judgments or settlements; food-borne illness or contamination of products or food tampering or other events that may impact our reputation; data breaches, power loss, technological failures, user error or other cyber risks threatening us or our franchisees; the impact that environmental, social and governance matters may have on our business and reputation; the effect of war, terrorism, catastrophic events, other geopolitical or reputational considerations or climate change; our ability to pay dividends and repurchase shares; changes in consumer tastes, spending and traffic patterns and demographic trends; changes in accounting policies; and adequacy of our insurance coverage. In light of these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, the forward-looking events discussed in this press release might not occur. All forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release and should be evaluated with an understanding of their inherent uncertainty. Except as required under federal securities laws and the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission, or other applicable law, we will not undertake, and specifically disclaim, any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances arising after the date of this press release, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements included in this press release or that may be made elsewhere from time to time by, or on behalf of, us. All forward-looking statements attributable to us are expressly qualified by these cautionary statements. TABLES TO FOLLOW View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE Domino's Pizza, Inc.
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Q1 2025 Churchill Downs Inc Earnings Call
Sam Ullrich; Vice President, Investor Relations; Churchill Downs Inc William Carstanjen; Chief Executive Officer, Director; Churchill Downs Inc Marcia Dall; Chief Financial Officer, Executive Vice President; Churchill Downs Inc Chad Beynon; Analyst; Macquarie Barry Jonas; Analyst; Truist Securities David Katz; Analyst; Jefferies Jordan Bender; Analyst; Citizens Daniel Guglielmo; Analyst; Capital One Securities Jeff Stantial; Analyst; Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Inc. Joe Stauff; Analyst; Susquehanna Financial Group LLLP Ben Chaiken; Analyst; Mizuho Securities USA Shaun Kelley; Analyst; Bank of America Brandt Montour; Analyst; Barclays Operator Good day, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Churchill Downs Incorporated 2025 first quarter earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder, this conference call is being recorded.I would now like to introduce your host for today's conference, Mr. Sam Ullrich, Vice President, Investor Relations. Sam Ullrich Thank you, Andrew. Good morning and welcome to our first quarter 2025 earnings conference call. After the company's prepared remarks, we will open the call for your questions. The company's 2025 first quarter business results were released yesterday afternoon.A copy of this release announcing results and other financial and statistical information about the period to be presented in this conference call, including information required by Regulation G, is available at the section of the company's website titled News located at as well as in the website's investors we get started, I would like to remind you that some of the statements that we make today may include forward-looking statements. These statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ forward-looking statements should be considered in conjunction with the cautionary statements in our earnings release and the risk factors included in our filings with the SEC, specifically the most recent reports on Form 10-Q and Form forward-looking statements that we make are based on assumptions as of today, and we undertake no obligation to update these statements as a result of new information or future events. During this call, we present both GAAP and non-GAAP financial measures. A reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP measures is included in yesterday's earnings press release. The press release and Form 10-Q are available on our website at now I'll turn the call over to our Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Bill Carstanjen. William Carstanjen Thanks, Sam. Good morning, everyone. With me today are several members of our team, including Bill Mudd, our President and Chief Operating Officer; Marcia Dall, our Chief Financial Officer; and Brad Blackwell, our General Counsel.I will share an update on our growth plans for our company, including with respect to the Kentucky Derby and our HRM businesses in Virginia and Kentucky, and then Marcia will provide insight into our financial results as well as an update on our capital management strategy. After she finishes, we will take your delivered record first quarter net revenue of $643 million and record first quarter adjusted EBITDA of $245 million. These results reflect strong performance given one, the first quarter last year was also a record. Two, the material weather events that impacted many of our properties during this quarter. Three the increasingly uncertain economic environment driven by the tariffs and trade war disputes. And four one less day this quarter compared to last year because 2024 was a leap quarter, we successfully opened our Owensboro HRM venue on time and below budget. This is our seventh Kentucky HRM facility and is located just east of Owensboro, the fourth largest city in the state. It has 600 HRMs, a retail sports book, simulcast wagering, and several food and beverage are pleased with the first couple of months of performance from this property, and it is on track to deliver a great return for our shareholders. Churchill is an exceptional company that continues to deliver growth and with a pipeline to a great have demonstrated we can nimbly apply our strategy in any economic environment to effectively manage our capital to create best in class value for our shareholders. Given this backdrop, let's talk about the strategic investments we are making in 2025 to drive long-term shareholder regarding Churchill Down's racetrack in the Kentucky Derby. We have completed the Starting Gate Pavilion and Courtyard project on time and on budget. Our guests at the 151st Kentucky Derby next week will be treated to 8,500 new reserved premium stadium and trackside box seats near the Kentucky Derby Starting have also significantly improved the amenities and hospitality options in the areas adjacent to the Starting Gate Pavilion, which enhances the experience for our guests throughout the surrounding our last earnings call at the end of February, we announced a $900 million multi-year project at Churchill Downs racetrack that included tearing down and rebuilding the Skye Terrace, building new permanent structures in the infield for premium ticket holders, and providing improved amenities for our general admissions guests.A lot has changed in the world in the past nine weeks since that earnings call, including increased general economic uncertainty and risk of significant inflation driven in part by the new tariffs that the US intends to charge on products from almost every country in the world. This has created unanticipated and currently unquantifiable expected cost increases in most to these factors, we've made the difficult decision to temporarily pause this multi-year effort in order to let things settle down so that we can better determine any permanent changes in the cost of this project and better evaluate any changes in the overall economic remain completely committed to growing the Kentucky Derby through the prudent timing of capital investments over the long term. We take very seriously our reputation for delivering long-term best in class returns to our shareholders, and it was only after a careful evaluation of the current economic climate that we made this will use the coming months to assess the evolving economic conditions as well as to evaluate any changes that we want to make to the timing and sequencing. This is an opportunity to revisit and to make sure we deliver products that best meet and exceed our customers' expectations as well as those of our 151 years, the Kentucky Derby has become a testament to the enduring spirit of American sportsmanship, celebration, and the lasting power of our traditions. It's the definition of a long term asset, and it is one that has always demanded discipline as well as the macro environment concerns are better understood, we will move forward with thoughtful decisions on how best to invest material amounts of capital in this iconic night, we announced two smaller projects at Churchill Downs racetrack, the renovation of the Finish line Suites and The Mansion. These two projects will cost approximately $25 million to $30 million in total and are expected to be completed in time for the 2026 Kentucky believe that these two low risk and easy to measure projects will generate strong shareholder returns. We have 15 Finish Line Suites on the fifth floor directly overlooking the finish line. These are reserved for approximately 600 guests and have traditionally been considered one of the most prominent and prestigious areas for sponsors and companies to entertain large will update the finishes and other amenities while also increasing the capacity to a total of 750 guests. At the same time, we will renovate the trophy room which sits behind the Finish Line Suites and seats over 300, many of whom are additional guests of the finish Line Suite holders. The improvements to both these areas will create a larger, fully integrated hospitality experience with more energy, better flow, and superior to The Mansion This is one of our most exclusive areas. It is located on the sixth floor and provides stunning views of the finish line and the racetrack as a whole. We will introduce updated finishes and amenities along with other believe that both projects will deliver long-term superior returns for our shareholders. Strategic investments have driven the Kentucky Derby experience and financial results to a level few would have imagined just a handful of years set records last year in all of our key financial metrics and grew the adjusted EBITDA for the event by $30 million compared to the prior year. We expect this year's Kentucky Derby to be comparable to last year's, delivering one of the best results in the history of our company across our key financial regarding our HRM progress. Our track record has demonstrated that we are disciplined in our approach to HRM investments. This has led to excellent returns on capital from our HRM venues and the related will continue to explore further development in each of our key markets. In Virginia, as expected, we have seen good progress during the first quarter from the rose. As a reminder, the potential customer base around the rose is nearly 4 times larger than our other largest HRM properties in Virginia and facilities in new markets like Northern Virginia take time to attract, develop, and retain customers. We saw meaningful sequential growth in the gross gaming revenues each month of the first quarter, as well as outstanding improvement in rated player is the result of the ongoing marketing as we build our customer database. We are pleased with the progress to date. We hope to continue to demonstrate improvement as this new facility is miles away from approaching also made significant progress in the expansion project at our Richmond HRM venue. In 2024, it was our largest contributor of adjusted EBITDA in Virginia and the second most profitable HRM property in our portfolio after Derby City added approximately 100 HRMs so far and we'll have an additional 400 games operational before Memorial Day weekend. This project is ahead of schedule and on we are building the Roseshire gaming parlor in Henrico County with 175 HRMs and other guest amenities. We made great progress during the first quarter. We now expect to open early in the fourth quarter of this year. This project is ahead of schedule and on Kentucky, we began work on the Marshall Yards HRM venue in Calvert City in late January. This will be our eighth HRM venue in the Commonwealth. We are on budget and on track to open during the first quarter of will note a common theme as we discuss these brick and mortar construction projects. We have a firm grip on the schedules and budgets. This has been an important ingredient of our success over time in generating shareholder returns, and even in these more volatile economic conditions, we are committed and confident we will adhere to our principles of discipline, planning and meeting to Exacta. The acquisition of the Exacta technology has improved the performance of our Virginia and Kentucky HRM venues by enabling us to better optimize the gaming floors and reduce the technology fees charged to our the B2B front, the Exacta team has continued to make strides, growing the portfolio of third party HRM operations in Kentucky, Wyoming, and New Hampshire. For example, we now provide our technology to 11 of the 12 HRM venues that are operational in New look forward to growing this business as these properties expand and through growth in new jurisdictions that may adopt this form of wagering in the future. As we mentioned during our February call, we are making progress on the development of HRM-based electronic cable currently plan to implement electronic table games prior to the end of 2025 in certain of our existing HRM locations to support the growth of our our preparation for the upcoming 151st Kentucky Derby on May 3, a week from this Saturday. We expect this will be another extraordinary experience for our guests. The buzz and energy seems greater every year, and this year promises to deliver once I commented a few minutes ago, we anticipate results that are comparable to last year's extraordinary Kentucky Derby 150. We have an exciting week of racing and festivities planned and look forward to hosting many of you in you cannot join us at the track, please be sure to watch the NBC broadcast, which begins at [12:00 PM Eastern time on USA Network, and then moves to NBC starting at 2:30]. We will provide a press release with our preliminary results after the race like we do every summary, the first quarter was another strong one for us with record financial results. Yes, a lot has changed in the last nine weeks since our last earnings call. What has not changed is our leadership team's demonstrated track record of managing, adopting, and pivoting during various economic discipline has positioned our company for strong growth for years to come with our pipeline of investments in the Kentucky Derby, HRM, and other gaming venues, the B2B and B2C expansion of our TwinSpires and Exacta businesses, and a creative strategic choices and capital investments over recent years, along with our strong balance sheet and diversified portfolio of assets have positioned us well to navigate these evolving times. We remain committed to delivering excellent total shareholder return with consistent execution over the long that, I'll turn the call over to Marcia and then we will take your questions. Marcia? Marcia Dall Thanks, Bill and good morning, everyone. I'll start with a few insights into our financial results and then provide an update on capital regarding first quarter financial results, as Bill shared, we delivered record first quarter revenue and adjusted EBITDA. We also delivered record first quarter net revenue across all of our reporting segments and record first quarter adjusted EBITDA for our live and historical racing segment and for our wagering services and solutions are pleased with the first quarter performance from our businesses in the live and historical racing segment. This segment delivered record first quarter revenue and adjusted EBITDA. The live and historical racing segment increased revenue by nearly $28 million or 11% compared to the prior year quarter, primarily due to the opening of the Rose Gaming Resort in November 2024 and the Owensboro Racing and Gaming in February HRM properties in Kentucky performed extremely well during the first quarter. Our Kentucky HRM properties increased adjusted EBITDA by $3.1 million or 6%, compared to the prior year quarter, despite the weather events our HRM venues experienced and the impact of one less day in the quarter due to the 2024 leap year, as well as the impact from the ongoing economic uncertainty that escalated in the first benefited from strong performance from our new Owensboro HRM venue and from our Oak Grove, Turfway Park and Newport, Kentucky HRM venues. The Virginia HRM Properties contribution to adjusted EBITDA decreased by $2.2 million or 3% compared to the prior year Northern Virginia HRM venues collectively contributed nearly $10 million of adjusted EBITDA during the first quarter, up nearly $4 million from the prior year quarter. The Rose had a meaningful sequential increase in the GGR per machine per day for each month of the first quarter from our continued progress in marketing the property to educate and attract of our other HRM properties in Virginia collectively had a nearly $6 million or 13% decrease in adjusted EBITDA during the first quarter compared to the prior year quarter. Approximately one-third of the decrease was driven by the impact of weather and one less day in the quarter due to leap year in the prior one-third of the decrease was driven by a higher handle tax rate for the quarter compared to the prior year and a slight impact from running three days of racing in the quarter. The higher handle tax rate was the result of the increase in the number of HRMs we have in the Commonwealth of Virginia compared to the prior year quarter due to the opening of the final one-third of the decline was driven by consumer softness and the impact of competition near some of our HRM venues that reduced the level of our unrated play. Overall, it is important to note that despite the decline in adjusted EBITDA, we still generated a combined 52% margin during the quarter for our same store of Virginia HRM our waging services and solutions segment, adjusted EBITDA grew by nearly $2 million or 4% compared to the prior year quarter. The Exacta business contributed nearly $4 million of increased adjusted EBITDA from both third party customers and growth from our Virginia HRM TwinSpires Horse Racing business saw an increase in revenue and a modest decline in adjusted EBITDA in the first quarter, primarily due to incremental legal expenses related to our legal team's successful outcome regarding TwinSpire's right to accept horse racing wagers in the state of last, regarding our gaming business, our wholly owned regional gaming properties performed relatively well in the first quarter given the regional gaming softness, increased competition. One less thing in the first quarter this year due to the 2024 leap year and the impact of weather and competition at certain of our gaming consumer behavior and first quarter remain consistent with recent quarters. We see strength at the higher end and with rated play and weakness at the lower end and with unrated play across our our Terre Haute Casino Resort in Indiana, this property delivered nearly $12 million of adjusted EBITDA in the first quarter. Our Terre Haute property continues to perform well with margins that are in the top quartile of performance for regional gaming our first quarter same store, wholly owned casino margins were down 2.1 points compared to the same period in 2024, primarily driven by our New York, Pennsylvania, and Maine to capital management, we generated $234 million or $3.15 per share of free cash flow in the first quarter, primarily from the strong cash flow generated from our maintenance capital, we spent $13 million in the first quarter. Based on a review of our maintenance capital plans for the year, we have reduced our 2025 maintenance capital projection by $10 million to $90 million to $100 project capital, we spent $68 million in the first quarter. Based on the pausing of the multi-year project at Churchill Downs Racetrack, we've reduced our 2025 project capital forecast by $100 million to $110 million. We are now anticipating that our project capital for 2025 will be between $250 million and $290 share repurchases and dividends, in March, we announced that our board approved a new common stock repurchase program of up to $500 million. We repurchased nearly 800,000 shares in the first quarter under our share repurchase programs. Combined with the annual dividend we paid in January, we have returned nearly $120 million to our shareholders so far this the end of the first quarter, our bank covenant net leverage was 4.0 times. Based on our capital investments and anticipated share repurchases, we expect our bank covenant net leverage to remain in the 4 times range for the remainder of the year. We then expect our bank covenant net leverage to decline in 2026 to between 3.6 times and 3.8 we are pleased with the record results that our team delivered in the first quarter. Our leadership team has a demonstrated track record of leading, managing, adapting, and pivoting during various economic cycles. We are well positioned to continue to grow through the remainder of 2025 and into 2026, fueled by the tangible pipeline of growth initiatives that Bill is truly a special time of the year for our company. We will continue our rich and spectacular traditions at this year's 151st Derby. I look forward to sharing this remarkable experience with many of you in person next that, I'll turn the call back over to Bill so that he can open the call for questions. Bill? William Carstanjen Thank you, Marcia. We're now ready to take your questions. Operator (Operator Instructions)Chad Beynon, Macquarie. Chad Beynon Hi, good morning. Thanks for taking my question and all the prepared remarks. Well, Marcia, I just wanted to ask about the a little bit of the softness that you're seeing, I guess for the quarter and particularly in the last few weeks as we've heard from a lot of your peers, have you seen that accelerate in terms of the decline or with all the certainty that's been out there, has that been pretty consistent with that that low end player I guess when it's when it started to drop? Thank you. William Carstanjen Sure. Thanks, Chad. So I think what we see across the board is some hesitancy with just the volatility in the macroeconomic environment and the uncertainty over tariffs and things like that. So certainly, it's most evident in our lower tiered or unrated play, and that's the segment of play in our casinos over which we have the least amount of course, as you get into the upper tiers, we can -- we have a relationship with those people and we have a very much a 360 degree view of their behavior, so we're able to communicate with them and we're able to incent them to come. So we have a better opportunity to manage that, but certainly for us consistent. So far it's been consistent over the last number of I think the theme that we think we see out there is it's just some hesitancy in the overall market. It's not that we know or have information that they have less money in their wallets. We don't know that for sure, but perhaps just some hesitancy that we're managing through. And of course we're best able to manage that with the customers who are in our database because we can incent them in and communicate with them. Chad Beynon Thank you. Operator Barry Jonas, Truist. Barry Jonas Hey guys, good morning, appreciate the commentary on Derby 151 and expectations for this year to look like last year. Can you maybe, talk a little bit about how you see that compositionally? I just want to be clear with the recent macro noise, are you seeing any impact on international visitation? Thanks. William Carstanjen Sure. Thanks for the question, Barry. I'll take those in reverse. No, we're not seeing any material change in international visitation. It's hard to roll that up right at the moment, but I suspect it might even be better, but it certainly isn't worse as far as we're aware of right in general with the Derby, the Derby is a very strong event that continues to grow and is getting stronger year to year in general. We had a significant uptake last year with Derby 150, as I commented in my remarks. That was a big step up in in all of our financial metrics, and I'm pleased that this year we're going to be comparable to that and I think our growth trajectory will continue from terms of the customers this year, I don't see any real concerns or weaknesses in the upper tier seats that we have, and I think it's pretty strong throughout. I would say over the last eight or nine weeks, I think in the in the lowest tier, which are not inexpensive tickets, call them $1,000-plus tickets. We've seen less demand for those that we've seen historically, but still strong demand, and I think when you see this Derby this year, it'll look like every other Derby, it'll be a packed house. Barry Jonas Thank you. Operator David Katz, Jefferies. David Katz Hi, good morning. Thanks for taking my question. I wanted to just continue down that same avenue a bit. So if we start looking past this year's Derby and a little longer term and given the announcement about some of the capital plans being temporarily on hold, how can you help us think about the sort of progression of growth or earnings power for the Derby as we look out over the next few years? Obviously not looking for a firm guide, but some qualitative input on how we think it can grow and what the drivers of that are. And some macro assumption, I assume is required there. William Carstanjen Sure. That's a good question, David. Let me do the best I can to help you through it. So first, you'll see next year that the NBC contract kick in with those economics and also as I referenced a moment ago, seeing strong demand for Derby tickets, but not as much in the lower tier, especially with the new area that we've introduced, the Starting Gate there I think what we've seen over the last number of years when we introduce a new area we've been able to go right to the price that we target as our long term price and then grow off that. I think when we look at this year, we weren't able to take that same kind of price that we've taken in previous year where we go right to our three year or at maturity type price for a new area. So I think as people experience the new section, I think you'll see more pricing power as we develop more experiences you'll see us be able to take more price. So part of our plan for the Derby, as it's always been, is to develop new areas, introduce people to those areas, and be able to yield price as they appreciate the value of the chain this year in 2025, in my opinion, took a little bit of a jolt because we didn't have the endless. A pool of demand that we've seen in prior years. So I think this year we'll prove it with the new area and so when you get to 2026, I think you'll be able to see us take more price there and we'll continue that see growth in wagering. We see growth in sponsorships. We see smart growth in ticketing based on improving the experiences and yielding those experiences over time. So nothing's changed. You'll see international really changed in the formula. I think what we ran into over the last eight or nine weeks was hesitancy, and boy, oh boy, I'm proud of our team for how we've adjusted for that as we go into the 2026 Derby, we're understand this market and we'll be going into the market functioning with an understanding of -- there was a hit to the coffin of the American consumer, which I think a lot of businesses are seeing, most businesses are seeing, and we'll adjust and perform accordingly. David Katz Thank you. Operator Jordan Bender, Citizens. Jordan Bender Morning everyone. Bill, the implementation of the electronic table games isn't a surprise. But does seem fairly significant from a positive perspective with the wheels now in motion. Can you maybe just expand on the size and scope of rolling those out as well as are those going to be subject to a different tax rate, across your various jurisdictions?And then I do just want to do one follow up here on the Derby. When you say comparable, are you relating that to revenue or EBITDA? Thank you. William Carstanjen Sure. So I'll take those in order. So increasingly the challenge around HRM table games is not a technological one. It's really a regulatory challenge and a taxation challenge. So I want to be candid but also cautious because those are the things we're solving for as we look at what jurisdictions we can enrol -- roll these out in and how we do a product perspective -- from a technology challenge perspective, we've done a pretty good job of working with key suppliers to handle those. So this will be a process that we take slowly and conservatively to help our teams and our customers adapt and adapt to this new product. So I ask that there's patience on that. It's a real great development for us, it's part of the underlying growth that you have in HRMs, the continuous constant improvement in product and capability, but with that takes time to gain acceptance in the marketplace both from a regulatory perspective and from a customer perspective and with respect to issues like taxation, there are lots of reasons, as for variations in tax rates between table games and traditional slot light games, and that's something we have to take one at a time with legislators to make that case. Sorry, what was the other question again?Oh, Derby comparable, yeah, sorry -- yeah, when I speak of comparability, I speak of primarily adjusted EBITDA, but I think pretty consistently across all the major metrics, but certainly adjusted EBITDA, and I think you'll see some higher and some lower, but across all of them comparable and the most critical one, the ultimate one is the economic performance as a whole, which is adjusted EBITDA. So that's what we're talking about. Jordan Bender Thank you. Operator Daniel Guglielmo, Capital One Securities. Daniel Guglielmo Hi everyone, thank you for taking my question. I know you all are very tactical about the growth projects and plans. They're always presented in a very organized way and it shows how serious you all take it. With last night's announcement pausing much of the penciled spend for 2026 through 2028, can you just talk about any of the other growth opportunities you see at existing properties that maybe you're dusting off as this macro uncertainty plays out? William Carstanjen I -- would you mind repeating that question because for some reason, I lost a key phrase of it. Would you mind just stating that again? Daniel Guglielmo Yeah, sorry about that. Now you guys are very tactic able about the growth projects and plans and take it very serious. So with late last night's announcement causing much of the pencil spend for 2026 to 2028, can you just talk about any other growth opportunities you see at kind of other existing properties that maybe you're dusting off, as you kind of wait for the macro to play out. William Carstanjen Yeah. So first, I just want to remind everybody that we're pausing the big project at Churchill Downs Racetrack. Whenever we make investments around Churchill, we are tethered to the fact that we hold this event every year on the first Saturday in we make these decisions for the year so you don't delay or pause it for a month. You need to delay and pause it for a year because every year you have to be ready for the next Kentucky Derby. So starting with the Derby, I'd say I just want to emphasize this is a pause. We want the macroeconomic environment to calm down a little bit because when it comes to cost on things like construction items a lot of those things either come from China or the price in the market for those items are influenced by the supply of those items that come from we need some of that to calm down before we can undertake something like a $900 million project. The project I'm convinced will still make great sense, but whenever we do a project, we do it from the perspective of trying to get it to a single variable equation as much as we can with that single variable being how many tickets are we going to sell and at what price point and over what period of don't like to have the additional variable of what is this thing going to cost us to build that we like to manage and treat that as a as a certainty and not a variable. Right now, we can't do that on a major project because of the Churchill Downs, I expect, hey, we'll pause this year, wait for the macro stuff to settle down, and then it's full speed ahead with whatever relevant and smart changes makes sense based on events that we can't predict.I think across the company, you're seeing organic growth in many of our Kentucky properties, it's a shame there's hesitancy with the consumer right now in general, but we're growing through that. I mean that's being absorbed and we're still growing in many of our properties, so Kentucky shows a lot of Rose has a lot of strength to come. We have the Richmond project, the Henrico project, the continued expansion of the Rose, plus we think we have our 5,000 unit limit which we're not at yet. We're at about 4,450 or so. We'll look to push to that 5,000 and then beyond if we have the support of the legislature.I think New Hampshire is still something we're looking very hard in and that we believe on. We just had a bunch of technical problems we need to solve, so I like that. So essentially there are lots of ways we will be growing this company. I think all three segments that we have will show growth, and we have plenty of opportunities there, and it's really just managing cost and keeping a close eye on our balance sheet and keeping a close eye on the macroenvironment to sequence what we want to do while we all support and want to pursue maximum growth and generally do in an environment where there's uncertainty, particularly on cost side, we want to be smart about how we do it so that our balance sheet remains what we think it should be and what and what the market thinks we should be at too. Daniel Guglielmo Thank you. Operator Jeff Stantial, Stifel. Jeff Stantial Hey, good morning, Bill, Marcia. Thanks for taking our questions. I wanted to ask on trends in in Virginia for your existing assets, so excluding Dumfries, now that you anniversary, the removal of the skill games and have a bit of a cleaner read on call it normalized growth.I'm curious just how you think about the overall maturity of those assets or in other words one ending of the of the ramp cycle that you think you might be in, obviously it's an iterative process and even your more mature HRM facilities are still growing. But just curious how you think about the opportunity is still remaining to drive awareness and trailing for those assets. Thanks. William Carstanjen Yeah. I think it was a really, how do I feel about Virginia? I feel great about it. It's still very early in our history in Virginia and in the maturity of these assets in Virginia. So I feel great on Virginia. This was a noisy quarter. We had some severe weather events. We also have this tax fluctuation and then we have had also some softness which I hope you appreciate. I'm very candid about. I see that generally across the American economy. We'll handle it better than we had some noise in Virginia, also some new competition that's been ramping up in the very south that affects our Vinton facility in particular. So we've had some noise in Virginia this quarter, but be patient on that. This is a great market and this is a great product that we have and a great development opportunity for our I'm very bullish on Virginia and I think our team is doing an excellent job with respect to what is within their control and what's not in our control, we plan around to the best that we can, but lots of strength there. And I'm actually quite pleased with how that team performed and how those assets performed through that quarter. Jeff Stantial Thank you. Operator Joe Stauff, Susquehanna. Joe Stauff Thanks. Good morning, Bill, Marcia. Bill, I wanted to ask you we're always trying to kind of figure out different certainly parts of the consumer segment you talked about the lower end, but you did say on your best customers or not using those words, but your rated customers, it's easier to manage. Is there a way that I can ask with respect to is the higher end, say flattish and growing and say the more mid-grade sort of rated players, is that still growing? Can you give us some commentary on that? William Carstanjen Sure. Happy to take a market like Northern Virginia with the Rose. Well, we opened that in early November of 2024, so we haven't had an opportunity yet to build out that market to identify those customers and get them into the database and get an extended period of time where we can evaluate their behavior and that's true of a lot of our markets, particularly on the HRM side. We haven't had them open for 5 or 10 years. We haven't had a chance to fully build out the data on each of the customers in each of these facilities and so the more time we have to do that, the more we know whether they're at their ceiling or not and in general, we don't know that in general, these are not mature properties on the HRM side and we haven't had time to fully develop them so that's a great thing as a company because it's lots of growth to so generally I view that more as an opportunity than a hindrance, but certainly the more you can talk to your customers if there is an economic downturn or some hesitancy in the market, the better off that you are because you have tools that allows you to incent customers and keep them engaged and that's one of the values of the casino space in general or the gaming space in general for those that are in your player databases a lot about their behavior and their spend, their frequency, et what they respond to in terms of incentives to make extra trips or to invest more. So I think in general that's a better area for us to manage, but I would say also that -- yeah, I reached the C-suite, I was in the President and COO role back in 2009, and this business holds up well in in economic tumultuous times. We're not there yet, this doesn't look like 2009. This is not what it was like at that time. I went through those experiences with gaming -- but we're prepared for that and we'll respond well to that and it starts with working with and in sending the customers that we know a lot about. So in our more mature properties we have a 360 degree view of them and we've known them for a long in our less mature properties we have the data that we have. But I think the Rose is a nice example of one where we haven't had time to build that yet. We're in the process of doing that and the more time we have the better we'll continue to perform. Operator Ben Chaiken, Mizuho. Ben Chaiken Hey, thanks for taking my question. Apologies if I missed it. Would love to see how you're thinking about capital allocation and specifically buybacks, giving you essentially just, freed up $900 million on the balance sheet. I guess, does that allow you to be more aggressive on repurchases essentially? Thanks. William Carstanjen Sure. I mean it can, every time it's always a question of where best to place our capital. Sometimes that stock buybacks always a component is healthy, but we always are deciding where best to place our capital where we think we can get the best return for our shareholders and certainly one tool of that is share buyback and we've been taking advantage of that. I wouldn't comment on whether we're going to change what we're doing on that front. We're evaluating the current market like everybody there's an opportunity relatively in the near future where asset values go down and we see something we like, there's lots of theoreticals of what we can do, but it's part of my job, Marcia's job, Bill Mudd's job, it's part of our jobs to decide where best to invest our company's capital, and this is an interesting time to make those decisions and some of the dynamics have changed, but I can't say I see a sea change right now that demands significantly different early -- we're early, and we're not sure if this is a hiccup or something more permanent with our economy. Don't think it is, but we don't know for sure. So we'll just -- we'll keep our powder and use it as we see appropriately. Operator Shaun Kelley, Bank of America. Shaun Kelley Hi, good morning everyone. Thank you for taking my question. Bill in the prepared remarks you talked a little bit about some changes you could make at the Derby for next year as you just kind of think about understanding the customer and what's kind of going on there a little bit in terms of that sounded a little maybe too late to make bigger pivots or changes this year.I was just wondering if you could discuss a little bit more, kind of theoretically what some of those changes might look like. Is that just a difference in how you kind of tier products or pricing, is there some other element to that and does it even, filter into how you kind of allocate capital there? Thanks. William Carstanjen The Derby's 151 years old, so I don't ever think it makes sense to make major material changes without lots of data, but the thing about the Derby is we do have lots of data. So what we do every year after the Derby is we get together with Bill Mudd's team and we really go through what we think we learned and we adjust constantly survey our customers. We look at not only their behavior but what they say about our hospitality, about our amenities, and we adjust from there. So I don't know that I think -- I don't think for a second there's been some sort of material sea change in what our customers are going to want or expect from us going forward with the Derby, but certainly we'll be monitoring that and we can thing they told us over the last number of years that there was a segment that wanted even a higher hospitality experience that wanted even more stratification from other areas. So that's something we've responded to and worked hard to meet that's things like the Paddock Club and the SI Club and now the projects we're doing, refinishing the finish line suites and updating The are some of our highest and best customers, and they tell us they want more. They want higher end, they want an even greater high-end experience and so we respond to that. With respect to the group as a whole, the customer group as a whole, there's so many segments and so much stratification within that group, and we're trying to meet and address and evaluate all of that, and we've been pretty good at that. I think what I'll counsel the team for this year is let's just make sure that we aren't hearing trends versus, one year things versus long year trends.I think this is an interesting year because there has been turmoil in the macroeconomic environment so we'll just evaluate all the data that comes in after this year's Derby and maybe it'll lead to further stratification on different segment classes and maybe it won't, but that's our job to evaluate what we think our customers want. Operator Brandt Montour, Barclays. Brandt Montour Good morning everybody. Thanks for taking my question, Bill and Marcia. I'll just stay on topic here. So on the Derby comparability this year versus last year, I'm just trying to kind of think about the puts and takes, you have the Starting Gate Pavilion you said you had strong pricing there that's a good guy you've momentum you'd think from the new, the Netflix series that just hit. But then of course, you're comping up against the big 150. How much of the -- how much of it is just general conservatism that you're trying to convey here, due to the macro hesitancy and how much of it is there some comparability issue with the 150 we should think about or anything else I'm missing in that equation? William Carstanjen What I'm trying to do is just be, which is be very candid. There have been some macroeconomic uncertainties in sort of the macro environment, and I don't want to get on a phone call and not tell you that those aren't there. Those are real. All businesses are looking at that and trying to evaluate how they might impact their our perspective, I didn't see it have a particular long term impact on the Kentucky Derby. I don't suspect that it has, and I am not particularly concerned about it, but I don't want to get on the phone and not acknowledge this macro environment that's going on. So I think we've seen a trend over the last eight or nine weeks, which correlates perfectly with some of these trade war disputes and tariffs. We've seen a difference in the lower end ticket sales for Derby. That's a seen a difference, but the demand is so strong for the event that it's not going to show up when you see the crowds or anything like that. But there has been a change and I acknowledge that, but I don't think you'll see it affect our performance in any material way for the as we build through it to the 2026 Derby, I feel great. I feel great about what comes for 2026, but I think it's important on calls like this and having been through 2009 and having been through COVID to just be very candid and to let you know that whatever we see out there, we adjust, we plan for, we work through and I think our results reflect that. Operator Thank you. I'm showing no further questions at this time. So with that, I'll now hand the call back over to CEO Bill Carstanjen for any closing remarks. William Carstanjen Thank you. As always, we appreciate your interest in our company and your investment in our company, and we'll be good stewards of your capital and we look forward to a week from this Saturday for the 151st Derby, and we hope as many of you as possible join us in person or watch on TV and more good things to come. Thanks everybody. Operator Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for participating. This does conclude today's program, and you may now disconnect.
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Mattel Announces First Quarter 2025 Financial Results and Conference Call Date
EL SEGUNDO, Calif., April 15, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mattel, Inc. (NASDAQ: MAT) today announced that it plans to release its first quarter 2025 financial results on Monday, May 5, 2025, at approximately 4:05 p.m. Eastern Time. Following this, Mattel will host a webcast conference call at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The webcast and accompanying slides will be available under the Events and Presentations section of Mattel's Investor Relations website, To listen to the webcast, log on to the website at least 10 minutes early to register, download and install any necessary audio software. An archive of the webcast will be available on the Company's website for 12 months following the event. Certain financial and statistical information included in the webcast, such as information required by Regulation G, will be available at the time of the webcast on the "Investors" section of Mattel's corporate website, About Mattel Mattel is a leading global toy and family entertainment company and owner of one of the most iconic brand portfolios in the world. We engage consumers and fans through our franchise brands, including Barbie®, Hot Wheels®, Fisher-Price®, American Girl®, Thomas & Friends™, UNO®, Masters of the Universe®, Matchbox®, Monster High®, MEGA® and Polly Pocket®, as well as other popular properties that we own or license in partnership with global entertainment companies. Our offerings include toys, content, consumer products, digital and live experiences. Our products are sold in collaboration with the world's leading retail and ecommerce companies. Since its founding in 1945, Mattel is proud to be a trusted partner in empowering generations to explore the wonder of childhood and reach their full potential. Visit us at MAT-FIN MAT-CORP View source version on Contacts Securities Analysts Jenn News Media Catherine
