Jakks Pacific, Inc. reported financial results for the fourth quarter and full-year ended December 31, 2019.
Fourth Quarter 2019 Overview vs. Same Period Last Year:
- Net sales were $152.5 million, up 15% compared to $132.3 million reported in the comparable period in 2018, boosted by strong sales of Disney Frozen 2 products.
- Gross margin was 30.4%, compared to 30.6% in Q4 of last year.
- Adjusted EBITDA (a non-GAAP measure) was $3.3 million, compared to negative $1.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2018.
- Net loss attributable to common stockholders was $20.6 million, or $0.70 per basic and diluted share, including non-cash charges of $10.7 million for intangibles impairment and tooling disposal, and the change in fair value of the derivative liability attributable to the preferred stock. This compares to a net loss attributable to common stockholders of $3.2 million, or $0.14 per basic and diluted share, in the fourth quarter of 2018.
- Adjusted net loss attributable to common stockholders (a non-GAAP measure) was $0.26 per basic and diluted share, an improvement of $0.11.
Fiscal 2019 Overview vs. Same Period Last Year:
- Net sales were $598.6 million, up 5% compared to $567.8 million reported in the prior year, boosted by strong sales of Disney Frozen 2 products and increases in sales of Disguise costumes.
- Gross margin was 26.6%, compared to 27.4% in 2018.
- Adjusted EBITDA (a non-GAAP measure) was $18.9 million, a significant improvement compared to $2.3 million in 2018.
- Net loss attributable to common stockholders was $56.0 million, or $2.16 per basic and diluted share, including non-cash charges totaling $23.9 million for intangibles impairment and tooling disposal, the change in fair value of the derivative liability attributable to the preferred stock, and the loss on the extinguishment of debt resulting from the recapitalization transaction in Q3 of 2019. This compares to a net loss attributable to common stockholders of $42.4 million, or $1.83 per basic and diluted share in 2018.
- Adjusted net loss attributable to common stockholders (a non-GAAP measure) was $0.73 per basic and diluted share, an improvement of $0.52.
Jakks Chairman and CEO Stephen Berman stated, “We are pleased to report solid improvement in our sales and adjusted EBITDA for the fourth quarter and for the full-year of 2019. Despite significant industry-wide softness in retail toy sales through most of 2019, including the holiday season, we were able to grow our sales, as strong sales of Disney Frozen 2, Disguise® and Nintendo® more than offset the declines of some older products. Our net sales grew 15% in the quarter, continuing the momentum we saw in the third quarter. For the full year, our sales were up 5%, led by the strong performance of several product lines. More importantly, we were able to meaningfully reduce our normal operating expenses, resulting in a significant improvement in adjusted EBITDA for the year.
“We closed out the year on a strong note and have carried momentum into 2020. We remain committed to containing costs and managing our balance sheet prudently. We expect good performance in 2020 driven by expansion within our evergreen categories and new product initiatives, coupled with new licenses as well as current licenses that we see growing in popularity, and additional owned IP launching throughout the year. We expect licenses such as Disney Princess, Frozen 2, Nintendo and others to benefit our 2020 results.”
The company’s cash and cash equivalents (including restricted cash) totaled $66.3 million as of December 31, 2019 compared to $58.2 million as of December 31, 2018.