Hasbro Inc "We Don't Think H2 Is Decelerating from Prior Outlook" (Buy)

Research evidence excerpt

Hasbro Inc "We Don't Think H2 Is Decelerating from Prior Outlook" (Buy)

and this was broadly better than initial market concerns over resin/freight costs

lowering margin outlook, though we had noted previously that resin prices are

unlikely to meaningfully impact margins for FY'26, given lower tariff tailwind.

Hasbro says higher oil price headwind is around $30M for the year, largely

mitigated given lower tariffs and productivity savings. Hasbro will see $20M of

one-off operating expenses tied to remediation. EBITDA guide for the year of

$1.40-$1.45B is also reiterated.

Hasbro is reiterating guidance for Magic up in the mid single digit range %, with

margins in low 40%s as volume growth absorbs incremental royalty expense and

H2 investments in digital games, including marketing for Exodus and Warlock. We

continue to see upside for Magic margins for the year, driven primarily by volume.

For the full year, Street has +10.4% growth (UBSe +5.1%) for Wizard and Digital.

It sounds as if Hasbro has some strategic initiatives planned for Magic The

Gathering Arena outside of the Disney licensing deal to align analogue game with

digital gaming. Hasbro says Arena which today is less than 10% of MTG (and used

to be 20%+ of the business when it was rolled out) was designed for only standard

format of play, but growth in broader Magic has come other formats of play

including commander format that is not the most popular format. So Hasbro will

investing digital iterations of Arena leaning on what's been driving the game in its

analogue form, but also tapping into multi-player formats.

Hasbro is also reiterating consumer product guidance of up low single digits %,

with margin in the 6-8% range, unchanged from prior guidance, as lower tariffs