Funko Inc (FNKO) 2024 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Good afternoon, and welcome to the Funko 2024 second quarter financial results conference call. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder, this call is being recorded.

下午好，歡迎參加 Funko 2024 年第二季財務業績電話會議。（操作員說明）謹此提醒，此通話正在錄音。

I will now turn over the call to Funko's Director and Investor Relations, Rob Jaffe, to begin. Rob, please go ahead.

現在我將把電話轉給 Funko 的總監兼投資者關係 Rob Jaffe。羅布，請繼續。

Hello, everyone, and thank you for joining us today to discuss Funko's 2024 second quarter financial results. On the call are Cynthia Williams, our recently appointed Chief Executive Officer; and Yves LePendeven, our Chief Financial Officer. This call is being broadcast live at investor.funko.com. A playback will be available for at least one year on the company's website.

大家好，感謝您今天加入我們討論 Funko 2024 年第二季財務業績。接聽電話的是我們最近任命的執行長辛西婭威廉斯 (Cynthia Williams)；以及我們的財務長 Yves LePendeven。本次電話會議正在 Investor.funko.com 上進行現場直播。該公司網站上的播放時間至少為一年。

I want to remind everyone that during the course of this call, management's discussion will include forward-looking information. These statements represent our best judgment as of today about the company's future results and performance. Our actual results are subject to many risks and uncertainties that may differ materially from those stated or implied, including those discussed in our earnings release. Additional information concerning factors that could cause actual results to differ materially is contained in our most recently filed SEC reports.

我想提醒大家，在這次電話會議期間，管理階層的討論將包括前瞻性資訊。這些陳述代表了我們迄今為止對公司未來業績和業績的最佳判斷。我們的實際結果受到許多風險和不確定性的影響，這些風險和不確定性可能與明示或暗示的風險和不確定性（包括我們的收益發布中討論的風險和不確定性）有重大差異。有關可能導致實際結果出現重大差異的因素的更多資​​訊包含在我們最近提交的 SEC 報告中。

In addition, during this call, we refer to non-GAAP financial measures that are not prepared in accordanzce with US generally accepted accounting principles and may be different from non-GAAP financial measures used by other companies. Investors are encouraged to review Funko's press release announcing its 2024 second quarter financial results for the company's reasons for presenting non-GAAP financial measures. A reconciliation of the non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures is also attached to the company's earnings press release issued earlier today.

此外，在本次電話會議中，我們提到的非 GAAP 財務指標並非依照美國公認會計原則編制，可能與其他公司所使用的非 GAAP 財務指標有所不同。鼓勵投資者查看 Funko 宣布 2024 年第二季財務業績的新聞稿，以了解該公司提出非 GAAP 財務指標的原因。該公司今天稍早發布的收益新聞稿中還附有非公認會計準則財務指標與最直接可比較的公認會計準則財務指標的調節表。

With that, I will now turn the call over to Cynthia Williams. Cynthia?

現在，我將把電話轉給辛西婭·威廉斯。辛西亞？

Thanks, Rob, and good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to Funko's second quarter financial results conference call. My first conference call as the company's new CEO. I am delighted to be here. For the second quarter, our financial results were better than expected. Moreover, the second quarter was our first quarter of year-over-year net sales growth and our first profitable quarter since the third quarter of 2022. Net sales were $248 million, up 3% over the same quarter last year.

謝謝羅布，大家下午好。歡迎參加 Funko 第二季財務業績電話會議。我作為公司新任執行長的第一次電話會議。我很高興來到這裡。第二季度，我們的財務表現優於預期。此外，第二季度是我們淨銷售額年增的第一季度，也是我們自 2022 年第三季以來的第一個獲利季度。淨銷售額為 2.48 億美元，比去年同期成長 3%。

Gross margin was 42% and adjusted EBITDA was $28 million. Both were higher than our guidance range. And in the case of adjusted EBITDA, substantially better than expected. Our strong overall performance includes a number of positives. I'll call out just one here. Sales of Bitty Pop, a recent entry into the miniature collectible space, more than doubled in Q2 compared with the same quarter last year. And we continue to build on that momentum.

毛利率為 42%，調整後 EBITDA 為 2,800 萬美元。兩者均高於我們的指導範圍。就調整後的 EBITDA 而言，大幅優於預期。我們強勁的整體表現包括許多正面因素。我在這裡只喊出一位。最近進入微型收藏領域的 Bitty Pop 的銷量與去年同期相比，第二季度的銷量增長了一倍多。我們將繼續鞏固這股勢頭。

Last week, we announced the introduction of Bittyverse, an extension of Bitty Pop that allows fans to mix and match with new IP-driven rides, towns and displays. For the full year 2024, we are reiterating our guidance range for net sales of between $1.047 billion to $1.103 billion and adjusted EBITDA of between $65 million to $85 million.

上週，我們宣布推出 Bittyverse，這是 Bitty Pop 的延伸，讓粉絲可以混合搭配新的 IP 驅動的遊樂設施、城鎮和展示。對於 2024 年全年，我們重申淨銷售額指引範圍為 10.47 億美元至 11.03 億美元，調整後 EBITDA 為 6,500 萬美元至 8,500 萬美元。

We'll discuss the second quarter financial results and our guidance in more detail in just a moment, but before we do, I'll share some of my initial thoughts since joining the company a little more than two months ago. Once officially onboard, my first priority was to immerse myself in many aspects of the company. I've met with key constituents, including customers, licensing partners and those in the investment community, some of whom I've known from prior roles at previous companies.

我們將稍後更詳細地討論第二季度的財務業績和我們的指導，但在此之前，我將分享自兩個多月前加入公司以來我的一些初步想法。正式入職後，我的首要任務是讓自己沉浸在公司的各個層面。我會見了一些關鍵人物，包括客戶、許可合作夥伴和投資界人士，其中一些是我在之前的公司擔任職務時認識的。

Most importantly and where I've spent most of my time has been meeting and connecting with as many employees as possible with the objective of thoroughly understanding the company, what's working and what might be improved. I'm pleased to say I learned we have a passionate team of dedicated professionals brimming with creativity and commercial savvy. I want to acknowledge the great work of my predecessor, Mike Lunsford, and the senior team for getting the company back on firm footing.

最重要的是，我大部分時間都花在與盡可能多的員工會面和聯繫上，目的是徹底了解公司、哪些方面正在發揮作用以及哪些方面可以改進。我很高興地說，我了解到我們擁有一支充滿熱情、敬業的專業團隊，充滿創造力和商業頭腦。我要感謝我的前任 Mike Lunsford 和高級團隊為使公司重新站穩腳跟所做的出色工作。

Perhaps the highlight of my immersion was attending San Diego Comic-Con and our Funko Fundays event. The passion of our fans was on full display. They loved the opportunity to pop themselves in Deadpool or Wolverine gear and accessories. Loungefly showcased amazing exclusives and had their best-ever sales at Comic-Con, and the Mondo team came to the convention with an awesome assortment of collectibles and posters with some sneak peeks that stopped the crowds in their tracks. And the Funko Fusion panel was a huge hit, developed in collaboration with 10 10 Games and NBC Universal, Funko Fusion is slated to launch on next-generation console and PC on September 13.

也許我沉浸其中的亮點是參加聖地牙哥動漫展和我們的 Funko Funddays 活動。我們球迷的熱情得到了充分的體現。他們喜歡有機會穿上死侍或金鋼狼的裝備和配件。Loungefly 展示了令人驚嘆的獨家產品，並在動漫展上取得了有史以來最好的銷量，Mondo 團隊帶著各種各樣的收藏品和海報來到了大會，其中一些先睹為快的內容吸引了人群的注意力。Funko Fusion 面板大受歡迎，該面板由 10 10 Games 和 NBC Universal 合作開發，預計於 9 月 13 日在下一代遊戲機和 PC 上推出。

Funko Fusion is an action platformer that brings together 20 beloved franchises into one adventure, including Five Nights at Freddy, Invincible, Jurassic World and many more. Our team displayed never before seen gameplay and trailers as well as previews of the next collection of pops from the game, all of which include a chance to unlock an exclusive character or special skin for a character within the game.

Funko Fusion 是一款動作平台遊戲，將 20 個深受喜愛的系列作品匯集到一場冒險中，其中包括《玩具熊的五夜後宮》、《無敵》、《侏羅紀世界》等等。我們的團隊展示了前所未見的遊戲玩法和預告片，以及遊戲中下一批流行音樂的預覽，所有這些都包括解鎖遊戲中角色的專屬角色或特殊皮膚的機會。

My immersion within the company, my experience at Comic-Con and being surrounded by Funko fans crystallized my vision for the future of this company. Going forward, we believe Funko will grow by taking a fan-centric approach, which revolves around four fundamental principles. Delight our core fans, attract and serve new fans, sell where the fans are, and improve the fan experience.

我在公司的沉浸感、在動漫展上的經歷以及被 Funko 粉絲包圍的經歷，讓我對這家公司的未來有了明確的願景。展望未來，我們相信 Funko 將透過採取以粉絲為中心的方法來發展，該方法圍繞著四個基本原則。取悅我們的核心粉絲，吸引和服務新粉絲，在粉絲所在的地方進行銷售，並改善粉絲體驗。

Let's start with delight our core fans. Note that I am referring to our consumers who are true fans in every sense of the word. Everyone is a fan of something and our brands empower them to express their fandom with what they display, wear and carry. We will continue to amaze and serve our fans with an assortment of unique and imaginative products from our beloved Funko pop figures, including exclusives and limited edition collectibles, our Loungefly bags and accessories and our high end Mondo collectibles.

讓我們從讓我們的核心粉絲高興開始。請注意，我指的是我們的消費者，他們在任何意義上都是真正的粉絲。每個人都是某種事物的粉絲，我們的品牌讓他們能夠透過展示、穿著和攜帶的物品來表達自己的粉絲。我們將繼續為我們的粉絲帶來驚喜，並為我們的粉絲提供來自我們心愛的Funko 流行人物的各種獨特且富有想像力的產品，包括獨家和限量版收藏品、我們的Loungefly 包袋和配飾以及我們的高端Mondo 收藏品。

Second, attract and serve new fans. I believe we can unlock tremendous growth by expanding the fandoms that we serve. In the past few years, we've begun tapping into additional fandoms, including anime, video games, music and sports. We believe these fandoms present opportunities for further growth. Let me tell you about a recent proofpoint. Within 30 minutes of the final whistle, we went live with a one-of-a-kind limited edition collectible, Pop Boston Celtics 2024 NBA Champions 5-Pack, on our direct-to-consumer website, funko.com.

其次，吸引和服務新粉絲。我相信，透過擴大我們所服務的粉絲群體，我們可以實現巨大的成長。在過去的幾年裡，我們開始涉足更多的粉絲群體，包括動漫、電玩、音樂和運動。我們相信這些粉絲群提供了進一步發展的機會。讓我告訴你一個最近的證據。終場哨響後 30 分鐘內，我們在我們的直接面向消費者的網站 funko.com 上推出了一款獨一無二的限量版收藏品：Pop Boston Celtics 2024 NBA Champions 5 件套。

The product significantly outperformed last year's offering. This kind of fan-driven moment excites both casual fans and collectors and keeps them coming back. Another excellent example is Pop! Yourself, a recently launched product that allows fans to celebrate the moments in their lives by creating custom pop figures to commemorate special events such as Valentine's Day, Mother's and Father's Day, graduations, birthdays, weddings and many other occasions. Since launch in August of last year, over 80% of Pop! Yourself customers are new to Funko, which is a proofpoint that there are large untapped fandoms we have yet to serve.

該產品的表現明顯優於去年的產品。這種粉絲驅動的時刻讓普通粉絲和收藏家都興奮不已，並讓他們流連忘返。另一個很好的例子是 Pop！Yourself是最近推出的產品，允許粉絲透過創建客製化流行人物來慶祝他們生活中的時刻，以紀念情人節、母親節和父親節、畢業典禮、生日、婚禮和許多其他場合等特殊事件。自去年 8 月推出以來，《Pop!》的收視率超過 80%。Yourself 客戶是 Funko 的新手，證明我們尚未為大量未開發的粉絲群提供服務。

Third, sell where the fans are. Although our distribution network of retail partners is incredibly diversified with no single retail partner representing more than 10% of our total sales, we still have the opportunity to reach many more new customers. To do this, we plan to continue to grow our direct-to-consumer channel. Our direct-to-consumer business has doubled from 12% of our business in 2022 to approximately 25% today, and it generates a significantly higher gross margin than our wholesale business.

第三，在粉絲所在的地方進行銷售。儘管我們的零售合作夥伴分銷網絡極其多元化，沒有任何一個零售合作夥伴占我們總銷售額的 10% 以上，但我們仍有機會接觸更多新客戶。為此，我們計劃繼續發展我們的直接面向消費者的管道。我們的直接面向消費者業務佔業務的比例從 2022 年的 12% 翻了一番，達到如今的約 25%，並且產生的毛利率明顯高於我們的批發業務。

Second, we anticipated expanding our test and learn license store model. We have three today operating in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. And third, within our wholesale channel, we plan to establish new points of sale with new partners both domestically and abroad. To give you one example, I believe we can make great strides in growing our sports business by selling our products where the sports fans are, in stadiums and arenas, on college campuses and in sporting goods stores, both brick-and-mortar and online.

其次，我們預計將擴展我們的測試和學習許可證儲存模型。目前，我們在杜拜和阿布達比擁有三個營運中心。第三，在我們的批發管道中，我們計劃與國內外的新合作夥伴建立新的銷售點。舉個例子，我相信，透過在體育迷所在的地方、體育場館、大學校園以及體育用品商店（實體店和網上店）銷售我們的產品，我們可以在發展體育業務方面取得重大進展。

Finally and underpinning everything is to improve the fan experience. This encompasses everything from improving our e-commerce experience to providing excellent customer service. These four principles are core to our future growth because, number one, great products keep fans coming back. Number two, new audiences grow the business and there are lots of them we haven't tapped. Number three, new distribution is available to us to improve our margins and to reach new fans. And number four, keeping fans at the center of all we do breeds love, loyalty and long-term value.

最後，一切的基礎是改善粉絲體驗。這涵蓋了從改善我們的電子商務體驗到提供卓越的客戶服務的一切。這四個原則是我們未來發展的核心，因為第一，優秀的產品能讓粉絲回頭客。第二，新的受眾可以促進業務成長，但其中有許多我們尚未開發。第三，我們可以使用新的發行版來提高利潤並吸引新粉絲。第四，讓粉絲成為我們一切工作的中心可以培養愛、忠誠和長期價值。

Before we discuss our financial results, I'm pleased to announce that we have removed acting from his title and appointed Yves LePendeven as our Chief Financial Officer. Yves joined Funko five years ago, and during that time, has held several senior finance roles. He is extremely knowledgeable about the company and highly regarded by the entire team as well as our investors, bankers and investment analyst community. He has been my right hand since I joined Funko, for which I am personally grateful. He is deserving of this new role and I look forward to working closely with him as we work to scale Funko and take it to the next level.

在我們討論我們的財務表現之前，我很高興地宣布，我們已經取消了他的職務，並任命 Yves LePendeven 為我們的財務長。Yves 五年前加入 Funko，在此期間擔任多個高階財務職位。他對公司非常了解，並受到整個團隊以及我們的投資者、銀行家和投資分析師社群的高度評價。自從我加入 Funko 以來，他一直是我的得力助手，對此我個人深表感謝。他當之無愧地擔任這個新角色，我期待與他密切合作，共同努力擴大 Funko 規模並將其提升到一個新的水平。

And with that, I'll now turn it over to Yves to take you through the financials. Yves?

現在，我將把它交給 Yves，讓他帶您了解財務狀況。伊夫？

Thanks, Cynthia. Hey, everyone. Thanks for joining us today. For the second quarter, total net sales were $247.7 million. Direct-to-consumer sales mix in Q2 was 23% of our gross sales, up from 18% in last year's Q2. This represents 33% direct-to-consumer sales growth, which we achieved despite a lack of new entertainment releases due primarily to the Hollywood strikes.

謝謝，辛西亞。嘿，大家。感謝您今天加入我們。第二季淨銷售額總額為 2.477 億美元。直接面向消費者第二季的銷售組合佔總銷售額的 23%，高於去年第二季的 18%。這意味著直接面向消費者的銷售額成長了 33%，儘管主要由於好萊塢罷工導致缺乏新的娛樂內容，但我們還是實現了這一增長。

Our Q2 sales included a pull forward of approximately $9 million as certain customers placed orders earlier than usual in part to secure vessel space due to rising freight costs and container availability issues. The bottom line impact was approximately $2.5 million.

我們第二季的銷售額包括約 900 萬美元的提前，因為某些客戶比平常更早下訂單，部分原因是由於貨運成本上升和貨櫃可用性問題而確保船位。底線影響約為 250 萬美元。

Gross profit was $104 million and gross margin was 42%. The higher than expected gross margin was driven by better than expected margins on value channel sales and a corresponding relief in inventory reserves.

毛利為 1.04 億美元，毛利率為 42%。高於預期的毛利率是由於價值通路銷售利潤率優於預期以及庫存儲備相應減少所致。

SG&A expenses were $77.9 million, which was better than expected due in part to a non-recurring net benefit of $1.5 million. We've also shifted some marketing spend into the second half of the year. Adjusted net income was $5.6 million or $0.10 per diluted share, which was above our guidance range for the quarter. And finally, adjusted EBITDA was $27.9 million, which was well above our guidance range and the result of the combined effect of higher sales and gross margin and lower SG&A.

SG&A 費用為 7,790 萬美元，優於預期，部分原因是非經常性淨收益為 150 萬美元。我們也將一些行銷支出轉移到了下半年。調整後淨利潤為 560 萬美元，即稀釋後每股收益 0.10 美元，高於我們本季的指導範圍。最後，調整後的 EBITDA 為 2,790 萬美元，遠高於我們的指導範圍，也是銷售額和毛利率上升以及 SG&A 下降綜合影響的結果。

Turning to our balance sheet. At June 30, we had cash and cash equivalents of $41.6 million, which is after we paid down $22.5 million of debt in the second quarter. Our total debt was approximately $223.9 million, down from $246.4 million at the end of the first quarter. Total debt includes the amount outstanding under the company's term loan facility, net of unamortized discounts, the balance on our revolving line of credit and our equipment finance loan.

轉向我們的資產負債表。截至 6 月 30 日，我們的現金和現金等價物為 4,160 萬美元，這是在我們第二季償還了 2,250 萬美元的債務之後。我們的總債務約為 2.239 億美元，低於第一季末的 2.464 億美元。債務總額包括公司定期貸款便利下的未償還金額，扣除未攤銷折扣、我們的循環信貸額度和設備融資貸款的餘額。

Total company liquidity increased to $101.6 million from $69.1 million at the end of last quarter and up from $36.8 million at the end of Q2 last year. And net inventory was $109 million, down from $112.3 million at March 31, 2024.

公司流動性總額從上季末的 6,910 萬美元增至 1.016 億美元，從去年第二季末的 3,680 萬美元增至 1.016 億美元。淨庫存為 1.09 億美元，低於 2024 年 3 月 31 日的 1.123 億美元。

Turning to our outlook. We are reiterating our 2024 full year guidance of net sales of between $1.047 billion and $1.103 billion and delivering adjusted EBITDA of between $65 million to $85 million. Before I provide our third quarter guidance, I'd like to note a couple of things. First, as I mentioned earlier, we estimate about $9 million in net sales were pulled forward from Q3 into Q2.

轉向我們的展望。我們重申 2024 年全年淨銷售額指引為 10.47 億美元至 11.03 億美元，調整後 EBITDA 為 6,500 萬美元至 8,500 萬美元。在提供第三季指導之前，我想指出幾件事。首先，正如我之前提到的，我們估計約 900 萬美元的淨銷售額從第三季提前到了第二季。

Second, unlike in years past, we expect net sales to be higher in our fourth quarter than in the third quarter due to our higher mix of direct-to-consumer sales and the giftable nature of product lines like Pop! Yourself and Bitty Pop! This, of course, is dependent on a strong holiday season, which we'll have a better sense of on our next conference call.

其次，與過去幾年不同，我們預計第四季度的淨銷售額將高於第三季度，因為我們直接面向消費者的銷售組合更高，而且 Pop! 等產品線的贈品性質也更高。你自己和小波普！當然，這取決於強勁的假期季節，我們將在下次電話會議上對此有更好的了解。

With that background, for the 2024 third quarter, our guidance is as follows, Net sales between $282 million and $297 million. Gross margin between 38% and 39%. SG&A expense of $90 million to $95 million. Adjusted net income between $0.5 million or $0.01 per diluted share and $3 million or $0.06 per diluted share. Finally, we expect adjusted EBITDA between $21 million and $25 million.

在此背景下，對於 2024 年第三季度，我們的指引如下：淨銷售額在 2.82 億美元至 2.97 億美元之間。毛利率在38%至39%之間。SG&A 費用為 9,000 萬至 9,500 萬美元。調整後淨利潤在 50 萬美元或稀釋每股 0.01 美元至 300 萬美元或稀釋每股 0.06 美元之間。最後，我們預計調整後 EBITDA 在 2,100 萬美元至 2,500 萬美元之間。

Cynthia, that's it for our financial results. Back over to you.

辛西婭，這就是我們的財務表現。回到你身邊。

Thanks, Yves. In summary, we reported a strong overall financial performance in Q2. Our outlook for 2024 reflects the stabilization of our business despite a weaker content slate and some uncertainty around freight cost and consumer spending going into the holidays. We've made solid progress on developing our strategic plans to grow the company, with a focus on our fans.

謝謝，伊夫。總之，我們報告了第二季的整體財務表現強勁。我們對 2024 年的展望反映了我們業務的穩定，儘管內容清單較弱，而且假期期間貨運成本和消費者支出存在一些不確定性。我們在製定公司發展策略計劃方面取得了紮實的進展，重點是我們的粉絲。

As you would expect, some of these plans will take time to develop and implement. We'll give you further updates in upcoming calls. Finally, and on a personal note, I want to thank all of my new colleagues at Funko for the warm welcome.

正如您所期望的，其中一些計劃需要時間來製定和實施。我們將在接下來的電話中向您提供進一步的更新。最後，就我個人而言，我要感謝 Funko 所有新同事的熱情歡迎。

And with that, we'll open the call for questions. Operator?

接下來，我們將開始提問。操作員？

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

Eric Wold, B. Riley.

埃里克·沃爾德，B.萊利。

Thank you. Good afternoon, guys. Great quarter. A few questions from my end. I guess, first off, I'll start off, not sure who wants to take the question, but, obviously, huge upside on EBITDA for the quarter. Maybe just walk us through the biggest surprises on your end or biggest deltas in your end to take you to $27 million versus the $9 million to $15 million range. And what in that -- besides the one-time thing you called out around SG&A, what may not be repeatable with the performance like that?

謝謝。下午好，夥計們。很棒的季度。我最後的幾個問題。我想，首先，我不確定誰願意回答這個問題，但顯然，本季 EBITDA 存在巨大的上升空間。也許只需向我們介紹一下您的最大驚喜或最大的增量，即可讓您的收入達到 2700 萬美元，而不是 900 萬至 1500 萬美元。那麼，除了您在 SG&A 方面提出的一次性問題之外，還有什麼是這樣的績效無法重複的呢？

Sure, Eric. Hey. Thanks for the question. I'll take that one, and I'll call out a couple of the main ones. Right? So, we beat our net sales guidance. We came in above the top end of the range, and as I mentioned, about $9 million of that was pulled forward from Q3. So, that was primarily from our direct import customers and as you're aware, the rising freight costs and also the uncertainty about being able to secure vessel space. We had some customers orders that basically shipped in June versus July. So, that was one part of it.

當然，埃里克。嘿。謝謝你的提問。我會選那個，然後我會列出幾個主要的。正確的？因此，我們超出了淨銷售額指導。我們的收入高於該範圍的上限，正如我所提到的，其中約 900 萬美元是從第三季度向前推進的。因此，這主要來自我們的直接進口客戶，如您所知，貨運成本不斷上漲，以及能否確保船舶空間的不確定性。我們有一些客戶的訂單基本上在六月和七月發貨。所以，這就是其中的一部分。

The other part is the inventory reserve relief. So, approximately 2.5 points of our margin favorability, gross margin favorability, came from that. We continue to see a really great environment in the value channel. And as we continue to sell aged inventory into that channel at good margins, we were able to relieve some of our reserves.

另一部分是庫存儲備減免。因此，我們的利潤率、毛利率率大約有 2.5 個百分點來自於此。我們繼續在價值管道中看到一個非常好的環境。隨著我們繼續以良好的利潤率向該通路銷售陳舊庫存，我們能夠釋放一些儲備。

And so, that's one item that we wouldn't see in Q3 and Q4. So, between those two, I think those drove a lot of the adjusted EBITDA favorability, but we also came in under SG&A, not just because of the non-recurring benefit that's normalized out of adjusted EBITDA anyways, but we just continue to stay focused on managing expenses.

因此，這是我們在第三季和第四季不會看到的一項。因此，在這兩者之間，我認為這些因素在很大程度上推動了調整後EBITDA 的好感度，但我們也進入了SG&A 的範疇，不僅僅是因為調整後EBITDA 中正常化的非經常性收益，而且我們只是繼續保持專注關於管理費用。

Got it. That's helpful. And then thinking about the guidance, if I look at the $37 million of adjusted EBITDA in the first half and take the low end of the guidance for Q3 of $21 million to get to $58 million through three quarters, what would need to happen in Q4 from this point to only generate $7 million to get to the low end of the $65 million? Obviously, you kept it out there because it's possible. So, kind of from your standpoint now, what would really need to happen to only get the $7 million at the low end maybe for EBITDA in the fourth quarter?

知道了。這很有幫助。然後考慮指導，如果我看一下上半年調整後 EBITDA 的 3700 萬美元，並採用第三季度指導的低端 2100 萬美元，通過三個季度達到 5800 萬美元，那麼第四季度需要發生什麼從此時起只產生700 萬美元才能達到6500 萬美元的低端？顯然，你把它放在那裡是因為這是可能的。那麼，從您現在的角度來看，真正需要發生什麼才能在第四季度獲得 700 萬美元的 EBITDA？

Yeah. I'll take that one as well. I mean, obviously, we're pleased with the progress we've made in the first half on adjusted EBITDA and getting to our full year target. I'll answer your question, I guess, by going to the top line first. And as we said in the call, a little bit more of our sales are going to be weighted in the second half than they have previously. Part of that was due to the pull forward from Q3 into Q2. The other part is the higher mix of direct-to-consumer sales and additional weighting into the fourth quarter.

是的。我也拿那個。我的意思是，顯然，我們對上半年調整後 EBITDA 取得的進展以及實現全年目標感到滿意。我想，我會先到頂行來回答你的問題。正如我們在電話中所說，下半年我們的銷售額將比以前增加。部分原因是從第三季提前到第二季。另一部分是直接面向消費者的銷售和第四季額外權重的更高組合。

So, with that being said, we've made more progress on the bottom line than on the top line. And we feel confident in achieving our initial guidance that we put out there, but it's just an uncertain environment right now. We're watching a lot of indicators, as I'm sure you are too, between interest rates, the labor market, consumer spending, it's just -- it's a lot -- a lot of our sales are still ahead of us and the environment is uncertain. And so, that's why we just reiterated our initial guidance.

因此，話雖這麼說，我們在獲利方面取得的進展比在獲利方面取得的進展更多。我們對實現我們在那裡提出的初步指導充滿信心，但現在只是一個不確定的環境。我們正在關注許多指標，我相信你也在關注利率、勞動市場、消費者支出等指標，只是──很多──我們的許多銷售額仍然領先於我們，而且環境是不確定的。因此，這就是我們重申我們的初步指導的原因。

Got it. So, I guess, the biggest -- if I'm hearing you correctly, I think the biggest part is given the significant strength and importance now of DTC, a little less visibility into that than you would into a wholesale order that's already come in for the holiday. And so, you kind of want to see how that plays out. Is that fair?

知道了。所以，我想，如果我沒聽錯的話，我認為最大的部分是 DTC 現在的巨大實力和重要性，與已經進入的批發訂單相比，對這一點的了解要少一些為了假期。所以，你有點想看看結果如何。這樣公平嗎？

That's exactly right.

完全正確。

Okay. And then just last question, if I may. Obviously, based on where wholesale channel inventories are right now relative to where you want them to be heading into the holiday, and what are you kind of hearing from your retail partners or already seeing from orders about their comfort taking product into the holiday versus prior years?

好的。如果可以的話，最後一個問題。顯然，基於目前批發通路庫存相對於您希望他們進入假期的位置，以及您從零售合作夥伴那裡聽到的或已經從訂單中看到的關於他們將產品帶入假期與之前相比的舒適度年？

Yeah. I mean, for the same reasons I just mentioned, we're staying very close to our retail partners and watching inventory levels very closely. We're being prudent about the buys that we're making. And the good news is that the inventory that they have for those customers that report POS sales and POS inventory to us, they're in a healthy place right now.

是的。我的意思是，出於我剛才提到的同樣原因，我們與零售合作夥伴保持非常密切的關係，並非常密切地關注庫存水準。我們對我們所做的購買持謹慎態度。好消息是，他們為那些向我們報告 POS 銷售和 POS 庫存的客戶所擁有的庫存目前處於健康狀態。

We typically want to see 15 to 20 weeks of supply out there in the marketplace and they're right around that range. And so, the quality of the inventory, the levels of inventory are good right now. But as I said before, I think a lot is going to depend on how the consumer shows up in the holidays and we'll have a lot more visibility to that in our next call.

我們通常希望看到市場上有 15 到 20 週的供應量，而它們正好在這個範圍內。因此，目前庫存的品質和水準都很好。但正如我之前所說，我認為很大程度上取決於消費者在假期中的表現，我們將在下次電話會議中更清楚地了解這一點。

Perfect. Thank you both. Appreciate it.

完美的。謝謝你們倆。欣賞它。

All right.

好的。

Thanks, Eric.

謝謝，埃里克。

Thanks, Eric.

謝謝，埃里克。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

Stephen Laszczyk, Goldman Sachs.

史蒂芬·拉斯奇克，高盛。

Hey, great. Thanks for taking the questions. Maybe first for Cynthia. Now that you've been in the seat for a few months and maybe going off of some of your prepared remarks, I'd be curious if you could reflect on some of what you learned since taking over as CEO. What have you learned that this maybe reaffirms some of the thoughts coming in to the position? And then are there any areas of the business that you think might have more opportunity for improvement?

嘿，太棒了。感謝您提出問題。也許首先是辛西亞。現在你已經就任幾個月了，可能會發表一些準備好的言論，我很好奇你是否能反思一下自接任執行長以來學到的一些東西。您從中了解到什麼，這可能重申了該職位的一些想法？那麼您認為業務的哪些領域可能有更多改進的機會？

Yeah. Thanks, Stephen. First, I'd say what I've been really pleasantly surprised -- I mean, pleased to see is two things. First, the employee base is incredibly passionate, engaged and creative. That just reinforces for me that we can stay focused on our fans and deliver product that they're going to love. I'd say the second has been the engagement with the fans. I don't know if you've ever had a chance to go to San Diego Comic-Con and attend a Funko Fundays, but that is an experience unlike any other fan event I have ever seen.

是的。謝謝，史蒂芬。首先，我要說的是我真正感到驚訝的事情——我的意思是，很高興看到有兩件事。首先，員工群體非常熱情、敬業且富有創造力。這對我來說更加堅定了我們可以繼續關注我們的粉絲並提供他們會喜歡的產品。我想說第二個是與粉絲的互動。我不知道您是否有機會去聖地亞哥動漫展並參加 Funko Funddays，但這是一種不同於我見過的任何其他粉絲活動的體驗。

And I thought I had been to some crazy fan events. These folks are so passionate. They're so engaged. They are a real community. What I saw with their engagement with us at the booth where we were selling product demonstrates to me that they are very much with us. They're core and real fans and they want to see us succeed. And so, I think those together have left me with real optimism that as long as we're putting out high quality creative product, this business has an exceptional future.

我以為我參加過一些瘋狂的粉絲活動。這些人真是太熱情了。他們太投入了。他們是一個真正的社區。我在我們銷售產品的攤位上看到他們與我們的互動，這向我表明他們非常支持我們。他們是我們的核心和真正的粉絲，他們希望看到我們成功。因此，我認為這些因素共同讓我感到真正的樂觀，只要我們推出高品質的創意產品，這項業務就有一個非凡的未來。

Got it. Thanks for that. Maybe two financial questions for Yves. Looking at Europe versus international versus the US, could you maybe talk a little bit more about the drivers of the strong growth you're seeing in Europe international, and perhaps how those trends differ from what you're seeing in the US at the moment? And then just lastly on logistics, I think you called out some of the volatility in the freight market. Curious, if you could expand on this a little bit more and how you see and handicap the risk of vessel procurement as you head into the tail part of the year? Thank you.

知道了。謝謝你。也許伊夫有兩個財務問題。看看歐洲、國際和美國，您能否多談談您在歐洲國際看到的強勁成長的驅動因素，以及這些趨勢與您目前在美國看到的有何不同？最後關於物流，我認為您指出了貨運市場的一些波動。很好奇，您是否可以進一步擴展一下這一點，以及在進入今年年底時您如何看待和限制船舶採購的風險？謝謝。

Sure, no problem. So, I'll speak first to your question about the sales, the sales difference, I guess, between the US and the European market. We've focused a lot on the US market in the past few quarters on these calls. One of the things you're seeing in Q2 is two-fold, right? In the US market, we had expanded very quickly into the mass channel. And about 18 months ago, we started the process of strategically pulling back and making sure that we had the right products in the right channels. And so, that's one part of it. We also did a 30% SKU reduction last year, which was a long tail of SKUs and not a material impact to sales, but still more of a factor in the US than in Europe.

當然，沒問題。因此，我將首先回答你關於銷售的問題，我想，美國和歐洲市場之間的銷售差異。過去幾個季度，我們在這些電話會議中非常關注美國市場。您在第二季度看到的事情之一是雙重的，對嗎？在美國市場，我們很快就擴展到了大眾通路。大約 18 個月前，我們開始策略性撤退並確保我們在正確的管道擁有正確的產品。所以，這就是其中的一部分。去年我們也減少了 30% 的 SKU，這是 SKU 的長尾效應，對銷售沒有實質影響，但在美國的影響仍然大於在歐洲。

And then the third thing, I'll call out, again, the weaker content slate. I think that had a little bit more impact on the US market. Although we've shifted our mix of product to more evergreen product, we've made more headway in Europe than in the US. And so, that had a little bit more of an impact in the US. So, in contrast to that in Europe, we saw really nice 20% sales growth in the quarter.

然後第三件事，我會再指出較弱的內容。我認為這對美國市場的影響更大一些。儘管我們已經將產品組合轉向更常青的產品，但我們在歐洲的進展比在美國更大。因此，這對美國產生了更大的影響。因此，與歐洲相比，我們本季的銷售額成長了 20%，非常可觀。

I'll just kind of call out that within that region, Eastern Europe, Greece and the Middle East were really drivers of that growth. So, that's something that we're taking those lessons, bringing them over to the US and continuing to expand our distribution and then expand our mix of evergreen content in what we sell.

我只想指出，在該地區，東歐、希臘和中東確實是成長的驅動力。因此，我們正在吸取這些教訓，將它們帶到美國並繼續擴大我們的發行範圍，然後擴大我們銷售的常青內容的組合。

I'll just share one additional highlight since you covered the evergreen, which I do think that Europe got far out ahead of the US on, and it's been a real wonderful lesson for us to bring into the US The second, though, is the licensed store model that we were talking about a bit earlier. We have three in the Middle East, and in that model, we partner with a retailer who has experience in that market, understands those customers, will deliver based on our brand requirements, and in addition to a bit of a licensing fee then, of course, they're buying product from us. And that for us is a no to very low capital way for us to expand our markets and you're starting to see that take hold in the EMEA region as well.

自從你介紹了常青樹以來，我只想分享一個額外的亮點，我確實認為歐洲在這方面遠遠領先於美國，這對我們來說是一個真正精彩的教訓，可以帶入美國。討論過的特許商店模式。我們在中東有三個，在這種模式下，我們與一家在該市場有經驗、了解這些客戶、將根據我們的品牌要求提供服務的零售商合作，除了一點許可費之外，當然，他們從我們這裡購買產品。對我們來說，這對我們擴大市場來說是一種「不」或非常低的資本方式，您也開始看到這種方式在歐洲、中東和非洲地區也佔據了主導地位。

And then, Stephen, I'll answer the second part of your question on freight. So, a couple of months ago, we were watching that market very closely. I think the good news is that rates seem to kind of have stabilized and so they weren't a material impact in our Q2 results. We do capitalize freight costs to the balance sheet and then you'll see some of those higher costs impact us more in Q3 and Q4. I'd say right now it's not very material, but it is something that we factored into our guidance for our gross margin of 38% to 39%, which is slightly lower than Q1 and Q2, that was one of the factors that caused that.

然後，史蒂芬，我將回答你關於貨運問題的第二部分。因此，幾個月前，我們非常密切地關注該市場。我認為好消息是利率似乎已經穩定下來，因此對我們第二季的業績沒有重大影響。我們確實將貨運成本資本化到資產負債表中，然後您會看到其中一些較高的成本在第三季和第四季對我們的影響更大。我想說，現在這不是很重要，但我們已將其納入我們的毛利率指導中，為38% 至39%，略低於第一季和第二季度，這是導致這一情況的因素之一。

Got it. Thank you for all that.

知道了。謝謝你所做的一切。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

As we currently have no further questions on the queue, I will hand back over to Cynthia Williams for any final remarks.

由於我們目前在隊列中沒有其他問題，我將把最後的評論交給辛西婭·威廉姆斯。

Thank you, everyone, for joining us on the call today. We look forward to sharing our progress with you on our very next call.

謝謝大家今天加入我們的電話會議。我們期待在下次電話會議上與您分享我們的進展。

Thank you, everyone, for joining. You may now disconnect from the call.

謝謝大家的加入。您現在可以斷開通話。