February 25th 2021 Hasbro has completed its investor event briefing with its annual announcements of earnings and forward looking projections. Without getting to much into the financial aspect of it, there are still several items of note to take a look at. Below we’ll cover the announcements released and highlight the ones that are most relevant to our readers.
 
Consumer Products

  • Revenue is expected to grow at or above the industry growth rate, including a mid-single digit growth target for 2021. Over the medium-term, the Company expects that operating profit in the consumer products segment will grow faster than revenue, returning the segment to low-teens operating profit margin over the period.
  • Targeting 50% of consumer products business on ecomm by 2025.
    • Launching Hasbro Pulse in the U.K., with additional markets to follow.
  • Capitalizing on untapped potential for Hasbro brands in the preschool market:
    • Hasbro designed and created product lines for PEPPA PIG and PJ MASKS launching second half 2021. Teams also enhancing the consumer licensing programs for these brands behind newly developed and produced content. The insourcing valuing equates to approximately two-thirds of the $130 Million of insourcing synergies the Company is on track to achieve by year-end 2022. By year-end 2021, Company expects to be more than halfway to that target.
    • Partnership with Amazon and PLAYSKOOL with a focus on learning and sustainability.
  • Extending Hasbro’s partnership with Epic Games, which will continue our NERF & Games FORTNITE license, and expand the scope of our rights to include Action Figures & Role Play in 2021 and beyond. ​
  • 3 MONOPOLY announcements: Monopoly Builder; Monopoly Crooked Cash; and an all-new community-based Monopoly campaign launching March 19.
  • Alexa gaming integration: The Wanted Bounty Hunters board game gives you an in-game connection to Alexa and the cinematic world of The Mandalorian. ​​
  • 3 NERF announcements: All-new 14+ performance-based NERF Hyper line; New NERF Rival Curve; NERF named the official ball for NFL Flag, the official flag football league of the NFL.
  • Supporting robust theatrical and streaming calendar for 2021 including GI JOE, Ghostbusters, Marvel, Star Wars and Disney Princess new content.
  • In partnership with Merlin entertainment, opening first PEPPA PIG theme park with Legoland Florida in 2022.

 
Wizards of the Coast and Digital Gaming

  • Wizards of the Coast is approximately halfway to achieving its target of doubling its revenue from 2018 to 2023.
  • 2020 Wizards of the Coast revenue was $816M. MAGIC: THE GATHERING revenue up 23% and DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS revenue up 33% for the year, both record years.
  • Digital gaming licensing revenue grew 17% in 2020.
  • Invested approximately $210 million on development for digital games over the past five years and have more than a dozen games in development between partners and internal projects. Plan to invest several hundred million more on development over the medium-term.
  • 2021-2022 anticipated digital game launches include:
    • MAGIC: THE GATHERING: Arena on mobile, Spellslingers and F2P Action RPG, Magic Legends, with Cryptic Entertainment.
    • DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: Dark Alliance with wholly owned subsidiary Tuque Games and Baldur’s Gate 3 with Larian Studios.
  • Increasing the number of MAGIC: THE GATHERING premiere card set releases from 5 to 6, including Modern Horizons 2 in June 2021.
  • Announcing Magic Universes Beyond crossover products, to take fan-favorite brands and bring them into the Magic play system for exciting new collectible and social play opportunities.
    • Including the science-fantasy collectible powerhouse, Warhammer 40,000 by Games Workshop, and Middle-Earth Enterprises, to include characters from the beloved The Lord of the Rings universe.

Entertainment

  • By 2022-2023, expect 2-3 major motion pictures and 3-4 TV shows on major platforms for Hasbro brands.
  • Forecasted 2021 cash content investment of $675-$750M. Approximately 70% of which is pre-sold and licensed reducing risk.
  • Hasbro was the #1 Kids Content owner on YouTube delivering 48.4 billion views in 2020.
  • More than 200 projects underway across TV and Film with 30+ Hasbro brands in development across TV, both scripted and unscripted, and feature films. Building out robust franchise plans for each brand across multiple channels, including:
    • TRANSFORMERS
      • Feature film in partnership with Paramount slated for summer 2022.
      • New animated full-length feature film in development.
      • The first two chapters of the fan-based animated trilogy TRANSFORMERS: WAR FOR CYBERTRON have successfully launched on Netflix, with the third installment to be released July 2021.
      • Transformers: BotBots, a new 20-episode animated comedy series at Netflix.
      • Partnering with Nickelodeon to co-produce an original animated Transformers series (26 half-hour episodes) to premiere exclusively on Nickelodeon in the U.S. before rolling out internationally.
    • GI JOE
      • Feature film SNAKE EYES, starring Henry Goulding, is set for a global theatrical release in October 2021.
      • New partnership with Amazon and Paramount to create premium scripted television series based on GI JOE.
    • MAGIC THE GATHERING
      • Feature film in development at Fox.
      • Premium animated series in production for Netflix.
    • DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS
      • Feature film in partnership with Paramount Pictures is preparing to start principal photography in Ireland.
      • Engaged several writers to develop premium television projects designed as a foundation for a new robust brand universe.
    • RISK premium scripted series in development and CLUE primetime animated series with FOX in development.
    • MY LITTLE PONY
      • New CGI film debuting on Netflix later this year with an all new cast of ponies.
      • All new computer-animated series coming to Netflix.
  • Peppa Pig new content through 2023.
  • PJ Masks new content through 2023.
  • Greenlit new animated preschool series, Kiya, for linear and digital broadcast platforms including Disney Jr. and Disney + globally and France Télévisions.
  • Film:
    • In production on 9 feature films.
    • 15 unique releases slated for 2021, with talent such as Mark Wahlberg in ARTHUR THE KING, Chris Pine in ALL THE OLD KNIVES, and Ben Affleck in DEEP WATER.
    • Adaptation of the children’s classic CLIFFORD THE BIG RED DOG coming to theatres later this year.
  • TV:
    • Currently in production on 8 scripted series and expect another 2 to 4 to be ordered in the year.
    • Returning series include THE ROOKIE on ABC, NURSES on NBC, and THE WALKING DEAD on AMC.
    • Premiering new exciting shows later this year, such as YELLOWJACKETS for Showtime and CRUEL SUMMER for ABC Freeform and Amazon Prime.
    • Unscripted business continues to grow, with over 70 projects anticipated for delivery this year and 38 projects currently in

You can view the entirety of the press release here.
There is definitely a lot to unpack here and we’ll be covering more news as it becomes available. But if you want to get caught up and chat with fans don’t forget to follow us on our Twitter and Facebook social media platforms, as well as continue the discussion on our forums and discord.
 

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Source: The AllSpark