การประชุมแถลงผลประกอบการไตรมาส 3 ปี 2026 ของ JAKKS Pacific (JAKK): ยอดขายเพิ่มขึ้น 20%, กำไรต่อหุ้นที่ปรับปรุงแล้วแตะ $2.68

แจ็กส์ แปซิฟิก (JAKKS Pacific) (NASDAQ: JAKK) รายงานยอดขายสุทธิในไตรมาสที่ 3 ของปี 2026 อยู่ที่ 254 ล้านดอลลาร์ เพิ่มขึ้น 20% เมื่อเทียบรายปี การเติบโตในอเมริกาเหนือ ผลิตภัณฑ์จากดิสนีย์ และกลุ่มสินค้าที่เกี่ยวข้องกับนินเทนโด ช่วยหนุน EBITDA ปรับปรุงแล้ว และ EPS ปรับปรุงแล้ว ให้สูงขึ้น ขณะที่ยอดขายในต่างประเทศอ่อนตัวลงในช่วงไตรมาสดังกล่าว

สาระสำคัญ

• ยอดขายสุทธิในไตรมาส 3/2026 เพิ่มขึ้น 20% แตะที่ 254 ล้านดอลลาร์ ขณะที่ยอดขายนับตั้งแต่ต้นปีจนถึงปัจจุบัน เพิ่มขึ้น 13%
• ยอดขายในอเมริกาเหนือเติบโต 28% ในไตรมาสดังกล่าว และเติบโต 14% นับตั้งแต่ต้นปีจนถึงปัจจุบัน ส่วนยอดขายในต่างประเทศลดลง 4% ในไตรมาส 3 แต่ยังคงสูงกว่าช่วงเดียวกันของปีก่อน 7% นับตั้งแต่ต้นปีจนถึงปัจจุบัน
• อัตรากำไรขั้นต้นขยับขึ้นเป็น 32.1% จาก 32.0% และ EBITDA ปรับปรุงแล้วเพิ่มขึ้นเป็น 44.4 ล้านดอลลาร์ จาก 36.5 ล้านดอลลาร์
• EPS ปรับปรุงแล้วเพิ่มขึ้นเป็น 2.68 ดอลลาร์ จาก 1.80 ดอลลาร์ ส่วน EPS ปรับปรุงแล้วนับตั้งแต่ต้นปีจนถึงปัจจุบันแตะระดับ 2.81 ดอลลาร์ เมื่อเทียบกับ 1.79 ดอลลาร์ ในปีก่อนหน้า
• ยอดขายกลุ่มของเล่น/สินค้าอุปโภคบริโภคเพิ่มขึ้น 23% ในไตรมาส 3 นำโดยดิสนีย์, ซูเปอร์มาริโอ กาแล็กซี และธุรกิจนินเทนโดหลักของแจ็กส์ แปซิฟิก
• ผู้บริหารกล่าวว่าบริษัทยังคงดำเนินงานได้ตามแผนงานตลอดทั้งปี และกำลังสร้างไลน์ผลิตภัณฑ์สำหรับปี 2027 โดยมุ่งเน้นที่การเปิดตัวสื่อบันเทิงรายใหญ่ การขยายธุรกิจไปยังต่างประเทศ รวมถึงโครงการใหม่ด้านของสะสมและ IP แบบมีส่วนร่วม

ข้อมูลทางการเงินที่สำคัญ

โมเดล FOB คิดเป็นสัดส่วนมากกว่า 75% ของยอดขายในช่วง 9 เดือนแรกของปี 2026 โดยผู้บริหารระบุว่า ยอดขายบางส่วนในไตรมาสที่ 4 ได้ขยับมาอยู่ในไตรมาส 3 เนื่องจากกำหนดเวลาการจัดส่งภายใต้โมเดลนี้

ผลการดำเนินงานทางธุรกิจและปฏิบัติการ

อเมริกาเหนือเป็นปัจจัยหลักในการขับเคลื่อนการเติบโตตามภูมิภาค โดยยอดขายเพิ่มขึ้น 28% ในไตรมาส 3 รายได้ในต่างประเทศลดลง 4% หลังจากครึ่งปีแรกที่แข็งแกร่ง เนื่องจากการเติบโตเล็กน้อยในยุโรปถูกชดเชยด้วยความอ่อนตัวในภูมิภาคอื่น อย่างไรก็ตาม ยอดขายในต่างประเทศยังคงเพิ่มขึ้น 7% นับตั้งแต่ต้นปีจนถึงปัจจุบัน และผู้บริหารกล่าวว่าธุรกิจมีความพร้อมสำหรับไตรมาสที่ 4 ที่แข็งแกร่ง

ยอดขายกลุ่มตุ๊กตา การเล่นตามบทบาท/การแต่งกาย เพิ่มขึ้น 29% ในไตรมาสดังกล่าว และเพิ่มขึ้น 7% นับตั้งแต่ต้นปีจนถึงปัจจุบัน โดยดิสนีย์ ปริ้นเซส และดิสนีย์ โฟรเซ่น ทำผลงานได้เกินความคาดหมายของผู้บริหาร ขณะที่อัตราการขาย ณ จุดขายปลีกของลูกค้ารายใหญ่ที่สุดสองรายของแจ็กส์ แปซิฟิก เติบโตในระดับสองหลักทั้งในไตรมาส 3 และช่วงนับตั้งแต่ต้นปีจนถึงปัจจุบัน

ยอดขายกลุ่มของเล่นแอ็กชันและของสะสมเพิ่มขึ้น 19% โดยได้รับแรงหนุนจากภาพยนตร์ Super Mario Galaxy และพอร์ตโฟลิโอหลักของนินเทนโด ข้อมูลจุดขายเปรียบเทียบทรงตัวใกล้เคียงกับโครงการ Sonic 3 และ Sonic DC crossover ในปีที่แล้ว แต่ยังคงเพิ่มขึ้นในอัตราร้อยละหลักเดียวระดับกลางนับตั้งแต่ต้นปีจนถึงปัจจุบัน

ยอดจัดส่งรวมกลุ่มของเล่น/สินค้าอุปโภคบริโภคเพิ่มขึ้น 23% ในไตรมาส 3 และเพิ่มขึ้น 13% นับตั้งแต่ต้นปีจนถึงปัจจุบัน ธุรกิจชุดแฟนซีสร้างยอดขายประจำไตรมาสที่ 62 ล้านดอลลาร์ และ 111 ล้านดอลลาร์นับตั้งแต่ต้นปีจนถึงปัจจุบัน ซึ่งสูงกว่าระดับในปี 2024 เล็กน้อย โดยอุปสงค์ได้รับแรงหนุนจาก KPop Demon Hunters, Descendants 5 ของดิสนีย์, Toy Story 5 ของพิกซาร์, Super Mario, Sonic the Hedgehog และ Harry Potter

นอกจากนี้ แจ็กส์ แปซิฟิก ยังขยายข้อเสนอสินค้าสำหรับนักสะสมผ่าน Doll Haus of Dread และขยายโปรแกรมสินค้าแบรนด์ตัวเองของวอลมาร์ท ภายใต้ My Sweet Love และ My Life As โดยผู้บริหารกล่าวว่ารายการสินค้าล่าสุดเพิ่มขึ้นเป็นเท่าตัวจากปีก่อนหน้า โดยมีผลิตภัณฑ์ใหม่ 3 รายการติดอันดับ 20 รายการแรกของแจ็กส์ แปซิฟิก ในวอลมาร์ท

มุมมองของผู้บริหาร

ผู้บริหารกล่าวว่า แจ็กส์ แปซิฟิก ยังคงดำเนินงานตามแผนงานตลอดปี 2026 และคาดว่าจะส่งมอบปีงบประมาณที่มีกำไร สร้างกระแสเงินสด และจ่ายเงินปันผลได้ ค่าใช้จ่ายในการขายมีแนวโน้มจะยังคงสูงขึ้นในไตรมาส 4 เนื่องจากบริษัทเพิ่มกิจกรรมส่งเสริมการขาย

สำหรับปี 2027 ผู้บริหารเน้นย้ำถึงภาพยนตร์ Sonic the Hedgehog 4 ในเดือนมีนาคม, ภาพยนตร์ Simpsons เรื่องใหม่ในเดือนกันยายน และ Frozen 3 ในเดือนพฤศจิกายน บริษัทยังเตรียมโครงการระยะยาวที่ครอบคลุมอนิเมะ มังงะ VTuber และผู้สร้างความบันเทิงดิจิทัล โดยมีแผนเปิดตัวครั้งแรกในปี 2027

การขยายธุรกิจไปยังต่างประเทศยังคงเป็นความสำคัญลำดับแรก โดยแจ็กส์ แปซิฟิก กำลังเพิ่มบุคลากร ศักยภาพการจัดจำหน่าย และสิทธิ์ในการรับอนุญาตในภูมิภาค EMEA ลาตินอเมริกา และเอเชียตะวันออกเฉียงใต้ ผู้บริหารคาดว่าการเจาะตลาดช่องทางค้าปลีกระดับรองและเน้นความคุ้มค่าที่ลึกซึ้งยิ่งขึ้นจะช่วยสนับสนุนการเติบโตในปี 2027 และ 2028

ความเสี่ยงและประเด็นที่ต้องติดตาม

• ราคาเม็ดพลาสติกที่สูงขึ้นกำลังกดดันต้นทุนผลิตภัณฑ์ ขณะที่ราคาน้ำมันดีเซลที่สูงขึ้นส่งผลให้ค่าขนส่งทางเรือและทางบกเพิ่มขึ้น
• แนวทางที่ชัดเจนเกี่ยวกับภาษีนำเข้าของสหรัฐฯ ยังคงต้องรอข้อสรุป แม้ว่าผู้บริหารจะกล่าวว่าการหารือดูเหมือนจะดำเนินไปในทิศทางที่ดีขึ้นก็ตาม
• ยอดขายบางส่วนในไตรมาส 4 ได้ย้ายมาอยู่ในไตรมาส 3 ภายใต้โมเดล FOB ทำให้เกิดความผันผวนของกรอบเวลาในแต่ละไตรมาส
• ยอดขายในต่างประเทศลดลง 4% ในไตรมาส 3 แม้ว่าจะยังคงเป็นบวกนับตั้งแต่ต้นปีจนถึงปัจจุบันก็ตาม
• แจ็กส์ แปซิฟิก ไม่ได้สนับสนุนการเปิดตัวของเล่นจากสื่อบันเทิงรายใหม่ที่สำคัญในช่วงเทศกาลวันหยุดปี 2026 ทำให้ผลิตภัณฑ์ยอดนิยมตลอดกาลและแฟรนไชส์ที่มีอยู่เดิมมีความสำคัญมากขึ้นต่อผลการดำเนินงานในระยะสั้น

ไฮไลต์ช่วงถาม-ตอบกับนักวิเคราะห์

ผู้บริหารระบุว่า EMEA ลาตินอเมริกา และเอเชียตะวันออกเฉียงใต้ เป็นโอกาสหลักในการขยายธุรกิจไปยังต่างประเทศ บริษัทได้เพิ่มคลังสินค้าและศูนย์กระจายสินค้าในตลาดต่าง ๆ รวมถึงอิตาลี สเปน เยอรมนี สหราชอาณาจักร และรอตเทอร์ดาม เพื่อปรับปรุงความเร็วในการจัดส่งและรองรับการครอบคลุมค้าปลีกที่กว้างขึ้น อัตรากำไรในต่างประเทศได้รับการอธิบายว่าใกล้เคียงกับในสหรัฐฯ

เกี่ยวกับกลยุทธ์การรับสิทธิ์ใช้ลิขสิทธิ์ ผู้บริหารกล่าวว่า แจ็กส์ แปซิฟิก กำลังเลือกสรรมากขึ้นและมุ่งหาทรัพย์สินที่ส่งเสริมกลุ่มสินค้าที่มีอยู่เดิม แม้ว่าบริษัทจะขยายธุรกิจในกลุ่มของสะสมและอนิเมะ แต่ก็ตั้งใจที่จะเน้นไปที่ผลิตภัณฑ์สำหรับเด็กอายุ 6 เดือนถึง 7 ปีเช่นเดิม

ผู้บริหารระบุว่าการไม่มีการเปิดตัวสื่อบันเทิงรายใหม่ที่สำคัญในช่วงเทศกาลวันหยุดปี 2026 เกิดจากเรื่องของจังหวะเวลามากกว่าการลดกิจกรรมการขอรับสิทธิ์ใช้ลิขสิทธิ์ บริษัทคาดว่าผังคอนเทนต์ที่แข็งแกร่งขึ้นในปี 2027 จะช่วยเสริมการเติบโตจากกลุ่มผลิตภัณฑ์ดิสนีย์ยอดนิยมตลอดกาล แบรนด์ตัวเอง และไลน์ผลิตภัณฑ์หลัก

บริษัทยืนยันว่าการคืนเงินภาษีเสร็จสมบูรณ์แล้ว ผู้บริหารยังกล่าวอีกว่า แจ็กส์ แปซิฟิก กำลังจัดส่งสินค้าให้กับสาขาของ ทอยส์ "อาร์" อัส แม้ว่าร้านค้าประมาณ 120 แห่งที่เปิดให้บริการในระหว่างปี ส่วนใหญ่ในปัจจุบันจะเป็นร้านค้าป๊อบอัพก็ตาม

บันทึกการแถลงผลประกอบการฉบับเต็ม

บทถอดเสียงฉบับเต็มของการประชุมทางโทรศัพท์ผลประกอบการ

คำชี้แจงจากฝ่ายบริหาร

Operator

Good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to the JAKKS Pacific Third Quarter Earnings Conference Call with management, who will review financial results for the quarter ending September 30, 2026. JAKKS issued its earnings press release earlier today. The earnings release and presentation slides related to today's call are available on the company's website in the Investors section.

On the call this afternoon are Stephen Berman, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer; and John Kimble, Chief Financial Officer. Stephen will first provide an overview of the quarter and year-to-date. Along with the highlights of recent performance and current business trends. Then John will provide some additional comments about JAKKS Pacific's financial and operational results.

Mr. Berman will then return with comments about the balance of the year and beyond prior to opening the call for questions. [Operator Instructions]

Before we begin, the company would like to point out that any comments made about JAKK Pacific's future performance, events or circumstances include the -- sorry, the estimates of sales, margins and earnings and/or adjusted EBITDA in 2026, 2027 and beyond as well as any other forward-looking statements concerning 2026, 2027 and beyond are subject to safe harbor protection under federal securities laws.

These statements reflect the company's best judgment based on current market trends and conditions today and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in forward-looking statements.

For details concerning these and other such risks and uncertainties, you should consult JAKKS most recent 10-K and 10-Q filings with the SEC as well as the company's other reports subsequently filed with the SEC from time to time.

In addition, today's comments by -- made by management will refer to non-GAAP financial measures such as adjusted EBITDA and adjusted earnings per share. Unless stated otherwise, the most directly comparable GAAP financial metric has been reconciled to the associated non-GAAP financial measure within the company's earnings press release issued today or previously. As a reminder, this call is being recorded.

With that, I would like to turn the call over to Stephen Berman.

Stephen Berman

Good afternoon, and thank you for joining us. We are roughly 2 months from the end of 2026 and feeling positive about our execution this year as well as feeling positive about the possibilities that lie ahead. Q3 shipping generated $254 million in net sales, a 20% increase over a prior year that featured delayed planogram sets and higher U.S. tariffs. Year-to-date, our sales are up 13% ahead of last year.

The FOB business model is alive and well, representing over 75% of sales for the first 9 months of the year. We're also seeing buying patterns return to pre-tariff quarterly seasonality. With much of the year now behind us, we are now working with customers to ensure solid sell-through and firming up plans for what we feel can be a great 2027. Although we're not supporting any new entertainment releases in the toy business this holiday season, growth was nonetheless driven by North America, which was up 28% in the quarter and is now plus 14% year-to-date.

International took a breath after a strong first half of the year. Europe was marginally up with the other regions in total down, netting out 4% down in the quarter, but international is still up 7% year-to-date and queued up for a solid fourth quarter.

Our Dolls, Role Play/Dress-Up business led the quarter with 29% growth and is now plus 7% year-to-date. We are seeing great growth here with our Disney business leading the way. Retail point-of-sale rates at our 2 largest accounts continue to track up in the double digits here, both in the quarter and year-to-date.

The Action Play & Collectibles division continued its strong year as well with a 19% growth in the quarter, driven by the success of the Super Mario Galaxy film and our core Nintendo evergreen business. Comparable POS data was roughly flat in the quarter as we compare against the Sonic 3 and Sonic DC crossover initiatives from last year. It's up mid-single digits year-to-date.

Overall, Toys/Consumer Products shipping was up 23% in the quarter and plus 13% year-to-date. So we feel we've done a solid job maximizing this year's opportunities for a robust holiday selling season. Our Costumes business had a solid quarter as it continues to recover from last year's disruptions. At $62 million in the quarter and $111 million year-to-date, we are tracking slightly ahead of 2024. Most of our U.S. accounts were up double digits this year, but we also are pleased with the traction we're seeing in Europe opening new accounts and generating more of a year-round business given the broad different selling opportunities there.

Having just returned from parts of Asia last week, I can speak firsthand about the challenges factories are facing from higher resin prices, putting pressure on product costs and higher diesel prices impacting the supply chain, both for ocean and land freight. We are prioritizing shipments and continuing to scrutinize our inventory management to mitigate these higher costs of doing business.

We have been working extremely closely with our manufacturing partners in Asia, allowing us to work through these various issues. Many of these factories have been partners of JAKKS for decades, and these long-standing relationships allow JAKKS to work expeditiously through these events when they occur.

I will now pass it over to John for some comments, after which I will come back and discuss some product initiatives and areas of focus moving forward. John?

John Kimble

Thank you, Stephen, and hi, everybody. It's an interesting quarter to report on here as the numbers have come together pretty much as we would have hoped they would. Some Q4 sales work their way into Q3 this year. But as an FOB-centric business, that will happen. It just means we'll get paid that much faster. In some respects, our fiscal year should almost be November through October, but we're not going to make that change and punish ourselves or anyone else with that exercise.

Overall, we continue to collectively color within the lines as it relates to the full year plan. It may not be the biggest or best this or that, but it's a considerably better year than 2025 and a really good year on the financial front as far as the printed results. As of late October, we are getting close to the finish line of delivering in 2026, a profitable cash-generating dividend-paying fiscal year. What is harder to measure and often communicate is that we're doing a better job seeing downfield and building towards a bigger and more efficient business.

Admittedly, there's always steady dialogue around potentially acquiring new licenses or launching new brands. But I think we are spending more time every quarter figuring out ways to run the business better, for lack of a better word. We are tuning the organization and our internal processes to increase efficiency and execute globally while maintaining a fast decision-making culture and hopefully some thoughtful precision around the financial implications.

People who think that the only value generated in a particular year is reflected in that year's financial statements don't really understand how businesses like this function. And although I felt 2025 as a very productive year despite its short-term financial challenges, I think you're starting to see some of the financial results this year and next. And ideally, we can keep accelerating this momentum. 20% higher sales delivered 20% more gross margin dollars, so we're pleased with that.

As a reminder, there isn't really a lot of gross margin scale to be had with our business. Tooling is a relatively tiny part of gross margins, and you don't get scale from royalty shortfalls unless you avoid them. As Stephen mentioned, there continues to be pressure on product and freight costs. Although the U.S. tariff discussion seems to be trending in a favorable direction, definitive guidance on that front is still pending. So we are navigating as best as we can and managing for dollars, as I've said before.

Gross margins held up well in the quarter at 32.1%, slightly higher than last year's 32%. Selling expenses were a bit higher in the quarter as they likely will be next as we dial up our promotional activity, particularly compared to last year when we were pulling back given sales volumes.

G&A costs were higher in aggregate but achieved some scale on higher volumes. We are continuously reevaluating overhead spending vendor by vendor to self-fund new initiatives and needs, but the overall higher cost of doing business is relatively unavoidable.

Adjusted EBITDA in the quarter was $44.4 million, an improvement over $36.5 million in Q3 last year. That increases our 12-month trailing adjusted EBITDA to $45.7 million, up from $37.8 million last quarter.

Adjusted EPS for the quarter was $2.68. That compares favorably to $1.80 at this time last year. Year-to-date, we are at $2.81 versus $1.79 year-to-date last year.

On the balance sheet, we finished the quarter at $45 million in restricted and unrestricted cash compared to $28 million at the same time last year. Our inventory balance at the end of the quarter was $64 million compared to $71 million last year. That reflects a slightly higher balance outside the U.S. than it did at this time last year.

Lastly, the Board has approved the quarterly cash dividend of $0.25 per share. The dividend will be payable to shareholders of record as of November 27 and will be paid on December 28.

And now back to Stephen for some additional commentary.

Stephen Berman

Thank you, John. We're about a week away from Halloween, so we should lead off with the Costumes business. Retail buyers were energized after last year's disruption while also being optimistic about a robust film slate and Halloween falling on the weekend. To no one's surprise, KPop Demon Hunters has been in high demand and is a property that retailers are chasing. We have also seen a content lift from Disney's Descendants 5 and Pixar's Toy Story 5, while our core Super Mario line is also up considerably as it's been a very big year for Nintendo across all categories.

We're seeing growth in Sonic the Hedgehog as its robust content slate continues to increase the size of the Sonic franchise base. We're also seeing some solid demand for Harry Potter as Warner Bros. commemorates the 25th anniversary of the first theatrical release and begins the promotion of the HBO series that is launching this December.

We are steadily adding rights to our Costumes and Cosplay portfolio where it makes strategic sense, especially as licensors listen to the retailers' feedback that we are the vendor they prefer to work with.

Our Disney Princess and Disney Frozen business continues to have a strong year. They are exceeding our expectations more than anything else in our portfolio in 2026. Our Ages and Stages large doll lines, Style Collection role play toys and dress up are all performing well.

Key customers have been going deeper with our line this year, and it's paying off for both of us. We can also see where some lower retail price points compared to last year are coinciding with increased unit sales, which is great and bodes well going into the holiday season. We are also seeing very strong initial numbers for our Disney Princess Magical Light and Style Rapunzel. This toy from a large doll subcategory is on path to be a hot item this holiday season, so get yours early.

On the action figure front, we're continuing to support the Super Mario Galaxy film with retailers' exclusive products and out-of-aisle placement for key SKUs. Bowser Junior Paint Playset, Yum Yoshi! and Donkey Kong Playset are the key drivers that we are supporting with paid media.

The film has been available on Peacock TV since late July and will debut on Netflix in early December to further extend its reach. As mentioned last quarter, we are continuing to celebrate Sonic's 35th anniversary with a variety of products and special packaging. Among the toys we have developed, the Giant Metal Sonic versus Sonic Playset launched in Q3 and is featured at retailers globally and in holiday gift guides. You can find the commercials online to get a better sense of the fun factor in this toy.

And obviously, we'll have more to say about Sonic next quarter as we are closer to the March 2027 theatrical release of Sonic the Hedgehog 4. Fashion dolls have played an important role in JAKKS history, dating back to our success with Disney's Hannah Montana, Taylor Swift, Disney Fairies, which is Tinker Bell and Her Friends and Winx Club, just to name a few.

As we mentioned last quarter, we introduced a new collector doll segment in May partnership with Warner Bros. The next collection just dropped with slightly different inspirations titled Doll Haus of Dread. It introduces a bold new line that transforms horror's most feared figures into high-style display-worthy collectibles. Launching exclusively at Walmart and walmart.com, this horror fandom reimagined awaken some of the most powerful, vocal and obsessive fan bases.

The lineup featured dolls inspired by 4 chilling icons, Ghost Face as seen in the motion picture Scream, Billy the Puppet from Saw, Jason from Jason Universe franchise and Pinhead from Hellraiser. The line was introduced this month at New York Comic-Con, selling out inventory following a live video sale in Walmart collector booth in a collaboration with a celebrity named Jamie Kennedy.

The Warner Bros. Doll Collection and Doll Haus of Dread marked the first chapter in a broader vision for Doll Haus as a unified collector destination. Beyond these debut collections, Doll Haus will expand into a house of subcategories spanning fandom-driven properties, exclusive entertainment collections and powerful collaborations, all designed to build a lifestyle destination for collectors rather than a single product line.

As the platform grows, JAKKS plans to deepen the collector experience throughout direct-to-consumer exclusives, behind-the-scenes content and a growing presence at conventions and events. The website, spelled dollhaushq.com launched this month alongside social channels.

Separately, our private label business with Walmart through My Sweet Love and My Life as brands has been steadily expanding. A new assortment set this quarter with 4 basic and deluxe fashions in My Life as and 6 nurturing role play items and baby doll fashions in My Sweet Love, doubling the listings from prior year. All 3 new items are in our top 20 items at Walmart and the stroller is our #1 overall new item there for fall 2026.

As we look ahead to 2027 and beyond, we couldn't be prouder or more excited about the lineup across our categories and divisions. Our recent fall 2027 previews drew an enthusiastic response from customers around the globe. We have several exciting announcements coming soon, and 2027 brings a slate of strong theatrical tentpoles, including Sonic the Hedgehog 4 in March, the new Simpsons movie in September and Frozen 3 in November.

In addition, our Halloween, Role Play and Cosplay division. Disguise has a powerful lineup built on strong IP for 2027 and beyond. JAKKS Pacific is also launching a long-term strategic initiative focused on immersive IP across anime, manga, VTubers and digital entertainers. The IP partners and titles debuting next year are simply the best-in-class. We have held numerous retail meetings across the United States, Europe and Latin America in preparation for our initial launch. Feedback from both partners in retail and customers has been highly enthusiastic and extremely encouraging.

This year is yet another reminder that a lot can change in a short period of time in our industry. Although events outside our industry continue to be intriguing to make the business of making and selling toys more complicated than perhaps it needs to be, we are heading into the end of the year with solid momentum both in terms of our commercial performance today and the foundation building for 2027 and '28 and beyond.

I continue to feel extremely confident in our business today, where we are headed and the opportunities we see both ahead of us and within reach.

And now I'll take a couple of questions. Operator?

Operator

[Operator Instructions] The first question comes from the line of Eric Beder from Small Cap Consumer Research.

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Eric Beder

Congratulations -- congratulations on the quarter. Can you talk a little bit about what you're seeing in terms of the international opportunities to both add accounts. How should we be thinking about the regions in terms of the potential for expansion there?

Stephen Berman

Thank you for the call, Eric. So the expansion is happening quite aggressively. We already have a phenomenal footprint in EMEA, but we're growing deeper in certain territories, and we're staffing up for it as we have been this year. The main opportunities are obviously in EMEA and then it grows in Latin America and Southeast Asia. But for the time being, we have been growing strong in both LatAm with offices in Mexico, Chile and various other countries and territories with our staffing that is just specifically for JAKKS and focuses on JAKKS products.

And we're expanding in that area in Latin America through various initiatives, the mass market, which are main retailers and then the informal market, which is, call it, the outskirts market, that's a very big market with lower price items.

So it's taken us 1.5 years to develop the items that were necessary for the value chain and work with our licensors and our retailers. And that has started to bear some very strong fruits and looking into '27 will grow quite strong. The same for Europe and outside of Europe, we are expanding with further staffing required with regards to getting growth as we've really penetrated through the mass market in those countries, but the further growth is going through all the secondary value channels in those territories.

So we've opened up warehouses and further deepen our reach and further in Italy, Spain, Germany, U.K., Rotterdam, we have warehouses and distribution centers that allow us then to be able to make quick deliveries to the individual markets where the products are being sold. So those areas are seeing expansion and the rights that we are obtaining through our licensors are included in a lot of these new territories that we never had before.

So you have the new territory distribution or enhanced distribution, plus more IP and products that are deliverable to those territories. So that will enhance the growth in those areas, immensely going in '27 and '28.

Eric Beder

And structurally, how is this business as FOB driven as kind of our domestic business is? And how should we be thinking about both the margin opportunity and kind of the ability to, kind of, even out the quarters a little more?

Stephen Berman

So for instance, the way that the international work is slightly different than the states. So we have, in North America Disguise, which is really a Halloween-centric business, but in Europe and Latin America, it's everyday play. So it gives us full year of dress-up vastly different than we do in America through Disguise. In America, we utilize each of our segmentations to do the dress up. So that our Disney Group does their own, and each of our individual areas does their own.

But in Europe, we do it vastly different based off of the the criteria because Halloween isn't strong in certain areas, and you have Boxing Day, you have Kids Day. You have -- various part of all that really attracts the consumers in EMEA more so. And then primarily on the international business is about -- I'm going to -- John can correct me if I'm wrong, about 90% FOB or 85% FOB. But the difference is we are building domestic capabilities as the lead times to ship FOB to Europe in certain areas, take longer than it does to get to America.

So the backup inventory that we have on, we call it, the main core business is helping us get additional growth in those territories where an FOB business could only do so much then when you get through the holiday season, you do need some backup. On the margin, I think I'll leave that to John. I believe it's equal, but I'll leave it to John.

John Kimble

Eric Yes, I think on the margin front, the simplest way to think about it is that it's comparable to the U.S. It's not unlike the U.S., you have some retailers who operate on a tighter margin than others and part of our playbook for the states to begin with is to make sure that we're developing a great product for the consumer, that's also kind of working for the customer in the form of the retailer in terms of what their margin requirements are.

As we've gone deeper in that direction over the past couple of years, particularly the sort of capture more of the value channel opportunity, which is such an emerging force in U.S. retail, that kind of serves us well when it comes to international markets, both in terms of markets that have kind of lower GDP per capita as well as Stephen point before, there's a sort of cursory way of entering a market where you're hitting a few big, kind of, mass market accounts and calling it a day.

We are getting much deeper into a more credible and sort of persistent presence in a lot of these markets where we can have product appropriate for multiple channels and still doing that while making nice margins.

Eric Beder

Great. And maybe just a follow-up. In terms of -- so we've been talking a lot about how you have an incredibly strong balance sheet. Are we starting to see some of the benefits of that through some of these new licenses, expansion opportunities and other pieces now that, kind of, the -- I guess, noise from the tariffs is kind of abating?

And should we be thinking about the ability and desire for you to add even more properties going forward in addition to, kind of, anime is going to roll out mid-2027?

Stephen Berman

Well, we believe that what we're seeing in the market, again, this company is 32 years old. So we have a lot of history in what we've seen and the changes that we're seeing. We're getting, I'd say, more of the appropriate licenses that we're looking to acquire for the areas in which we're in that help benefit both the licensor as well as JAKKS, our shareholders and our retailers and consumers. But we are getting extremely strong growth in areas that are -- the properties are becoming more fulfilling and they're doing more with less.

So at the same time, while we're acquiring licenses, we're getting, I would say, hopefully, the best-in-class from what we're looking at as a company. And what I'm seeing going on now is a lot of people are heavily focusing on the adult and collectible business, and it's been stated in various conversations through various different companies in our forum.

As for JAKKS, we are still a kid-centric business, and there's still a very big appetite for items for children 6 months to 7 years. At the same time, we are in the kidult and collectible business, and it's been stated various conversations through various different companies in our form. As for JAKKS, we are still a kids-centric business, and there's still a very big appetite for items for children 6 months to 7 years.

At the same time, we are in the kidult and adult collectible business in various business that we've been in for decades. We've been that way with Nintendo has a collectible business. Sonic has a collectible business, Bendy, Simpson, a lot of these areas have kidult.

Then you go into the anime, which has a very big focus of kidult collectibles, both male and female. So we're in those categories of business. But a lot of our industry is moving away from kids where we're getting more heavily involved in kids, which has given us much more appeal to the licensors that we're still a very kids-focused business. So it's enhancing our business going forward.

Operator

Our next question will come from the line of Thomas Forte from Maxim Group.

Thomas Forte

Stephen, John, congratulations. I have 4 questions. And then depending on your answers, I may have follow-ups. So the first one is actually a follow-up to the question you just answered. The not supporting any new entertainment in the fourth quarter, is that a reflection of timing or are you just being more picky?

Stephen Berman

That's a great question. And thank you, Tom. It's just more of timing -- throughout -- we knew where we were at this year. It was just there was nothing in a sense, toy-riffic coming out this year that was really like what we're going to see next year with the Sonic and Frozen, you have the Harry Potter show coming out and all those things. But what we're proud about, we saw that going into the year well before it was here and all of the different segmentations that we're focusing on are seeing healthy business. Majority of them are all seeing growth in our company, a lot of it was from the segmentations and what the teams have developed.

The private label business has grown immensely. Our core Disney business, Disney Princess and Frozen. There hasn't been any real IP movies or content behind it and has seen tremendous growth. And that has to do with the partnership with the Walt Disney Company and with JAKKS working on just general IP that enhances the Disney portfolio such as our Style Collection that we launched years back, 7 years ago, and now it's a very impactful line to our company.

You have Disney Darlings, which is a brand-new initiative between the Walt Disney Company and JAKKS that focuses on a nurturing baby doll lineup that is doing exceptionally well, both in the U.S. and abroad. So what we've done is we made sure that during a less popular year of movies or content. Our business will have healthy growth. And then when you see a content year that's coming forward in '27, '28, that just enhances the whole pool to what we're looking at doing as JAKKS.

Thomas Forte

Excellent. All right. And when I look at the performance in the third quarter of '26-- sorry, third quarter '26 and compared against the third quarter of '24, high level, what would it take to get back to 3Q '24?

John Kimble

Well, I think the easiest way to think about that is kind of what you were just touching upon the last question. In the back half of 2024, we had kind of some meaningful entertainment tentpoles that we were rallying behind, right? Like for memory, there was the Moana 2 movie that came out during that time and also a Sonic 3 movie that came out during that time. And so if you reference the chart that we do in the supplemental earnings deck, which kind of breaks out the content piece from the evergreen piece, you see how Q3, this quarter was pretty solid and pretty nice evergreen growth. But to the earlier point, it's just not the case that we're supporting a huge movie in the fall other than we obviously are still supporting Mario Galaxy in a big way.

Thomas Forte

All right. And then I think I know the answer, but I'll ask anyway. So are we done with tariffs refunds?

Stephen Berman

Yes.

Thomas Forte

All right. And then the last one, I'm just going to say the name of the company. And then depending on Stephen's response, I might have a follow-up. So last question is Toys "R" Us?

Stephen Berman

Toys "R" Us is a lovely name and a lovely company and is doing -- it's being licensed out to a company that we're very familiar with the name and they're opening up the stores throughout the holiday, and it's wonderful to see it back and back in the right format, but it's still relatively a small area. I think it's 120 stores that are being opened this year.

We're rooting for it to come back in the way it should be in today's environment and the people that are running that are doing a well-done job. So we're very close with them, we're selling them. But hopefully, they'll be able to get further depth and they won't just be pop-ups, They'll be full time year-round, but a lot of them right now are pop-ups.

Operator

This concludes the question-and-answer session. I would now like to turn it back over to Stephen for closing remarks.

Stephen Berman

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for the call today. We'll be doing a lot of follow-ups right after this conversation, and we're excited and looking forward to '27 and resuming speaking to our investors. Thank you very much.

Operator

Thank you for your participation in today's conference. This does conclude the program. You may now disconnect. Everyone, have a great day.