Michael Potter
Analyst · Goldman Sachs. Please proceed
Thanks, Andy, and good morning, everyone. During the first quarter, we delivered net revenue of $529.4 million, an increase of 71.6% compared to $308.5 million in Q1 2020. The Gamer and Creator Peripheral segment more than doubled and provided $175.9 million of net revenue during the first quarter, an increase of 131.9% from $75.9 million in Q1 2020, driven by strong growth across all product categories. In particular, sales of our Elgato branded streaming products. The Gamer and Creator Peripherals segment net revenue contributed 33.2% of total net revenue, an increase of 860 basis points from 24.6% in Q1 2020. The Gaming Components and Systems segment provided $353.5 million of net revenue during the first quarter, an increase of 51.9% from $232.7 million in Q1 2020, primarily driven by strong growth across all product categories as consumers continued to buy and build gaming PCs. Less than half of this revenue came from memory products, which contributed $161.9 million. Gross profit in the first quarter more than doubled to a record $160.3 million, an increase of 103.9% from $78.6 million in Q1 2020 even beating the last quarter’s $153.8 million. The increase over Q1 2020 was primarily driven by increased revenues as well as the positive net margin impact from sales of higher margin products, including streaming gear. Gross profit margin increased by 480 basis points to 30.3% from 25.5% in Q1 2020. The Gamer and Creator Peripherals segment gross profit was $68.9 million, an increase of $46.7 million from $22.1 million in Q1 2020, primarily driven by an increase in revenue in the same periods. Gross profit margin was 39.1% compared to 29.2% in Q1 2020. The increase in gross margin was driven largely by product mix related to strong growth in sales of higher margin streaming products, coupled with less promotional activities. We continue to see a mix shift as Gamer and Creator Peripherals contributed 43% of total gross profit in Q1 2021 as compared to 28.2% in Q1 2020. This is a great overall story and formula for continued overall margin expansion as our fastest growing and highest margin segment also sits in our largest market. The Gaming Components and Systems segment gross profit was $91.5 million, an increase of $35 million from $56.5 million in Q1 2020, primarily driven by the increase in revenue in the same periods. Gross profit margin was 25.9% compared to 24.3% in Q1 2020, primarily due to product mix. Gaming Components and Systems contributed 57% of the total gross profit in Q1 2021 as compared to 71.8% in Q1 2020. Our memory products margin in this segment was 21% for the quarter. First quarter SG&A expenses were $77.9 million, an increase of $24.1 million or 44.9% compared to $53.7 million in Q1 2020, primarily driven by an increase in outbound freight costs due to an increase in revenue, an increase due to expenses related to being a public company and an increase in personnel-related expenses. First quarter product development expenses were $15.2 million, an increase of $3.6 million or 31.4% compared to $11.6 million in Q1 2020, primarily driven by an increase in personnel-related expenses as we continue to focus on bringing an increasing number of products to the market. Operating income in the first quarter of 2021 was $67.3 million, an increase of $54 million from $13.3 million in Q1 2020. Adjusted operating income in the first quarter of 2021 was $80.4 million, an increase of $55.4 million or 221.4% from $25 million in Q1 2020. First quarter net income was $46.7 million or $0.47 per diluted share as compared to net income of $1.2 million or $0.01 per diluted share in Q1 2020. First quarter adjusted net income was $58.2 million or $0.58 per diluted share as compared to adjusted net income of $11.2 million or $0.13 per diluted share in Q1 2020. Adjusted EBITDA for Q1 2021 was $80.4 million, an increase of $53.3 million or 196.6% compared to $27.1 million for Q1 2020, bringing adjusted EBITDA margin to 15.2%, an increase of 640 basis points year-over-year. Turning now to our balance sheet. We were able to convert our strong financial performance in the first quarter into an opportunity to further strengthen our balance sheet. We reduced debt by an additional $28 million with face value now at $299 million and net debt of $177.3 million, resulting in a net leverage ratio well below 1. We did this while growing quickly and leaving sufficient resources to further accelerate growth in the future. We expect to continue to reduce debt in 2021, subject to business conditions, any need for additional growth capital. The $28 million debt payoff will result in approximately $1 million in interest expense savings during the year. As of March 31, 2021, we had $48.1 million capacity under our revolving credit facility, total GAAP long-term debt of $294.3 million and cash excluding restricted cash of $121.6 million. Our strong financial performance in 2020 and the debt pay down plans for 2021 resulted in S&P increasing our corporate rating from B+ to BB- on February 25, 2021. That reduction is not as exciting as the new products Andy just discussed, but it does give increased confidence to our suppliers and customers that Corsair Gaming continues to be a strong and reliable company to do business with. It helps what our supply chain teams are working to overcome the different shortage and logistics challenges we face today. The additional modeling details underlying our outlook remain the same as we discussed in our fourth quarter earnings call with the exception of a now reduced interest expense. For ease, I’ll repeat them. We expect gross margins to slightly improve year-over-year and operating expense to increase as well to support our higher revenue level, the need to continue to innovate at a larger scale and a full year of public company costs. Assuming no further debt pay down, we now expect interest expense of approximately $4.6 million per quarter. As noted, we’ve already paid down $28 million of our debt this year and expect to pay down approximately an additional $72 million for a total of $100 million of debt reduction in 2021, subject to business conditions and any need for additional capital. The $4 million patent trial win in Q1 2021 is not in our outlook. This amount could vary depending on what the judge rules, is subject to appeal, and the timing of recognition of a gain, if any, is uncertain at this time. An effective tax rate of approximately 21% to 23% for 2021 and full year weighted average diluted shares outstanding of approximately 100 million to 102 million shares. Overall, we’re pleased with the continued progress we’ve made on our strategic initiatives and performance of the business. We grew more than we expected in Q1 2021, and we are expecting growth in revenue and adjusted operating income for 2021, where our competitors are expecting down compared to 2020. We believe that as supply and logistics constraints ease, we’ll be able to increase market share as we are more fully stock in the channel with the full range of our products. With that, we’re now happy to open the call for questions. Operator, will you please open the line for Q&A.