Jakks Pacific Inc: Form 10-K for the period ended Dec 31, 2023

In this report, “JAKKS,” the “Company,” “we,” “us” and “our” refer to JAKKS Pacific, Inc., its subsidiaries and our majority-owned joint venture.

Company Overview

We are a leading multi-product line, multi-brand toy company that designs, produces, markets, sells and distributes toys and related kid-targeted consumer products, inclusive of kids indoor and outdoor furniture, costumes and various product lines in the sporting goods and home furnishings space. We focus our business on acquiring or licensing well-recognized intellectual property (“IP”), trademarks and/or brand names, most with long product histories (“evergreen brands”). We seek to acquire/license these evergreen brands because we believe they are less subject to market fads or trends. We also develop proprietary products marketed under our own trademarks and brand names, and have historically acquired complementary businesses to further grow our portfolio. For accounting purposes, our products have been divided into two segments: (i) Toys/Consumer Products and (ii) Costumes. Segment information with respect to revenues, assets and profits or losses attributable to each segment is contained in Note 3 to the audited consolidated financial statements contained below in Item 8. Our products include:

• Action figures and accessories, including licensed characters based on the Nintendo®, Sonic the Hedgehog® and Apex Legends® franchises and our own proprietary brands including Creepy Crawlers®;
• Toy vehicles, including Xtreme Power Dozer®, Xtreme Power Dump Truck®, XPV®, Road Champs®, Fly Wheels® and AirTitans® inflatable remote-control dinosaur;
• Dolls and accessories, including small dolls, large dolls, fashion dolls and baby dolls based on licenses, including Disney Wish®, Disney Encanto®, Disney ILY 4EVER™, Disney Frozen®, Disney Princess® and Minnie Mouse®, and infant and pre-school toys based on TV shows like PBS’s Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood® as well as in-house brands such as Perfectly Cute® and collectable plush Ami Amis®;
• Private label products developed exclusively for certain retail customers in various product categories;
• Foot-to-floor ride-on products, including those based on Fisher-Price®, Nickelodeon®, and Hasbro® licenses and inflatable play environments, tents and wagons;
• Role play, dress-up, pretend play and novelty products for boys and girls based on well-known brands and entertainment properties such as Disney Frozen®, Black & Decker®, Disney Princess®, and Disney Encanto®, as well as those based on our own proprietary brands;
• Indoor and outdoor kids’ furniture, activity trays and tables and room décor; seasonal and outdoor products, including those based on Disney® characters, Nickelodeon® and Hasbro® licenses;
• Halloween and everyday costumes for all ages based on licensed and proprietary non-licensed brands, including Super Mario Bros.®, Microsoft’s Halo®, Disney-Pixar Toy Story®, Harry Potter®, Minions®, Sesame Street®, Power Rangers®¸ Hasbro® brands and Disney Frozen®, Disney Princess® and related Halloween accessories;
• Outdoor activity toys including ReDo Skateboard Co.® and junior sports toys including Sky Ball® hyper-charged balls, SportsZone™ sport sets and Wave Hoop® toy hoops marketed under our Maui® brand; and
• Board games under the brand JAKKS Wild Games®, including Temple Raider®, K.O. Corral®, and Galactic JAXX™.

We continually review the marketplace to identify and evaluate popular and evergreen brands and product categories that we believe have the potential for growth. We endeavor to generate growth within these lines by:

• creating innovative products under our established licenses and brand names;
• adding new items to the branded product lines that we expect will enjoy greater popularity;
• infusing innovation and technology when appropriate to make products more appealing to today’s kids; and
• expanding our international product offering either sold directly to retailers or via third-party distributors.

Our Business Strategy

In addition to developing our own proprietary brands, properties and marks, licensing popular IP enables us to use these high-profile marks at a lower cost than we would incur if we purchased these marks or funded the development of comparable marks on our own. Beyond the investment profile, we have an appreciation of the challenges and expertise required to break through the noise in a world filled with high-budget, content-centric consumer choices either based on well-known pre-existing IP or the even higher hurdle to launch new IP in the current marketplace. By licensing IP and trademarks from world-class brand owners and content creators, we have access to a far greater range of marks than would be available for purchase. It also helps to credibly assure licensors that we will prioritize their brands, properties and IP rather than explicitly competing with them with a broad range of self-developed content-led offerings. We also license technology developed by unaffiliated inventors and product developers to enhance the design, innovation and functionality of our products.

We sell our products through our in-house sales staff and independent sales representatives to toy and mass-market retail chain stores, department stores, office supply stores, drug and grocery store chains, club stores, value-oriented dollar stores, toy specialty stores and wholesalers. Our three largest customers are Target®, Walmart® and Amazon®, which accounted for 30.3%, 20.8% and 10.5%, respectively, of our net sales in 2023. No other customer accounted for more than 10% of our net sales in 2023.

Our Growth Strategy

Key elements of our growth strategy include:

• Expand Core Product Lines. We manage our existing and new brands through strategic product development initiatives, including introducing new products, modifying existing products and extending existing product lines to maximize their longevity. Our marketing teams and product designers strive to develop new products or product lines to offer added technological, aesthetic and functional improvements to our extensive portfolio.
• Enter New Product Categories. We use our extensive experience in the toy and other consumer product industries to evaluate products and licenses in new product categories and to develop additional product lines. We began marketing licensed classic video games for simple plug-in use with television sets and expanded into several related categories by infusing additional technologies such as motion gaming and through the licensing of this category from our current licensors, such as Disney. In recent years, we entered the skateboard space at a retailer’s request and have since expanded into related protective gear and accessories.
• Pursue Strategic Acquisitions. We have supplemented our internal growth with selected strategic acquisitions. Most of the product lines we market today were originally acquired via acquisition over the past 20+ years.
• Acquire Additional Character and Product Licenses. We have acquired the rights to use many familiar brand and character names and logos from third parties that we use with our primary trademarks and brands. Currently, among others, we have license agreements with Nickelodeon®, Disney®, Pixar®, Marvel®, NBC Universal®, Microsoft®, Sega®, Sony®, Netflix® and WarnerMedia®, as well as with the licensors of many other popular characters. We also license IP from other toy companies for categories in which they do not offer products found within our Core Product Lines. We intend to continue to pursue new licenses from these media & entertainment companies along with other licensors. We also intend to continue to secure additional inventions and product concepts through our existing network of inventors and product developers.
• Expand International Sales. We believe that non-US markets: Europe, Australia, Canada, Latin America and Asia, offer us significant growth opportunities. In 2023, our sales generated outside the United States were approximately $153.7 million, or 21.6% of total net sales. In 2020, we migrated from a distributor model to selling direct in Spain, Italy, France and Mexico. Third-party distributors remain a core component of our international business, and we are constantly assessing how to expand our mutual businesses. We currently utilize warehouses in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Italy (opened in 2023) to support sales expansion in Europe. We also have warehouse capacity in Mexico.
• Capitalize On Our Operating Efficiencies. We believe that our current infrastructure and operating model can accommodate growth without a proportionate increase in our operating and administrative expenses, thereby increasing our operating margins.

The execution of our growth strategy, however, is subject to several risks and uncertainties and we cannot assure you that we will continue to experience growth in or maintain our present level of net sales (see “Risk Factors,” in Item 1A). For example, our growth strategy will place additional demands upon our management, operational capacity and financial resources and systems. The increased demand upon management may necessitate our recruitment and retention of additional qualified management personnel. We cannot assure you that we will be able to recruit and retain qualified personnel or expand and manage our operations effectively and profitably. To effectively manage future growth, we must continue to expand our operational, financial and management information systems and to train, motivate and manage our workforce. While we believe that our operational, financial and management information systems will be adequate to support our future growth, no assurance can be given they will be adequate without significant investment in our infrastructure. Failure to expand our operational, financial and management information systems or to train, motivate, manage and retain employees could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Moreover, implementation of our growth strategy is subject to risks beyond our control, including: competition; market acceptance of new products; changes in economic conditions; changes in the media & entertainment landscape disrupting the traditional model of capturing consumer attention for new entertainment-led offerings; our ability to obtain or renew licenses on commercially reasonable terms; and our ability to finance increased levels of accounts receivable and inventory necessary to support our sales growth, if any.

Furthermore, we cannot assure you that we can identify attractive acquisition candidates or negotiate acceptable acquisition terms, and our failure to do so may adversely affect our results of operations and our ability to sustain growth.

Finally, our acquisition strategy involves a number of risks, each of which could adversely affect our operating results, including difficulties in integrating acquired businesses or product lines, assimilating new facilities and personnel and harmonizing diverse business strategies and methods of operation; diversion of management attention from operation of our existing business; loss of key personnel from acquired companies; and failure of an acquired business to achieve targeted financial results.

Industry Overview

According to Toy Association, Inc., the leading toy industry trade group, the United States is the world’s largest toy market, followed by China, Japan and Western Europe. Total retail sales of toys, excluding video games, in the United States, were approximately $28.0 billion in 2023. We believe the two largest United States toy companies, Hasbro® and Mattel®, along with The LEGO Group (headquartered in Denmark), collectively hold a dominant share of the U.S. toy market. In addition, hundreds of smaller companies compete in the design and development of new toys, the procurement of character and product licenses, and the improvement, expansion and re-introduction of previously established products and product lines.

Over the decades, the toy industry has experienced substantial consolidation among both toy companies and toy retailers. We believe that the ongoing consolidation of toy companies provides us with increased growth opportunities due to retailers’ desire to not be entirely dependent upon a few dominant toy companies. Retailer concentration also enables us to ship products, manage account relationships and track point of sale information more effectively and efficiently.

Products

We focus our business on acquiring or licensing well-recognized properties, trademarks and/or brand names, and we seek to acquire evergreen brands which are less subject to market fads or trends. Generally, our license agreements for products and concepts call for royalties ranging from 1% to 22% of net sales, and some may require minimum royalty guarantees and up-front or advanced royalty payments against those guarantees. Our principal products are highlighted above in our Company Overview.

Sales, Marketing and Distribution

We sell all of our products through our own in-house sales staff and independent sales representatives to toy and mass-market retail chain stores, department stores, office supply stores, drug and grocery store chains, club stores, dollar stores, toy specialty stores and wholesalers. Our three largest customers are Target®, Walmart® and Amazon®, which accounted for 30.3%, 20.8% and 10.5%, respectively, of our net sales in 2023. No other customer accounted for more than 10% of our net sales in 2023. In 2022, our two largest customers, Walmart® and Target®, accounted for 28.4% and 25.5%, respectively, of our net sales. No other customer accounted for more than 10% of our net sales in 2022. We generally sell products to our customers on open account with payment terms typically varying from 30 to 90 days or, in some cases, pursuant to letters of credit. For sales outside of the United States, we may also purchase credit insurance to mitigate the risk, if any, of non-payment. From time to time, we allow our customers credits against future purchases from us in order to facilitate their retail markdown and sales of slow-moving inventory. We also sell our products through e-commerce sites, including Walmart.com®, Target.com™ and Amazon.com®.

We contract the manufacture of most of our products to unaffiliated manufacturers located in The People’s Republic of China (“China”). We sell the finished products to our customers, many of whom take title to the goods in China. These methods allow us to reduce certain operating costs and working capital requirements. We also contract the manufacture of certain products from Hong Kong Meisheng Cultural Company Limited (“Meisheng”), which involved payments to Meisheng of approximately $75.7 million and $120.5 million for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively. As of December 31, 2023, Meisheng owns 5.2% of our outstanding common stock, and Zhao Xiaoqiang, one of our directors, is executive director of Meisheng. A portion of our sales originate in the United States, so we hold certain inventory in a US warehouse and fulfillment facility. To date, a majority of all of our sales has been to customers based in the United States. We intend to continue expanding distribution of our products into foreign territories and, accordingly, we have:

• engaged representatives to oversee sales in certain foreign territories;
• engaged distributors in certain foreign territories;
• established direct relationships with retailers in certain foreign territories;
• opened sales offices in Canada, Europe and Mexico; and
• opened distribution centers in the UK, Netherlands, Italy and Mexico.

Outside of the United States, we currently sell our products primarily in Europe, Australia, Canada, Latin America and Asia. Sales of our products abroad accounted for approximately $153.7 million, or 21.6% of our net sales in 2023 and approximately $151.9 million, or 19.1% of our net sales in 2022. We believe that foreign markets present an attractive opportunity, and we plan to intensify our marketing efforts and further expand our distribution channels abroad.

We establish reserves for allowances provided to our customers, including discounts, pricing concessions, promotional allowances and allowances for anticipated breakage or defective product, at the time of shipment. The reserves are determined as a percentage of sales based upon either historical experience or upon estimates or programs agreed upon with our customers.

We obtain, directly, or through our sales representatives, orders for our products from our customers and arrange for the manufacture of these products as discussed below. Cancellations generally are made in writing, and we take appropriate steps to notify our manufacturers of these cancellations. We may incur costs or other losses as a result of cancellations.

We maintain a full-time sales and marketing staff, many of whom make on-site visits to customers for the purpose of showing products and soliciting orders for products. We also retain a number of independent sales representatives to sell and promote our products, both domestically and internationally. Together with retailers, we occasionally test the consumer acceptance of new products in selected markets before committing resources to large-scale production.

We publicize and advertise our products online and on mobile, in trade and consumer magazines and other publications, market our products at international, national and regional toy and other specialty trade shows, conventions and exhibitions and carry on cooperative advertising programs with toy and mass market retailers and other customers which include the use of print, online, mobile and television ads and via in-store displays. We also produce and broadcast television commercials for several of our product lines, if we expect that the resulting increase in our net sales will justify the relatively high cost of television/media advertising.

Product Development

Each of our product lines has an in-house manager responsible for product development. The in-house manager identifies and evaluates inventor products and concepts and other opportunities to enhance or expand existing product lines or to enter new product categories. In addition, we create proprietary products to fully exploit our concept and character licenses. Although we have the capability to create and develop products from inception to production, we also use third-parties to provide a portion of the sculpting, sample making, illustration and package design required for our products in order to accommodate our increasing product innovations and introductions as well as accelerate our speed-to-market. Typically, the development process takes from nine to eighteen months from concept to production and shipment to our customers, but given our Company’s size and structure, we have demonstrated the ability to shrink that down to three to nine months successfully when the opportunity requires.

We employ a staff of designers for all of our product lines. We occasionally acquire other product concepts from unaffiliated third-parties. If we accept and develop a third-party’s concept for new toys, we generally pay a royalty on the sale of the toys developed from this concept, and may, on an individual basis, guarantee a minimum royalty. Royalties payable to inventors and developers generally range from 1% to 5% of the wholesale sales price for each unit of a product sold by us. We believe that utilizing experienced third-party inventors gives us access to a wide range of development talent. We currently work with numerous toy inventors and designers for the development of new products and the enhancement of existing products.

Safety testing of our products is done at the manufacturers’ facilities by quality control personnel employed by us or by independent third-party contractors engaged by us. Safety testing is designed to meet or exceed regulations imposed by federal and state, as well as applicable international governmental authorities, our retail partners, licensors and the Toy Association. We also closely monitor quality assurance procedures for our products for safety purposes. In addition, independent laboratories engaged by some of our larger customers and licensors test certain of our products.

Manufacturing and Supplies

Our products are currently produced by overseas third-party manufacturers, which we choose on the basis of quality, flexibility, reliability and price. Consistent with industry practice, the use of third-party manufacturers enables us to avoid incurring fixed manufacturing costs, while maximizing flexibility, capacity and the latest production technology. Substantially all of the manufacturing services performed overseas for us are paid for on open account with the manufacturers. To date, we have not experienced any material delays in the delivery of our products from our manufacturers; however, delivery schedules are subject to various factors beyond our control, and any delays in the future could adversely affect our sales. The COVID-19 pandemic, in particular, created some short-term delays as manufacturing capacity both dropped during the peak of the China outbreak and then again was stretched when consumer demand for different categories of products spiked as a result of the unprecedented level of households operating under confined-to-home/social distancing guidelines. The lingering impact of the pandemic has created volatility in costs associated with the sourcing and importation of product, in particular due to changes in factor inputs (labor, oil) and market demand for services (transport). In addition, our third-party manufacturers have seen increases in foreign exchange rate exposure during this time. Currently, we have ongoing relationships with over 50 different manufacturers. We believe that alternative sources of supply are available to us although we cannot be assured that we can obtain adequate supplies of manufactured products on short notice. We may also incur costs or other losses as a result of not placing orders consistent with our forecasts for product to be manufactured by our suppliers or manufacturers for a variety of reasons including customer order cancellations or a decline in demand.

Although we do not conduct the day-to-day manufacturing of our products, we are extensively involved in the design of product prototypes and production tools, dies and molds for our products and we seek to ensure quality control by actively reviewing the production process and testing the products produced by our manufacturers. We employ quality control inspectors who rotate among our manufacturers’ factories to monitor the production of substantially all of our products.

The principal raw materials used in the production and sale of our toy products are plastics, zinc alloy, plush, printed fabrics, paper products and electronic components, all of which are currently available at reasonable prices from a variety of sources. Although we do not directly manufacture our products, we own the majority of the tools, dies and molds used in the manufacturing process, and these are transferable among manufacturers if we choose to employ alternative manufacturers. Tools, dies and molds represent a substantial portion of our property and equipment with a net book value of $13.7 million and $14.1 million as of December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively. Substantially all of these assets are located in China.

Patents, Trademarks, Copyrights and Licenses

We routinely pursue protection of our products through some form or combination of intellectual property right(s). We file patent applications where appropriate to protect our innovations arising from new development and design, and as a result, possess a portfolio of issued patents in the U.S. and abroad. Most of our products are produced and sold under trademarks owned by or licensed to us. In recent years, our rate of filing new trademark applications has increased. We also register certain aspects of some of our products with the U.S. Copyright Office. In the same vein, we enforce our rights against infringers because we recognize our intellectual property rights are significant assets that contribute to our success. Accordingly, while we believe we are sufficiently protected and the duration of our rights are aligned with the lifecycle of our products, the loss of some of these rights could have an adverse effect on our financial growth expectations and business operations.

Competition

Competition in the toy industry is intense. Globally, certain of our competitors have greater financial resources, larger sales and marketing and product development departments, stronger name recognition, wholly-owned brands and properties with high consumer awareness and appeal, longer operating histories and benefit from greater economies of scale. These factors, among others, may enable our competitors to market their products at lower prices or on terms more advantageous to customers than those we could offer for our competitive products. Competition often extends to the procurement of entertainment and product licenses, as well as the marketing and distribution of products and the obtaining of adequate shelf space. Competition may result in price reductions, reduced gross margins and loss of market share, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. In many of our product lines we compete directly against one or both of two of the toy industry’s most dominant companies, Mattel® and Hasbro®. In addition, we compete in our Halloween costume lines with Rubies II. We also compete with numerous smaller domestic and foreign toy manufacturers, importers and marketers in each of our product categories.

Seasonality and Backlog

In 2023, 61.4% of our net sales were made in the third and fourth quarters. Generally, the first quarter is the period of lowest shipments and sales in our business and in the toy industry and therefore it is also the least profitable quarter due to various fixed costs. Seasonality factors cause our operating results to fluctuate significantly from quarter to quarter. However, our outdoor/seasonal products are primarily sold in the spring and summer seasons. Our results of operations may also fluctuate as a result of factors such as the timing of new products (and related expenses) introduced by us or our competitors, the theatrical/entertainment-led releases of licensed brands, the advertising activities of our competitors, delivery schedules set by our customers and the emergence of new market entrants. We believe, however, that the low retail price of most of our products may be less subject to seasonal fluctuations than higher-priced toy products.

We ship products in accordance with delivery schedules specified by our customers, who generally request delivery of products within three to six months of the date of their orders for orders shipped FOB China or Hong Kong and within three days for orders shipped domestically (i.e., from one of our warehouses). Because customer orders may be canceled at any time, often without penalty, our backlog may not accurately indicate sales for any future period.

In 2022 and 2021, a number of factors partially attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic created significant bottlenecks and supply-demand imbalances in exporting product out of Asia into the United States and Europe. These factors increased the cost of ocean freight and the cost of trucking while incurring higher expenses and penalties from product being stuck at the port awaiting inbound trucking pickup. The unpredictability of delivery times further resulted in higher warehouse handling costs as container arrival timelines proved less predictable sometimes requiring overtime labor and expansion of the short-term labor pool to cope with above-average arriving volumes. Specifically, in 2022, companies and retailers responded to the ocean freight crisis by shifting more of their importation of product to the first half of the year. These efforts created more volatility in accurately forecasting market demand. In areas where consumer demand subsequently cooled, a backlog of inventory accumulated both at retailers and in manufacturer distribution centers. These excesses in turn generated incremental costs as inventory levels exceeded normal capacity levels, and temporary price reductions were utilized to accelerate consumer demand. Finally, the longer delivery time resulted in a slower cash conversion cycle for us as the net impact was a longer holding period for finished goods inventory between manufacture and sale to customer.

Government and Industry Regulation

Our products are subject to the provisions of the Consumer Product Safety Act (“CPSA”), the Federal Hazardous Substances Act (“FHSA”), the Flammable Fabrics Act (“FFA”) and the regulations promulgated thereunder, and various other regulations in the European Union and other jurisdictions. The CPSA and the FHSA enable the Consumer Products Safety Commission (“CPSC”) to exclude from the market consumer products that fail to comply with applicable product safety regulations or otherwise create a substantial risk of injury, and articles that contain excessive amounts of a banned hazardous substance. The FFA enables the CPSC to regulate and enforce flammability standards for fabrics used in consumer products. The CPSC may also require the repurchase by the manufacturer of articles. Similar laws exist in some states and cities and in various international markets. We maintain a quality control program designed to ensure compliance with all applicable laws.

Human Capital

Our success comes from recruiting, retaining and motivating talented individuals around the world. JAKKS Pacific, Inc. continuously strives to create a safe, healthy, productive and harmonious work environment.

As of December 31, 2023, we had approximately 659 employees (including temporary and seasonal employees) working in over 10 countries worldwide to create innovative products and experiences that inspire, entertain, and develop children through play, with approximately 277 employees (42% of the total workforce) located outside the U.S.

Employee Engagement

One of our main focuses is employee retention. We empower our management to identify top performers and mentor them. We encourage all employees to take advantage of in-house and external training programs and continuing education. Our Human Resources department has an open-door policy that encourages employees to seek career advancement advice. Holding various events and workshops throughout the year, employees are encouraged to voice any concerns and/or to bring forth their ideas and suggestions.

Diversity and Inclusion

We are committed to fostering, cultivating and preserving a culture of diversity, equity and inclusion.

The collective sum of the individual differences, life experiences, knowledge, inventiveness, innovation, self-expression, unique capabilities and talent that our employees invest in their work represents a significant part of the culture.

We embrace and encourage employees’ differences in age, color, ability, ethnicity, family or marital status, gender identity or expression, language, national origin, physical and mental ability, political affiliation, race, religion, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, veteran status, and other characteristics.

Our diversity initiatives are applicable—but not limited—to practices and policies on recruitment and selection; compensation and benefits; professional development and training; and promotions and transfers.

Training and Development

We take pride in offering the opportunity for employees to continuously learn and to grow their careers. Annually, employees are offered various types of training and the opportunity to continue their education. This includes both online and instructor-led training covering a variety of topics including: career-related, federally- and locally-mandated, JAKKS Pacific, Inc. Company policy and legal, financial services and health/wellness-related. Nearly all employees take advantage of these learning opportunities.

Health and Safety

We are committed to providing a safe, healthy and productive working environment for all of our employees globally.

Environmental Issues

We may be subject to legal and financial obligations under environmental, health and safety laws in the United States and in other jurisdictions where we operate. We are not currently aware of any material environmental liabilities associated with any of our operations.

Available Information

We make available free of charge on or through our Internet website, www.jakks.com (http://www.jakks.com), our annual report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, and amendments to these reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file such material with, or furnish it to, the SEC. In addition, we have previously filed registration statements and other documents with the SEC. Any document we file may be inspected without charge at the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov (http://www.sec.gov). (These website addresses are not intended to function as hyperlinks, and the information contained in our website and in the SEC’s website is not intended to be a part of this filing.)

Our Corporate Information

We were formed as a Delaware corporation in 1995. Our principal executive offices are located at 2951 28th Street, Santa Monica, California 90405. Our telephone number is (424) 268-9444 and our Internet Website address is www.jakks.com (http://www.jakks.com). The contents of our website are not incorporated in or deemed to be a part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

From time to time, including in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, we publish forward-looking statements, as disclosed in our Disclosure Regarding Forward-Looking Statements, immediately following the Table of Contents of this Annual Report. We note that a variety of factors could cause our actual results and experience to differ materially from the anticipated results or other expectations expressed or anticipated in our forward-looking statements. The factors listed below are risks and uncertainties that may arise and that may be detailed from time to time in our public announcements and our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, such as on Forms 8-K, 10-Q and 10-K. We undertake no obligation to make any revisions to the forward-looking statements contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K to reflect events or circumstances occurring after the date of the filing of this report.

Our inability to redesign, restyle and extend our existing core products and product lines as consumer preferences evolve, and to develop, introduce and gain customer acceptance of new products and product lines, may materially and adversely impact our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our business and operating results depend largely upon the appeal of our products. Our continued success in the toy industry will depend upon our ability to redesign, restyle and extend our existing core products and product lines as consumer preferences evolve, and to develop, introduce and gain customer acceptance of new products and product lines. Several trends in recent years have presented challenges for the toy industry, including:

• the phenomenon of children outgrowing toys at younger ages, particularly in favor of interactive and high technology products;
• increasing use of technology, broadly, be it taking share of children’s discretionary time or otherwise;
• shorter life cycles for individual products;
• higher consumer expectations for product quality, functionality, price-value and environmental-impact;
• a wider array of content offerings and platforms attracting a viable audience that enables a meaningful consumer products opportunity, and our ability to effectively predict those platforms and offerings given the increasingly fragmented content distribution marketplace;
• the evolving media landscape increases the cost and complexity of advertising our products directly to end-consumers, and similarly our ability to effectively predict the most effective advertising platforms could adversely impact our ability to introduce and sell our product lines at planned levels or better; and
• consumer shopping habits migrating from traditional “brick & mortar” retailer browsing to more online experiences. We cannot be assured that this change will not adversely impact our historical ability to have our newest product offerings discovered, evaluated and appreciated sufficiently to motivate purchase and ultimately build word-of-mouth endorsement about the value of our offerings.

We cannot assure you that:

• our current products will continue to be popular with consumers;
• the products that we introduce will achieve any significant degree of market acceptance;
• our support of customers with an online shopping proposition is expected to lead to a comparable degree of sales or margins through the offline shopping experience should consumer behavior migrate more of our business in that direction;
• the life cycles of our products will be sufficient to permit us to recover our inventory costs, and licensing, design, manufacturing, marketing and other costs associated with those products;
• we will be able to manufacture and distribute new or current products in a timely manner to meet demand; or
• our inclusion of new technology will result in higher sales or increased profits.

Any or all of the foregoing factors may adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.

There are risks associated with our license agreements.

• Our current licenses require us to pay minimum royalties.

Sales of products under trademarks or trade or brand names licensed from others account for substantially all of our net sales. Product licenses allow us to capitalize on characters, designs, concepts and inventions owned by others or developed by toy inventors and designers. Our license agreements generally require us to make specified minimum royalty payments, even if we fail to sell a sufficient number of units to generate these dollar amounts under the percentage of sales basis under which most agreements are written. Some of our license agreements have additional requirements for marketing spend for the brands licensed. Some of our license agreements disallow certain retailer credits and deductions from the sales base on which royalties are calculated, including in some cases uncollectable accounts. In addition, under certain of our license agreements, if we fail to achieve certain prescribed sales targets, we may be unable to retain or renew these licenses which may adversely impact our business, results of operations and financial condition. Many of our license agreements, although multi-year in total, require us to pay a minimum level of royalties annually that cannot be recouped outside of selling during that time period (often 12 months). There may also be minimum royalty commitments assigned to specific geographic regions or countries. As a result, sudden shocks to the market, such as has been the case with COVID-19 or when a foundational retailer goes bankrupt, might leave us with these fixed expenses unless licensors are willing to renegotiate terms in consideration for the unexpected nature of the shock. Contractual minimal royalty payments are almost always fixed and determined upon signing, so these sorts of shocks could have a negative impact on our business, results of operations and financial condition for multiple years given the nature and timing of the shock.

• Some of our licenses are restricted as to use and include other restrictive provisions.

Under the majority of our license agreements, the licensors have the right to review and approve our use of their licensed products, designs or materials before we may make any sales. If a licensor refuses to permit our use of any licensed property in the way we propose, or if their review process is delayed or not timely, our development, manufacturing and/or sale of new products could be impeded. Our licensing agreements include other restrictive provisions, such as limitations of the time period in which we have to sell existing inventory upon expiration of the license, requiring licensor approval of contract manufacturers and approval of marketing and promotional materials, limitations on channels of distribution, including internet sales, change of ownership clauses that require licensor approval of such change and may require a fee to be paid under certain circumstances and various other provisions that may have an adverse impact on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

• New licenses can be difficult and expensive to obtain and in some cases, retain.

Our continued success will substantially depend upon our ability to maintain existing relevant and obtain new additional licenses. Intense competition exists for desirable licenses in our industry. We cannot assure you that we will be able to secure or renew significant licenses on terms acceptable to us. In addition, as we add licenses, the need to fund additional capital expenditures, royalty advances and guaranteed minimum royalty payments may strain our cash resources. Often times, licensors require cash advance payments upon signing agreements against future minimum royalty obligations, which requires us to pay out cash several quarters prior to our ability to ship, invoice and ultimately collect revenue from the related product sales. In addition, there might be licensor or consumer expectations that certain toy products contain music or musical elements related to the original entertainment. Those music rights must be separately acquired at additional expense, and as a result can adversely affect our profitability and competitiveness at retail.

• A limited number of licensors account for a large portion of our net sales.

We derive a significant portion of our net sales from a limited number of licensors. If one or more of these licensors were to terminate or fail to renew our licenses or not grant us new licenses, our business, results of operations and financial condition could be adversely affected.

• Our license agreements are subject to audit.

In most of our license agreements, the licensor retains the right to utilize an auditor of their choosing to audit our performance against all elements of the agreement up to some number of years after license expiration. In the event that errors or omissions were made in our normal course of business that resulted in underpayment of royalties, shipping product to an unlicensed territory or channel of distribution, or a variety of other technical infractions, we could be liable for past due royalties, accrued interest and other financial penalties as outlined in the agreement.

The failure of our character-related and theme-related products to become and/or remain popular with children may materially and adversely impact our business, results of operations and financial condition.

The success of many of our character-related and theme-related products depends upon the popularity of characters in movies, television programs, live sporting exhibitions, and other media and events. By extension, any sudden disruption in that calendar can have negative repercussions to our business, both in terms of recouping our investments to date, as well as, monetizing those investments at the profit margins we have planned. As we have a 9-18-month concept-to-market timeline depending on the product category, there is a degree of exposure given our dependence on third parties to adhere to their planned schedules. We cannot assure you that:

• entertainment content associated with our character-related and theme-related product lines will be released at the times we expect, via the media we expected and/or will reach a wide enough audience to generate the level of consumer demand we anticipated in agreeing to sign the license and develop our product line;
• the success of entertainment content associated with our existing character-related and theme-related product lines will result in substantial promotional value to our products;
• we will be successful in renewing licenses upon expiration of terms that are favorable to us;
• we will be successful in obtaining licenses to produce new character-related and theme-related products in the future;
• we will continue to be able to assess effectively our licensors’ ability to launch new brands in a manner to effectively create a market for consumer products given the rapidly changing content distribution landscape and a potential reprioritization of their goals for their content launches; or
• we will continue to be able to effectively assess the longevity and market appetite for consumer products for pre-existing licensor brands given the ever-increasing competition for consumer’s attention and discretionary spending.

Our failure to achieve any or all of the foregoing benchmarks may cause the infrastructure of our operations to fail, thereby adversely affecting our business, results of operations and financial condition.

A limited number of customers account for a large portion of our net sales, so that if one or more of our major customers were to experience difficulties in fulfilling their obligations to us, cease doing business with us, significantly reduce the amount of their purchases from us or return substantial amounts of our products, it could have a materially adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

Our three largest customers, Target®, Walmart® and Amazon®, accounted for 61.6% of our net sales in 2023. Except for outstanding purchase orders for specific products, we do not have written contracts with, or commitments from, any of our customers, and pursuant to the terms of certain of our vendor agreements, even some purchase orders may be cancelled without penalty up until delivery. A substantial reduction in or termination of orders from any of our largest customers would adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition. In addition, pressure by large customers seeking price reductions, financial incentives and changes in other terms of sale or for us to bear the risks and the cost of importing and carrying inventory could also adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.

If one or more of our major customers were to experience difficulties in fulfilling their obligations to us resulting from bankruptcy or other deterioration in their financial condition or ability to meet their obligations, cease doing business with us, significantly reduce the amount of their purchases from us, or return substantial amounts of our products, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

Restrictions under or the loss of availability under our revolving credit line could adversely impact our business and financial condition.

In June 2021, we entered into and consummated a binding definitive agreement with JPMorgan Chase (for an asset-based credit line) with the objective of increasing our overall liquidity.

All outstanding borrowings under the revolving credit line are accelerated and become immediately due and payable (and the revolving credit line terminates) in the event of a default, which includes, among other things, failure to comply with certain financial covenants or breach of representations contained in the credit line documents, defaults under other loans or obligations, involvement in bankruptcy proceedings, an occurrence of a change of control or an event constituting a material adverse effect on us (as such terms are defined in the credit line documents). In the event of a default, it is possible that our assets and certain of our subsidiaries’ assets may be attached or seized by the lenders. Any (i) failure by us to comply with the covenants or other provisions of the credit line (ii) difficulty in securing any required future financing, or (iii) any such seizure or attachment of assets could have a material adverse effect on our business and financial condition. Our revolving credit line matures in June 2026.

We have entered into an At the Market Issuance Sales Agreement, pursuant to which we may offer and sell, from time to time, shares of our common stock, which may adversely affect the price of our Common Stock.

We have entered into an At the Market Issuance Sales Agreement (“ATM Agreement”), pursuant to which we may issue, from time to time, up to $75.0 million of common stock, in one or more offerings in amounts, prices and at terms that we will determine at the time of the offering. Any such sale of common stock will dilute our other equity holders and may adversely affect the market price of the common stock. Under our currently existing ATM Agreement with B. Riley, as of March 15, 2024, we have not sold any shares of the common stock.

We have an effective shelf registration statement pursuant to which we may offer and sell, from time to time, securities, which may adversely affect the price of our Common Stock.

We have on file with the SEC an effective registration statement pursuant to which we may issue, from time to time, up to $150 million of securities (which will be reduced by any amount of securities sold pursuant to the ATM Agreement) consisting of, or any combination of, common stock, preferred stock, debt securities, warrants, rights and/or units, in one or more offerings in amounts, prices and at terms that we will determine at the time of the offering. Any such sale of stock or convertible securities will, or have the potential to, dilute our other equity holders and may adversely affect the market price of the common stock. As of March 15, 2024, we have not sold any securities pursuant to our shelf registration statement.

We depend upon our Chief Executive Officer and any loss or interruption of his services could adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.

Our success has been largely dependent upon the experience and continued services of Stephen G. Berman, our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. Though Mr. Berman is under contract through 2026, we cannot assure you that we would be able to find an appropriate replacement for Mr. Berman should the need arise, and any loss or interruption of the services of Mr. Berman could adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.

Market conditions and other third-party conduct could negatively impact our margins and implementation of other business initiatives.

Economic conditions, such as decreased consumer confidence, inflation or a recession, may adversely impact our business, results of operations and financial condition. In addition, general economic conditions were significantly and negatively affected by the September 11th terrorist attacks and could be similarly affected by any future attacks. The COVID-19 pandemic had a negative impact to our business in 2020 by disrupting consumer behavior, spending patterns and ultimately the play patterns and events that often motivate purchases of our products. Furthermore, restrictions on nearly all of our customers’ operating hours in 2020 at one point in the year or another, limited consumers’ ability to discover our products through traditional in-store browsing and unplanned purchase. Continuation of such a weakened economic and business climate, as well as consumer uncertainty created by such a climate, could further adversely affect our sales and profitability. Other conditions, such as the unavailability of electronic components or other raw materials, for example, may impede our ability to manufacture, source and ship new and continuing products on a timely basis. Interruptions and delays in the availability of raw materials and finished goods could result from labor stoppages and strikes, the occurrence or threat of wars or similar conflicts, trade restrictions, and severe or unexpected weather conditions and other factors, any of which could adversely affect our business and the results of our operations. Significant and sustained increases in the price of oil, for example, could adversely impact the cost of the raw materials used in the manufacture of certain of our products, such as plastic, as well as ocean and over-the-road shipping costs. Increases in the costs of raw materials and shipping and other transportation costs and delays in the delivery of finished goods, if not offset by higher prices, could adversely impact our sales.

We face risks related to health epidemics and other widespread outbreaks of contagious disease, which could significantly disrupt our supply chain and impact our operating results.

Significant outbreaks of contagious diseases, and other adverse public health developments, could have a material impact on our business operations and operating results. In December 2019, a strain of Novel Coronavirus causing respiratory illness and death emerged in the city of Wuhan in the Hubei province of China. The Chinese government took certain emergency measures to combat the spread of the virus, including extension of the Lunar New Year holiday, implementation of travel bans and closure of factories and businesses. The majority of our materials and products are sourced from suppliers located in China.

The COVID-19 virus was ultimately declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organization and has been spreading throughout the world, including the United States, resulting in emergency measures, including travel bans, closure of retail stores, and restrictions on gatherings of more than a maximum number of people. These outbreaks are disruptive to local economies and commercial activity, and create downward pressure on our ability to make our product line available to consumers or for consumers to purchase our products, even if our products are available. At this time, we still cannot predict with any certainty the further duration and depth of the impact in the United States or other places worldwide where we sell our products or manufacture our products. Accordingly, it is extremely challenging to estimate the extent by which we will be negatively impacted by this disease. Uncertainty surrounds the length of time this disease will continue to spread, and the extent governments will continue to impose, or add additional, quarantines, curfews, travel restrictions and closures of retail stores. In addition, even following control of the disease and the end of the pandemic, the economic dislocation caused by the disease to so many people may linger and be so significant that consumers’ focus could be directed away from consumer discretionary spending for products such as ours for an extended period of time. For all of these reasons, at this time we cannot quantify the extent of the impact this disease will have on our sales, net income and cash flows, but it could be quite significant.

Our business is seasonal and therefore our annual operating results will depend, in large part, on our sales during the relatively brief holiday shopping season. This seasonality is exacerbated by retailers’ shifting inventory management techniques.

Sales of our products at retail are extremely seasonal, with a majority of retail sales occurring during the period from September through December in anticipation of the holiday season. Further, e-commerce is growing significantly and accounts for a higher portion of the ultimate sales of our products. E-commerce retailers tend to hold less inventory and take inventory closer to the time of sale to consumers than traditional brick-and-mortar retailers. As a result, customers are timing their orders so that they are being filled by suppliers, such as us, closer to the time of purchase by consumers. For our products, a majority of retail sales for the entire year generally occur in the fourth quarter, close to the holiday season. As a consequence, the majority of our sales to our customers occur in the third and fourth quarters, as our customers do not want to maintain large on-hand inventories throughout the year ahead of consumer demand. While these techniques reduce a retailer’s investment in inventory, they increase pressure on suppliers like us to fill orders promptly and thereby shift a significant portion of inventory risk and carrying costs to the supplier. The level of inventory carried by retailers may also reduce or delay retail sales resulting in lower revenues for us. If we or our customers determine that one of our products is more popular at retail than was originally anticipated, we may not have sufficient time to produce and ship enough additional products to fully meet consumer demand. Additionally, the logistics of supplying more and more product within shorter time periods increases the risk that we will fail to achieve tight and compressed shipping schedules and quality control, which also may reduce our sales and harm our results of operations. This seasonal pattern requires significant use of working capital, mainly to manufacture or acquire inventory during the portion of the year prior to the holiday season, and it requires accurate forecasting of demand for products during the holiday season in order to avoid losing potential sales of popular products or producing excess inventory of products that exceed consumer demand. Our failure to accurately predict and respond to consumer demand, resulting in under-producing popular items and/or overproducing less popular items, could significantly reduce our total sales, negatively impact our cash flows, increase the risk of inventory obsolescence, and harm our results of operations and financial condition. In addition, as a result of the seasonal nature of our business, we would be significantly and adversely affected, in a manner disproportionate to the impact on a company with sales spread more evenly throughout the year, by unforeseen events such as a terrorist attack or economic shock that harm the retail environment or consumer buying patterns during our key selling season, or by events such as strikes or port delays that interfere with the shipment of goods, during the critical months leading up to the holiday shopping season.

The COVID-19 pandemic has also accelerated consumers’ shift to e-commerce transactions with traditional brick & mortar retailers. Some of these transactions are for “ship-to-home” purchases and some are for local pick-up by the consumer at the brick-and-mortar location. In either case, the consumer’s path to discovery of new items changes to a digital medium. It remains to be seen whether this change has a negative adverse impact on consumers’ ability to discover the breadth and depth of our product range or whether it discourages adding incremental unplanned purchases to the shopping cart. Either scenario could have a negative impact on our overall business performance.

Our Costume (Disguise) business is even more seasonal than our core Toy/Consumer Products business as Halloween remains the primary purchase occasion for our costumes. This seasonality is further exacerbated by consumer migration to online shopping as the style and size attributes of the Halloween business (i.e., we make the same costume in multiple sizes, and the same item “costume” across a very wide range of brands and properties) in part behaves like an apparel-driven transaction rather than “one-size-for-all” toy/consumer product transaction.

In 2020, COVID-19 was an unexpected shock to the market, making the traditional Halloween experience less feasible to celebrate in its traditional manner. It had a material impact on our sales of related product. Any similar event that suddenly makes the holiday less relevant or infeasible to celebrate can and likely will have a negative impact on that segment of business. Given that securing licenses, product design and development and ultimately sourcing of the product takes place over a year in advance of the actual Halloween selling season, we have limited ability to recover invested expense if the market demand for those products were to suddenly be reduced. Although some product could be held in inventory or materials rolled forward to the next manufacturing season, these events would in turn incrementally tie up our capital and add warehousing expense until the following year at best, and/or put added strain on our third-party manufacturers.

We depend upon third-party manufacturers, and if our relationship with any of them is harmed or if they independently encounter difficulties in their manufacturing processes, we could experience product defects, production delays, unplanned costs or higher product costs, or the inability to fulfill orders on a timely basis, any of which could adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.

We depend upon many third-party manufacturers who develop, provide and use the tools, dies and molds that we generally own to manufacture our products. However, we have limited control over the manufacturing processes themselves. As a result, any difficulties encountered by the third-party manufacturers that result in product defects, production delays, cost overruns or the inability to fulfill orders on a timely basis, could adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition. The continuing conflict in the Middle East and its impact on the Red Sea shipping routes, as well as the climate driven transit disruptions at the Panama Canal in Middle America, may ultimately negatively impact the global flow of goods with increasing transit times and cost, which could adversely affect our ability to deliver our products in a timely manner and maintain our expected cost structure.

We do not have long-term contracts with our third-party manufacturers. Although we believe we could secure other third-party manufacturers to produce our products, our operations would be adversely affected if we suddenly lost our relationship with any of our current suppliers or if our current suppliers’ operations or sea or air transportation with our overseas manufacturers were disrupted or terminated even for a relatively short period of time. Our tools, dies and molds are located at the facilities of our third-party manufacturers. Although we own the majority of those tools, dies and molds, our ability to retrieve them and move them to a new manufacturer might be limited by lack of manufacturing equipment compatibility. In addition, the current COVID-19 pandemic has made on-site engagement of our vendor base more challenging.

Although we do not purchase the raw materials used to manufacture our products, we are potentially subject to variations in the prices we pay our third-party manufacturers for products, depending upon what they pay for their raw materials. We may also incur costs or other losses as a result of not placing orders consistent with our forecasts for product manufactured by our suppliers or manufacturers for a variety of reasons including customer order cancellations or a decline in demand. In the event that some unexpected shock to the market (like the COVID-19 pandemic) were to suddenly drastically change demand for product anticipated to be procured from our third-party manufacturers, we may incur some costs relating to raw materials they have ordered on our behalf, and/or finished goods that were not shipped due to last-minute cancelled orders from our customers buying FOB from China.

Although our manufacturers bear the foreign-exchange risk by committing to USD/HKD pricing despite having non-USD/HKD cost elements, we could nonetheless be adversely impacted if they fail to manage that risk accordingly. In that event, the predictable flow of product at the prices we expect could be disrupted, and we may not have adequate time to source comparable product elsewhere in time to avoid disruptions in our selling cycle.

The toy industry is highly competitive and our inability to compete effectively may materially and adversely impact our business, results of operations and financial condition.

The toy industry is highly competitive. Globally, certain of our competitors have financial and strategic advantages over us, including:

• greater financial resources;
• larger sales, marketing and product development departments;
• stronger brand name recognition and/or well-established owned brands/trademark;
• broader international sales and marketing infrastructure;
• longer operating histories; and
• greater economies of scale, inclusive of purchasing power and leverage of their investments across a range of areas, inclusive but not limited to research, technology, data analytics and strategic sourcing.

In addition, the toy industry has no significant barriers to entry. Competition is based primarily upon the ability to design and develop new toys, procure licenses for popular characters and trademarks, and successfully market products. Many of our competitors offer similar products or alternatives to our products. Our competitors have obtained and are likely to continue to obtain licenses that overlap our licenses with respect to products, geographic areas and retail channels. We cannot assure you that we will be able to obtain adequate shelf space in retail stores to support our existing products, expand our products and product lines or continue to compete effectively against current and future competitors.

Our corporate headquarters, fulfillment center and information technology systems are in Southern California, and if these operations are disrupted, we may not be able to operate our core functions and/or ship merchandise to our customers, which would adversely affect our business.

Our corporate headquarters, distribution center and information technology systems are in Santa Monica and the City of Industry, California, and the majority of our U.S.-based staff lives in Southern California. If we encounter any disruptions to our operations within these buildings, or if they were to shut down for any reason, including by fire or other natural disaster, or as a result of another pandemic, then we may be prevented from effectively operating, shipping and processing our merchandise. Furthermore, the risk of disruption or shut down at these buildings and/or within the Southern California community is greater than it might be if they were in another region as Southern California is prone to natural disasters such as earthquakes and wildfires. Any disruption or shut down at these locations could significantly impact our operations and have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations. In addition, it is possible that our business operations will be adversely impacted by future climate changes, albeit in ways we cannot predict or quantify at this time.

We have substantial sales and manufacturing operations outside of the United States, subjecting us to risks common to international operations.

We sell products and operate facilities in numerous countries outside the United States. Sales to our international customers comprised approximately 21.6% of our net sales for the year ended December 31, 2023 and approximately 19.1% of our net sales for year ended December 31, 2022. We expect our sales to international customers to account for a greater portion of our revenues in future fiscal periods. Additionally, we use third-party manufacturers, located principally in China, and are subject to the risks normally associated with operations, including:

• currency conversion risks and currency fluctuations;
• limitations, including taxes, on the repatriation of earnings;
• political instability, including wars and civil unrest, and economic instability;
• greater difficulty enforcing intellectual property rights and weaker laws protecting such rights;
• complications in complying with laws in varying jurisdictions and changes in governmental policies;
• greater difficulty and expenses associated with recovering from natural disasters, such as earthquakes, hurricanes and floods;
• transportation delays and interruption, inclusive of raw material’s sourcing to our third-party manufacturers as well as finished goods delivery through to our customers and ultimate consumers;
• work stoppages;
• the potential imposition of tariffs; and
• the pricing of intercompany transactions may be challenged by taxing authorities in both foreign jurisdictions and the United States, with potential increases in income and other taxes.

Our reliance upon external sources of manufacturing can be shifted, over a period of time, to alternative sources of supply, should such changes be necessary. However, if we were prevented from obtaining products or components for a material portion of our product line due to regulatory, political, labor or other factors beyond our control, our operations would be disrupted while alternative sources of products were secured. Also, the imposition of trade sanctions by the United States against a class of products imported by us from, or the loss of “normal trade relations” status by China could significantly increase our cost of products imported from that nation. Because of the importance of international sales and international sourcing of manufacturing to our business, our results of operations and financial condition could be significantly and adversely affected if any of the risks described above were to occur.

Legal proceedings may harm our business, results of operations, and financial condition.

We are a party to lawsuits and other legal proceedings in the normal course of our business. Litigation and other legal proceedings can be expensive, lengthy and disruptive to normal business operations. Moreover, the results of complex legal proceedings are difficult to predict. We cannot provide assurance that we will not be a party to additional legal proceedings in the future. To the extent legal proceedings continue for long time periods or are adversely resolved, our business, results of operations, and financial condition could be significantly harmed.

Our business is subject to extensive government regulation and any violation by us of such regulations could result in product liability claims, loss of sales, diversion of resources, damage to our reputation, increased warranty costs or removal of our products from the market, and we cannot assure you that our product liability insurance for the foregoing will be sufficient.

Our business is subject to various laws, including the Federal Hazardous Substances Act, the Consumer Product Safety Act, the Flammable Fabrics Act and the rules and regulations promulgated under these acts. These statutes are administered by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (“CPSC”), which has the authority to remove from the market products that are found to be defective and present a substantial hazard or risk of serious injury or death. The CPSC can require a manufacturer to recall, repair or replace these products under certain circumstances. We cannot assure you that defects in our products will not be alleged or found. Any such allegations or findings could result in:

• product liability claims;
• loss of sales;
• diversion of resources;
• damage to our reputation;
• increased warranty and insurance costs; and
• removal of our products from the market and/or destruction of existing inventory.

Any of these results may adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition. There can be no assurance that our product liability insurance will be sufficient to avoid or limit our loss in the event of an adverse outcome of any product liability claim.

We depend upon our proprietary rights, and our inability to safeguard and maintain the same, or claims of third-parties that we have violated their intellectual property rights, could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

We rely upon trademark, copyright and trade secret protection, nondisclosure agreements and licensing arrangements to establish, protect and enforce our proprietary rights in our products. The laws of certain foreign countries may not protect intellectual property rights to the same extent or in the same manner as the laws of the United States. We cannot assure you that we or our licensors will be able to successfully safeguard and maintain our proprietary rights. Further, certain parties have commenced legal proceedings or made claims against us based upon our alleged patent infringement, misappropriation of trade secrets or other violations of their intellectual property rights. We cannot assure you that other parties will not assert intellectual property claims against us in the future. These claims could divert our attention from operating our business or result in unanticipated legal and other costs, which could adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.

Restructuring our workforce can be disruptive and harm our results of operations and financial condition.

We have in the past restructured or made other adjustments to our workforce in response to the economic environment, performance issues, acquisitions, and other internal and external considerations. Restructurings can among other things result in a temporary lack of focus, reductions in net sales and reduced productivity. In addition, we may be unable to realize the anticipated cost savings from our previously announced restructuring efforts or may incur additional and/or unexpected costs in order to realize the anticipated savings. The amounts of anticipated cost savings and anticipated expenses-related restructurings are based on our current estimates, but they involve risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that may cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those previously planned. These impacts, among others, could occur in connection with previously announced restructuring efforts, or related to future acquisitions and other restructurings and, as a result, our results of operations and financial condition could be negatively affected.

The inability to successfully defend claims from taxing authorities or the adoption of new tax legislation could adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition.

We conduct business in many countries, which requires us to interpret the income tax laws and rulings in each of those jurisdictions. Due to the complexity of tax laws in those jurisdictions as well as the subjectivity of factual interpretations, our estimates of income tax liabilities may differ from actual payments or assessments. Claims from tax authorities related to these differences could have an adverse impact on our results of operations and financial condition. In addition, legislative bodies in the various countries in which we do business may from time to time adopt new tax legislation that could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

We may not be able to sustain or manage our product line growth, which may prevent us from increasing our net revenues.

Historically, we experienced growth in our product lines through acquisitions of businesses, products and licenses. This growth in product lines has contributed significantly to our total revenues over the years. Even though we have had no significant acquisitions since 2012, comparing our future period-to-period operating results may not be meaningful and results of operations from prior periods may not be indicative of future results. We cannot assure that we will continue to experience growth in, or maintain our present level of, net sales.

Our growth strategy calls for us to continuously develop and diversify our toy business by acquiring other companies, entering into additional license agreements, refining our product lines, expanding into adjacent Toys/Consumer Products/Costume categories and expanding into international markets, which will place additional demands upon our management, operational capacity and financial resources and systems. The increased demand upon management may necessitate our recruitment and retention of additional qualified management personnel. We cannot assure that we will be able to recruit and retain qualified personnel or expand and manage our operations effectively and profitably. To effectively manage future growth, we must continue to expand our operational, financial and management information systems and to train, motivate and manage our workforce. There can be no assurance that our operational, financial and management information systems will be adequate to support our future operations. Failure to expand our operational, financial and management information systems or to train, motivate or manage employees could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

In addition, implementation of our growth strategy is subject to risks beyond our control, including competition, market acceptance of new products, changes in economic conditions, our ability to obtain or renew licenses on commercially reasonable terms, our ability to identify acquisition candidates and conclude acquisitions on acceptable terms, and our ability to obtain the required consents from certain lenders and finance increased levels of accounts receivable and inventory necessary to support our sales growth, if any. Accordingly, we cannot assure that our growth strategy will be successful.

Failures of our computer-based information technology and cybersecurity breaches could damage our business.

We use computer-based technology systems to conduct significant operational activities and to maintain our business records. These systems are dependent upon the global world-wide web infrastructure known as the “internet”. A material breach in the security of our computer technology systems could result in third parties obtaining or altering the company’s data, including sensitive data of our customers, suppliers, and employees. We experienced a threat to the security of our computer systems in December 2022 which resulted in the leakage of certain data, including information about our employees. Although that incident did not result in material damage to our operations or cash flow, there is no assurance that any future material breach of the security of our computer systems would not occur, and such occurrences could have a material and adverse effect on our financial position, results of operations and cash flows.

We rely extensively on information technology in our operations, and any material failure, inadequacy, or interruption of that technology could have a material adverse impact on our business.

We rely extensively on information technology systems across our operations, including for management of our supply chain, sale and delivery of our products and services, reporting our results of operations, collection and storage of consumer data, data of customers, employees and other stakeholders, and various other processes and transactions. Many of these systems are managed by third-party service providers. We use third-party technology and systems for a variety of reasons, including, without limitation, encryption and authentication technology, employee email, content delivery to customers, back-office support, and other functions. In any given year, a small volume of our consumer products and services may rely on a component or element which is internet-enabled, and may be offered in conjunction with business partners or such third-party service providers. We, our business partners and third-party service providers may collect, process, store and transmit consumer data, including personal information, in connection with those products and services. Failure to follow applicable regulations related to those activities, or to prevent or mitigate data loss or other security breaches, including breaches of our business partners’ technology and systems, could expose us or our customers to a risk of loss or misuse of such information, which could adversely affect our results of operations, result in regulatory enforcement or other litigation and could be a potential liability for us, and otherwise significantly harm our business. Our ability to effectively manage our business and coordinate the production, distribution, and sale of our products and services depends significantly on the reliability and capacity of these systems and third-party service providers.

Although we have developed systems and processes that are designed to protect customer information and prevent data loss and other security breaches, including systems and processes designed to reduce the impact of a security breach at a third-party provider, such measures cannot provide absolute security. If our systems or our third-party service providers’ systems fail to operate effectively or are damaged, destroyed, or shut down, or there are problems with transitioning to upgraded or replacement systems, or there are security breaches in these systems, any of the aforementioned could occur as a result of natural disasters, human error, software or equipment failures, telecommunications failures, loss or theft of equipment, acts of terrorism, circumvention of security systems, or other cyber-attacks, including denial-of-service attacks, we could experience delays or decreases in product sales, and reduced efficiency of our operations. Additionally, any of these events could lead to violations of continually evolving privacy laws, loss of customers, or loss, misappropriation or corruption of confidential information, trade secrets or data, which could expose us to potential litigation, regulatory actions, sanctions or other statutory penalties, any or all of which could adversely affect our business, and cause us to incur significant losses and remediation costs.

The COVID-19 pandemic required most of our employees to work remotely, putting unprecedented strain on our information technology resources and infrastructure. Although in 2022 we defaulted back to a more traditional on-premise work model, we continue to support a higher degree of work-from-home opportunities than we did pre-COVID-19 (“the work-from-home model”). Although our policies and procedures continue to adjust and adapt informed by our own experiences and market norms, we cannot say with certainty what level of hybrid work we will continue to support as we move forward. With that in mind, we cannot be sure how remote work may generate an increase in new and unforeseen risks of business disruption and/or increased complexity across the range of functions that comprise the Company’s daily activities. In addition, the work-from-home model may increase our vulnerability to hacking and other nefarious activities as employees adjust to new hardware/software infrastructure, resources and processes as well as close the gap created by no longer being in close physical proximity to their colleagues. Although all employees are required to use work infrastructure and our secure VPN, we cannot be completely certain that we will not have increased exposure to security considerations in this environment.

If we are unable to acquire and integrate companies and new product lines successfully, we will be unable to implement a significant component of our growth strategy.

Our growth strategy depends, in part, upon our ability to acquire companies and new product lines. Future acquisitions, if any, may succeed only if we can effectively assess characteristics of potential target companies and product lines, such as:

• attractiveness of products;
• suitability of distribution channels;
• management ability;
• financial condition and results of operations;
• supply-chain resilience and competitive advantage;
• the degree to which acquired operations can be seamlessly integrated with our organization; and
• appropriate valuation and our ability to create substantially more value post-acquisition.

We cannot assure you that we can identify attractive acquisition candidates or negotiate acceptable acquisition terms, and our failure to do so may adversely affect our results of operations and our ability to sustain growth. Our acquisition strategy involves a number of risks, each of which could adversely affect our operating results, including:

• difficulties in integrating acquired businesses or product lines, assimilating new facilities and personnel, and harmonizing diverse business strategies and methods of operation;
• diversion of management attention from operation of our existing business;
• loss of key personnel and institutional knowledge from acquired companies;
• failure of an acquired business to achieve targeted financial results, inclusive of working capital needs;
• limited capital to finance acquisitions and/or fund appropriate working capital post-acquisition; and
• inability to maintain or secure relevant licenses to maintain or expand the net sales of acquired business.

We may engage in strategic transactions that could negatively impact our liquidity, increase our expenses and present significant distractions to our management.

We may consider strategic transactions and business arrangements, including, but not limited to, acquisitions, asset purchases, partnerships, joint ventures, restructurings, divestitures and investments. Any such transaction may require us to incur non-recurring or other charges, may increase our near and long-term expenditures and may pose significant integration challenges or disrupt our management or business, which could harm our operations and financial results.

If securities or industry analysts publish inaccurate or unfavorable research about our business, the price and trading volume of our common stock could decline.

The trading market for our common stock depends in part on the research and reports that securities or industry analysts publish about us or our business. If one or more of the analysts who covers us downgrades our common stock, publishes inaccurate or unfavorable research about our business, or sets unreasonable expectations or makes erroneous assumptions about our future performance which ultimately are not achieved, the price of our common stock would likely decline. If one or more of these analysts cease coverage of us or fails to publish reports on us regularly, demand for our common stock could decrease, which could cause the price of our common stock and trading volume to decline.

We have a small public float compared to other larger publicly-traded companies, which may result in price swings in our common stock or make it difficult to acquire or dispose of our common stock.

This small public float can result in large swings in our stock price with relatively low trading volume. In addition, a purchaser that seeks to acquire a significant number of shares may be unable to do so without increasing our common stock price, and conversely, a seller that seeks to dispose of a significant number of shares may experience a decreasing stock price.

Our stock price has been volatile over the past several years and could decline in the future, resulting in losses for our investors.

All the factors discussed in this section, disclosures made in other parts of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, or any other material announcements or events could affect our stock price. In addition, quarterly fluctuations in our operating results, changes in investor and analyst perception of the business risks and conditions of our business, our ability to meet earnings estimates and other performance expectations of financial analysts or investors, unfavorable commentary or downgrades of our stock by research analysts, fluctuations in the stock prices of other toy companies or in stock markets in general, and general economic or political conditions could also cause the price of our stock to change. A significant drop in the price of our stock could expose us to the risk of securities class action lawsuits, which could result in substantial costs and divert management’s attention and resources, adversely affecting our business.

We have a valuation allowance on a portion of the deferred taxes on our books since their future realization is uncertain.

Deferred tax assets are realized by prior and future taxable income of appropriate character. Current accounting standards require that a valuation allowance be recorded if it is not likely that sufficient taxable income of appropriate character will be generated to realize the deferred tax assets. We currently believe that based on the available information, it is more likely than not that a portion of the deferred tax assets, related to capital losses, will not be realized.

We have a material amount of goodwill which, if it becomes impaired, would result in a reduction in our net earnings.

Goodwill is the amount by which the cost of an acquisition exceeds the fair value of the net assets we acquire. Goodwill is not amortized and is required to be evaluated for impairment at least annually. At December 31, 2023, $35.1 million, or 8.8% of our total assets represented goodwill. Declines in our profitability may impact the fair value of our reporting units, which could result in a write-down of our goodwill and consequently harm our results of operations. We did not record any goodwill impairment charges during 2023, 2022 or 2021. In the future, if we do not maintain our profitability and growth targets, the carrying value of our goodwill may become impaired, resulting in impairment charges.

JAKKS has adopted a cybersecurity framework to help manage and mitigate cybersecurity risks.

JAKKS has implemented cybersecurity policies, processes and procedures to aid in the identification, protection, detection of cyber related issues, and the response to and recovery from cybersecurity breaches. A summary of the principal activities JAKKS has undertaken to strengthen its cybersecurity posture and mitigate its cybersecurity risks:

• A subcommittee of the Board of Directors has been established to oversee and manage the company’s risk, response, and recovery policies, processes, and procedures related to, and stemming from, cyber-related issues;
• Purchased cybersecurity risk insurance to protect against potential losses arising from a cybersecurity incident;
• Implementation of quarterly vulnerability and penetration tests to identify, and if necessary, remediate, any potential risk to the organization;
• Engaged two (2) third-party service providers to monitor JAKKS systems for anomalous activity (24 hours a day, 365 days a year);
• Conduct disaster recovery exercise on a yearly basis;
• Implemented a revised and updated phishing email training program; and
• Retained a consultant to act as the Company’s Virtual Chief Information Security Officer (VCISO), who has more than 20 years of experience in various cybersecurity roles (e.g., managing information security, developing cybersecurity strategies, implementing cybersecurity and incident response programs, etc.) to oversee the implementation and performance of the Company’s cybersecurity program.

As part of our cybersecurity program, the Company’s VCISO, Senior Vice President of Operations and Vice President of Information Technology, collectively referred to as our “Cybersecurity Team,” reviews our cybersecurity posture, identifies areas in need of improvement, and helps foster a culture of compliance (including training of all employees). Our Vice President of Information Technology has over 20 years of experience in various roles involving managing information security, developing cybersecurity strategy, and implementing cybersecurity program. The Company’s program also includes activities to respond to and recover from cybersecurity incidents, including processes to triage, assess severity, investigate, escalate, contain, and remediate an incident, as well as to comply with potentially applicable legal obligations and mitigate brand and reputational damage.

Our Cybersecurity Team assesses cybersecurity risks, including those related to our supply chain and third-party service providers that have access to our systems or facilities where JAKKS’ data is stored. The team assesses how cybersecurity risks affect or are reasonably likely to materially affect the Company, including our operations or financial position. Our Cybersecurity Team is responsible for the Company’s risk assessment, risk management, disaster recovery, and auditing of JAKKS overall cybersecurity program. The Cybersecurity Team meets with the Cybersecurity Subcommittee of the Board of Directors to discuss, identify, and address cybersecurity risks and review updates to our risk management program to ensure cybersecurity risks to the organization are mitigated. For further discussion of the risks associated with cybersecurity incidents, see the cybersecurity risk factors beginning on page 22 of the section entitled “Item 1A. Risk Factors” in this Form 10-K.

In December 2022, the Company learned of a cybersecurity threat to its information technology system (“IT System”), and that certain data, including personal data of employees, had been extracted from the Company’s IT System. Upon learning of the cybersecurity threat, the Company launched an investigation and undertook prompt action, including employing containment protocols to mitigate the impact of the threat, engaging third-party information technology cyber security and forensics experts and special legal counsel, and utilizing additional security measures to help safeguard the integrity of its IT System’s infrastructure and the data contained therein. The Company has not identified any material damage suffered from the incident.

The following is a listing of the principal leased offices maintained by us as of March 15, 2024

We believe our facilities are suitable for their intended uses and, in conjunction with our third-party contract manufacturing agreements, provide adequate capacity and are sufficient to meet our expected needs.

For information regarding our legal proceedings, see Item 8 “Consolidated Financial Statements and Supplementary Data Note 19 – Litigation and Contingencies.”

The following Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Our actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of various factors. You should read this section in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and the related notes included in Item 8 “Consolidated Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.”

Critical Accounting Estimates

The accompanying consolidated financial statements and supplementary information were prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. Significant accounting policies are discussed in Note 2 to the Consolidated Financial Statements, included within Item 8. Inherent in the application of many of these accounting policies is the need for management to make estimates and judgments in the determination of certain revenues, expenses, assets and liabilities. As such, materially different financial results can occur as circumstances change and additional information becomes known. The estimates with the greatest potential effect on our results of operations and financial position include:

Allowance for Current Expected Credit Losses. Our allowance for current expected credit losses is based upon management’s assessment of the business environment, customers’ risk profile characteristics, historical collection and loss information, aging of accounts receivables, and other matters specific to customer accounts in the establishment of pools. If there were a deterioration of a major customer’s creditworthiness, or actual defaults were higher than our current expected credit losses, our estimates of the recoverability of amounts due to us could be misstated, which could have an adverse impact on our operating results. Our allowance for current expected credit losses is also affected by the time at which uncollectible accounts receivable balances are actually written off. Management believes the accounting estimate related to the allowance for current expected credit losses is a “critical accounting policy” because judgement is required in the establishment of pools based on customer risk profile characteristics and the historical loss rates applied to each pool. In addition, the allowance requires judgement since it involves estimation of the impact of both current and future economic factors in relation to its customers’ risk profile characteristics. Changes in the assumptions used to develop the estimates could materially affect key financial measures, including other selling and administrative expenses, net income and accounts receivable.

Royalties. We enter into license agreements with strategic partners, inventors, designers and others for the use of intellectual properties in its products. These agreements may call for payment in advance or future payment of minimum guaranteed amounts. Amounts paid in advance are recorded as an asset and charged to expense when the related revenue is recognized in the consolidated statements of operations. If all or a portion of the minimum guaranteed amounts appear not to be recoverable through future use of the rights obtained under the license, the non-recoverable portion of the guaranty is charged to expense at that time. On a quarterly basis, we evaluate the recoverability of minimum guarantee amounts based on forecasted revenues to be received for the products and record a shortfall reserve for expected un-recoverable amounts. If our actual revenue generated differs from our projections, recoverability of our minimum guarantees would be impacted and could materially affect key financial measures, including gross profit, net income and prepaid assets.

Fair value measurements. Fair value is the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. In determining fair value, we use various methods including market, income and cost approaches. Based upon these approaches, we often utilize certain assumptions that market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability, including assumptions about risk and/or the risks inherent in the inputs to the valuation technique. These inputs can be readily observable, market-corroborated, or unobservable inputs. We utilize valuation techniques that maximize the use of observable inputs and minimize the use of unobservable inputs. Based upon observable inputs used in the valuation techniques, we are required to provide information according to the fair value hierarchy. The fair value hierarchy ranks the quality and reliability of the information used to determine fair values into three broad levels as follows:

In instances where the determination of the fair value measurement is based upon inputs from different levels of the fair value hierarchy, the level in the fair value hierarchy within which the entire fair value measurement falls is based upon the lowest level input that is significant to the fair value measurement in its entirety. Our assessment of the significance of a particular input to the fair value measurement in its entirety requires judgment and considers factors specific to the asset or liability (see Item 8 "Consolidated Financial Statements and Supplementary Data Note 15 - Fair Value Measurements” for further information).

Reserve for Inventory Obsolescence. We value our inventory at the lower of cost or net realizable value. Based upon a consideration of quantities on hand, actual and projected sales volume, anticipated product selling prices and product lines planned to be discontinued, slow-moving and obsolete inventory is written down to its net realizable value.

Failure to accurately predict and respond to consumer demand could result in us under-producing popular items or over-producing less popular items. Furthermore, significant changes in demand for our products would impact management’s estimates in establishing our inventory provision.

Management’s estimates are monitored on a quarterly basis, and a further adjustment to reduce inventory to its net realizable value is recorded as an increase to cost of sales when deemed necessary under the lower of cost or net realizable value standard. Significant changes in the assumptions used to develop the estimate could materially affect key financial measures, including gross profit, net income and inventories.

Reserve for Sales Returns and Allowances. We routinely enter into arrangements with our customers to provide sales incentives, support customer promotions and provide allowances for returns and defective merchandise. Such programs are based primarily on customer purchases, customer performance of specified promotional activities and other specified factors such as sales to consumers. Management believes that the accounting estimates related to sales adjustments are “critical accounting policies” because significant judgment is required to estimate related accruals, such as estimating volumes of defective products to support reserves for defective merchandise and estimating future customer performance and consumer preferences that could impact the discretionary sales promotions. Significant changes in the assumptions used to develop the estimates could materially affect key financial measures, such as net sales, gross profit, net income, and reserve for sales returns and allowances.

Income Allocation for Income Taxes. Our annual income tax provision and related income tax assets and liabilities are based upon actual income as allocated to the various tax jurisdictions based upon our transfer pricing study, US and foreign statutory income tax rates and tax regulations and planning opportunities in the various jurisdictions in which we operate. Significant judgment is required in interpreting tax regulations in the U.S. and foreign jurisdictions, and in evaluating worldwide uncertain tax positions. Actual results could differ materially from those judgments, and changes from such judgments could materially affect our consolidated financial statements.

Income taxes. We do not file a consolidated return for our foreign subsidiaries. We file federal and state returns and our foreign subsidiaries each file returns in their respective jurisdictions, as applicable. Deferred taxes are provided on an asset and liability method. Deferred tax assets are recognized as deductible temporary differences, operating losses, or tax credit carry-forwards. Deferred tax liabilities are recognized as taxable temporary differences. Temporary differences are the differences between the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and their tax basis. Deferred tax assets are reduced by a valuation allowance when, in the opinion of management, it is more likely than not that some or all of the deferred tax assets will not be realized. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are adjusted for the effects of changes in tax laws and rates on the date of enactment.

We must assess the likelihood that we will be able to recover our deferred tax assets. Deferred tax assets are reduced by a valuation allowance, if, based upon the weight of available evidence, it is more likely than not that we will not realize some portion or all of the deferred tax assets. We consider all available positive and negative evidence when assessing whether it is more likely than not that deferred tax assets are recoverable. We consider evidence such as our past operating results, the existence of cumulative losses or cumulative income in previous periods and our forecast of future taxable income. We believe this to be a critical accounting policy because should there be a change in our ability to recover our deferred tax assets, our tax provision would increase in the period in which we determine that the recovery is not likely, as well as decrease in the period in which the assessment of the recoverability of the deferred tax assets reverses, which could have a material impact on our results of operations.

We accrue a tax reserve for additional income taxes and interest, which may become payable in future years as a result of audit adjustments by tax authorities. The reserve is based upon management’s assessment of all relevant information and is periodically reviewed and adjusted as circumstances warrant. As of December 31, 2023, our income tax reserves were approximately $3.2 million and relate to federal and state income taxes.

We recognize current period interest expense and penalties and the reversal of previously recognized interest expense and penalties that has been determined to not be assessable due to the expiration of the related audit period or other compelling factors on the income tax liability for unrecognized tax benefits as a component of the income tax provision recognized in the consolidated statements of operations.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements.

See Item 8 “Consolidated Financial Statements and Supplementary Data Note 2 - Summary of Significant Accounting Policies.”

Results of Operations

The following table sets forth, for the periods indicated, certain statement of operations data as a percentage of net sales. A discussion of the operating results for 2022 can be found in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022, as filed with the SEC on April 14, 2023, in Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations – Results of Operations.

The following table summarizes, for the periods indicated, certain statement of operations data by segment (in thousands).

31

Comparison of the Years Ended December 31, 2023 and 2022

Net Sales

Toys/Consumer Products. Net sales of our Toys/Consumer Products segment were $580.7 million in 2023, compared to $647.3 million in 2022, representing a decrease of $66.6 million, or 10.3%. The decrease in net sales was primarily due to lower sales in our Dolls, Role Play and Dress Up Division, partially offset by increased sales in our Action Play & Collectibles Division.

Costumes. Net sales of our Costumes segment were $130.9 million in 2023, compared to $148.9 million in 2022, representing a decrease of $18.0 million, or 12.1%. The decrease in net sales was primarily driven by US customers recalibrating their order levels down based on Halloween 2022 sell-through.

Cost of Sales

Toys/Consumer Products. Cost of sales of our Toys/Consumer Products segment was $388.3 million, or 66.9% of related net sales in 2023 compared to $465.4 million, or 71.9% of related net sales in 2022 representing a decrease of $77.1 million or 16.6%. The decrease in dollars is due to lower overall sales in 2023, while the decrease in percentage of net sales, year-over-year is due to lower inbound freight costs.

Costumes. Cost of sales of our Costumes segment was $99.9 million, or 76.3% of related net sales for 2023 compared to $119.5 million, or 80.3% of related net sales for 2022 representing a decrease of $19.6 million, or 16.4%. The decrease in dollars is due to lower overall sales in 2023. The decrease as a percentage of net sales, year-over-year, is due to lower inbound freight costs.

Selling, General and Administrative Expenses

Selling, general and administrative expenses were $164.2 million in 2023 and $150.0 million in 2022, constituting 23.1% and 18.8% of net sales, respectively. Selling, general and administrative expenses increased from the prior year primarily driven by higher outbound freight and warehouse expenses for 3rd party warehouses and less scale at operated warehouses coupled with lower capitalization of such cost, as well as higher compensation expense.

Loss on Debt Extinguishment

In 2023, we recognized a loss on debt extinguishment of $1.0 million in connection with the extinguishment of the 2021 BSP Term Loan in June 2023.

Interest Income

Interest Income was $1.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2023, as compared to $0.1 million in the prior year period. Interest income earned is primarily due to the Company’s money market investments.

Interest Expense

Interest expense was $6.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2023, as compared to $11.2 million in the prior year period. In 2023, we recorded interest expense of $3.2 million related to our 2021 BSP Term Loan, $0.7 million related to our revolving credit facility and $2.6 million related to other borrowing costs. In 2022, we recorded interest expense of $9.3 million related to our 2021 BSP Term Loan, $0.6 million related to our revolving credit facility and $1.3 million related to other borrowing costs.

Provision for Income Taxes

During 2023, our income tax expense, which includes federal, state and foreign income taxes and discrete items, was $6.8 million, or an effective tax rate of 15.2%. The 2023 tax expense included a discrete tax benefit of $2.7 million primarily comprised of valuation allowance adjustments. Absent these discrete tax benefits, our effective tax rate for 2023 was 21.3%, primarily due to taxes on federal, state, and foreign income.

During 2022, our income tax benefit was $41.0 million, or an effective tax rate of (81.9)%. The 2022 tax benefit of $41.0 million included a discrete tax benefit of $49.8 million primarily comprised of a valuation allowance release. Absent these discrete tax benefits, our effective tax rate for 2022 was 17.6%, primarily due to taxes on federal, state, and foreign income.

We assess the available positive and negative evidence to estimate if sufficient future taxable income will be generated to use the existing deferred tax assets by jurisdiction. Based on our evaluation of all positive and negative evidence, as of December 31, 2023, a valuation allowance of $0.7 million has been recorded against the deferred tax assets that more likely than not will not be realized. The net deferred tax asset change of $10.3 million consists of the net deferred tax asset changes in the US and foreign jurisdictions, where we are in a cumulative income position.

Uncertainties that may have a significant impact on net sales and income (loss) from operations

Significant outbreaks of contagious diseases, and other adverse public health developments, could have a material impact on our business operations and operating results. The immediate and lingering impact of the 2019 COVID-19 pandemic added additional risk and complexity to the Company’s operations. In addition, the history of smaller scale epidemics in Hong Kong/China (e.g., “bird flu”) highlights an additional risk given that substantially all of our product is sourced from China and our Hong Kong operation is foundational to our business model. We cannot quantify the extent that any new outbreak might have on our sales, net income and cash flows, but it could be significant.

In the first quarter of 2022, Russia and Ukraine engaged in an armed conflict that continues. We cannot predict at this time the length of this conflict and if it will spread to other countries. Accordingly, we cannot quantify at this time if, or the extent, this conflict will adversely impact our business operations.

Quarterly Fluctuations and Seasonality

We have experienced significant quarterly fluctuations in operating results and anticipate these fluctuations in the future. The operating results for any quarter are not necessarily indicative of results for any future period. Our first quarter is typically expected to be the least profitable as a result of lower net sales but substantially similar fixed operating expenses. This is consistent with the performance of many companies in the toy industry.

The following table presents our unaudited quarterly results for the years indicated. The seasonality of our business is reflected in this quarterly presentation.

(Unaudited)

Quarterly and year-to-date computations of income (loss) per share amounts are made independently. Therefore, the sum of the per share amounts for the quarters may not agree with the per share amounts for the year.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

As of December 31, 2023, we had working capital of $106.1 million compared to $101.9 million as of December 31, 2022.

Operating activities provided net cash of $66.4 million in 2023 and $86.1 million in 2022. The decrease in cash flows provided by operating activities, year-over-year, was primarily due to a lower net income and higher working capital usage, partially offset by higher non-cash charges related to valuation adjustments for our preferred stock derivative liability and an increase in deferred income tax assets due to inventory cost and other expense capitalization matters, offset by income tax activities payable. Other than open purchase orders issued in the normal course of business related to shipped product, we have no obligations to purchase inventory from our manufacturers. However, we may incur costs or other losses as a result of not placing orders consistent with our forecasts for product manufactured by our suppliers or manufacturers for a variety of reasons including customer order cancellations or a decline in demand. As part of our strategy to develop and market new products, we have entered into various character and product licenses with royalties/obligations generally ranging from 1% to 22% payable on net sales of such products. As of December 31, 2023, these agreements required future aggregate minimum royalty guarantees of $53.1 million, exclusive of $1.5 million in advances already paid. Of this $53.1 million future minimum royalty guarantee, $45.1 million is due over the next twelve months.

Investing activities used net cash of $8.9 million and $10.4 million for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively, and consisted primarily of cash paid for the purchase of molds and tooling used in the manufacture of our products.

Financing activities used net cash of $72.3 million in 2023 and $31.0 million in 2022. The cash used in 2023 primarily consists of the repayment of our 2021 BSP Term Loan of $69.2 million and the repurchase of common stock for employee tax withholding of $3.1 million. The cash used in 2022 primarily consists of the repayment of our 2021 BSP Term loan of $29.6 million and repurchase of common stock for employee tax withholding of $1.4 million.

The following is a summary of our significant contractual cash obligations for the periods indicated that existed as of December 31, 2023 and is based upon information appearing in the notes to the consolidated financial statements (in thousands):

The above table excludes any potential uncertain income tax liabilities that may become payable upon examination of our income tax returns by taxing authorities. Such amounts and periods of payment cannot be reliably estimated (see Item 8 “Consolidated Financial Statements and Supplementary Data Note 12 - Income Taxes” for further explanation of our uncertain tax positions).

As of December 31, 2023, we had no outstanding indebtedness under our senior secured revolving credit facility (the “JPMorgan ABL Facility”), aside from utilizing $9.4 million in letters of credit. In June 2023 we had fully paid off our first-lien secured term loan (the “2021 BSP Term Loan Agreement”).

The First Lien Term Loan Facility Credit Agreement (the “2021 BSP Term Loan Agreement”) and the Credit Agreement with JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., as agent and lender (the “JPMorgan ABL Credit Agreement”) each contained negative covenants that, subject to certain exceptions, limited our ability and our subsidiaries ability to, among other things, incur additional indebtedness, make restricted payments, pledge our assets as security, make investments, loans, advances, guarantees and acquisitions, undergo fundamental changes and enter into transactions with affiliates. The terms of the 2021 BSP Term Loan Agreement also required us to maintain a Net Leverage Ratio of 4:00x, with step-downs occurring each fiscal year starting with the quarter ending March 31, 2022 through the quarter ending September 30, 2024 in which we were required to maintain a Net Leverage Ratio of 3:00x. On April 26, 2022, we entered into a First Amendment to the 2021 BSP Term Loan Agreement, to provide, among other things, that we must maintain Qualified Cash of at least: (a) at all times after the Closing Date and prior to the First Amendment Effective Date, $20.0 million; (b) at all times during the period commencing on the First Amendment Effective Date through and including June 30, 2022, $15.0 million; and (c) at all times on and after July 1, 2022, through September 30, 2022, $17.5 million; provided, however, that if the Total Net Leverage Ratio exceeded 1.75:1.00 as of the last day of the most recently ended month for which financial statements were required to have been delivered, then the amount set forth in this clause shall be increased to $20.0 million. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Applicable Minimum Cash Amount shall be reduced by $1.0 million for every $5.0 million principal prepayment or repayment of the Term Loans following the First Amendment Effective Date; provided however, that, the Applicable Minimum Cash Amount shall in no event be reduced below $15.0 million.

On June 27, 2022, as permitted by the terms within the 2021 BSP Term Loan Agreement, we made a voluntary fee-free $10.0 million prepayment towards the outstanding principal amount of the 2021 BSP Term Loan.

On September 28, 2022, as permitted by the terms within the 2021 BSP Term Loan Agreement, we made a voluntary $17.5 million prepayment towards the outstanding principal amount of the 2021 BSP Term Loan and incurred a $0.5 million prepayment penalty.

On January 3, 2023, as permitted by the terms within the 2021 BSP Term Loan Agreement, we made a voluntary $15.0 million prepayment towards the outstanding principal amount of the 2021 BSP Term Loan and incurred a $0.2 million prepayment penalty.

On March 3, 2023, as required by the terms within the 2021 BSP Term Loan Agreement under the Excess Cash Flow (“ECF”) Sweep provision, we made a mandatory $23.1 million payment towards the outstanding principal amount of the 2021 BSP Term Loan.

On June 5, 2023, we paid in full the 2021 BSP Term Loan and terminated the 2021 BSP Term Loan Agreement by making a $30.2 million prepayment towards the outstanding principal amount. Additionally, we made a $0.4 million payment towards the outstanding accrued interest, and a $0.3 million payment for the prepayment penalty and other related fees. In connection with this transaction, we recognized a loss on debt extinguishment of $1.0 million on our consolidated statements of operations.

The JPMorgan ABL Agreement contains events of default that are customary for a facility of this nature, including (subject in certain cases to grace periods and thresholds) nonpayment of principal, nonpayment of interest, fees or other amounts, material inaccuracy of representations and warranties, violation of covenants, cross-default to certain other existing indebtedness, bankruptcy or insolvency events, certain judgment defaults and a change of control as specified in each Agreement. If an event of default occurs under the Agreement, the maturity of the amounts owed under the JPMorgan ABL Agreement may be accelerated.

We were in compliance with the financial covenants under the JPMorgan ABL Agreement as of December 31, 2023.

(See Item 8 “Consolidated Financial Statements and Supplementary Data, Note 9 – Debt and Note 10 – Credit Facilities” for additional information pertaining to our Debt and Credit Facilities.)

As of December 31, 2023 and 2022, we held cash and cash equivalents, including restricted cash, of $72.4 million and $85.5 million, respectively. Cash, and cash equivalents, including restricted cash held outside of the United States, in various foreign subsidiaries totaled $21.5 million and $39.4 million as of December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively. The cash and cash equivalents, including restricted cash balances in our foreign subsidiaries have either been fully taxed in the U.S. or tax has been accounted for in connection with the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, or may be eligible for a full foreign dividends received deduction under such Act, and thus would not be subject to additional U.S. tax should such amounts be repatriated in the form of dividends or deemed distributions. Any such repatriation may result in foreign withholding taxes, which we expect would not be significant as of December 31, 2023.

Our primary sources of working capital are cash flows from operations and borrowings under our JPMorgan ABL Facility (See Item 8 “Consolidated Financial Statements and Supplementary Data Note 10 – Credit Facilities”).

Typically, cash flows from operations are impacted by the effect on sales of (1) the appeal of our products, (2) the success of our licensed brands in motivating consumer purchase of related merchandise, (3) the highly competitive conditions existing in the toy industry and in securing commercially-attractive licenses, (4) dependency on a limited set of large customers, and (5) general economic conditions. A downturn in any single factor or a combination of factors could have a material adverse impact upon our ability to generate sufficient cash flows to operate the business. In addition, our business and liquidity are dependent to a significant degree on our vendors and their financial health, as well as the ability to accurately forecast the demand for products. The loss of a key vendor, or material changes in support by them, or a significant variance in actual demand compared to the forecast, can have a material adverse impact on our cash flows and business. Given the conditions in the toy industry environment in general, vendors, including licensors, may seek further assurances or take actions to protect against non-payment of amounts due to them. Changes in this area could have a material adverse impact on our liquidity.

As of December 31, 2023, off-balance sheet arrangements include letters of credit issued by JPMorgan of $9.4 million.

On July 1, 2022, we entered into an ATM Agreement with B. Riley, as agent pursuant to which we may, from time to time, sell shares of our common stock, up to $75 million in common stock, in one or more offerings in amounts, at prices and in the terms that we will determine at the time of the offering. On July 1, 2022, we filed a Form S-3 shelf registration statement (File No. 333-266009) with the SEC. On Aug 1, 2022, the SEC declared the Form S-3 shelf registration statement filed by us to be effective.

As of March 15, 2024, we have not sold any shares of common stock under the ATM Agreement.

We have on file with the SEC an effective registration statement pursuant to which we may issue, from time to time, up to $150 million of securities (which will be reduced by any amount of securities sold pursuant to the ATM Agreement) consisting of, or any combination of, common stock, preferred stock, debt securities, warrants, rights and/or units, in one or more offerings in amounts, prices and at terms that we will determine at the time of the offering.

As of March 15, 2024, we have not sold any securities pursuant to our shelf registration statement.

The nature of our business is a number of factors influence the price we offer product to our customers, and by extension they sell to our end customer. Our products are manufactured by third-party vendors who deal with increases in labor rates as a normal course of their respective businesses. The costing of the plastic components of our toys can be sensitive to sudden swings in oil prices. Currency exchange can also create a degree of volatility, although the majority of our products are sourced in USD or Hong Kong dollars. Increased volumes ideally generate increased scale at various points in the value chain. Often times, in the toy industry when cost pressures result in price increases, the development teams will reengineer subsequent year refreshes to cost-reduce the items down to support traditional price points and preserve historical margins. With those considerations in mind as well as others, during the last three fiscal years ending December 31, we do not believe that inflation has had a material impact on our net sales and income from continuing operations.

Exchange Rates

Sales from our United States and Hong Kong operations are denominated in U.S. dollars and our manufacturing costs are denominated in either U.S. or Hong Kong dollars. Local sales (other than in Hong Kong) and operating expenses of our operations in Hong Kong, the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, France, Italy, Canada, Mexico and China are denominated in local currency, thereby creating exposure to changes in exchange rates. Changes in the various exchange rates against the U.S. dollar may positively or negatively affect our operating results. The exchange rate of the Hong Kong dollar to the U.S. dollar has been linked to the U.S. dollar by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority at HK$7.75 - HK$7.85 to US$1.00 since 2005 and, accordingly, has not represented a meaningful currency exchange risk to the U.S. dollar. We cannot assure you that the exchange rate between the United States and Hong Kong currencies will continue to be fixed or that exchange rate fluctuations between the United States and Hong Kong, or all other currencies will not have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Market risk represents the risk of loss that may impact our financial position, results of operations or cash flows due to adverse changes in financial and commodity market prices and rates. We are exposed to market risk in the areas of changes in United States and international borrowing rates and changes in foreign currency exchange rates. In addition, we are exposed to market risk in certain geographic areas that have experienced or remain vulnerable to an economic downturn, such as China. We purchase substantially all of our inventory from companies in China, and, therefore, we are subject to the risk that such suppliers will be unable to provide inventory at competitive prices. While we believe that, should such events occur we would be able to find alternative sources of inventory at competitive prices, we cannot assure you that we would be able to do so. These exposures are directly related to our normal operating and funding activities. To date, we have not used derivative instruments or engaged in hedging activities to minimize our market risk.

Interest Rate Risk

Our exposure to market risk includes interest rate fluctuations in connection with our JPMorgan ABL Facility (see Item 8 “Consolidated Financial Statements and Supplementary Data, Note 10 – Credit Facilities).

In Q1 2023, we entered into an amendment to our JPMorgan ABL Credit Agreement which changed the interest reference rate on our revolving line of credit from LIBOR to the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (“SOFR”).

Effective March 16, 2023, borrowings under our JPMorgan ABL Facility bear interest at either (i) SOFR plus 1.50% - 2.00% (determined by reference to an excess availability pricing grid) or (ii) Alternate Base Rate plus 0.50% - 1.00% (determined by reference to an excess availability pricing grid and base rate subject to a 1.00% floor). Borrowings under the JPMorgan ABL Facility are therefore subject to risk based upon prevailing market interest rates. Interest rate risk may result from many factors, including governmental monetary and tax policies, domestic and international economic and political considerations and other factors that are beyond our control. During the twelve-month period ended December 31, 2023, the maximum amount borrowed under the revolving credit facility was $10 million and the average amount of borrowings outstanding was $0.5 million. As of December 31, 2023, the amount of total borrowings outstanding under the revolving credit facility was nil.

Foreign Currency Risk

We have wholly-owned subsidiaries in Hong Kong, China, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Italy, Canada and Mexico. Sales are generally made by these operations on FOB China or Hong Kong terms and are denominated in U.S. dollars. However, purchases of inventory and Hong Kong operating expenses are typically denominated in Hong Kong dollars and local operating expenses in the United Kingdom, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Italy, Canada, Mexico and China are denominated in local currency, thereby creating exposure to changes in exchange rates. Changes in the U.S. dollar exchange rates may positively or negatively affect our results of operations. The exchange rate of the Hong Kong dollar to the U.S. dollar has been linked to the U.S. dollar by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority at HK$7.75 – HK$7.85 to US$1.00 since 2005 and, accordingly, has not represented a meaningful currency exchange risk to the U.S. dollar. We do not believe that near-term changes in these exchange rates, if any, will result in a material effect on our future earnings, fair values or cash flows. Therefore, we have chosen not to enter into foreign currency hedging transactions. We cannot assure you that this approach will be successful, especially in the event of a significant and sudden change in the value of these foreign currencies.

Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures.

Our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, after evaluating the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) as of the end of the period covered by this Annual Report, have concluded that as of December 31, 2023, our disclosure controls and procedures were adequate and effective to ensure that information required to be disclosed by us in the reports we file or submit with the Securities and Exchange Commission is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the Securities and Exchange Commission’s rules and forms.

Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting.

There has been no change in our internal control over financial reporting identified in connection with the evaluation required by Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(d) and 15d-15 that occurred during the fourth quarter period covered by this Annual Report that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.

Management’s Annual Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting.

We, as management, are responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate “internal control over financial reporting” (as defined in Exchange Act Rule 13a-15(f)). Our internal control system was designed by or is under the supervision of management and our board of directors to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of published financial statements.

All internal control systems, no matter how well designed, have inherent limitations. Therefore, even those systems determined to be effective can provide only reasonable assurance with respect to financial statement preparation and presentation.

Our management, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, evaluated the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2023. In making this assessment, management used the criteria set forth by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) in Internal Control — Integrated Framework (2013). We believe that, as of December 31, 2023, our internal control over financial reporting was effective based upon those criteria.

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

Shareholders and Board of Directors

JAKKS Pacific, Inc.

Santa Monica, CA

Opinion on Internal Control over Financial Reporting

We have audited JAKKS Pacific, Inc.’s (the “Company’s”) internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2023, based on criteria established in Internal Control – Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (the “COSO criteria”). In our opinion, the Company maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2023, based on the COSO criteria.

We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (“PCAOB”), the consolidated balance sheets of the Company as of December 31, 2023 and 2022, the related consolidated statements of operations, comprehensive income (loss), stockholders’ equity, and cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2023, and the related notes and our report dated March 15, 2024, expressed an unqualified opinion thereon.

Basis for Opinion

The Company’s management is responsible for maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting and for its assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting, included in the accompanying Item 9A, Management’s Annual Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s internal control over financial reporting based on our audit. We are a public accounting firm registered with the PCAOB and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.

We conducted our audit of internal control over financial reporting in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether effective internal control over financial reporting was maintained in all material respects. Our audit included obtaining an understanding of internal control over financial reporting, assessing the risk that a material weakness exists, and testing and evaluating the design and operating effectiveness of internal control based on the assessed risk. Our audit also included performing such other procedures as we considered necessary in the circumstances. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.

Definition and Limitations of Internal Control over Financial Reporting

A company’s internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. A company’s internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that (1) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the company; (2) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures of the company are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of the company; and (3) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition of the company’s assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.

Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.

/s/ BDO USA, P.C.

Los Angeles, California

March 15, 2024