Dolby Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:DLB) Q1 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Paul Chung: Got you. Thanks for that. And then, the OpEx guide was reiterated, up modestly for the year. Where do you kind of see some flexibility for additional cost execution, maybe on the SG&A line? And then, on R&D, where you kind of putting new investments to work? And how do we think about the spend related to Atmos, Vision, io? Are those kind of ongoing expenses or bulk of those costs are behind us and it’s kind of new innovations that you’re investing in for the most part?

Kevin Yeaman: Well, the first thing I would say is that we endeavor to be and are very dynamic in our allocation of resources. So, we’re regularly shifting resources between initiatives and it relates to Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision that includes shifting resources between ecosystems that are getting more mature to newer ecosystems. And so, while the headline number is the increase of about 2%, underneath that, we are constantly moving people and resources to where the biggest opportunities are of the future.

Paul Chung: Got you. And then, lastly on Cinema…

Kevin Yeaman: By the way, Paul, you asked so many questions the first time. I feel like — I just remembered that I felt like I forgot part of it, which is to just say that our — we’ve said our goal is for — we would like Dolby Atmos Music to be the way everybody experiences music all the time everywhere and on every car. And we aim that — we aim high and we stay focused on building these ecosystems. And we have a track record of being able to get to some pretty high adoption rates, but we set our sights on being relevant to all the ways people enjoy music.

Paul Chung: Yes. I thought the demo was excellent. So, on Cinema, where are you in terms of footprint today? And are there expectations to kind of expand after some pauses here maybe with other partners? And then, talk about the expectations for kind of contribution from this business on maybe an annual run rate business and margin profile would be very helpful. Thank you.

Kevin Yeaman: Well, to answer your first question, we’re at 2…

Robert Park: 287.

Kevin Yeaman: 287 Dolby Cinema screens. I think we added seven, is that right, Robert?

Robert Park: Added five.

Kevin Yeaman: Added five. The new screens coming online is still lower than pre-pandemic. That’s still an industry, obviously, that is also subject to all of the uncertainties in the world and they’re all in varying positions as it relates to their ability to invest right now. But I think the Avatar was a big win for the industry. A lot of that will be Q1 box office, but it was great to see that. And I do — and we are still — our partners are still engaged. They’re still thinking about the future and we do see an opportunity to continue to expand. Because we think that what has held true throughout this period of time is that more a greater percentage of people who are going to the movies are wanting to go to — are wanting to have the most immersive experience.

And so, the premium experiences are getting a greater share of the box office. And so, we continue to have strong engagement as people are thinking about their future plans for how they grow their portfolio of high-end experiences.

Paul Chung: Thank you so much.

Kevin Yeaman: And today — I guess the other part of your question, today, that’s, as you know, the Dolby Cinema is a shared box office. We — that’s part of our other markets licensing revenue. And not breaking that up separately, yes, that’s still in the other category.

Paul Chung: Okay, great. Thank you.

Operator: Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Ralph Schackart with William Blair. Please proceed.

Ralph Schackart: Good afternoon. Thanks for taking the question. Within products revenue, with the strong growth there, you called out io as contributing to that growth. And just curious if you could sort of give us a sense of the contribution there. I’m sure you don’t want to break out the exact number, but just perhaps some relative contribution or growth rate or any sort of context you could add there would be great.

Robert Park: Hey, Ralph. Most of that growth came from cinema products, if you will. There were some growth in io, but the majority of that growth came from cinema products through higher supply of services and stores that we have, but also increased demand for some of our audio processors and other equipment.

Ralph Schackart: Okay. And then, just kind of turning to the macro, it sounds like so far where we are early in January it’s playing out as you expected, I guess, which is good in terms of the way you guided. But you obviously have a lot of global customers. But as you talk to them about the — as you look through the year, maybe just give us some perspective and sort of what they’re thinking on the macro? Is it sort of the same? Is it marginally worse, any better? Any pockets that may be have changed as you look forward since last call?

Kevin Yeaman: Well, it very much depends on the partner, but I would say the one word that would come up consistently and that I probably already said it doesn’t time is uncertainty. I mean, it is an uncertain environment. And I wouldn’t go so far as saying there haven’t been any changes, it’s just that as far as our guidance goes, there have been some end markets and partners that have seen things a little — that have been a little better than what we estimated coming into the year and some that have been a little to the downside, and net-net as a portfolio across all of these devices and ecosystems, we see the underlying business at about where we saw it coming into the year.