Dolby Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:DLB) Q4 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

Paul Chung: Got you. And then lastly, on cash flows, it was a bit lighter than expected, but still generating close to $300 million. So what’s the outlook for free cash as you think about 2023 and kind of conversion rates there? And you stepped up the buybacks here materially in the quarter and for the fiscal year at $0.5 billion. So, including the dividend kind of exceeding free cash flow for this year, which is fine given your cash balance. But how do we think about the pace next year? And should we expect kind of the similar buybacks and dividends to kind of exceed free cash flow next year to kind of support shareholder returns here in a difficult environment? Thank you.

Robert Park : Yes. Paul, first, I’d just say that our cash flow from operations generally correlate well with our net income, and you should see that, that should continue over time. There, of course, will be quarterly fluctuations in working capital, timing of payments, time of receipts, et cetera. But that’s a pretty good benchmark to hold that against. As it relates to the buyback for 2023, as you think about our policy, our policy has always been offsetting dilution from stock-based compensation. We’re fortunate to have a very strong balance sheet. We’ve got healthy cash flows, as you just noted. And we look at our capital allocations regularly for optimization opportunities. And you did see that we stepped it up in the second half of 2022.

Going forward, we’ll continue to look at our capital allocation portfolio between investing in the business and opportunities we see and return to shareholders based on the facts and circumstances of the time. But for now, our intent is to at least offset dilution from stock-based compensation, and then we’ll make adjustments as needed. And you did see that we did increase the dividend 8% going forward as well. So we’ve got to balance that allocation between return to shareholders and investing in our business for growth.

Paul Chung: Great. Thank you.

Operator: Thank you, Mr. Chung. The last question is from Jim Goss with Barrington Research. Please proceed.

Jim Goss : Hi. Thank you. I do like the fact that you’ve focused on the foundational technologies that does give a good perspective and core business plus the growth elements. I am curious though, over time, do you re-categorize certain of what are currently growth elements into foundational for example, 10 years into it. Does Atmos become Dolby Digital Plus as sort of a foundational and then you’re moving on to other things? And how should we think of the mix of revenues as the growth elements take over from the foundational elements or what are currently foundational elements?

Kevin Yeaman : Yes. Good question, Jim. I would start by saying that, we are never done at Dolby inventing what it means to have a Dolby experience. So we’re always looking for the next great Dolby experience, and we’re always looking for ways to bring it to more content, more experiences, the content that people most engage with. And so clearly, I’ve said for the mid-term, we expect Dolby Atmos, Dolby Vision and imaging patents to be in that growth mode, and we see that opportunity to double them over that period of time, growing 15% to 25% annually. So yes, I have on occasion thought what am I going to do when we’re on such a high percentage of devices with those experiences that may — yes, maybe there’d be shifts. And by then, of course, we would expect of ourselves to have the next set of great Dolby experiences that we’re talking about.

Jim Goss : Okay. And since you’re sort of creating the categories, it’s early to decide how you redefine them over time to gather?