Tempur Sealy International, Inc. (NYSE:TPX) Q4 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

Scott Thompson: Yes, probably so. I mean, you’re talking about crystal ball stuff. So, give me a little bit of heads words on this. But look, I suspect €“ let’s say, as we said in the fourth quarter, units were down 20%, 25%. We think we don’t have all the final data yet, but that’s probably certainly in the ZIP code. So, I think going into the first quarter, I suspect that units will be down in the first quarter. That is a very tough compare for the industry. It is the last pre-war compare. So, in the first quarter, we’ll call it projected to be down, and I feel pretty confident that the units would be down in the first quarter. By definition, you’ve got to have some units go the other way. And so, you’d end 2023 with growth in, call it, the third and fourth quarter.

Operator: Thank you. One moment for our next question. And our next question coming from the line of Carla Casella with JPMorgan. Your line is open.

Carla Casella: Hi, thank you. I just want to ask, given kind of the turbulence in the market, that you guys seem to be navigating very well. Is it opening up more M&A opportunities or is there €“ are there thoughts set for you to continue to grow your OEM and expand the business that you need M&A, as well as organic growth?

Scott Thompson: Yes. It’s interesting. As we’ve always said, it’s something in the world is in the bedding industry, and there’s an opportunity we want to look at it. And we do when we look at quite a few opportunities every year. Historically, we’ve done one or two transactions a year. I think we’ve done like nine since I’ve been here. But the whole strategy is really based on purely opportunistic purchases and where we can find a win-win. And so, having said all that, what that means is, look, we look at stuff, sometimes we price stuff. Sometimes the price works and something happens. Sometimes, the price €“ we’re miles apart and nothing happens. And then sometimes the price is pretty close, and we stay close to that particular company for a number of years using the example of Dreams as it is probably the classic one, is, I think we effectively negotiated with them for five years until we both felt like we had a win-win transaction, which I think actually was a win-win transaction for both companies now that we’ve had them for a year.

Some transactions happen very quickly, and the one that comes to mind is Sherwood. I think from start to finish, that might have been more like 30 days, if we were aligned very quickly with that team to what the future look like. So that was a very quick transaction. So, with the market, it had some €“ it was a difficult year, you know when you look back at it, whether you talk about the unexpected war in Europe, the inflation, the rapid unit decline, FX, COVID over in Asia. So, yes, it’s certainly a colorful year. So, are there more opportunities? There probably are. I mean there are more opportunities. Whether or not we ever get aligned on anything, I don’t know. But we continue to talk to people and really look for transactions that are good for both parties, good for our customers, good for the industry, and we’ll continue to talk to people.

Operator: Thank you. And we have one last question in queue coming from the line of Atul Maheswari with UBS. Your line is open.

Atul Maheswari: Hi, thanks for sliding me in, again. I just had a quick question, Bhaskar, on the first quarter guidance. It seems like you’re guiding to a 20% to 25% EPS decline. Could you provide some incremental color on the building blocks that gets you there in terms of revenues, gross margin, and cost?

Scott Thompson: Yes. Before he does that, let me €“ we felt like we needed to give you a little more color on the first quarter. We normally wouldn’t give that much, kind of color on a quarter, but we really want to make sure everybody realizes that’s the last tough comp for the bedding industry and not be surprised if it last pre-war.