The ODP Corporation (NASDAQ:ODP) Q2 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Anthony Scaglione: Yes. We saw some of that in Q2. So if you think about the disruptions that came into the channel last year, primarily on the ocean freight, that really started to build through Q2, Q3. And you saw that both in how we manage from a cash flow perspective and how we manage from a margin perspective. That’s behind us now. So as we’re starting to land new products with a lower container costs as we turn those products, that will have a better opportunity from a margin recapture perspective. You saw some of that in Q2, and you should be able to see that continuing in Q3, Q4, assuming the growth top line that we’ve outlined in the release.

Gerry Smith: And Jeff, one other thing to add is Anthony and I with Kevin and John and for as we started very beginning of the year, a two to three times a week, we call cash and COGS review with all our merchants and all our procurement people. We made significant progress working with our vendor partners on what should be COGS should be, and so — and we have a very aggressive target to continue to drive COGS across the business. I take the coordinated effort, multiple RFQs going on. But that’s also a nice tailwind for us as we continue to have success across that in the back half has been also setting up 24% as well. And so yes, there’s a mix shift ODP Business Solutions. We want Dave to grow like crazy. But we also know that we’re going to be in a better COGS position.

And candidly, we have the best balance sheet in the segment. I mean, our balance sheet, we’ll name other people, but we’re net cash positive. A lot of others aren’t. And that puts us in a great position with our vendors as well as our customers going forward. I think that’s something very, very strategic that all of you need to look at and say, we’re extremely well positioned over the next three years with our balance sheet and our liquidity.

Jeff Lick: Perfect. I will let others jump in and ask questions and congrats again.

Gerry Smith: Very nice, go Jeff.

Operator: Our next question comes from the line of Michael Lasser with UBS.

Michael Lasser: Good morning. Thanks a lot for taking my question. You reduced your top line guidance for the year at the midpoint from $8.2 billion to $8 billion. We call it a $200 million reduction. How does that $200 million breakdown between the consumer business, Business Solutions and presumably Veyer is a small piece of it given the modest top line growth that, that business has right now?

Anthony Scaglione: Hey Michael. How you’re doing? This is Anthony. It’s predominantly going to be in our Office Depot consumer business. We’re expecting to Gerry’s point, some growth in Business Solutions in the back half, so we factored a cautious view of the six months given our first half performance. So that’s going to be primarily attributable to our B2C business.

Michael Lasser: And on the expected growth in the Business Solutions business in the back half, how does that break down between market share gains and underlying growth in the market, especially because unemployment rate right now is 3.5%. There is a ceiling or a stabilization in return to office, so it would seem like the main environment for the Business Solutions segment, not going to get any easier from here, if anything, it might just get a little tougher.

Anthony Scaglione: Yeah, it’s a great question. It’s one that we’ve, obviously, spent a lot of time analyzing as it relates to the return to office trend with the backdrop of some reductions in ports that you’re seeing from large organizations that obviously have the counteracting impact to growth. But I can be more prouder around what the team has brought together from a market share perspective. We’re seeing our fair share of bids to Gerry’s point, our pipeline is the strongest it’s been ever since I’ve been here for the last three years. So we’re really confident that we’re seeing some opportunities to gain share, as well as continue to work with our customers to grow, and our expectation is we’re going to do both in the back half and setting us up for 24 where we can see some of that tailwind continue.