Super League Gaming - Earnings Call - Q1 2025

Executive Summary

• Q1 2025 revenue was $2.718M with gross profit $1.196M and EPS of $(0.25); revenue declined sequentially and YoY, but gross margin improved to 44% as management shifted mix to higher‑margin programs.
• Revenue beat S&P Global consensus ($1.712M*) materially; S&P Primary EPS consensus was -$0.126*, while S&P’s Primary EPS actual was -$0.103* versus company-reported EPS of -$0.25, reflecting differing EPS definitions; revenue was a clear beat, EPS comparison is definition-dependent (see Estimates Context).
• Management reiterated it is “on track” to be EBITDA positive in Q4 2025, citing cost reductions (~25% YoY in Q1 OpEx, further ~30% reductions continuing), margin expansion, and revenue diversification into mobile ads (15% of Q1 revenue; targeting ≥25% for 2025).
• Strategic catalysts include the Supersocial acquisition (49 builds, 390M+ visits, 3B+ impressions on Roblox), a ~$20M pipeline across ~97–100 programs, and disciplined M&A to accelerate profitability amid ecosystem changes on Roblox.

What Went Well and What Went Wrong

What Went Well

• Gross margin improved to 44% in Q1 2025 (vs. 38% in FY 2024), reflecting a focus on larger, higher‑margin programs and streamlined operations; management emphasized being “on track” for EBITDA positive in Q4.
• Revenue diversification into mobile ads reached 15% of Q1 revenue and is expected to be ≥25% for FY 2025, broadening audience reach and opening new agency doors.
• Strategic execution: acquisition of Supersocial expanded brand roster and scale on Roblox (49 builds, 390M+ visits, 3B+ impressions); pipeline of nearly $20M across ~100 programs supports near‑term bookings.

What Went Wrong

• Revenue declined to $2.718M (from $4.209M in Q1 2024 and $3.426M in Q4 2024), driven by structural shifts in Roblox’s ad ecosystem and macro-related budget delays; net loss was $(4.230)M.
• Interest expense surged ($1.402M) in Q1 2025 due to changes in fair value of promissory notes; cash decreased to $0.747M, reflecting operating cash outflow and financing dynamics.
• Mobile mix came in at 15% for Q1 2025, below the “close to 20%” signal discussed on the prior call; management still forecasts ≥25% for 2025, but progress will require continued execution and programmatic scale.

Transcript

Operator (participant)

Statements involve material risks and uncertainties, and actual results could differ from those projected in any forward-looking statements due to numerous factors. For a description of these risks and uncertainties, please see Super League's financial statements and MD&A for the first quarter ended March 31st, 2025, available on EDGAR. Important qualifications regarding forward-looking statements are also contained in Super League's earnings release distributed earlier this afternoon and also available on Edgar. Furthermore, the content of this conference call contains time-sensitive information accurate only as of today, May 15th, 2025. Super League undertakes no obligation to revise or otherwise update any statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this call. I'd now like to turn the conference call over to Matt Edelman, President and Chief Executive Officer. Matt, please go ahead.

Matt Edelman (President and CEO)

Thank you so much, Kevin. Good afternoon and evening, everybody. I am pleased to be here to report on Super League's first quarter financial results and provide you with a company update. First and most important, as outlined in our Q4 conference call just a little over a month ago, we are on track with our plan to be EBITDA positive in Q4 2025. We are committed to that result and diligently implementing the operational changes to ensure we get there. While we plan to hit our revenue and gross margin goals, as I will explain we have achieved in Q1, I assure you that if we stumble, we will work to make the necessary adjustments to keep us on track and demonstrate that our day-to-day business can be financially healthy. Super League sits at the thriving intersection of interactive entertainment and advertising.

Consumers spend extraordinary amounts of time at that intersection, consuming playable content or, in other words, playing video games. Average daily time spent by members of Generation Z and Generation Alpha, you can think of it as everyone under the age of 30, is 88.5 minutes across mobile games, Roblox, Fortnite, and Minecraft combined. That exceeds the combined 59.6 daily minutes spent across TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and X. To us and our clients and partners, people who play video games are not just gamers. They are audiences, audiences who play. They're teenagers who love the outdoors. They're 20-somethings who are just starting out in their careers. They are millennial parents trying to make summer plans for their kids. There are even grandparents who want to connect with their grandchildren.

Audiences who play are as ubiquitous and broad as audiences who binge shows on streaming platforms, listen to podcasts, go to concerts, and follow sports teams. With a quick shout-out to New York Knicks, by the way. Almost everyone you know is a player. 85% of consumers game. 94% of Gen Alpha, 92% of Gen Z, 88% of millennials, even 60% of Gen X. Super League knows how to reach and engage audiences who play because we understand the importance to these audiences of playability. When a person is in play mode, they are focused. They are active. Their content consumption has a purpose. They do not want to be interrupted with a video ad or a billboard or a text alert about a product that is on sale or a politician looking for donations.

That's why we focus on playable media, ads and content that are an extension of the play experience. It works. The average time a consumer spends with a brand through ads on TikTok is 15 seconds. On Roblox, for example, the average time spent with playable media and content ranges from one and a half to 11 minutes. Our playable mobile ads generate a click-through rate that is 7x-10x higher than standard digital video ads in the same type of ad inventory. Hearing all this powerful data, I would be asking, why Super League, or perhaps why the intersection of interactive entertainment and advertising, is not already accelerating at warp speed? While it will sound cliché, the answer is that the industry is still in an early stage of development.

Brands and media agencies have grown accustomed to specific types of measurement and attribution to justify which advertising and customer acquisition strategies deserve more investment. Gaming platforms do not yet deliver the complete suite of capabilities that are available in other digital channels, although the industry is making impressive progress, marked most recently by Roblox's announcement that their new rewarded video ad format will soon be able to be purchased through Google's ad solutions. Marketing dollars always follow consumers, but brands do not move quickly. Thankfully, Super League continues to gain the trust of dozens of iconic brands every year, which puts us at the forefront of this important space. We are one of the leaders in making brands playable, and we will be one of the winners.

I'd like to share some of our recent successes, starting with one of our longest-standing partners who remains a pioneer in making their brand playable, Chipotle. Our partnership with Chipotle is in its fourth year and is rooted in our hands-on strategic approach. We have delivered seven projects, including five consumer-facing campaigns, some of which have won innovation awards. We have delivered multiple firsts, captured in headlines such as Chipotle being the first QSR to launch a new ingredient in the metaverse, or the first QSR to debut a new television ad in the metaverse. Our most recent experience became the number one trending game on the Roblox platform and broke into the top 75 most visited games, with consumers rolling 1.27 million virtual burritos in the first day and redeeming 50,000 codes for free real-world burritos in less than three hours.

Consistent with our past efforts, the program contributed to mobile app downloads and mobile food order revenue for Chipotle. Players spent 15 minutes in the experience on average, which we've been told is longer than the average amount of time spent per visit to a Chipotle restaurant. Another super fun program and one of our most ambitious so far this year is with GoGo squeeZ. We could not ask for a brand with a more perfect message. There is no right way to play, just like there is no right way to snack. Based on that statement, it is fitting that this campaign is running across multiple platforms, including mobile games, Minecraft, TikTok, and YouTube. Primary features include GoGo squeeZ mini games and interactive characters in Minecraft, as well as playable mobile ads.

Most exciting is that this is the first time GoGo squeeZ is running a program to reach younger audiences, with all previous campaigns having been parent-focused. In Q1, we also delivered a mini game arcade for Logitech and multiple Roblox experiences and reached Gen Alpha and Gen Z audiences through mobile playable ads for brands as diverse as Hasbro and Accounting+. Yes, we ran a playable media campaign to inspire accounting as a career choice. Perhaps most interestingly, the opportunity to build a Roblox world for Google's Be Internet Awesome campaign, based on the largest curriculum taught globally on internet safety for young students that was recently demoed in person to congressional staffers in Washington, D.C. Now I'd like to talk about Super League's Q1 results.

As I mentioned at the start, we are implementing the realignment plan articulated during my discussion with our Executive Chair, Ann Hand, on our Q4 2024 Earnings Call. It consists of three main pillars: reducing and controlling our costs. Our Q1 operating expense decreased approximately 25% compared to Q1 in the prior year. This has continued into Q2 with staff reductions and a decrease in executive team compensation. Collectively, we have further reduced our operating costs this year by approximately 30%. Number two, increasing and maintaining our gross margin by focusing on higher margin programs. Our Q1 gross margin increased to 44% from 38% for fiscal year 2024. Number three, diversifying our revenue to reduce exposure to strategy or policy changes instituted by major platforms or the unpredictable pace of advancement in the efficacy of their advertising solutions.

Our expansion into mobile continues to excite partners, with mobile representing a steady 15% of our revenue in Q1. We expect mobile to grow to at least 25% of our total revenue in 2025. The good news about our Q1 revenue is that we met our internal goals, the goals that give us ongoing confidence in becoming EBITDA positive in Q4. The less good news is that our goals were self-aware following the shift in our Roblox business in the second half of 2024, which, as a reminder, resulted from the changes in how Roblox determined they needed to grow their advertising revenue directly. Despite the revenue decline, our Q1 2025 net loss decreased 20% compared to Q1 2024.

Looking ahead, our revenue pipeline remains strong with approximately $20 million in active opportunities across 97 unique programs, evenly split between new and returning partners, with an average deal size of approximately $200,000. We continue to deploy various strategies to secure financing, both to support operational needs and to advance targeted strategic opportunities. As you may know, we recently acquired Super Social, an award-winning Roblox studio with clients including Gucci, Elf Beauty, Walmart, Universal Music, and more. With just that one deal, we now have a Roblox business that has delivered 49 immersive builds, racking up more than 390 million visits and 3 billion impressions on the platform. We believe there will be further industry consolidation and see additional exciting opportunities with companies that can accelerate our path to EBITDA positive through clear revenue and cost synergies.

We will remain disciplined in our focus only on opportunities that are accretive and that can also reinforce Super League's position as a leader in the playable media space. Kevin, let's now please move to Q&A.

Operator (participant)

Thank you. Now, before we conduct a question-and-answer session, if you'd like to ask a question, you may do so by using the raise-your-hand function over the web or over the phone. Please press star one to be placed in the question queue. Once again, that's star one to be placed in the question queue or use the raise-your-hand function on the webcast. Our first question today is coming from Howard Halpern. Your line is now live.

Hi. It's nice to talk to you. We have a fast turnaround here. In terms of the acquisition that you just made, what does that say to other potential targets that you're able to acquire something, leverage it, and immediately make it accretive for everybody?

Matt Edelman (President and CEO)

I think it shows that we have an executive team and an infrastructure within the company that can help support opportunities for inorganic growth. And so if there are companies that have an interest in being part of something bigger and accelerating their growth by doing so, they can likely have faith that Super League would be a good partner and a good home for their people, their employees, and the growth of their business.

The recent equity raise, does that give you enough wiggle room, do you believe, to get to your break-even that you want to by the fourth quarter, or do you still might need a little extra boost in there?

I think we are still going to pursue capital raise opportunities in the coming months and at the right times during this year, all the while still heading toward that EBITDA positive outcome in Q4.

Okay. One last one. Are you seeing different agencies now that you're focused on the play part and the mobile part? Are there different agencies that are coming to you or newer agencies even for potential new customers?

That's a great question. I appreciate you asking it. The answer is absolutely. Our expansion into mobile has really opened up the aperture of opportunities for Super League. The demographic audiences and audience segments available through mobile are much more diverse and broad on really every filter than the audiences within the immersive platforms. As a result, our conversations have expanded quite a bit with agencies and brands who believe in the power of play and the opportunities to achieve engagement with their customer base through playable media.

Okay. Thanks, and keep up the great work. It's a start, and it looks like it's a good start so far.

I appreciate that. Thank you, Howard.

Operator (participant)

Thank you. Our next question is coming from Jack Cordero from Maxim Group. Your line is now live.

Hi, this is Jack Cordero calling in for Jack Vande Arg. Thanks for taking my questions. Just one quick question about macro. In the press release, it mentioned macro headwinds. Can you touch on how this is going to impact your business, how maybe you're working to evolve past it? Any color there would be helpful.

Matt Edelman (President and CEO)

Of course. I think the real question that is not yet answered is what might happen with marketing and advertising budgets due to some of the economic uncertainty related to the current macro climate. At the moment, we are not seeing a lot of evidence that budgets are going to be cut. We are seeing some evidence that they are being delayed. For us, the real focus is making sure that we're still putting the right solutions in front of our existing and new partners to make sure that as those budgets are deployed, they're deployed through solutions we bring to the table.

Okay. That's very helpful. Maybe piggyback after our prior question, given that your mobile games has already grown to 15% of revenues, do you have any visibility or expectation of what that will progress maybe by the end of the year and kind of going forward? How big of a chunk of the business is that going to be?

We think that mobile will represent at least 25% of our revenue in 2025. We are on a nice pace to get there and very excited about how it is developing.

Okay. Very helpful. One last question for me. Can you touch a little bit more on the strategic importance of the Super Social acquisition? Any other additional color on your broader thoughts on the M&A landscape would be helpful. Thank you.

Of course. Super Social has been one of many frenemies that we have within the Roblox ecosystem in particular. There are perhaps 8-10 companies who have effectively grown up together as it relates to Roblox. Each has found a bit of their own space and their own niche. There are actually partnerships that a lot of us have engaged in over time to help each other. Super Social is a company we've been close with for several years. It got to the point where their management team felt there was a better way forward for their clients and partners as part of a bigger organization than they could deliver on their own.

The strategic importance for Super League is it puts us into business with some really exciting IP owners and brands and gives us even more of an opportunity to showcase what we're capable of in terms of how to deliver results for those partners. To the second question about the M&A landscape, I think there's, again, an opportunity going forward for probably a handful of businesses in the space who have achieved a level of durability and scale to become bigger inorganically while also growing organically. Super League has proven to be able to pursue M&A successfully and to integrate companies and teams and products successfully. I believe that's going to be a strength of ours going forward. To the extent that consolidation becomes even more active, we have a real opportunity to be a strong and busy participant in the landscape.

Thank you. That's helpful.

Operator (participant)

Thank you. We have reached the end of our question-and-answer session. I would like to turn the floor back over to Matt for any further closing comments.

Matt Edelman (President and CEO)

Thank you, Kevin. I'll conclude today by emphasizing that Super League is on the right path, a path that has started with controlling costs, is set to expand through revenue diversification, and will become increasingly solid underfoot with gross margins that can propel us towards an EBITDA positive Q4. Playability is not a trend. It is a permanent and growing form of engagement that is dominating the amount of time consumers spend with the content of their choice. Think about it. When you are playing a game, your actions directly influence your content experience. That is why you are leaned in. That is why you are immersed. For a brand to capture your attention in these moments, their marketing message has to fit into your world and connect to your state of mind. That requires making the brand playable. That's where Super League shines. Thank you for listening today.

Operator (participant)

Thank you. That does conclude today's teleconference and webcast. We will disconnect your line at this time and have a wonderful day. We thank you for your participation today.