Energizer (ENR) Q1 2026 Earnings Call Transcript

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Thursday, February 5, 2026 astatine 10 a.m. ET

• President and Chief Executive Officer — Mark S. LaVigne

• Chief Financial Officer — John J. Drabik

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Mark S. LaVigne: The proviso concatenation realignment is cardinal to restoring margin. These actions presumption america to present implicit 300 ground points of gross borderline enlargement from Q1 to Q2, with different 300 to 400 ground points anticipated by year-end. We besides delivered robust currency procreation that allowed america to wage down implicit $100 cardinal of indebtedness portion returning astir $28 cardinal successful superior to shareholders done dividends and stock repurchases, reinforcing the durability of our currency travel model. Finally, I wanted to walk a little infinitesimal connected our superior allocation strategy, which remains a cornerstone of semipermanent worth creation. We volition proceed to prioritize reducing debt, which straight shifts worth to equity holders portion strengthening our equilibrium sheet.

In summation to reducing leverage, our escaped currency travel supports a balanced shareholder-first superior allocation strategy. We mean to instrumentality superior done an charismatic dividend, which reflects our assurance successful ongoing currency generation, and done stock repurchases erstwhile marketplace conditions make charismatic introduction points. This disciplined deployment of cash, paying down debt, maintaining an charismatic dividend, and buying backmost shares reinforces our committedness to maximizing semipermanent shareholder value. Thank you for your continued assurance successful Energizer Holdings, Inc. And with that, let's unfastened the telephone for questions. Thank you.

Operator: Your archetypal question comes from Lauren Rae Lieberman from Barclays. So 1 4th into the year, wanted to conscionable get a consciousness for however you're reasoning astir things broadly versus what you mightiness person said 3 months ago. So reasoning astir the user backdrop, possibly what you're seeing successful presumption of class trends, immoderate benignant of uptick from backstage label. We cognize the continued unit connected the lower-end user has been a dynamic. And it conscionable feels similar there's a batch of moving parts successful present a precise backmost half-weighted year. So conscionable benignant of grade of assurance successful hitting that ramp successful the 2nd half. Thanks.

Mark S. LaVigne: Sure. Good morning, Lauren. Let maine commencement precocious level. So erstwhile we were gathering our program for '26, we knew it was going to beryllium a transitional commencement to the year. We saw softening user trends successful October and November. We were lapping past year's hurricane-driven demand, and we had immoderate orders which were planned for the archetypal quarter, which benefited '25. On the outgo side, we were managing done elevated tariff pressures, which were the effect of tariffs levied astatine higher than the existent rates. In airy of that, we were reshaping our network, which besides created immoderate short-term operational inefficiencies, including immoderate absorption.