Plby Group Earnings Call: Honey Birdette Drives Rebound

Plby Group, Inc. ((PLBY)) has held its Q1 earnings call. Read on for the main highlights of the call.

Plby Group’s latest earnings call struck a cautiously upbeat tone, with management emphasizing clear operational momentum despite lingering losses and high leverage. Revenue and adjusted EBITDA improved meaningfully, Honey Birdette continued to outperform, and new media and monetization initiatives showed traction, suggesting a business in recovery mode rather than retreat.

Consolidated Revenue Growth

Plby Group reported Q1 2026 consolidated revenue of $30.2 million, a 5% increase from $28.9 million a year earlier. The improvement reflects growth in key operating segments even as the company intentionally walks away from some legacy licensing deals that weighed on brand positioning.

Material Adjusted EBITDA Improvement

Adjusted EBITDA surged to about $5.0 million, up 111% year over year and marking the fifth straight quarter in positive territory. Excluding litigation costs, adjusted EBITDA would have been roughly $5.8 million, underscoring meaningful underlying margin improvement and better cost discipline.

Honey Birdette Strong Performance

Honey Birdette remained the growth engine, with net revenue climbing to $18.8 million, up 15.4% from last year. The brand posted its sixth consecutive quarter of double-digit brick-and-mortar comparable sales growth and continued strength online, with full-price sales up 23% as pricing power held firm.

U.S. Retail Economics and Expansion Plan

Management highlighted U.S. Honey Birdette stores as the standout performers, delivering roughly 40% four-wall adjusted EBITDA margins and about $1,500 in sales per square foot. With U.S. units generating around three times the profitability of other regions, the company plans to open five new top-tier mall locations over the next 12 months.

Balance Sheet Progress and Deleveraging Path

Plby used proceeds from the UTG China transaction to reduce debt by $15 million, bringing total debt down to $144.9 million. Management expects roughly $37 million more in deleveraging from future UTG payments, targeting net debt well below $100 million as a key strategic objective.

Brand & Media Momentum

The relaunched magazine featuring Karol G generated more than 3 billion media impressions and over 40 million video views, with the print issue selling out online and showing strong newsstand performance. Management said the campaign created tens of millions in earned media value and teased two additional major celebrity covers already in the pipeline.

New Consumer Monetization Initiatives

Plby is testing new monetization levers, including a digital-and-print subscription offering and expanded paid-voting contests tied to talent searches. The first contest drew more than 1.7 million votes from over 17,000 contestants, and the current Playboy x Honey Birdette contest is on track for over 30,000 entrants, with the company seeing a path to multi–seven-figure annual revenue from this format.

Operational Cost Improvements

Corporate adjusted operating expenses, excluding stock-based compensation and transaction items, declined to about $7.1 million, down roughly $1.6 million year over year. Corporate operating expenses excluding brand investment were approximately $6.2 million, driven by personnel reductions and lower occupancy costs, freeing up resources for growth initiatives.

Net Loss and Transaction Costs

Despite operational gains, Plby posted a GAAP net loss of $4.0 million, or a loss of $0.03 per share, for the quarter. The figure included about $3.5 million in transaction costs related to the UTG deal and improved from a $9.0 million loss a year ago, but it shows the company is not yet consistently profitable under GAAP.

Licensing Revenue Pressure and Repositioning

Licensing revenue came in at $10.9 million, slightly below the prior-year quarter, as Plby chose not to renew certain off-brand or legacy licensing agreements. The company also paused new China deals during UTG negotiations, which may weigh on near-term licensing income but is intended to strengthen the brand and economics over time.

Ongoing Litigation and One-Time Adjustments

Management noted that adjusted EBITDA excludes litigation costs, which remain a drag on reported earnings. The company continues to pursue litigation recoveries and legal enforcement efforts tied in part to China, creating one-time expenses and uncertainty around the timing and size of any recoveries.

Uncertainty Around Capital Raise at Honey Birdette

Executives acknowledged ongoing efforts to secure outside capital for Honey Birdette but offered few specifics on timing or structure. While there is reported interest, the lack of clarity on a capital raise introduces execution risk, particularly as the company pursues an ambitious U.S. store expansion plan.

Executional and Competitive Risks for New Initiatives

New digital monetization efforts are not without hiccups, as paid-voting mechanics encountered technical glitches in the first contest before being resolved. Management also declined to issue formal guidance and flagged tougher year-over-year comparisons for Honey Birdette starting in Q2, underscoring uncertainty around sustaining current growth rates.

Material Debt Remains Despite Improvements

Even after the UTG-related paydown, total debt of $144.9 million remains a significant overhang on the balance sheet. Management’s deleveraging plan is central to the equity story, but investors will be watching whether future cash flows, divestiture proceeds and financing actions can reliably push net leverage to the targeted levels.

Directional Outlook and Implied Guidance

Management framed Q1 as a baseline, with revenue at about $30.2 million, adjusted EBITDA near $5.0 million and cash of roughly $34.7 million alongside $144.9 million of debt. While avoiding formal guidance, executives said they expect results to stay “not far off” current trends as Honey Birdette expands U.S. stores, subscription and paywall strategies scale, contests grow into multi–seven-figure revenue streams and licensing is rebuilt on stronger terms.

Plby Group’s call painted a picture of a company rebuilding earnings power through premium retail, brand-led media and new digital monetization while working down a still-heavy debt load. For investors, the story hinges on whether Honey Birdette can sustain its momentum, paid-voting and subscriptions can mature into dependable profit streams and planned deleveraging can materially de-risk the balance sheet over the next several quarters.