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This story was originally published on December 6, 2018. Much like Santa with his Naughty and Nice list, every holiday season we revisit the ranking to reconsider which films make the cut. The holiday season is upon us, which means it’s time to put away our differences in the interest of peace on earth, goodwill toward others, etc., etc., and kick back with a great Christmas movie , a filmmaking tradition that dates back to the 1898 film Santa Claus . In that one, Santa slides down a chimney, stuffs some stockings, and promptly disappears into the ether; the whole film runs just over one minute long. No one would argue that that early effort was anything but a Christmas movie, but these days, the question comes up frequently: What exactly is a Christmas movie? Is merely being set at Christmas enough? Or is there some elusive other element that makes a Christmas movie a Christmas movie? It’s the old, now tired, “Does Die Hard count?” debate. Well, does it? Opting for a big-tent definition of what constitutes a Christmas movie, this list of the greatest Christmas movies ever made argues, yes, it does, very much so. And not just because it takes place at Christmas. The story of a man trying to repair his life, earn redemption, and keep his family together, Die Hard engages with some key Christmas-movie themes. More than twinkling lights and gift-making elves, we looked to these elements when putting the list together. Also, the movies on this list have to be good. There’s a cynical reason to make a Christmas movie: The demand is high, even for the bad ones, every holiday season, when cable plays them ad nauseam to satisfy Christmas-crazed subscribers. So, sorry, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation — just because you’re unavoidable doesn’t earn you a spot on the list. Another qualifier: We stayed away from the world of made-for-TV movies, though some direct-to-streaming titles did make the cut. That means Hallmark Channel Christmas movies about young people who don’t like each other but then end up liking each other a lot weren’t considered. The list is mostly feature films but with a few shorts thrown in as well. We also opted to include a wide variety of Christmas movies, ranging from established classics to cult horror movies . Not every title will be for everyone, but there should be something for everyone here, whether you want Jimmy Stewart welcoming the season or Santa’s demonic counterpart threatening a dysfunctional family. In the spirit of the season, we erred on the side of generosity. 50. The streaming era has produced many forgettable movies that disappear from memory almost as quickly as they appear under the “Top Picks” header. But some have stuck around, like this goofy, endearing Netflix movie starring Kurt Russell as a gruff but good-hearted ( and hunky ) Santa who spends one busy Christmas Eve helping out a family of troubled kids escape a series of mishaps. Think Adventures in Babysitting , but with St. Nicholas and a musical cameo from Steven van Zandt and his band. A sequel followed in 2020 that, while not quite as good, does expand on Goldie Hawn’s last-minute appearance as Mrs. Claus at the end of the original. 49. A true Christmas oddity, this is the only holiday movie featuring Jimmy Durante as a down-on-his-luck vaudevillian forced to part ways with his trained squirrel as Christmas approaches. That’s the heartbreaking premise of The Great Rupert , but it’s all a set-up to a happy ending in which Durante is reunited with his four-legged friend, the poor get rich, and the rich learn a lesson (a story element that pops up a lot in the flood of Christmas movies released in the years immediately following World War II). The plot lags at times, but Durante’s always fun, and so is Rupert, the delightful creation of producer George Pal, the stop-motion wizard behind Puppetoons . 48. There’s no shortage of Christmas horror movies, some of them quite good (as other entries on this list suggest). But none are quite like Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale , an unwaveringly deadpan Christmas thriller from Finnish director Jalmari Helander ( Sisu ). Onni Tommila plays Pietari, a boy living in a remote corner of Lapland, who comes to fear that a nearby mining operation has unearthed Santa Claus. But not, in his words, the “Coca-Cola Santa,” the real, demonic Santa dedicated to punishing the naughty. As Christmas approaches, and strange occurrences like the mass slaughter of reindeer start to transpire, Pietari and those around him discover the boy is only half-right and the real trouble is even deeper and stranger. Helander and his cast commit to the absurd premise wholeheartedly, allowing Rare Exports to work as a fun yuletide black comedy and a pretty solid supernatural action film at the same time. Fair warning: You’ll never think of Santa’s elves in the same way ever again after watching it. 47. Between this movie and another one a little higher on the list, Billy Bob Thornton has carved himself a nice space in the seamy-underbelly-of-Christmas subgenre. Holiday cheer provides an ironic backdrop for this overlooked-but-quite-good Harold Ramis thriller, starring Thornton and John Cusack as a pair of seedy characters looking to get the hell out of Wichita after ripping off their boss. Unfortunately, they haven’t factored in the possibility that bad weather (to say nothing of double crosses and other unforeseen bits of adversity) will get in their way. Thornton and Cusack make for a great pair, but it’s Oliver Platt who steals his every scene as a drunken lawyer in a film that provides the perfect antidote to the season’s excessive amounts of good cheer and faith in one’s fellow man. 46. Tim Burton isn’t exactly underrepresented on this list, but his second Batman movie is too filled with twinkles and tinsel not to include, even if its mood is ultimately more frightful than festive. The sequel pits Batman (Michael Keaton) against the dreadful Penguin (Danny DeVito) and the alluring Catwoman (Michelle Pfeiffer) against the backdrop of a Gotham City all decked out for the holidays. (One key scene takes place at a Christmas tree-lighting ceremony that goes awry.) Whether it truly celebrates the season or not is open for debate, but watching the film’s superheroics play out in a snowy, light-strewn, postcard-perfect city makes it feel of a piece with Burton’s other Christmas films. 45. There’s been no shortage of scary Santas in movies — see above and below for examples — but few as terrifying as Christopher Plummer in this sometimes brutal thriller. Plummer plays Arthur Reikle, a psychopathic criminal who poses as a mall Santa while scheming to rob a Toronto bank. When a clever clerk (Elliott Gould) gets wise and schemes to rob the robber, a battle of wits ensues. The action plays out across several months, but it’s the early scenes that will make you look askance at any stranger in a Santa costume, no matter how jolly-seeming. 44. Or, if The Ice Harvest isn’t a strong enough antidote, check out this truly twisted slasher about a toy-factory employee who goes on a Yuletide killing spree. Christmas Evil has a premise similar to the much better known Silent Night, Deadly Night , which sparked protests in the streets when it was released four years later. But Silent Night, Deadly Night is just a standard slasher movie in Christmas drag. Christmas Evil plays like a demented piece of outsider art that takes the idea of a killer Santa to some pretty extreme places — including an ending that has to be seen to be believed. John Waters is a fan, which pretty much tells you all you need to know. 43. Before The Nightmare Before Christmas , before Rankin-Bass specials like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer , before even The Great Rupert there was The Insects’ Christmas , from Russian animator Ladislas Starevich. Starevich made a series of films using dead insects as his stars. His Christmas movie expands the cast to include Father Christmas and an animated doll. But insects remain, as the title suggests, front and center in an inventive, enchanting, if a little unsettling, look at how a bunch of bugs (and one frog) celebrate Christmas that climaxes with Santa, a grasshopper, and assorted other bugs skating on a frozen lake. счастливого Рождества to all! 42. What’s Stanley Kubrick’s final film about, really? Is it about one man’s harrowing descent into the erotic underbelly of New York as he wanders around one night? It is. But isn’t it also about a family nearly falling apart then getting back together in time for Christmas? Its final scene, set in a toy-and-Christmas-light-filled FAO Schwarz, suggests that’s the case. The film’s final lines are not directly related to the holidays or, technically speaking, family-friendly. But they, in their own way, encapsulate the season’s spirit of togetherness. 41. As Christmas approaches, all is not well for Henry Brougham (David Niven), a Protestant bishop trying to raise funds for the glorious new cathedral of his dreams — a project that’s led him to neglect his wife, Julia (Loretta Young), and daughter and cause him to lose sight of his roots as a minister to the needy. Enter Dudley (Cary Grant), an angel determined to set Henry on the right path. The only trouble: He finds himself increasingly wanting to spend time with Julia instead. The film’s a bit pokily directed at times, but Young and Grant’s chemistry smooths over some rough patches — particularly when Grant gets a wistful look in his eyes suggesting that he might call heaven his home but he knows he could find even greater happiness on earth with Young’s character by his side. ( The Preacher’s Wife , the 1996 remake starring Denzel Washington and Whitney Houston, is also worth a look.) 40. Everyone knows that Christmas is about three things: spiritual reflection, spending time with family, and debutante balls. Or at least that’s what the season means for the self-described Urbane Haute Bourgeoisie of Whit Stillman’s Metropolitan , upper-class (and upper-class-adjacent) Manhattanites who spend their evenings attending deb events and their after-hours discussing life, politics, literature, and whatever else comes to mind. Edward Clements stars as Tom, a not-that-privileged college student who falls in with a more upper-crust crowd where he’s befriended by the acidic Nick (Chris Eigeman) and Audrey (Carolyn Farina), with whom he becomes infatuated. Audrey’s fondness for Jane Austen provides the strongest clue as to what Stillman’s up to with this fond but unsparing comedy of manners set among a group of not-quite-adults just before they have to decide what they do with the rest of their lives. It’s a spiritual reflection of a different sort, the kind loaded with endearing characters, witty lines, and unexpectedly touching moments. 39. What is Scrooged trying to say, anyway? You can watch the film over and over — easy to do if you have a cable subscription in December, when it plays all the time — and never quite figure it out. Is it a pitch-black comedy about the commercialization of Christmas? Is it a cynical send-up of our once-a-year celebration of kindness and selflessness? Is it a sincere depiction of a man being transformed by the holidays? It’s a tough film to pin down, probably because the darkly comic sensibilities of star Bill Murray and writers Mitch Glazer and Michael O’Donoghue often seem at odds with that of blockbuster director Richard Donner. But what makes this Reagan-era update on Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol — in which Murray plays a cold-hearted TV network president visited by Christmas spirits — flawed also makes it fascinating, and Carol Kane is especially fun as the Ghost of Christmas Present. Worth noting: Dickens’s classic looms large over the Christmas-movie genre, making this just one of many A Christmas Carol adaptations to make the list. Others include ... 38. For a more tuneful version of the Dickens tale, there’s this 1970 musical starring Albert Finney as the eponymous miser. Finney holds nothing back as Scrooge, truly living up to the moniker “the Meanest Man in the Whole Wide World” given to him in “Father Christmas,” one of many earworm-y songs written by Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory songwriter Leslie Bricusse. Highlights include Alec Guinness as a spooky Jacob Marley and a truly scary Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. It’s a big, occasionally tacky, but quite fun take on the familiar story. 35. All three of these movies raise a question: How much Christmas does a movie need to be a Christmas movie ? All are great films that set key scenes at Christmastime, but is it fair to call them Christmas movies? In the generous spirit of the season, let’s include them (but let’s also rank them a little lower than some others because so much of their narratives don’t take place during the holidays). All also have moments so Christmassy it would be a shame not to include them. Gillian Armstrong’s 1994 Little Women adaptation gets the nod for the moving way it stages the moment when Beth (Claire Danes) receives a piano for Christmas (and Danes’s heartrending expression of overwhelming joy). Greta Gerwig’s 2019 version has to be included for the moment when Bob Odenkirk’s Mr. March returns home for Christmas and embraces his family while calling them “my little women.” Vincente Minnelli’s classic 1944 musical spans a year in the life of St. Louis’s Smith family, but it’s a year in which a Christmas ball plays a pivotal role and features Judy Garland debuting “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” now a Christmas standard (albeit one no one has performed more heartbreakingly than Garland). 34. With her follow-up to Something’s Gotta Give , Nancy Myers seemingly set out to ask the question, If I cast four actors who really have no business appearing in a soft-edged romantic comedy in my next movie, could I make it work anyway? The answer: kind of? Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet play, respectively, a tightly wound editor of movie trailers and a British newspaper reporter who decide to swap houses shortly before Christmas. This leads Winslet’s character, now in L.A., to befriend an aging screenwriter played by Eli Wallach and (eventually) fall for a kindhearted composer played by Jack Black. Meanwhile, Diaz’s character, installed in Surrey, unwittingly hooks up with the brother of Winslet’s character, played by Jude Law. It’s a somewhat shapeless movie that goes on too long, but it also has an undeniable, nap-friendly, tryptophan-like charm as four beautiful people overcome the ridiculously small hurdles keeping them from getting together in two photogenic environments. (Also, Wallach’s a lot of fun.) 33. Bob Hope didn’t so much play characters as variations on the Bob Hope persona, a wisecracking coward with a tendency to get in way over his head then make matters worse for himself. Hope’s not the most obvious fit for a Damon Runyon adaptation, much less a Christmas-themed Runyon adaptation with a deep sentimental streak, but their sensibilities end up meshing pretty well anyway in this 1951 comedy. Hope plays the eponymous character, a con artist who has to flee Florida for New York in order to pay off a debt to a gangster. The ensuing scam involves criminals dressed as Santa and a fake retirement home for “Old Dolls.” The inspired slapstick bits reportedly come from the brilliant animator-turned-director Frank Tashlin, but it’s Hope and co-star Marilyn Maxwell’s performance of the then-new “Silver Bells” that’s ensured the film its spot in the Christmas-movie canon. 32. Nostalgia and holidays both have a way of warping emotions. Combined, they’re hard to resist, especially when it comes to movies that won us over when we were younger. That’s why it’s impossible not to include Home Alone — the John Hughes–scripted, Chris Columbus–directed hit in which Macaulay Culkin finds himself unexpectedly left behind when his family mistakenly flies to Paris without him. But it would be unfair to rank it any higher. Have you watched it? Lately? As a grown-up? Like, watched it all the way through from the shrill opening filled with obnoxious kids to the leadenly staged slapstick climax? It’s a much rougher ride than you might remember. Still, Culkin’s charming, and the sentimental ending works every time. Just ask George Costanza . 31. Few movies have been embraced and rejected, rejected and embraced with the ferocity of Richard Curtis’s 2003 holiday smorgasbord of new love, old love, dying love, Prime Minister love, and porn-movie love. It’s unabashedly corny and sometimes annoyingly smug and simplistic in its take on love, but there’s just so much going on in the movie that it’s hard to reject it wholesale. Don’t like the silly story line in which some luckless Brits fly to America to test the theory that their accents will make them a hit with women? Just stay tuned for a wrenching tale of infidelity starring Alan Rickman and Emma Thompson. Plus, it features the quintessential Bill Nighy performance as a washed-up rock star made miserable by his success, a true present any time of year. 30. Janet Leigh plays Connie, a war widow who unexpectedly becomes the center of a love triangle when her longtime suitor Carl (Wendell Corey) meets an unexpected rival in the form of Steve (Robert Mitchum), a veteran trying to figure out his place in the postwar world. Steve finds himself infatuated with Connie after they meet-cute in a department store — he’s a clerk, she’s a Christmastime undercover shopper — then starts a hard sell, asking him to dump Carl and take a chance on him. Mitchum’s tough-guy demeanor serves him well here, giving an odd energy to the love story. His character is sometimes written as too pushy, but the scene in which he declares his intentions over Christmas dinner, a moment where there’s no room for lies, is downright electric — and the final scene is a stunner. 29. Shane Black often sets his films against a Christmas backdrop, but where Lethal Weapon , Iron Man 3 , and others feel like films that happen to take place at Christmas, Black’s directorial debut feels like it could only take place at Christmas thanks to its themes of redemption, forgiveness, and rebirth. Here it’s New York thief Harry Lockhart (Robert Downey Jr.) in need of a new start, which he gets when he’s mistakenly asked to audition for a role in a Hollywood movie. Once there, he falls into a mystery tied to his own past when he reconnects with a childhood friend (Michelle Monaghan) and reluctantly partners with a private eye (Val Kilmer). The twists, rapid-fire banter, and love of seedy crime fiction are familiar Black trademarks, but the concern for Harry’s happiness and connections with others — brought to life by the performance that cemented Downey’s comeback — make this Black’s most heartfelt script. 28. Sometimes the right actor in the right role is pretty much all you need. This pleasant, goofy film stars Will Ferrell as Buddy, a human who’s grown up at the North Pole living under the mistaken impression that he’s an elf, despite developing into a lumbering adult with little skill for elfish endeavors such as toy-making. Eventually, he has to find his way in the human world when he travels to New York in search of his birth father (James Caan). As a cynical department-store employee, Zooey Deschanel provides a fun contrast to Ferrell’s wild-eyed enthusiasm. The film’s more winning the less it relies on wild antics, but Ferrell and others make sure it stays heartfelt throughout. 27. Aardman Animations, the studio behind the Wallace and Gromit shorts and Chicken Run , brings its own particular whimsical sensibility to a holiday tale with this playful look inside the inner workings of the North Pole, where the latest in a long line of Santas (Jim Broadbent) seems reluctant to give up his post to one of his sons. Steven Claus (Hugh Laurie), who’s been running the operation for his dad with military precision, seems the obvious successor, but it’s the bumbling Arthur (James McAvoy) who best embodies the Christmas spirit, as evidenced by his mad rush to make sure the one kid who mistakenly got the wrong present doesn’t wake up disappointed on Christmas morning. The film mixes clever ideas — dig that high-tech North Pole! — with real warmth, making it feel like nothing less than the future of Christmas itself rests on Arthur’s shoulders. 26. The first big-screen Muppet project after the 1990 death of Jim Henson, A Muppet Christmas Carol features some terrific Paul Williams songs, and smartly slots the always charming Muppets in the familiar Dickens roles. (Kermit and Piggy play the Cratchits, naturally, yet it’s details like the Swedish Chef as a party cook that make it a particular delight for longtime fans.) In the end, though, what makes the movies is Michael Caine’s performance as Ebenezer Scrooge. Caine plays it straight, as if he doesn’t even realize he’s surrounded by puppets, ensuring that the movie works as a moving Dickens adaptation first, and a Muppet movie second. 25. A true cult classic, this low-budget noir directed by Allen Baron unfolds against the backdrop of a New York decked out for the holidays. Yet it’s anything but a merry Christmas for Frank Bono (also Baron), a Cleveland hit man who’s in town to do a job. Mixing gritty location shooting with lyrical narration, it mixes pulpy themes with a feeling of existential loneliness. The movie would work if it weren’t set at Christmas, but the holiday cheer ratchets up the sense of alienation and despair. Not everyone is destined to have happy holidays. Some might not even make it out alive. 24. Arthur Christmas too heartwarming for you? Then try Bob Clark’s classic horror film, in which a mysterious killer starts picking off members of a sorority house one by one during the lead-up to Christmas. Shot on and near the University of Toronto campus, it’s secretly one of the most influential horror films of all time, inspiring Halloween and all the slasher films that followed. Beyond its odd cast (Margot Kidder! SCTV ’s Andrea Martin! Romeo and Juliet star Olivia Hussey! 2001: A Space Odyssey ’s Keir Dullea!), it’s notable for using Christmas trappings to unnerving effect, including a truly memorable final scene. (Clark, who’d later go on to direct Porky’s , would return to Christmas with a much different movie less than a decade later.) 23. Is this a Christmas movie or a Halloween movie? Why choose one when it’s obviously both? The Nightmare Before Christmas has become such a Halloween marketing bonanza — with images of protagonists Jack Skellington and Sally becoming unavoidable every October — that it’s easy to forget it’s at heart the story of a kindhearted ghoulish spirit learning the true meaning of Christmas. (That its most famous song repeats the words “This is Halloween!” over and over again probably doesn’t help.) Directed by stop-motion wizard Henry Selick from a story and designs by Tim Burton, it plays like a sweet-creepy take on a Rankin-Bass Christmas special, building an elaborate mythology out of the holidays and populating it with endearing characters with lessons to learn and adversity to overcome. 22. Much like Nightmare Before Christmas , Joe Dante’s enduring horror favorite Gremlins plays like someone wanted to see how badly a bunch of little monsters could screw up the setting of another Christmas classic. The answer: pretty badly! Set in an idyllic American town straight out of It’s a Wonderful Life — its name, Kingston Falls, even hearkens back to that movie’s Bedford Falls — Gremlins features a cuddly little creature whose evil offspring run amok all over a sweet burg as it gets ready to celebrate the Christmas season. As usual, Dante mixes mockery with celebration, and the film evolves from a horror movie into a freewheeling send-up of both the holidays and the Hollywood movies that celebrate them. 21. Neither Disney animation nor its biggest star, Mickey Mouse, were riding high in the early ’80s. Disney had suffered a string of disappointments and setbacks, and though he remained an inescapable icon, Mickey hadn’t been seen in movie theaters since the ’50s. But this adaptation of the Dickens story suggested there might be life in both yet. Running just 26 minutes — and originally serving as the opener for a rerelease of The Rescuers — Mickey’s Christmas Carol offers a brisk, moving take on the familiar story. Scrooge McDuck (who else?) assumes the Scrooge role, but it’s Mickey and Minnie’s turns as the Cratchits that give the lovingly animated film its heart. After years of cutting corners and coasting on past triumphs, it provided an early sign that Disney was trying again — almost as if the studio has been visited by spirits reminding it what really mattered or something. 20. Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck famously co-starred in Billy Wilder’s 1944 noir Double Indemnity , but that’s just one of four films to pair them together. They first teamed up for this 1940 Christmas romance in which Fred MacMurray plays John Sargent, a hard-charging DA who, through a misunderstanding, comes to spend the days before Christmas with Lee Leander (Barbara Stanwyck), a small-time jewel thief he’s prosecuting. They start to fall in love during a road trip to Indiana, a sojourn that almost allows them to forget that John still has to try to send Lee to jail when they get back. Directed by Mitchell Leisen from a Preston Sturges script, Remember the Night begins as a broad, brisk comedy but shifts moods as John learns about Lee’s difficult past. In a classic holiday-spirit turn, he comes to realize the advantages his loving family have bestowed upon him once he sees how appreciative Lee is after sharing the first warm Christmas morning of her life with his family. 19. A movie about holiday togetherness that focuses on three characters that would rather be anywhere else (at least at first), Alexander Payne’s 1970-set comedy stars Paul Giamatti as Paul, a boarding-school teacher unexpectedly saddled with caring for a handful of boys with nowhere else to go at Christmastime. When that bunch gets reduced to just one bright, sad, rebellious kid named Angus (Dominic Sessa), Paul finds himself forced to open up for the first time in years, both to Angus and Mary (Da’Vine Joy Randolph), the head of the school’s cafeteria services who’s remained behind to provide meals. Mary’s still mourning the loss of her son in Vietnam, and Angus has family problems that remain veiled until late in the film. They seemingly have nothing in common, but Payne’s film evolves from a comedy of awkward interactions to a bittersweet celebration of togetherness that unfolds on the edge of despair. 18. French cinematic pioneer Georges Méliès’s contribution to the Christmas-film canon offers little in the way of narrative, just an abundance of turn-of-the-century Christmas imagery as a pair of sleeping children imagine a winter wonderland filled with frolicking musicians, holiday revelers, and, of course, Père Noël himself. It’s a lovely, whimsical short film that captures the inventive director in a festive mood, and immortalizes on film ways of celebrating Christmas that otherwise might have faded from memory. 17. A song of yearning for holiday togetherness the singer suspects he’ll never find again, Bing Crosby’s recording of the Irving Berlin song “White Christmas” became a runaway hit in 1942 as America adjusted to the loss and separation of World War II. Its success was spurred on by the August release of Holiday Inn , a musical conceived by Berlin that starred Crosby and Fred Astaire as collaborators who break up and reunite over the course of a year, all against the backdrop of a country inn only open on holidays. (All the better to showcase Berlin’s knack for crafting holiday-themed hits.) With Danny Kaye subbing in for Astaire, Berlin and Crosby teamed up 12 years later for White Christmas , another holiday musical set at an idyllic getaway. Both films have become Christmas staples, and both have much to recommend them. Featuring top-drawer Berlin songs and one memorable scene after another — Astaire tap dances while smoking and setting off fireworks in one — and elegant direction by Mark Sandrich, Holiday Inn is the better film by a good measure, but watching it means grappling with an ugly blackface number mid-film. (To make matters worse, skipping the scene altogether would result in missing an important plot point.) White Christmas , on the other hand, features fewer songs and a sleepy, low-stakes plot as Crosby and Kaye romance (sort of) a sister act played by Rosemary Clooney and Vera Ellen. Still, its aggressive, Technicolor pleasantness has its own charms. 15. Tim Burton clearly has a fondness for Christmas that extends beyond A Nightmare Before Christmas . Batman Returns , for one, uses the holiday to memorable effect. But Burton’s Edward Scissorhands goes even further, treating a sensitive, lab-created man with scissors for hands (Johnny Depp) as a Christ-like, too-pure-for-this-world figure who descends on an American suburb where he’s celebrated, then persecuted. The first collaboration between Burton and Depp, a team-up that would become less welcome as the years piled up, is a lovely celebration of outsiders that captures the Burton sensibility in its purest form, elevating his sympathy for monsters and a disdain for the “normal” world into a moral drama filled with arresting images. 14. Not unlike Scissorhands , John Ford’s 3 Godfathers similarly uses echoes of the story of Christ to tremendous effect. A rare Christmas Western, the film stars John Wayne as one of a trio of bank robbers who agree to care for a newborn child while fleeing the law in Death Valley. Ford’s biblical echoes aren’t subtle, nor are they intended to be, but Wayne keeps the film, and its themes of redemption and rebirth, grounded with one of his most sensitive performances. 13. A great Christmas movie that not enough people talk about, It Happened on Fifth Avenue opens with the homeless sage Aloysius T. McKeever (Victor More) moving, as he does every Christmas season, into the luxurious Manhattan home of vacationing tycoon Michael J. O’Connor (Charles Ruggles). From there the film keeps piling on the complications as it breaks down the divide between the haves and the have-nots. McKeever is soon joined by a displaced World War II vet (Don DeFore) and O’Connor’s daughter Mary (Ann Harding), who doesn’t let on that she’s loaded and knows the house even better than those squatting there. The house grows more crowded, new loves get kindled, old loves get renewed, and O’Connor is forced to do a Scrooge-like about-face when he gets reacquainted with those less fortunate than him. Directed by Roy Del Ruth, who took on the project after Frank Capra decided to make It’s a Wonderful Life instead, It Happened on Fifth Avenue earns its warmth honestly, tethering a tale of fresh starts and changed hearts to the real difficulties faced by those reaching for the American dream in a postwar era that was supposed to bring prosperity for all. 12. In a film as sexy as it is funny, Barbara Stanwyck plays Elizabeth Lane, a magazine columnist who risks being exposed as a phony if she can’t create the perfect Christmas at the Connecticut home she’s writing about as part of a PR stunt to reward recuperating GI Jefferson Jones (Dennis Morgan), who’s been dreaming of tasting her recipes while serving in World War II. The only problem: There is no Connecticut home, and she can’t cook. The farcical complications pile up from there, and Stanwyck deftly balances Elizabeth’s mounting sense of panic with wry humor as she reckons with her unexpected desire for Jones — a desire that has popped up just after she’s decided to give up on love in return for a marriage of convenience. Director Peter Godfrey keeps the action fast and light while trusting Stanwyck to excellently bring her character’s dilemma to life, even if it involves changing a diaper as if she’s never seen a baby before in her life. 11. Produced as the planet descended into another World War, this 1939 short , like many animated films, depicts a world populated by wide-eyed cartoon animals. The difference: They’ve inherited the Earth from humanity, whose habit of making war has led to its destruction. Directed for MGM by the influential animation pioneer Hugh Harman — who, with his partner Rudy Ising, had already logged stints working for Walt Disney and Warner Bros. — it’s a masterfully downbeat vision of the future; the cute protagonists, with their enthusiasm for keeping Christmas traditions alive, do little to offset the short film’s depictions of the horrors of war and the ways we fail to live up to our noblest principles. When Fred Quimby, William Hanna, and Joseph Barbera remade it 16 years later as the also-great Good Will to Men , they had to change little beyond the addition of nuclear war and other up-to-date threats. 10. The end of the year can be a confusing time of reflection for those who feel they don’t have anything to celebrate. That feeling is captured beautifully in Scottish director Bill Forsyth’s tale of a Glasgow DJ (Bill Paterson), who finds himself unexpectedly alone when he’s dumped by his girlfriend shortly before Christmas. Adrift, he finds himself drawn into a turf war between two rival ice-cream vendors, a conflict that might offer him a chance to start over, or might drive him to the brink of madness. Paterson beautifully depicts a man who’s quietly, and sometimes not so quietly, experiencing a nervous breakdown as the world around him grows stranger and more absurd. That it all somehow builds toward a hilarious moment of reconciliation involving an unexpected new ice-cream product is just one of many little miracles in a Christmas movie that takes a roundabout way to celebrating the season’s possibilities of renewal and rebirth, but still gets there all the same. 9. It takes time for a film to emerge as a Christmas classic, and while this one may not end up being shown in constant rotation alongside A Christmas Story and Home Alone , let’s stake an early claim for Sean Baker’s Tangerine , a film that follows the Christmas spirit into some unexpected corners . Kitana Kiki Rodriguez and Mya Taylor co-star as, respectively, Sin-Dee and Alexandra, a pair of transgender sex workers living on the fringes of Los Angeles. Released from jail on Christmas Eve, Sin-Dee is driven to frustration when she learns that her pimp/lover Chester (James Ransone) is cheating on her as Alexandra prepares for a musical performance. Chaos mounts as day turns into night in the hours before Christmas. Baker’s film, co-written by Chris Bergoch, alternates laughs and shocks, but it keeps circling back to how this particular Christmas has become a crossroads for its central characters, and how much they need each other if they’re going to make it through another year. It all ends with an image that, in its own way, is as warm and generous as Charlie Brown’s friends reviving a seemingly hopeless tree. You might have noticed that this list — some notable exceptions aside — is dominated by stories of prosperous white families. Among its other virtues, Tangerine serves as a corrective to that tradition, serving as a reminder that Christmas isn’t limited to the land of picket fences and neatly trimmed trees. It’s a film as vital, alive, and in touch with the holiday as more traditional entries — an invitation to other filmmakers to redefine what a Christmas movie can be, and as much a story about the importance of human kindness as the one that tops this list. 8. Like Comfort and Joy , Todd Haynes’s Carol depicts the holidays as a time of possibility and peril as an intense, forbidden romance plays out against the backdrop of the 1952 Christmas season. The film stars Cate Blanchett as the eponymous unhappy housewife, a woman who unexpectedly falls for Therese (Rooney Mara), a store clerk. But their relationship seems doomed before it really begins once it threatens Carol’s ability to see her child, leaving her with an impossible choice. Inspired by Brief Encounter and adapted from a 1952 novel by Patricia Highsmith, otherwise best known for pitiless crime fiction like The Talented Mr. Ripley , Carol uses its holiday setting as more than a backdrop: Haynes bathes the films in Christmas lights, sure, but he also captures the spirit of a season through Carol and Therese’s relationship. The passing of one year gives way to a potential new beginning of the next — for those who can make it to the other side. 7. Odd as it may sound, many of the same qualities in Carol also make Die Hard a great Christmas movie, no matter what star Bruce Willis says . Yes, the John McTiernan–directed movie is one of the best action movies ever made; yes, it’s endlessly quotable; and, yes, it transformed Willis from that guy on Moonlighting who occasionally put out music under a different persona into a full-fledged movie star. But it’s also a story of loss and renewal in which Willis’s New York cop John McClane has to navigate the strange world of L.A. and take down a bunch of Eurotrash pseudo-terrorists in order to repair his marriage. And that’s no small part of the movie. Reconciling with his wife in time for the holidays is McClane’s mission. The rest is just a sidetrack, though neither goal will be easy. Still, he guns down the bad guys and emerges from the confrontation bloody and with a sense of forgiveness. Merry Christmas to all! 6. A proudly mean-spirited black comedy seemingly at war with the Christmas spirit, Bad Santa somehow loops all the way back around to being a heartwarming Christmas movie about one man’s redemption. It’s a weird trick, pulled off in large part thanks to star Billy Bob Thornton’s performance as a hard-drinking con artist who uses his work as a mall Santa as a setup for grand larceny. Actually, “hard-drinking” doesn’t begin to describe Thornton’s Willie Soke, who spends much of the film in a near-stuporous state yet still manages to form an unlikely makeshift family with a misfit kid (Brett Kelly) and a bartender (Lauren Graham) with a thing for Santas. With able support from Bernie Mac and John Ritter, director Terry Zwigoff keeps the humor dark without losing sight of his characters’ humanity — however deep they might sink into a drunken haze. 5. Making his second appearance on this list with a much different Christmas movie, director Bob Clark’s venerable 1983 film adapts storyteller and radio personality Jean Shepherd’s tales of growing up in Hammond, Indiana, while cutting nostalgia and sentiment with just the right amounts of broad, occasionally dark, comedy. (And, it has to be noted, some pretty unfortunate racial stereotypes toward the end.) The episodic film follows Ralphie (Peter Billingsley) in the days before Christmas, when he wants nothing more than a Red Ryder air rifle — and seems destined not to get one. Narrated by Shepherd himself, it mixes big comic moments, like a kid getting his tongue stuck to a stop sign, with affection for family life and days gone by. Clark renders the memories of growing up in a particular time and place so well that Shepherd’s Hammond — its name changed to “Hohman” — becomes an idealized stand-in for any time and every place. 4. There are many great romantic movies set at Christmas, but somehow The Shop Around the Corner still stands above them all. Maybe it’s the irresistible premise: A pair of feuding co-workers don’t realize they’re falling in love with one another via anonymous letters. (If that sounds familiar, it’s because Nora Ephron drew on the same source material — the Miklós László play Parfumerie — for You’ve Got Mail .) Maybe it’s a cast headed by Jimmy Stewart and Margaret Sullivan and filled out with colorful character actors. Maybe it’s because few directors have balanced lightness and romance like Ernst Lubitsch. Whatever the case, it’s both a peerless romantic comedy and one of the great Christmas movies, weaving themes of forgiveness and second chances into a love story that reflects the season in which it takes place. 3. What makes an adaptation of A Christmas Carol great? Above all, it’s the actor playing Ebenezer Scrooge. There have been many memorable movie Scrooges (take a look at the multiple entries above), but few as memorable as Alastair Sim. He’s not just terrifyingly convincing as a pitiless miser in the film’s early scenes but also heartbreakingly affecting as a changed man in its closing moments. Not that Sim doesn’t get help from director Brian Desmond Hurst, who whisks the action along while surrounding his lead with lushly realized Victorian trappings and an able supporting cast. But the film rests on Sim’s shoulders, and it’s not hard to see why he’s yet to be supplanted as the definitive Scrooge. 2. Here’s a question: What was going on that led to so many great Christmas movies being released in 1947? That year saw the release of The Bishop’s Wife , It Happened on Fifth Avenue (see above), and offered most viewers their first chance to see the greatest Christmas movie of all time (see below). It also produced this lovely story of a girl (Natalie Wood) whose mother (Maureen O’Hara) unwittingly hires someone who may be the actual Kris Kringle as a department-store Santa at Macy’s. What follows is part fantasy, part romance (as O’Hara’s character starts to fall for a charming neighbor), part indictment of commercialism, part defense of letting children be children as long as they can, and part legal thriller (well, sort of). Mostly, the film, written and directed by George Seaton, is an irresistible bit of Christmas whimsy made unforgettable by Edmund Gwenn’s turn as the man who might be Santa. 1. What else? Really, what other film could top a list of the greatest Christmas movies of all time? Frank Capra’s enduring classic stars Jimmy Stewart as George Bailey, the unwitting savior of Bedford Falls, a man whose goodness and generosity has touched more people than he realizes. In fact, as one bleak Christmas looms, he doesn’t realize it at all and is ready to commit suicide — until an angel named Clarence (Henry Travers) arrives to show him the error of his ways. Though it’s become synonymous with holiday cheer, Capra’s film works because of its willingness to go to some dark places, and because of Stewart’s ability to play a gregarious goof one moment and a man whose world comes crashing down the next. Curiously, the film didn’t go into wide release until after Christmas in January of 1947, which might have contributed to its underwhelming box-office performance. But it received a second life thanks to relentless airings on local television in the ’70s and ’80s, where its depiction of one man’s dark night of the soul (and a nightmarish vision of what unrestrained greed looks like without those interested in fairness and justice to stand in the way of the Mr. Potters of the world) connected with a new generation. It’s not hard to see why. It’s grounded in details of the times that inspired it — the Depression, World War II — but its vision of holiday kindness, and of the sort of country most of us would want to live in and the values of kindness and generosity most of us share, remains timeless.In conclusion, while the absence of Calafiori, Tinelli, and four other players from the public training session may have raised some questions, it is clear that they are fully committed to their development and the success of the team. Through their dedication to individual training programs, these players are striving to reach new levels of performance and contribute significantly to the Sky's continued success on the football field.By Krystal Hu, Kenrick Cai and Echo Wang (Reuters) – Software firm Databricks is nearing a deal that could become one of the largest venture capital funding rounds in history, as investors have shown a strong appetite to own a piece of the fast-growing data analytics firm, three sources said on Friday. The round, almost twice oversubscribed, could top $9.5 billion when it is finalized next week, exceeding the company’s original goal and higher than what was discussed earlier, the sources told Reuters, cautioning the final number could still go up. The San Francisco-based company, which helps enterprises process and analyze their data, is expected to fetch a valuation of over $60 billion at a price of $92.50 per share. That price is considered a bargain in the eyes of some investors, given that the company’s projected revenue for the next fiscal year is $3.8 billion, said the sources, who requested anonymity to discuss private matters. Thrive Capital and returning investors Andreessen Horowitz, Insight Partners, as well as Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC are expected to lead this mega round, according to one of the sources. In conjunction with the equity raise, the company is also in talks to raise $4.5 billion in debt financing, including a $2.5 billion term loan from direct lenders, one of the sources added. Bloomberg first reported on the private debt raise. Databricks, founded in 2013, is a data analytics and artificial-intelligence company. It provides a cloud-based platform to help enterprises build and govern data and AI applications. Databricks and Thrive Capital declined to comment. Insight, Andreessen Horowitz and GIC did not immediately respond to request for comment. This high-profile round would mark a jump in valuation for the 11-year-old company that has yet to make a profit. The firm was valued at $43 billion in September. The move would also be a major win for early employees, as the company plans to dedicate the funding to buy back expiring restricted stock units from early employees and cover the associated tax costs. As part of the deal, the company plans to issue preferred shares to investors participating in the round, the sources said. Databricks has benefited from the AI boom by selling more tools that help clients build and deploy AI applications using the growing volume of data they already store with the company. It competes with Snowflake, which commands a market cap of about $56 billion with expected revenue of $3.4 billion in the fiscal year ending in January 2025. The move to raise outsized funding specifically to address the expiring employee options issue, instead of adding to its balance sheet, mirrors a move by payment company Stripe, which raised $6.5 billion last year at a valuation of $50 billion. Such mega deals highlight the amount of funds available in the venture capital system and the appetite for top-notch names. Investors are doubling down on AI companies and supporting firms to remain private longer, enabling rarely seen round sizes such as OpenAI’s $6.5 billion raise at a $165 billion valuation and xAI’s $6 billion raise. The move signals that Databricks and other top public market candidates are in no rush to go public, despite expectations of a resurgence of venture capital-backed initial public offerings in 2025. (Reporting by Krystal Hu in Toronto, Kenrick Cai in Vancouver and Echo Wang in New York; Editing by Matthew Lewis) Disclaimer: This report is auto generated from the Reuters news service. 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ST. HELENA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec 5, 2024-- The Duckhorn Portfolio, Inc. (NYSE: NAPA) (the “Company”) today reported its financial results for the three months ended October 31, 2024. First Quarter 2025 Highlights “We are pleased to begin fiscal 2025 with strong financial performance. Our growth continues to outpace the industry as our teams remain focused on advancing our strategic initiatives,” said Deirdre Mahlan, President, CEO and Chairperson. “We believe our distinctive brands, operational excellence and market-leading performance leave us well positioned to deliver long-term growth and profitability.” First Quarter 2025 Results Three months ended October 31, 2024 2023 Net sales growth (decline) 19.9 % (5.2 )% Volume contribution 24.7 % (3.4 )% Price / mix contribution (4.8 )% (1.8 )% Three months ended October 31, 2024 2023 Wholesale – Distributors 79.3 % 77.0 % Wholesale – California direct to trade 13.9 15.6 DTC 6.8 7.4 Net sales 100.0 % 100.0 % Net sales were $122.9 million, an increase of $20.4 million, or 19.9%, versus $102.5 million in the prior year period. The increase was driven primarily by the addition of Sonoma-Cutrer, partially offset by a lower price / mix contribution. Gross profit was $61.5 million, an increase of $7.6 million, or 14.2%, versus the prior year period. Gross profit margin was 50.0%, a decline of 250 basis points versus the prior year period. Adjusted gross profit was $63.8 million, an increase of $10.6 million or 19.8% versus the prior year period, reflecting higher net sales with the addition of Sonoma-Cutrer. Adjusted gross profit margin was 51.9% a decline of 10 basis points versus the prior year, as a result of an increase in cost of goods. Total selling, general and administrative expenses were $40.8 million, an increase of $10.3 million, or 33.8%, versus $30.5 million in the prior year period. Adjusted selling, general and administrative expenses were $23.9 million, an increase of $1.3 million, or 5.8%, versus $22.6 million in the prior year period, and a decrease of 260 basis points as a percentage of net sales. Net income was $11.2 million, or $0.08 per diluted share, versus $15.5 million, or $0.13 per diluted share, in the prior year period. Adjusted net income was $23.8 million, or $0.16 per diluted share, versus $17.2 million, or $0.14 per diluted share, in the prior year period. Adjusted EBITDA was $48.6 million, an increase of $13.9 million, or 39.9%, versus $34.7 million in the prior year period. This increase was driven primarily by an increase in net sales associated with the addition of Sonoma-Cutrer and ongoing operating cost controls that resulted in slower growth of adjusted selling, general and administrative expenses as a percentage of net sales. As a result, adjusted EBITDA margin improved 560 basis points versus the prior year period. Conference Call and Webcast The Company will no longer host its earnings conference call and webcast. About The Duckhorn Portfolio, Inc. The Duckhorn Portfolio is North America’s premier luxury wine company, with eleven wineries, ten state-of-the-art winemaking facilities, eight tasting rooms and over 2,200 coveted acres of vineyards spanning 38 Estate properties. Established in 1976, when vintners Dan and Margaret Duckhorn founded Napa Valley’s Duckhorn Vineyards, today, our portfolio features some of North America’s most revered wineries, including Duckhorn Vineyards, Decoy, Sonoma-Cutrer, Kosta Browne, Goldeneye, Paraduxx, Calera, Migration, Postmark, Canvasback and Greenwing. Sourcing grapes from our own Estate vineyards and fine growers in Napa Valley, Sonoma County, Anderson Valley, California’s North and Central coasts, Oregon and Washington State, we offer a curated and comprehensive portfolio of acclaimed luxury wines with price points ranging from $20 to $230 across more than 15 varietals. Our wines are available throughout the United States, on five continents, and in more than 50 countries around the world. To learn more, visit us at: https:// www.duckhornportfolio.com/ . Investors can access information on our investor relations website at: https://ir.duckhorn.com . Use of Non-GAAP Financial Information In addition to the Company’s results, which are determined in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States (“GAAP”), the Company believes the following non-GAAP measures presented in this press release and discussed on the related teleconference call are useful in evaluating its operating performance: adjusted gross profit, adjusted selling, general and administrative expenses, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted net income and adjusted EPS. Certain of these non-GAAP measures exclude depreciation and amortization, non-cash equity-based compensation expense, purchase accounting adjustments, casualty losses or gains, impairment losses, inventory write-downs, changes in the fair value of derivatives, and certain other items, net of the tax effects of all such adjustments, which are not related to the Company’s core operating performance. The Company believes that these non-GAAP financial measures are provided to enhance the reader’s understanding of our past financial performance and our prospects for the future. The Company’s management team uses these non-GAAP financial measures to evaluate business performance in comparison to budgets, forecasts and prior period financial results. The non-GAAP financial information is presented for supplemental informational purposes only and should not be considered a substitute for financial information presented in accordance with GAAP, and may be different from similarly titled non-GAAP measures used by other companies. A reconciliation is provided herein for each non-GAAP financial measure to the most directly comparable financial measure stated in accordance with GAAP. Readers are encouraged to review the related GAAP financial measures and the reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial measures to their most directly comparable GAAP financial measures. Forward-Looking Statements This press release includes forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements generally can be identified by the use of words such as “anticipate,” “expect,” “plan,” “could,” “may,” “will,” “believe,” “estimate,” “forecast,” “goal,” “project,” and other words of similar meaning. These forward-looking statements address various matters including statements regarding the timing or nature of future operating or financial performance or other events. For example, all statements The Duckhorn Portfolio makes relating to its estimated and projected financial results or its plans and objectives for future operations, growth initiatives or strategies are forward-looking statements. Each forward-looking statement contained in this press release is subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statement. Applicable risks and uncertainties include, among others, the Company’s ability to manage the growth of its business; the Company’s reliance on its brand name, reputation and product quality; the effectiveness of the Company’s marketing and advertising programs, including the consumer reception of the launch and expansion of our product offerings; general competitive conditions, including actions the Company’s competitors may take to grow their businesses; overall decline in the health of the economy and the impact of inflation on consumer discretionary spending and consumer demand for wine; the occurrence of severe weather events (including fires, floods and earthquakes), catastrophic health events, natural or man-made disasters, social and political conditions, war or civil unrest; risks associated with disruptions in the Company’s supply chain for grapes and raw and processed materials, including corks, glass bottles, barrels, winemaking additives and agents, water and other supplies; risks associated with the disruption of the delivery of the Company’s wine to customers; disrupted or delayed service by the distributors and government agencies the Company relies on for the distribution of its wines outside of California; the Company’s ability to successfully execute its growth strategy; risks associated with our acquisition of Sonoma-Cutrer Vineyards, Inc.; decreases in the Company’s wine score ratings by wine rating organizations; quarterly and seasonal fluctuations in the Company’s operating results; the Company’s success in retaining or recruiting, or changes required in, its officers, key employees or directors; the Company’s ability to protect its trademarks and other intellectual property rights, including its brand and reputation; the Company’s ability to comply with laws and regulations affecting its business, including those relating to the manufacture, sale and distribution of wine; the risks associated with the legislative, judicial, accounting, regulatory, political and economic risks and conditions specific to both domestic and to international markets; claims, demands and lawsuits to which the Company is, and may in the future, be subject and the risk that its insurance or indemnities coverage may not be sufficient; the Company’s ability to operate, update or implement its IT systems; the Company’s ability to successfully pursue strategic acquisitions and integrate acquired businesses; the Company’s potential ability to obtain additional financing when and if needed; the Company’s substantial indebtedness and its ability to maintain compliance with restrictive covenants in the documents governing such indebtedness; the Company’s largest shareholders’ significant influence over the Company; the potential liquidity and trading of the Company’s securities; the future trading prices of the Company’s common stock and the impact of securities analysts’ reports on these prices; and the risks identified in the Company’s other filings with the SEC. The Company cautions investors not to place considerable reliance on the forward-looking statements contained in this press release. You are encouraged to read the Company’s filings with the SEC, available at www.sec.gov , for a discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties. The forward-looking statements in this press release speak only as of the date of this document, and the Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any of these statements. The Company’s business is subject to substantial risks and uncertainties, including those referenced above. Investors, potential investors, and others should give careful consideration to these risks and uncertainties. THE DUCKHORN PORTFOLIO, INC. CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (Unaudited, in thousands, except shares and per share data) October 31, 2024 July 31, 2024 ASSETS Current assets: Cash $ 5,407 $ 10,872 Accounts receivable trade, net 88,016 52,262 Due from related party 222 10,845 Inventories 530,293 448,967 Prepaid expenses and other current assets 11,040 14,594 Total current assets 634,978 537,540 Property and equipment, net 568,391 568,457 Operating lease right-of-use assets 26,369 27,130 Intangible assets, net 190,577 192,467 Goodwill 484,379 483,879 Other assets 7,470 7,555 Total assets $ 1,912,164 $ 1,817,028 LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY Current liabilities: Accounts payable $ 66,357 $ 5,774 Accrued expenses 69,346 34,164 Accrued compensation 7,994 11,386 Deferred revenue 12,264 80 Current maturities of long-term debt 9,721 9,721 Due to related party 342 1,714 Other current liabilities 4,250 3,905 Total current liabilities 170,274 66,744 Revolving line of credit 83,000 101,000 Long-term debt, net of current maturities and debt issuance costs 198,263 200,734 Operating lease liabilities 23,579 24,286 Deferred income taxes 151,104 151,104 Other liabilities 694 705 Total liabilities 626,914 544,573 Stockholders’ equity: Common stock, $0.01 par value; 500,000,000 shares authorized; 147,200,572 and 147,073,614 issued and outstanding at October 31, 2024 and July 31, 2024, respectively 1,472 1,471 Additional paid-in capital 1,012,874 1,011,265 Retained earnings 270,299 259,135 Total The Duckhorn Portfolio, Inc. stockholders’ equity 1,284,645 1,271,871 Non-controlling interest 605 584 Total stockholders’ equity 1,285,250 1,272,455 Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity $ 1,912,164 $ 1,817,028 THE DUCKHORN PORTFOLIO, INC. CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS (Unaudited, in thousands, except shares and per share data) Three months ended October 31, 2024 2023 Sales $ 124,669 $ 103,903 Excise tax 1,727 1,394 Net sales 122,942 102,509 Cost of sales 61,442 48,656 Gross profit 61,500 53,853 Selling, general and administrative expenses 40,798 30,483 Income from operations 20,702 23,370 Interest expense 5,115 4,004 Other expense (income), net 117 (1,813 ) Total other expenses, net 5,232 2,191 Income before income taxes 15,470 21,179 Income tax expense 4,285 5,629 Net income 11,185 15,550 Net income attributable to non-controlling interest (21 ) (13 ) Net income attributable to The Duckhorn Portfolio, Inc. $ 11,164 $ 15,537 Earnings per share of common stock: Basic $ 0.08 $ 0.13 Diluted $ 0.08 $ 0.13 Weighted average shares of common stock outstanding: Basic 147,128,486 115,339,774 Diluted 147,186,767 115,451,719 THE DUCKHORN PORTFOLIO, INC. CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS (Unaudited, in thousands) Three months ended October 31, 2024 2023 Cash flows from operating activities Net income $ 11,185 $ 15,550 Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash from operating activities: Depreciation and amortization 10,631 7,329 Gain on disposal of assets (61 ) (42 ) Change in fair value of derivatives 137 (1,889 ) Amortization of debt issuance costs 194 194 Equity-based compensation 2,254 1,150 Change in operating assets and liabilities; net of acquisition: Accounts receivable trade, net (35,754 ) (22,547 ) Due from related party 10,623 — Inventories (80,443 ) (66,115 ) Prepaid expenses and other current assets 3,550 1,781 Other assets (212 ) 283 Accounts payable 61,149 28,045 Accrued expenses 37,058 51,985 Accrued compensation (3,392 ) (7,808 ) Deferred revenue 12,184 11,132 Due to related party (1,372 ) — Other current and non-current liabilities (496 ) (982 ) Net cash provided by operating activities 27,235 18,066 Cash flows from investing activities Purchases of property and equipment, net of sales proceeds (11,556 ) (10,395 ) Net cash used in investing activities (11,556 ) (10,395 ) Cash flows from financing activities Payments under line of credit (18,000 ) (13,000 ) Borrowings under line of credit — 23,000 Payments of long-term debt (2,500 ) (2,500 ) Taxes paid related to net share settlement of equity awards (644 ) (342 ) Net cash (used in) provided by financing activities (21,144 ) 7,158 Net (decrease) increase in cash (5,465 ) 14,829 Cash - Beginning of period 10,872 6,353 Cash - End of period $ 5,407 $ 21,182 Supplemental cash flow information Interest paid, net of amount capitalized $ 4,585 $ 4,009 Income taxes paid $ — $ 11,607 Non-cash investing activities Property and equipment additions in accounts payable and accrued expenses $ 2,568 $ 3,300 THE DUCKHORN PORTFOLIO, INC. RECONCILIATION OF NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES Adjusted gross profit, adjusted selling, general and administrative expenses, adjusted net income, adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EPS, collectively referred to as “Non-GAAP Financial Measures,” are commonly used in the Company’s industry and should not be construed as an alternative to net income or earnings per share as indicators of operating performance (as determined in accordance with GAAP). These Non-GAAP Financial Measures may not be comparable to similarly titled measures reported by other companies. The Company has included these Non-GAAP Financial Measures because it believes the measures provide management and investors with additional information to evaluate business performance in comparison to budgets, forecasts and prior year financial results. Non-GAAP Financial Measures are adjusted to exclude certain items that affect comparability. The adjustments are itemized in the tables below. You are encouraged to evaluate these adjustments and the reason the Company considers them appropriate for supplemental analysis. In evaluating adjustments, you should be aware that in the future the Company may incur expenses that are the same as or similar to some of the adjustments set forth below. The presentation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures should not be construed as an inference that future results will be unaffected by unusual or recurring items. Adjusted EBITDA Adjusted EBITDA is a non-GAAP financial measure that the Company calculates as net income before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, non-cash equity-based compensation expense, purchase accounting adjustments, transaction expenses, acquisition integration expenses, changes in the fair value of derivatives and certain other items which are not related to our core operating performance. Adjusted EBITDA is a key performance measure the Company uses in evaluating its operational results. The Company believes adjusted EBITDA is a helpful measure to provide investors an understanding of how management regularly monitors the Company’s core operating performance, as well as how management makes operational and strategic decisions in allocating resources. The Company believes adjusted EBITDA also provides management and investors consistency and comparability with the Company’s past financial performance and facilitates period to period comparisons of operations, as it eliminates the effects of certain variations unrelated to its overall performance. Adjusted EBITDA has certain limitations as an analytical tool, and you should not consider it in isolation or as a substitute for analysis of the Company’s results as reported under GAAP. Some of these limitations include: Because of these limitations, you should consider adjusted EBITDA alongside other financial performance measures, including net income and the Company’s other GAAP results. In evaluating adjusted EBITDA, you should be aware that in the future the Company may incur expenses that are the same as or similar to some of the adjustments in this presentation. The Company’s presentation of adjusted EBITDA should not be construed as an inference that the Company’s future results will be unaffected by the types of items excluded from the calculation of adjusted EBITDA. Adjusted Gross Profit Adjusted gross profit is a non-GAAP financial measure that the Company calculates as gross profit excluding the impact of purchase accounting adjustments (including depreciation and amortization related to purchase accounting), non-cash equity-based compensation expense, and certain inventory charges. We believe adjusted gross profit is a useful measure to us and our investors to assist in evaluating our operating performance because it provides consistency and direct comparability with our past financial performance between fiscal periods, as the metric eliminates the effects of non-cash or other expenses unrelated to our core operating performance that would result in fluctuations in a given metric for reasons unrelated to overall continuing operating performance. Adjusted gross profit should not be considered a substitute for gross profit or any other measure of financial performance reported in accordance with GAAP. Adjusted Net Income and Adjusted Selling, General and Administrative Expenses Adjusted net income is a non-GAAP financial measure that the Company calculates as net income excluding the impact of non-cash equity-based compensation expense, purchase accounting adjustments, transaction expenses, acquisition integration expenses, changes in the fair value of derivatives and certain other items unrelated to core operating performance, as well as the estimated income tax impacts of all such adjustments included in this non-GAAP performance measure. We believe adjusted net income assists us and our investors in evaluating our performance period-over-period. In calculating adjusted net income, we also calculate the following non-GAAP financial measures which adjust each GAAP-based financial measure for the relevant portion of each adjustment to reach adjusted net income: Adjusted net income should not be considered a substitute for net income or any other measure of financial performance reported in accordance with GAAP. Adjusted EPS Adjusted EPS is a non-GAAP financial measure that the Company calculates as adjusted net income divided by diluted share count for the applicable period. We believe adjusted EPS is useful to us and our investors because it improves the comparability of results of operations from period to period. Adjusted EPS should not be considered a substitute for net income per share or any other measure of financial performance reported in accordance with GAAP. THE DUCKHORN PORTFOLIO, INC. RECONCILIATION OF NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES (Unaudited, in thousands, except per share data) Three months ended October 31, 2024 Net sales Gross profit SG&A Adjusted EBITDA Income tax Net income Diluted EPS GAAP results $ 122,942 $ 61,500 $ 40,798 $ 11,164 $ 4,285 $ 11,164 $ 0.08 Percentage of net sales 50.0 % 33.2 % 9.1 % Interest expense 5,115 Income tax expense 4,285 Depreciation and amortization expense 119 (1,903 ) 10,631 EBITDA $ 31,195 Purchase accounting adjustments 1,957 1,957 542 1,415 0.01 Transaction expenses (13,125 ) 13,125 3,636 9,489 0.06 Acquisition integration costs (152 ) 152 42 110 — Change in fair value of derivatives 137 38 99 — Equity-based compensation 266 (1,734 ) 2,000 504 1,496 0.01 Non-GAAP results $ 122,942 $ 63,842 $ 23,884 $ 48,566 $ 9,047 $ 23,773 $ 0.16 Percentage of net sales 51.9 % 19.4 % 39.5 % Three months ended October 31, 2023 Net sales Gross profit SG&A Adjusted EBITDA Income tax Net income Diluted EPS GAAP results $ 102,509 $ 53,853 $ 30,483 $ 15,537 $ 5,629 $ 15,537 $ 0.13 Percentage of net sales 52.5 % 29.7 % 15.2 % Interest expense 4,004 Income tax expense 5,629 Depreciation and amortization expense 124 (3,108 ) 7,329 EBITDA $ 32,499 Purchase accounting adjustments 25 25 7 18 — Transaction expenses (3,236 ) 3,236 861 2,375 0.02 Change in fair value of derivatives (1,889 ) (502 ) (1,387 ) (0.01 ) Equity-based compensation 206 (846 ) 1,052 272 780 0.01 Lease income, net (926 ) (926 ) (716 ) (210 ) (56 ) (154 ) — Non-GAAP results $ 101,583 $ 53,282 $ 22,577 $ 34,713 $ 6,211 $ 17,169 $ 0.14 Percentage of net sales 52.0 % 22.0 % 33.9 % Note: Sum of individual amounts may not recalculate due to rounding. View source version on businesswire.com : https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241205396304/en/ CONTACT: Investor Contact Ben Avenia-Tapper IR@duckhorn.com 707-339-9232Media Contact Jessica Liddell, ICR DuckhornPR@icrinc.com 203-682-8200 KEYWORD: UNITED STATES NORTH AMERICA CALIFORNIA OREGON INDUSTRY KEYWORD: RETAIL LUXURY WINE & SPIRITS AGRICULTURE NATURAL RESOURCES SPECIALTY FOOD/BEVERAGE SOURCE: The Duckhorn Portfolio, Inc. Copyright Business Wire 2024. PUB: 12/05/2024 04:05 PM/DISC: 12/05/2024 04:06 PM http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241205396304/enFurthermore, Vivo's integration of AI technologies into its products and services is driving a new era of intelligent computing. By harnessing the power of machine learning, natural language processing, and computer vision, Vivo is enabling smarter, more personalized user experiences that adapt to individual needs and preferences. From smart assistants and virtual reality applications to predictive analytics and personalized content recommendations, Vivo's AI-powered solutions are redefining the boundaries of what is possible in the digital realm.
The blogger, known for their creativity and attention to detail, took inspiration from the popular superhero franchise to reimagine Genji in a dynamic and futuristic new light. The result is a stunning fusion of two worlds, blending the sleek and agile style of Genji with the powerful and high-tech aesthetic of Iron Man.In conclusion, the latest update of "Black Myth: Wukong" has solidified its position as a must-play game in the world of gaming. With its captivating story, stunning visuals, and challenging gameplay, it has captured the hearts of players around the world and left them eagerly anticipating what the future holds for this remarkable title. So, what are you waiting for? Dive into the world of "Black Myth: Wukong" and experience the magic for yourself!In addition, by giving substitute players more playing time, Conte can also foster a sense of unity and camaraderie within the team. Football is as much about relationships and team spirit as it is about individual talent. By showing faith in all players, Conte can build a cohesive and resilient team that works together towards a common goal.
The allegations suggest that Google and Meta may have engaged in anti-competitive behavior by forming a secret alliance to control a significant portion of the digital advertising market. This could potentially harm competition, limit consumer choice, and result in unfair practices that disadvantage other players in the industry. The EU is particularly concerned about the impact this partnership may have on smaller advertising companies and publishers who rely on online platforms for their revenue.
So gather your courage, sharpen your blades, and prepare to face the ultimate challenge in Monster Hunter Wilds – the magnificent Paraagaru awaits!PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Saquon Barkley wanted to be a student in team history before he had a chance to make some with the Eagles. The running back who had just signed with Philadelphia for $26 million guaranteed took a deep dive on some of the franchise’s greats out of the backfield. He learned about Wilbert Montgomery. Brushed up on LeSean McCoy. Barkley then put them in his sights — and this week against Carolina, he could become the top single-season rusher in Eagles history. Get past those two Eagles Hall of Famers and the target narrows: McCoy has a chance to break Eric Dickerson's NFL single-season rushing mark of 2,105 yards, set in 1984. “That's your goal,” Barkley said. “You want to come in here, you want to leave a legacy on a place, on a franchise.” Here's where things stand with Barkley in his pursuit of records: — Barkley has an NFL-best 1,499 yards rushing through 12 games, an average of 124.9 yards per game. At that pace and with one more game to play than Dickerson, he would surpass the NFL mark that's stood for 40 years. — Barkley needs to run for 108 yards against the Panthers to break McCoy's Eagles record of 1,607 yards set in 2013. Montgomery ran for 1,512 yards in 1978. “I'm aware of the things I can accomplish,” Barkley said. “The way I accomplish that is sticking to the script.” The Eagles (10-2) have won eight straight to take control of the NFC East and remain in the hunt for the No. 1 seed in the conference. Barkley — with a little help from Jalen Hurts — has largely led the way and moved into MVP consideration. The former New York Giant also ranks third in the league with 11 rushing touchdowns. It's reasonable to expect Barkley to pile on the yards against Carolina (3-9). The Panthers are 32nd in the league against the run and just allowed Tampa Bay's Bucky Irving to run for a career-high 152 yards last week (he had never broken 100). “It’s incredible what he is doing. The record has stood up for a while. I mean 17 games or 14 games, it’s ridiculous,” Panthers defensive lineman Shy Tuttle said. “It’s a record that has been held for a long time and whoever breaks it, Saquon or someone else, it’s an incredible achievement.” Barkley leads the NFL with four rushing touchdowns of 25-plus yards this season and tied Montgomery for the most 100-yards games in an Eagles season with eight. “You get to see the player on Sundays. We get to see the person every other day during the week,” offensive coordinator Kellen Moore said. “He’s special. At the end of the day, he’s a special teammate, special person. The way he connects with everyone, rallies everyone together. He’s one of the best.” Panthers running back Chuba Hubbard is eager to get back on the field and put last week behind him. Carolina’s leading rusher had a costly fumble in overtime last Sunday against Tampa Bay as the Panthers were driving for a potential game-winning field goal, resulting in a 26-23 loss to division rival Tampa Bay. A dejected Hubbard remained on the bench for several minutes after the loss. “You definitely use it as motivation,” Hubbard said. “I have come a long way and I know what it’s like to play great football. That was a big mistake on my end, but I don’t just lose all of the work I have put in because of that one mistake.” Bryce Young is beginning to show he can be a factor with his legs, scoring on a 10-yard run last week against the Buccaneers. However, Young still receives plenty of good-natured ribbing from his teammates when it comes to his sliding ability, which the QB has previously admitted is limited because he wasn’t much of a baseball player. “He definitely has to work on his slide,” Hubbard said. “He has been making people miss so he hasn’t had to slide like that a lot. I mean I’m not trying to hate on my dog’s slide but it’s just a work in progress. He will be all right.” Panthers guard Robert Hunt said it’s always interesting playing in Philadelphia because of the team’s passionate fan base. Last year, while Hunt was playing for the Dolphins, he said an Eagles fan attempted to board the Miami team bus. “They have some characters there — some people who don’t really give a damn,” Hunt said. “He was trying to trash-talk us. But he was confident and that is what makes them them.” Hunt said the fan never made it on the bus. “Aw hell no, we would have stomped that boy,” Hunt said with a laugh. “He tried. He was talking his noise. Good for him. I don’t want to say you want a fan base like that, but you want a fan base that cares about the team.” AP Sports Writer Steve Reed in Charlotte, North Carolina, contributed to this report. AP NFL: https://apnews.com/NFLST. HELENA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec 5, 2024-- The Duckhorn Portfolio, Inc. (NYSE: NAPA) (the “Company”) today reported its financial results for the three months ended October 31, 2024. First Quarter 2025 Highlights “We are pleased to begin fiscal 2025 with strong financial performance. Our growth continues to outpace the industry as our teams remain focused on advancing our strategic initiatives,” said Deirdre Mahlan, President, CEO and Chairperson. “We believe our distinctive brands, operational excellence and market-leading performance leave us well positioned to deliver long-term growth and profitability.” First Quarter 2025 Results Three months ended October 31, 2024 2023 Net sales growth (decline) 19.9 % (5.2 )% Volume contribution 24.7 % (3.4 )% Price / mix contribution (4.8 )% (1.8 )% Three months ended October 31, 2024 2023 Wholesale – Distributors 79.3 % 77.0 % Wholesale – California direct to trade 13.9 15.6 DTC 6.8 7.4 Net sales 100.0 % 100.0 % Net sales were $122.9 million, an increase of $20.4 million, or 19.9%, versus $102.5 million in the prior year period. The increase was driven primarily by the addition of Sonoma-Cutrer, partially offset by a lower price / mix contribution. Gross profit was $61.5 million, an increase of $7.6 million, or 14.2%, versus the prior year period. Gross profit margin was 50.0%, a decline of 250 basis points versus the prior year period. Adjusted gross profit was $63.8 million, an increase of $10.6 million or 19.8% versus the prior year period, reflecting higher net sales with the addition of Sonoma-Cutrer. Adjusted gross profit margin was 51.9% a decline of 10 basis points versus the prior year, as a result of an increase in cost of goods. Total selling, general and administrative expenses were $40.8 million, an increase of $10.3 million, or 33.8%, versus $30.5 million in the prior year period. Adjusted selling, general and administrative expenses were $23.9 million, an increase of $1.3 million, or 5.8%, versus $22.6 million in the prior year period, and a decrease of 260 basis points as a percentage of net sales. Net income was $11.2 million, or $0.08 per diluted share, versus $15.5 million, or $0.13 per diluted share, in the prior year period. Adjusted net income was $23.8 million, or $0.16 per diluted share, versus $17.2 million, or $0.14 per diluted share, in the prior year period. Adjusted EBITDA was $48.6 million, an increase of $13.9 million, or 39.9%, versus $34.7 million in the prior year period. This increase was driven primarily by an increase in net sales associated with the addition of Sonoma-Cutrer and ongoing operating cost controls that resulted in slower growth of adjusted selling, general and administrative expenses as a percentage of net sales. As a result, adjusted EBITDA margin improved 560 basis points versus the prior year period. Conference Call and Webcast The Company will no longer host its earnings conference call and webcast. About The Duckhorn Portfolio, Inc. The Duckhorn Portfolio is North America’s premier luxury wine company, with eleven wineries, ten state-of-the-art winemaking facilities, eight tasting rooms and over 2,200 coveted acres of vineyards spanning 38 Estate properties. Established in 1976, when vintners Dan and Margaret Duckhorn founded Napa Valley’s Duckhorn Vineyards, today, our portfolio features some of North America’s most revered wineries, including Duckhorn Vineyards, Decoy, Sonoma-Cutrer, Kosta Browne, Goldeneye, Paraduxx, Calera, Migration, Postmark, Canvasback and Greenwing. Sourcing grapes from our own Estate vineyards and fine growers in Napa Valley, Sonoma County, Anderson Valley, California’s North and Central coasts, Oregon and Washington State, we offer a curated and comprehensive portfolio of acclaimed luxury wines with price points ranging from $20 to $230 across more than 15 varietals. Our wines are available throughout the United States, on five continents, and in more than 50 countries around the world. To learn more, visit us at: https:// www.duckhornportfolio.com/ . Investors can access information on our investor relations website at: https://ir.duckhorn.com . Use of Non-GAAP Financial Information In addition to the Company’s results, which are determined in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States (“GAAP”), the Company believes the following non-GAAP measures presented in this press release and discussed on the related teleconference call are useful in evaluating its operating performance: adjusted gross profit, adjusted selling, general and administrative expenses, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted net income and adjusted EPS. Certain of these non-GAAP measures exclude depreciation and amortization, non-cash equity-based compensation expense, purchase accounting adjustments, casualty losses or gains, impairment losses, inventory write-downs, changes in the fair value of derivatives, and certain other items, net of the tax effects of all such adjustments, which are not related to the Company’s core operating performance. The Company believes that these non-GAAP financial measures are provided to enhance the reader’s understanding of our past financial performance and our prospects for the future. The Company’s management team uses these non-GAAP financial measures to evaluate business performance in comparison to budgets, forecasts and prior period financial results. The non-GAAP financial information is presented for supplemental informational purposes only and should not be considered a substitute for financial information presented in accordance with GAAP, and may be different from similarly titled non-GAAP measures used by other companies. A reconciliation is provided herein for each non-GAAP financial measure to the most directly comparable financial measure stated in accordance with GAAP. Readers are encouraged to review the related GAAP financial measures and the reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial measures to their most directly comparable GAAP financial measures. Forward-Looking Statements This press release includes forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements generally can be identified by the use of words such as “anticipate,” “expect,” “plan,” “could,” “may,” “will,” “believe,” “estimate,” “forecast,” “goal,” “project,” and other words of similar meaning. These forward-looking statements address various matters including statements regarding the timing or nature of future operating or financial performance or other events. For example, all statements The Duckhorn Portfolio makes relating to its estimated and projected financial results or its plans and objectives for future operations, growth initiatives or strategies are forward-looking statements. Each forward-looking statement contained in this press release is subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statement. Applicable risks and uncertainties include, among others, the Company’s ability to manage the growth of its business; the Company’s reliance on its brand name, reputation and product quality; the effectiveness of the Company’s marketing and advertising programs, including the consumer reception of the launch and expansion of our product offerings; general competitive conditions, including actions the Company’s competitors may take to grow their businesses; overall decline in the health of the economy and the impact of inflation on consumer discretionary spending and consumer demand for wine; the occurrence of severe weather events (including fires, floods and earthquakes), catastrophic health events, natural or man-made disasters, social and political conditions, war or civil unrest; risks associated with disruptions in the Company’s supply chain for grapes and raw and processed materials, including corks, glass bottles, barrels, winemaking additives and agents, water and other supplies; risks associated with the disruption of the delivery of the Company’s wine to customers; disrupted or delayed service by the distributors and government agencies the Company relies on for the distribution of its wines outside of California; the Company’s ability to successfully execute its growth strategy; risks associated with our acquisition of Sonoma-Cutrer Vineyards, Inc.; decreases in the Company’s wine score ratings by wine rating organizations; quarterly and seasonal fluctuations in the Company’s operating results; the Company’s success in retaining or recruiting, or changes required in, its officers, key employees or directors; the Company’s ability to protect its trademarks and other intellectual property rights, including its brand and reputation; the Company’s ability to comply with laws and regulations affecting its business, including those relating to the manufacture, sale and distribution of wine; the risks associated with the legislative, judicial, accounting, regulatory, political and economic risks and conditions specific to both domestic and to international markets; claims, demands and lawsuits to which the Company is, and may in the future, be subject and the risk that its insurance or indemnities coverage may not be sufficient; the Company’s ability to operate, update or implement its IT systems; the Company’s ability to successfully pursue strategic acquisitions and integrate acquired businesses; the Company’s potential ability to obtain additional financing when and if needed; the Company’s substantial indebtedness and its ability to maintain compliance with restrictive covenants in the documents governing such indebtedness; the Company’s largest shareholders’ significant influence over the Company; the potential liquidity and trading of the Company’s securities; the future trading prices of the Company’s common stock and the impact of securities analysts’ reports on these prices; and the risks identified in the Company’s other filings with the SEC. The Company cautions investors not to place considerable reliance on the forward-looking statements contained in this press release. You are encouraged to read the Company’s filings with the SEC, available at www.sec.gov , for a discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties. The forward-looking statements in this press release speak only as of the date of this document, and the Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any of these statements. The Company’s business is subject to substantial risks and uncertainties, including those referenced above. Investors, potential investors, and others should give careful consideration to these risks and uncertainties. THE DUCKHORN PORTFOLIO, INC. CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (Unaudited, in thousands, except shares and per share data) October 31, 2024 July 31, 2024 ASSETS Current assets: Cash $ 5,407 $ 10,872 Accounts receivable trade, net 88,016 52,262 Due from related party 222 10,845 Inventories 530,293 448,967 Prepaid expenses and other current assets 11,040 14,594 Total current assets 634,978 537,540 Property and equipment, net 568,391 568,457 Operating lease right-of-use assets 26,369 27,130 Intangible assets, net 190,577 192,467 Goodwill 484,379 483,879 Other assets 7,470 7,555 Total assets $ 1,912,164 $ 1,817,028 LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY Current liabilities: Accounts payable $ 66,357 $ 5,774 Accrued expenses 69,346 34,164 Accrued compensation 7,994 11,386 Deferred revenue 12,264 80 Current maturities of long-term debt 9,721 9,721 Due to related party 342 1,714 Other current liabilities 4,250 3,905 Total current liabilities 170,274 66,744 Revolving line of credit 83,000 101,000 Long-term debt, net of current maturities and debt issuance costs 198,263 200,734 Operating lease liabilities 23,579 24,286 Deferred income taxes 151,104 151,104 Other liabilities 694 705 Total liabilities 626,914 544,573 Stockholders’ equity: Common stock, $0.01 par value; 500,000,000 shares authorized; 147,200,572 and 147,073,614 issued and outstanding at October 31, 2024 and July 31, 2024, respectively 1,472 1,471 Additional paid-in capital 1,012,874 1,011,265 Retained earnings 270,299 259,135 Total The Duckhorn Portfolio, Inc. stockholders’ equity 1,284,645 1,271,871 Non-controlling interest 605 584 Total stockholders’ equity 1,285,250 1,272,455 Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity $ 1,912,164 $ 1,817,028 THE DUCKHORN PORTFOLIO, INC. CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS (Unaudited, in thousands, except shares and per share data) Three months ended October 31, 2024 2023 Sales $ 124,669 $ 103,903 Excise tax 1,727 1,394 Net sales 122,942 102,509 Cost of sales 61,442 48,656 Gross profit 61,500 53,853 Selling, general and administrative expenses 40,798 30,483 Income from operations 20,702 23,370 Interest expense 5,115 4,004 Other expense (income), net 117 (1,813 ) Total other expenses, net 5,232 2,191 Income before income taxes 15,470 21,179 Income tax expense 4,285 5,629 Net income 11,185 15,550 Net income attributable to non-controlling interest (21 ) (13 ) Net income attributable to The Duckhorn Portfolio, Inc. $ 11,164 $ 15,537 Earnings per share of common stock: Basic $ 0.08 $ 0.13 Diluted $ 0.08 $ 0.13 Weighted average shares of common stock outstanding: Basic 147,128,486 115,339,774 Diluted 147,186,767 115,451,719 THE DUCKHORN PORTFOLIO, INC. CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS (Unaudited, in thousands) Three months ended October 31, 2024 2023 Cash flows from operating activities Net income $ 11,185 $ 15,550 Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash from operating activities: Depreciation and amortization 10,631 7,329 Gain on disposal of assets (61 ) (42 ) Change in fair value of derivatives 137 (1,889 ) Amortization of debt issuance costs 194 194 Equity-based compensation 2,254 1,150 Change in operating assets and liabilities; net of acquisition: Accounts receivable trade, net (35,754 ) (22,547 ) Due from related party 10,623 — Inventories (80,443 ) (66,115 ) Prepaid expenses and other current assets 3,550 1,781 Other assets (212 ) 283 Accounts payable 61,149 28,045 Accrued expenses 37,058 51,985 Accrued compensation (3,392 ) (7,808 ) Deferred revenue 12,184 11,132 Due to related party (1,372 ) — Other current and non-current liabilities (496 ) (982 ) Net cash provided by operating activities 27,235 18,066 Cash flows from investing activities Purchases of property and equipment, net of sales proceeds (11,556 ) (10,395 ) Net cash used in investing activities (11,556 ) (10,395 ) Cash flows from financing activities Payments under line of credit (18,000 ) (13,000 ) Borrowings under line of credit — 23,000 Payments of long-term debt (2,500 ) (2,500 ) Taxes paid related to net share settlement of equity awards (644 ) (342 ) Net cash (used in) provided by financing activities (21,144 ) 7,158 Net (decrease) increase in cash (5,465 ) 14,829 Cash - Beginning of period 10,872 6,353 Cash - End of period $ 5,407 $ 21,182 Supplemental cash flow information Interest paid, net of amount capitalized $ 4,585 $ 4,009 Income taxes paid $ — $ 11,607 Non-cash investing activities Property and equipment additions in accounts payable and accrued expenses $ 2,568 $ 3,300 THE DUCKHORN PORTFOLIO, INC. RECONCILIATION OF NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES Adjusted gross profit, adjusted selling, general and administrative expenses, adjusted net income, adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EPS, collectively referred to as “Non-GAAP Financial Measures,” are commonly used in the Company’s industry and should not be construed as an alternative to net income or earnings per share as indicators of operating performance (as determined in accordance with GAAP). These Non-GAAP Financial Measures may not be comparable to similarly titled measures reported by other companies. The Company has included these Non-GAAP Financial Measures because it believes the measures provide management and investors with additional information to evaluate business performance in comparison to budgets, forecasts and prior year financial results. Non-GAAP Financial Measures are adjusted to exclude certain items that affect comparability. The adjustments are itemized in the tables below. You are encouraged to evaluate these adjustments and the reason the Company considers them appropriate for supplemental analysis. In evaluating adjustments, you should be aware that in the future the Company may incur expenses that are the same as or similar to some of the adjustments set forth below. The presentation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures should not be construed as an inference that future results will be unaffected by unusual or recurring items. Adjusted EBITDA Adjusted EBITDA is a non-GAAP financial measure that the Company calculates as net income before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, non-cash equity-based compensation expense, purchase accounting adjustments, transaction expenses, acquisition integration expenses, changes in the fair value of derivatives and certain other items which are not related to our core operating performance. Adjusted EBITDA is a key performance measure the Company uses in evaluating its operational results. The Company believes adjusted EBITDA is a helpful measure to provide investors an understanding of how management regularly monitors the Company’s core operating performance, as well as how management makes operational and strategic decisions in allocating resources. The Company believes adjusted EBITDA also provides management and investors consistency and comparability with the Company’s past financial performance and facilitates period to period comparisons of operations, as it eliminates the effects of certain variations unrelated to its overall performance. Adjusted EBITDA has certain limitations as an analytical tool, and you should not consider it in isolation or as a substitute for analysis of the Company’s results as reported under GAAP. Some of these limitations include: Because of these limitations, you should consider adjusted EBITDA alongside other financial performance measures, including net income and the Company’s other GAAP results. In evaluating adjusted EBITDA, you should be aware that in the future the Company may incur expenses that are the same as or similar to some of the adjustments in this presentation. The Company’s presentation of adjusted EBITDA should not be construed as an inference that the Company’s future results will be unaffected by the types of items excluded from the calculation of adjusted EBITDA. Adjusted Gross Profit Adjusted gross profit is a non-GAAP financial measure that the Company calculates as gross profit excluding the impact of purchase accounting adjustments (including depreciation and amortization related to purchase accounting), non-cash equity-based compensation expense, and certain inventory charges. We believe adjusted gross profit is a useful measure to us and our investors to assist in evaluating our operating performance because it provides consistency and direct comparability with our past financial performance between fiscal periods, as the metric eliminates the effects of non-cash or other expenses unrelated to our core operating performance that would result in fluctuations in a given metric for reasons unrelated to overall continuing operating performance. Adjusted gross profit should not be considered a substitute for gross profit or any other measure of financial performance reported in accordance with GAAP. Adjusted Net Income and Adjusted Selling, General and Administrative Expenses Adjusted net income is a non-GAAP financial measure that the Company calculates as net income excluding the impact of non-cash equity-based compensation expense, purchase accounting adjustments, transaction expenses, acquisition integration expenses, changes in the fair value of derivatives and certain other items unrelated to core operating performance, as well as the estimated income tax impacts of all such adjustments included in this non-GAAP performance measure. We believe adjusted net income assists us and our investors in evaluating our performance period-over-period. In calculating adjusted net income, we also calculate the following non-GAAP financial measures which adjust each GAAP-based financial measure for the relevant portion of each adjustment to reach adjusted net income: Adjusted net income should not be considered a substitute for net income or any other measure of financial performance reported in accordance with GAAP. Adjusted EPS Adjusted EPS is a non-GAAP financial measure that the Company calculates as adjusted net income divided by diluted share count for the applicable period. We believe adjusted EPS is useful to us and our investors because it improves the comparability of results of operations from period to period. Adjusted EPS should not be considered a substitute for net income per share or any other measure of financial performance reported in accordance with GAAP. THE DUCKHORN PORTFOLIO, INC. RECONCILIATION OF NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES (Unaudited, in thousands, except per share data) Three months ended October 31, 2024 Net sales Gross profit SG&A Adjusted EBITDA Income tax Net income Diluted EPS GAAP results $ 122,942 $ 61,500 $ 40,798 $ 11,164 $ 4,285 $ 11,164 $ 0.08 Percentage of net sales 50.0 % 33.2 % 9.1 % Interest expense 5,115 Income tax expense 4,285 Depreciation and amortization expense 119 (1,903 ) 10,631 EBITDA $ 31,195 Purchase accounting adjustments 1,957 1,957 542 1,415 0.01 Transaction expenses (13,125 ) 13,125 3,636 9,489 0.06 Acquisition integration costs (152 ) 152 42 110 — Change in fair value of derivatives 137 38 99 — Equity-based compensation 266 (1,734 ) 2,000 504 1,496 0.01 Non-GAAP results $ 122,942 $ 63,842 $ 23,884 $ 48,566 $ 9,047 $ 23,773 $ 0.16 Percentage of net sales 51.9 % 19.4 % 39.5 % Three months ended October 31, 2023 Net sales Gross profit SG&A Adjusted EBITDA Income tax Net income Diluted EPS GAAP results $ 102,509 $ 53,853 $ 30,483 $ 15,537 $ 5,629 $ 15,537 $ 0.13 Percentage of net sales 52.5 % 29.7 % 15.2 % Interest expense 4,004 Income tax expense 5,629 Depreciation and amortization expense 124 (3,108 ) 7,329 EBITDA $ 32,499 Purchase accounting adjustments 25 25 7 18 — Transaction expenses (3,236 ) 3,236 861 2,375 0.02 Change in fair value of derivatives (1,889 ) (502 ) (1,387 ) (0.01 ) Equity-based compensation 206 (846 ) 1,052 272 780 0.01 Lease income, net (926 ) (926 ) (716 ) (210 ) (56 ) (154 ) — Non-GAAP results $ 101,583 $ 53,282 $ 22,577 $ 34,713 $ 6,211 $ 17,169 $ 0.14 Percentage of net sales 52.0 % 22.0 % 33.9 % Note: Sum of individual amounts may not recalculate due to rounding. View source version on businesswire.com : https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241205396304/en/ CONTACT: Investor Contact Ben Avenia-Tapper IR@duckhorn.com 707-339-9232Media Contact Jessica Liddell, ICR DuckhornPR@icrinc.com 203-682-8200 KEYWORD: UNITED STATES NORTH AMERICA CALIFORNIA OREGON INDUSTRY KEYWORD: RETAIL LUXURY WINE & SPIRITS AGRICULTURE NATURAL RESOURCES SPECIALTY FOOD/BEVERAGE SOURCE: The Duckhorn Portfolio, Inc. Copyright Business Wire 2024. PUB: 12/05/2024 04:05 PM/DISC: 12/05/2024 04:06 PM http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241205396304/en
The abrupt firing of Ferguson, a long-time editor at the Mail Tribune, shocked both employees and readers alike. The decision to terminate his employment without proper investigation or recourse was not only unfair but also raised serious questions about the newspaper's commitment to journalistic integrity and employee rights.Stock market today: Wall Street slips at the end of a bumpy weekARSENAL 3-0 NOTTINGHAM FOREST NUNO ESPIRITO SANTO, the Nottingham Forest manager, summed up the scene afterwards when he reminded reporters his side had come to London with high expectations, in and outside the club, of ending Arsenal’s season. Just over a quarter of the way there, but it already felt like a win or bust for Mikel Arteta’s men after four matches without victory. Arsenal had been arguably fragile, definitely unconvincing, in their previous 11 matches and one more failure at a time when their fans and manager alike had called for a restart would have been catastrophic for their title aspirations. Are Arsenal back? Too soon to tell, but the vibe is, the energy is and, most importantly, so is their captain and leader Martin Odegaard. Team him up with a hungry Bukayo Saka and the emerging talent of teen Ethan Nwaneri and there is some cause for hope on the huge assumption this is just the start of a strong run between now and the end of the year. One of the players returning from injury in a vastly changed starting line-up was summer signing Ricardo Calafiori. The Italian defender was not quite up to pace but his competitive, winning attitude is infectious and summed up the positivity returning to their squad. Calafiori pointed out how he can see opponents “hate playing against them” when he discussed the twin threat of Saka and Odegaard. This was only the fifth time they have played together and Saka‘s stats are better in every area when they are twinned. Saka broke Forest’s spirit with a 15th minute wonder strike. He could have had a first-half hat trick. Thomas Partey killed it with a long-range pearler shortly after halftime and Nwaneri polished it all off with his late effort. Calafiori was almost lost for words when asked to describe the talent of Nwaneri, who replaced Odegaard as a late sub to score his first Premier League goal. Only Cesc Fabregas was younger in Arsenal history when he got his first. England youngster Nwaneri turns 18 next Spring and is being man-managed by Arteta and his staff daily to ensure the Premier League’s youngest-ever player (he was 15 when he started at Brentford a couple of years ago) fulfils his potent potential. “I don’t think I have even seen a 17-year-old like that,” Calafiori said. “He can be really good. I'm really happy for him but he really deserved his goal. He's a pure talent. For sure you will see more on the pitch and he can help us as well.” Odegaard, playing his first home game since August due to injury, has walked similar steps to Nwaneri. The Norwegian has a close relationship with his young team-mate. He was courted by Europe’s finest, including Arsenal, when he signed for Real Madrid aged 16. At 25, he has found his voice, feet and home in Arteta’s rebuild. Calafiori added: “You can feel it when he is back. You just can feel it when he's missing because he gives us a lot of energy, a lot of quality as well. And you see him, with Bukayo, what they did is unbelievable. I cannot tell you one thing Martin adds, but something we all feel. You can feel it if he is on or off the pitch. When it's missing, you can feel it.” Recent injuries and Tuesday’s Champions League tie could have influenced Arteta’s decision to make five changes from the side that drew at Chelsea before the international break. He explained afterwards he felt the side needed a shake up and some of his fringe players deserved a chance now he had more fit players to choose from. Calafiori noted: "I think the whole team has the same idea of me. For sure when everybody is available it's easier for everybody.” Calafiori and co. were due to work out at their training ground on Monday morning before jetting out to Portugal for pre-match duties ahead of Tuesday’s Champions League tie against Sporting Lisbon. They play West Ham away at the weekend, and the three-match pattern looks relentless going into the New Year. “Honestly, all the season will be like this, so we are prepared for this,” Calafiori concluded. “We don't think a lot about the standings right now. We just want to win as many games as possible. From my side, I only think about winning the next game.” Arsenal : Raya 6, Timber 7 (Kiwior 88), Saliba 8, Gabriel 7, Calafiori 6 (Zinchenko 69), Jorginho, 6 (Partey 46) Merino 6, Odegaard 9 (Nwaneri 84), Saka 9 (Sterling 84), Trossard 6, Jesus 6. Subs: Neto, Martinelli, Havertz, Rice. Nottingham Forest: Sels 7, Aina 6, Murillo 6, Milenkovic 6, Moreno 6 (Williams 73), Ward-Prowse 5, Dominguez 6 (Sosa 63), Yates 6, Hudson-Odoi 6, Elanga 6 (Silva 46), Awonyi 6 (Wood 46). Subs: Miguel, Morato, Toffolo, Moreira, Boly. Ref : Simon Hooper 5 Att: 60,298
As the investigation unfolds, all eyes will be on the European Union to see how it navigates the complex landscape of digital advertising regulation and enforcement. The outcome of the investigation could have lasting implications for Google, Meta, and the wider digital advertising industry, shaping the future of competition and consumer choice in the online advertising market.
As the demand for environmentally friendly vehicles continues to rise, hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) have become increasingly popular choices for consumers looking for a more sustainable transportation option. Among the leading players in the HEV market in China are the Changan UNI-Z, Geely's Geometry A Pro, and the BYD Han, also known as the BYD L7. These vehicles feature advanced plug-in hybrid systems that offer a blend of performance, efficiency, and eco-friendliness. But the question remains: which one of these vehicles boasts the most advanced plug-in hybrid system?
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