Game manufacturer Light & Wonder reported second-quarter earnings on August 6. Revenues were one percent lower than in the parallel quarter of 2024, but profits shot up 16 percent.
Light & Wonder had revenue of $809 million and profits of $95 million. Cash flow grew seven percent to $352 million.
“The impact of macroeconomic uncertainty during the quarter led to more cautious purchasing behavior and delayed capital expenditure among some of our customers, which impacted the timing of game sales,” said Light & Wonder’s formal release, by way of explaining the reduced revenue.
Even without newly added Grover Gaming, Light & Wonder added 845 units in North America. This was part of a 9,000-plus sale of machines worldwide.
Having closed the Grover purchase in May, Light & Wonder recorded 600 unit sales for the new subsidiary, dating back to February. All were in pre-existing Grover jurisdictions.
The company also repurchased $266 million in Light & Wonder shares in the first six months of 2025. “Since initiation of the prior share repurchase program in March of 2022, the Company has returned $1.3 billion or 17.3 million shares, representing 18 percent of total outstanding shares prior to the commencement of the programs,” it stated.
Pursuant to a planned Nasdaq delisting, the repurchase authorization has been increased to $1.5 billion, including money already spent.
Said CEO Matt Wilson in a prepared statement, “I am pleased that the integration of Grover is progressing ahead of schedule and we are very well-positioned in the charitable gaming business with a range of growth opportunities ahead of us.”
As for the Nasdaq pullout, he added, “I believe [it] will deliver tremendous shareholder value going forward. I have confidence in our strategy as we continue to execute to our long-term blueprint, which will continue to drive quality of earnings and sustainable value both operationally and financially.”
Added company Chairman Jamie Odell, “ASX now accounts for approximately 37 percent of our total equity. Our Board has determined that moving to a sole primary ASX listing is in the best long-term interests of our shareholders.”
Concluded CFO Oliver Chow, “With the added $500 million capacity to the program, we expect a smooth transition to our sole ASX listing. We remain within our targeted net-debt leverage ratio range on a combined basis following the Grover acquisition ,and will continue to execute on our capital allocation plan, enabling our flexibility to pursue both growth and shareholder value creation.”
Light & Wonder ended the quarter with $4.9 billion in debt, a leverage-to-cash flow ratio of 3.7. Cash on hand was $136 million.
