Earnings calls, loved by some CFOs and dreaded by others, allow finance leaders and their fellow executives to verbalize their organization’s progress. Each month, CFO.com compiles interesting insights shared by CFOs during these calls for The CFO Earnings Dispatch series. These insights include statements about their company, analysis of financial data and answers to analysts’ questions.
For the month of November, we highlight takes from the CFOs of Workday, Kohl’s, Intuit, Williams-Sonoma, Walmart, the Walt Disney Company, Topgolf Callaway Brands, Cava, DraftKings, Krispy Kreme and Honda.
1. Workday
Market cap: $72.02 billion
Date of call: Nov. 26
Workday CFO Zane Rowe highlighted how his finance team has maintained growth while preserving operational integrity and efficiency. The company reported strong revenue growth (16% year-over-year), a non-GAAP operating margin of 26.3% and $7.2 billion in cash. In his latest call, Rowe discussed the impact of revenue recognition changes, among other factors, on the company’s financial outlook and growth trajectory.
“If you think about our outlook for the fourth quarter, it would put us roughly in the midpoint of our original guidance for the year,” said Rowe. “So, I’d say approximately $8 million to $10 million of impact in the fourth quarter if you think about sort of the actual deal where [we recognize] revenue as we have historically… But we definitely see the impact of the revenue recognition impacting this part of the business. I’ll point out, these are key strategic deals and there’s a fair amount of product that aligns with those, and that’s the point at which we can recognize that revenue.”
2. Kohl’s
Market cap: $1.69 billion
Date of call: Nov. 26
Jill Timm, CFO of Kohl’s, highlighted how the company currently faces multiple challenges as it enters its busiest season. Net sales were down 8.8% year-over-year, below estimates, accompanied by a 9.3% year-over-year decrease in comparable sales. Though the company saw gross margin increases of 2%, operating income dropped to $98 million. Expense management, though down 5.1%, increased as a percentage of revenue, largely due to inefficiencies from reduced sales. As a result, the company downgraded its outlook for next year.
Timm expressed hope for increased revenue from co-branding efforts tied to the company’s credit card offerings.
“When we decided to launch [the] co-brand, it was really to reach the younger customer, which we know didn’t really want to have a private label credit card in their pocket. So, this is a new product that we could continue to evolve our loyalty through the card, but let them do it with a Visa card in their wallet,” said Timm. “Obviously, one of the benefits to that was it’s much more driven off of interest versus late fees because you run a bigger balance off of a card that you can use outside the four walls of Kohl’s.”
3. Intuit
Market cap: $176.76 billion
Date of call: Nov. 21
Despite pulling a recent advertising campaign criticized for its take on accounting culture, Intuit CFO Sandeep Aujla highlighted multiple points of growth for the company. Intuit reported 10% year-over-year revenue growth to $3.3 billion and maintained its forecasted revenue growth of 12% to 13%, GAAP operating income expansion of 28% to 30%, and an increase in non-GAAP earnings per share of 13% to 14%.
Aujila expressed confidence when asked about the “money” segment, which includes payments, bill pay and capital services, and its contribution to the growth of Intuit’s online service offerings.
“We feel very bullish and confident in our money [segments] strategy, which includes, of course, payments, bill pay, and capital,” said Aujla. “The momentum has been strong in Q1, and I would expect that to continue throughout the year. And what I would point back to is our confidence, our utmost confidence in the 20% online ecosystem growth for the year as we continue to scale the business, and the money portfolio is going to be a key contributor — is a key contributor to that confidence.”
4. Williams-Sonoma
Market cap: $21.76 billion
Date of call: Nov. 20
Williams-Sonoma reported strong earnings metrics that surpassed expectations, particularly in operating margin and revenue. The company posted a 17.8% increase in operating margin and a year-over-year revenue of $1.8 billion. CFO Jeff Howie detailed plans to navigate potential tariffs on international goods, particularly those sourced from China. He emphasized that the company has a robust strategy to reduce dependency on Chinese supply chains if necessary.
“We’ve mapped out a category-by-category plan to reduce China sourcing if conditions warrant, and we’re currently evaluating and quantifying the impact from additional tariffs,” said Howie. “We have a wide range of mitigation options. In fact, everything is on the table. We’ll probably move some things to other countries. We may at some point in ’25 front-load some goods. I’m sure the vendors will pay some, and there may be some that the consumers would absorb as well. But that is really a lot of uncertainty right now. We’re working through that.”
Howie also highlighted Williams-Sonoma’s vertically integrated supply chain as a key competitive advantage.
“And as the landscape changes, we have the scale and strategy to pivot. But here’s a really big strategic thing that I want you to take away. And that is our vertically integrated supply chain as a competitive advantage. Ninety percent of the products we sell are proprietary, designed and exclusively made for our brands.”
5. Walmart
Market cap: $739.67 billion
Date of call: Nov. 19
Walmart CFO John David Rainey reported solid financial results for the United States’ largest private employer. The company saw a 6.1% sales increase in constant currency, and profits rose 9.8%. E-commerce sales grew by 27%, while advertising revenue increased by 28%. The company recently made headlines for joining the growing list of corporations pulling back from DEI initiatives.
Rainey noted the company’s growth in health and wellness offerings, including the impact of GLP-1 drugs.
“Store-fulfilled delivery increased nearly 50% and surpassed $2.5 billion monthly run rate. We’ve now had 12 consecutive months of deliveries above $2 billion,” said Rainey. “Food categories were especially strong this quarter with unit volumes growing by the highest level in four years. We also generated mid-teens growth in health and wellness, due largely to branded pharmacy scripts, including GLP-1.”
6. Walt Disney Company
Market cap: $212.40 billion
Date of call: Nov. 14
The Walt Disney Company, despite facing reputation issues as well as cultural and financial challenges, reported a 6% revenue increase to $22.6 billion this quarter, driven by strong performance in direct-to-consumer (DTC) products and consistent numbers from parks and entertainment sectors.
Their success with DTC products reflects the company’s ability to align investments with consumer demand. This resulted in a 15% revenue increase and the addition of 4.4 million subscribers to its streaming service offerings.
Answering an analyst’s question on consolidated advertising growth, CFO Hugh Johnston expressed optimism for continued momentum.
“As you know, in 2024, advertising grew 3%. We expect to be at or stronger than that as we enter 2025,” said Johnston. “As [CEO Bob Iger] mentioned, the ad tech stack that we’ve put together [and] our ability to deliver the right ads more effectively to consumers, particularly in the streaming business, is a competitive advantage that we’ve built, and it’s owned and it’s proprietary to Disney. So, we certainly feel optimistic about our ability to gain share in advertising based on that.”
7. Topgolf Callaway Brands
Market cap: $ 1.57 billion
Date of call: Nov. 12
Topgolf Callaway Brands CFO and chief legal officer Brian Lynch expressed cautious optimism during the company’s latest earnings call. The company surpassed $1 billion in revenue and reported an adjusted EBITDA of $119.8 million, exceeding expectations of $95 million to $105 million. Topgolf revenues, which were the subject of criticism last quarter, hit expected levels at $453.2 million despite declines in same-venue sales.
His comments on 2025’s outlook reflected a focus on maintaining shareholder confidence while acknowledging market hurdles.
“We’re proud of our team’s ability to continue to find operational efficiencies and show disciplined cost management, particularly at Topgolf where we raised our 2024 EBITDA outlook despite holding the revenue guide,” said Lynch. “We remain on strong financial footing with a solid balance sheet, including lower year-over-year REIT-adjusted net debt leverage, healthy inventory levels and a strong liquidity position. And, perhaps, most importantly, we continue to expect to generate positive free cash flow this year at both the total company and Topgolf.”
8. Cava
Market cap: $16.14 billion
Date of call: Nov. 12
Cava, the restaurant brand credited with attracting Gen Z followers, has faced criticism for being overvalued. However, its most recent earnings call suggests it is catching up to the hype, posting a 39% revenue increase, an 18.1% rise in same-restaurant sales, and a 12.9% increase in customer traffic. Adjusted EBITDA increased 69% to $33.5 million, while net income grew 163%.
CFO Tricia Tolivar emphasized the importance of finding strong talent, particularly restaurant managers, to sustain growth.
“In 2025, we anticipate growth — a new unit growth of at least 17% over our base in 2024, and that’s really driven by the visibility and the strength of the pipeline that we have in 2025,” said Tolivar. “And so, when we are thinking about it, we also want to make sure that we’ve got a good balance of growth in new and existing markets…”
9. DraftKings
Market cap: $21.17 billion
Date of call: Nov. 8
DraftKings CFO Alan Ellingson shared insights into the company’s 39% year-over-year revenue increase, totaling just over $1 billion. The company lowered customer acquisition costs by 20% and expanded into Missouri following the state’s recent legalization of sports gambling.
Ellingson emphasized responsible cash management and liquidity as the company anticipates $850 million in free cash flow next year.
“We feel really good about having positive free cash flow, not just in 2024, but the $850 million you mentioned that we’re expecting in 2025. We’re keeping our eyes on the markets, we expect to act responsibly. But you should expect us to be more active with repurchases in future quarters as we scale into our free cash flow and as we have more liquidity.”
10. Krispy Kreme
Market cap: $1.83 billion
Date of call: Nov. 7
Krispy Kreme, amid launching its products in 2,000 McDonald’s stores, reported a 6.8% revenue decline to $379.87 million for Q3 2024. Gross profit fell 22.9% to $60.62 million, with a gross margin of 16%, down 17.3% year-over-year.
CFO Jeremiah Ashukian described daily meetings to address challenges and adjust as necessary during the McDonald’s rollout.
“What I can tell you is we’re meeting daily as we execute the rollout of McDonald’s and start to expand in different cities, just to take the learnings, as [CEO Josh Charlesworth] kind of mentioned, and applying course correct as we go,” said Ashukian. “So we feel pretty good that we’re making the right choices, trade-offs. We have an ecosystem in place where we’re managing issues real-time and making choices where we need to be to make sure that we’re seeing the flow-through that we need to. As a reminder, we are investing ahead of the curve right now in the U.S. and things like incremental equipment and facilities, repairs and maintenance, I mentioned training and development, dedicated market roll-out teams.”
11. Honda
Market cap: $ 46.28 billion
Date of call: Nov. 6
Honda, one of the few global automakers seeing success in sales and product development, reported operating profits of ¥742.6 billion (nearly $5 billion). Sales increased by 64,000 units year-over-year, driven by growing sales of both combustion engine and hybrid models in North America. However, the company faced significant challenges in the Chinese market, where sales declined by 155,000 units.
CFO Eiji Fujimura highlighted that Honda’s core operating performance remains stable but noted that external and non-operational factors — such as challenges in China, currency valuation adjustments and tax system differences—are driving financial pressures.
“From the beginning of the fiscal year, we have seen a decline of some 300,000 units or more. And so, that is one factor. Plus, one-time, this factor is the domestic-related companies. And again, this is partially derived from China,” said Fujimura. “So, there’s a negative [element] coming from them. And so, there are some one-time factors involved here…because of the currency fluctuation that we’re seeing right now, well, for Honda Motor and also our subsidiaries overseas…We have to do the appraisal of these foreign currency-denominated assets. And so, there have been the laws pertaining to nonsales factors and therefore, the operating profit will remain the same.”
