Warby Parker (WRBY) FY 2025 Conference September 04, 2025 10:20 AM ET Company ParticipantsNeil Blumenthal - Co-Founder, Co-CEO & Co-ChairDave Gilboa - Co-Founder, Co-CEO & Co-ChairConference Call ParticipantsNone - AnalystNoneGood morning, and welcome to this next session of our thirty second Annual Global Retailing Conference. I'm very pleased to introduce our next session with Warby Parker. Here with me today, I have Neil Blumenthal and Dave Gilboa, both co founders and co CEOs. So welcome, Neil and Dave. ...

Financial Data and Key Metrics Changes - The company has experienced strong and steady growth since May, following challenges in April due to tariff announcements, with consistent repeat purchase behavior observed [3][4] - The company expects to maintain consistent growth into 2026, with a focus on expanding EBITDA by 100 to 200 basis points [6][7] - The company has successfully mitigated the impact of tariffs through strategic pricing adjustments and supply chain realignment, and anticipates continued EBITDA expansion [30][31] Business Line Data and Key Metrics Changes - The company operates approximately 300 stores in the U.S. and plans to open around 45 new stores this year, with a long-term goal of over 900 standalone stores [11][12] - The densification strategy in suburban and urban markets is expected to drive growth, particularly in established markets like New York and Chicago [12][13] - The eye care business is still in its early stages, with a focus on increasing awareness and penetration of eye exams and insurance offerings [19][21] Market Data and Key Metrics Changes - The competitive landscape remains stable, with no significant new entrants since the company's launch in 2010, and the market is split between large retail chains and independent optometry practices [9][10] - The company continues to outperform the market and gain share, with expectations of gradual consolidation among independent practices [10] Company Strategy and Development Direction - The company is focusing on expanding its store footprint and enhancing its marketing strategies to drive growth [6][11] - A partnership with Target to open shop-in-shop locations has shown promising results, with plans for further expansion [14] - The company is also investing in technology and AI, including a partnership with Google to develop smart glasses, which is seen as a transformative opportunity [34][50] Management's Comments on Operating Environment and Future Outlook - Management expressed confidence in the health of the consumer and the company's ability to navigate external challenges, with strong traffic observed in stores and online [5][6] - The company anticipates sustained demand trends and is optimistic about achieving a 17% growth momentum in the second half of the year [42][44] - Management highlighted the importance of creating awareness around new store locations and services, particularly eye exams [20][21] Other Important Information - The company has committed to maintaining exceptional value for customers, with no significant pushback observed from recent pricing adjustments [26][28] - The company is transitioning away from its home try-on program in favor of enhancing its virtual try-on capabilities [45][46] - Capital expenditures are expected to remain consistent, with investments in store openings and technology, including AI glasses [49][50] Q&A Session Summary Question: What is the outlook for the U.S. Vision care market? - Management noted consistent customer behavior and strong growth since May, despite challenges in April due to tariffs [3][4] Question: What is the company's outlook for the second half of 2025? - The company expects consistent growth and strong traffic in stores and online, with a focus on expanding EBITDA [5][6] Question: How does the competitive landscape look? - The competitive landscape has not materially changed, with expectations of gradual consolidation among independent practices [9][10] Question: Can you elaborate on the store strategy? - The company plans to open around 45 new stores this year and sees significant opportunities for growth in existing markets [11][12] Question: What is the strategy for eye exams and insurance? - The company is focused on increasing awareness of its eye exam services and expanding its insurance partnerships [20][21] Question: How is the company integrating AI into its business? - AI is being leveraged across various aspects of the business, including eyewear design and marketing efficiency [39] Question: What are the expectations for the smart glasses initiative? - The smart glasses are expected to provide unique user experiences and integrate advanced AI capabilities [34][37]

Core Insights - Meta is significantly increasing its capital expenditures on AI infrastructure, expecting 2025 expenditures to be between $66-72 billion, which is approximately $30 billion higher than the previous year [1][2] - The company plans to continue this aggressive spending trend into 2026 to enhance its AI capabilities and business operations [2] - Meta has announced the development of two major AI superclusters, Prometheus in Ohio and Hyperion in Louisiana, with Prometheus expected to reach 1 gigawatt of compute power by 2026 and Hyperion potentially scaling up to 5 gigawatts [3] Financial Performance - Meta reported a revenue of $47.5 billion in the second quarter, with expectations for Q3 revenue to be between $47.5 billion and $50.5 billion, driven by advertising and AI tools [7] - The Reality Labs segment, however, incurred a loss of $4.5 billion [8] Strategic Initiatives - The company is investing heavily in employee compensation to attract top AI talent for its Superintelligence Labs, which is expected to be a significant growth driver [5] - CEO Mark Zuckerberg articulated a vision for "personal superintelligence," focusing on enhancing individual lives through Meta's smart glasses and virtual reality headsets [6]

Summary of Key Points from the Conference Call Industry Overview - **Industry**: Asian Technology Sector - **Current Trends**: Asian Tech stocks have rebounded significantly from the tariff-related sell-off in April, primarily driven by the AI sector [3][5] Core Insights and Arguments - **Earnings Revisions**: Overall Asian Tech earnings have seen an 18% upward revision year-to-date, mainly led by large-cap AI-related technology companies [3][5] - **Future Projections**: Continued upward revisions in tech earnings are expected through 2025, supported by the resolution of AI supply chain issues and well-flagged foreign exchange (FX) challenges [3][5] - **Market Growth**: Despite macroeconomic concerns, Asian Tech stocks are projected to increase by another 15-20% by the end of the year [3][5] - **AI Sector Leadership**: The AI complex is anticipated to lead the upcycle, with growth in datacenter capital expenditures (capex) expected in 2025 and increased confidence in growth for 2026 [3][5] - **Non-AI Sector Caution**: Selectivity is advised in the non-AI space due to a deceleration in year-over-year growth in most consumer tech segments in the second half of 2025, as the effects of China consumption subsidies and tariff pull-in fade [3][5] - **Emerging Themes**: Towards the end of 2025, new themes such as the Foldable iPhone product cycle and smart glasses may gain market support within the non-AI sector [3][5] Positive Catalysts for Asian Tech Stocks 1. Reinforcement of 2026 datacenter AI capex growth [3][5] 2. Potential US approval for China-specific NVIDIA AI GPU models [3][5] 3. Better-than-seasonal non-AI demand in the second half of 2025, as expectations have been reset to sub-seasonal levels [3][5] Stock Recommendations - **Preferred Stocks**: TSMC, SK Hynix, Advantest, and Delta among large-cap tech [3][5] - **Cautious Outlook**: More guarded on SEC, Xiaomi, and Mediatek in the near term, but maintain an overweight (OW) position on SEC due to improving progress in High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) [3][5] - **Top Picks**: Quanta is highlighted as a top pick among NVIDIA-related server Original Design Manufacturers (ODMs) [3][5] - **Smaller Cap Recommendations**: Asmedia, ASPEED, Chroma, AMEC, and ACMR are recommended, while SMIC, VIS, UMC, GUC, Realtek, Parade, GlobalWafers, USI, Transsion, and Nikon are advised to be avoided [3][5] Additional Important Insights - **Market Sentiment**: The overall sentiment remains positive for the AI sector, with expectations of revenue momentum picking up in the second half of 2025 [3][5]

Company Overview - Proactive is a financial news publisher that provides fast, accessible, informative, and actionable business and finance news content to a global investment audience [2] - The company has a team of experienced news journalists who produce independent content across various financial markets [2] Market Focus - Proactive specializes in medium and small-cap markets while also covering blue-chip companies, commodities, and broader investment stories [3] - The content includes insights into sectors such as biotech and pharma, mining and natural resources, battery metals, oil and gas, crypto, and emerging digital and EV technologies [3] Technology Adoption - Proactive is recognized for its forward-looking approach and enthusiastic adoption of technology to enhance workflows [4] - The company utilizes automation and software tools, including generative AI, while ensuring that all content is edited and authored by humans [5]

Core Insights - Warby Parker shares increased by over 15% following Google's announcement of a smart glasses partnership at its I/O developer conference [1] - Google has pledged up to $150 million for the project, with $75 million already invested in product development and an additional $75 million contingent on Warby meeting collaboration milestones [1] - The first products from the partnership are expected to launch after 2025, utilizing Google's Android XR operating system and Gemini AI assistant [1][2] Company and Industry Analysis - The collaboration between Warby Parker and Google is set to compete with the existing partnership between Meta and EssilorLuxottica, which has already launched multiple generations of smart glasses [3] - This partnership marks Google's re-entry into the eyewear market, following the controversial launch of Google Glass in 2013, which faced privacy issues [4]

In Brief Apple is reportedly developing new chips to drive smart glasses similar to Meta’s Ray-Ban Meta as well as more powerful Macs and AI servers.Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman notes that one of the chips is inspired by the Apple Watch’s low-power processors. Apple aims to put these chips into mass production with TSMC by the end of next year or 2027, according to the report. Glasses are a big focus. Bloomberg has previously reported that Apple CEO Tim Cook is determined to beat Meta in the glasses market, whe ...