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• Revenue: Fourth quarter revenue of nearly $1.1 billion, a 6% increase year-over-year; full-year revenue grew 8.2% to over $4.3 billion.

• Adjusted EBITDA: Fourth quarter adjusted EBITDA of $123 million, up over 14% year-over-year; full-year adjusted EBITDA over $473 million, up 3.8% from the prior year.

• Adjusted EBITDA Margin: Fourth quarter margin of 11.4%, up 80 basis points from last year.

• Non-GAAP Diluted EPS: Fourth quarter EPS of $1.05, nearly 30% higher year-over-year; full-year EPS of $3.83, an 8% improvement from 2023.

• Lease Charge-Offs: Fourth quarter rate of 7.3%, 20 basis points better than the previous year; full-year rate of 7.3%, slightly up from 7.1% in 2023.

• Acima Revenue: Fourth quarter revenue grew 14.4% year-over-year; full-year revenue growth of over 17% to approximately $2.3 billion.

• Rent-A-Center Revenue: Revenue down approximately $15 million year-over-year due to store franchising and consolidation.

• Same-Store Sales: Rent-A-Center's same-store sales were relatively flat in the fourth quarter.

• Store Locations: Rent-A-Center finished the quarter with 111 fewer locations than year-end 2023.

• Free Cash Flow: Approximately $50 million in 2024, down from nearly $150 million in 2023.

• Liquidity: $489 million at year-end, including cash on hand and revolver availability.

• Net Leverage Ratio: Approximately 2.7 times at year-end, moving to about 3 times post-Brigit acquisition.

• Warning! GuruFocus has detected 5 Warning Signs with UPBD.

Release Date: February 20, 2025

For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript.

Positive Points

• Upbound Group Inc (NASDAQ:UPBD) reported a 6% increase in fourth-quarter revenue, driven by the strength of Acima.

• The company achieved a 17% top-line growth for Acima, with revenue ending at approximately $2.3 billion.

• Upbound Group Inc (NASDAQ:UPBD) successfully onboarded nearly a million new customers and thousands of new merchants in 2024.

• The company completed two transformative acquisitions, AEA and Bridget, establishing itself as a technology-driven growth company.

• Adjusted EBITDA for the year was over $473 million, up 3.8% from the prior year, indicating strong financial performance.

Negative Points

• The Rent-A-Center segment faced challenges due to economic uncertainty, impacting demand and payment behavior.

• Consolidated lease charge-offs for the year increased slightly to 7.3% from 7.1% in 2023.

• Rent-A-Center's revenue was down approximately $15 million year over year, partly due to store consolidations.

• The company expects Rent-A-Center's revenue to decline in the low single-digit range in 2025.

• Acima's EBITDA margins were down 90 basis points from Q4 of 2023, indicating pressure on profitability.