...February 12, 2025 Blackhawk continues to drive growth despite a moderate environment. It faces significant seasonality during the holidays, and 2024's holiday performance appears to be favorable, with preliminary adjusted operating revenue (AOR) growth for 2024 around 11.5%, which is higher than AOR in 2023. This stems from positive results in both of its operating segments. Its global commerce segment grew 3.5% year over year, supported by international business and growing U.S. digital offerings, partially offset by lower U.S. physical volume. In our view, the commerce segment fared well despite a compressed retail buying season in 2024, as well as U.S. holiday sales growth slowing to about 3% in 2024, according to our economic outlook estimates. Meanwhile, revenue for the global incentives segment grew 25.2% over 2024--faster compared to the prior year. Almost half of the growth was due to an increase in organic volume as the company pushes for new business signings and expands existing...
