Upbound Group Inc at Bank of America Consumer and Retail Conference Transcript

The following is excerpted from the question-and-answer section of the transcript.

Question: Liz Suzuki - BofA Securities - Analyst : Right. Also, I want to dig into Acima a little bit more. Just kind of thinking about some of the points of differentiation versus peers. I mean, there are all sorts of different lending options out there, but how do we think about what that differentiation is? And then what some of the goals for that business are in the near to mid-term?

Question: Liz Suzuki - BofA Securities - Analyst : And so which meant a center being the brick-and-mortar side and most are company owned, I mean, how does that differentiate versus some of the other players in that space?

Question: Liz Suzuki - BofA Securities - Analyst : Right. So I want to switch a little bit into the current macro environment. I mean, you mentioned that you don't really touch just one customer demographic. You have a pretty wide range between the two businesses. So I guess thinking about what the current environment looks like for your customer base, maybe at the lower end and at the higher end, what are you noticing now? And are you seeing incremental pressure, or has that started to stabilize? I think you had seen some softness in demand, and how is that starting to progress?

Question: Liz Suzuki - BofA Securities - Analyst : So in an environment of tightening lending standards, some of your lending peers would be kind of a market share opportunity, right, for you? Is that what you're seeing in the current environment that some of these other lenders are tightening the standards and pushing some customers down to you?

Question: Liz Suzuki - BofA Securities - Analyst : Right. So you did mention that there are some trade down assumed in your guidance as well. I mean, to what extent do you think that that continues, and what are some of the macro forecasts that get built into that?

Question: Liz Suzuki - BofA Securities - Analyst : Got you. Right. So I want to talk a little bit about credit losses and just where underwriting stands today for both businesses, and then whether that's integrated or is it separate for each segment? How does that part of the business work?

Question: Liz Suzuki - BofA Securities - Analyst : Well, that kind of leads me into my next question, which is really about a balanced risk appetite to potentially loosen standards, drive more volume, and then what some of the data points are -- that are used for credit decisioning, just so we can better kind of understand how that gets done. REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. MARCH 12, 2024 / 1:40PM, UPBD.OQ - Upbound Group Inc at Bank of America Consumer and Retail Conference

Question: Liz Suzuki - BofA Securities - Analyst : All right. So I want to talk a little bit about some of the recent performance, the 2024 guidance. So I guess, what's been driving the recent improvement in GMV growth? And is there -- has there been a competitive response?

Question: Liz Suzuki - BofA Securities - Analyst : Right. And just kind of touching on some of the macro assumptions underlying the 2024 outlook ranges, you touched on this a little bit. But what do you think would need to happen to either reach the high end of that range or to fall below the low end of the range from just a macro standpoint?

Question: Liz Suzuki - BofA Securities - Analyst : And I guess I'm just kind of going back and thinking about 2020 when everyone had all this stimulus money, and the consumer had all this cash.

Question: Liz Suzuki - BofA Securities - Analyst : Great. Well, let me open it up to the room. If there are questions in the room, please raise your hands. We can get a mic to you. Otherwise, I do have a couple of more. (Multiple speakers) All right, while people think about their questions potentially, just in terms of your retail partner pipeline, you're certainly growing in that side through Acima. What does that pipeline look like? Where do you think there are some potential opportunities where you're not serving retailers that you think are big opportunities?

Question: Liz Suzuki - BofA Securities - Analyst : Great. And then I guess you kind of talked about the differences in size in some of your business partners. What are the key differences between a small and medium business versus a regional partner versus a national partner in terms of what those contracts look like, if there's any exclusivity agreements, pricing for you? How does that vary by business size? REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. MARCH 12, 2024 / 1:40PM, UPBD.OQ - Upbound Group Inc at Bank of America Consumer and Retail Conference

Question: Liz Suzuki - BofA Securities - Analyst : All right, I'm going to give one last opportunity for people in the room who might have questions. Going once, going twice.

Question: Liz Suzuki - BofA Securities - Analyst : All right. Well, the last one I'll ask is -- it's sort of near term, but just curious since we're in tax refund season. One question that we had is really about if there's any meaningful differences between this year and last year in terms of the refund amounts or timing and then if that has any impact on near-term sales or margins?

Question: Liz Suzuki - BofA Securities - Analyst : Well, great. All right. That's all I've got. Thank you so much. We appreciate having you. REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. MARCH 12, 2024 / 1:40PM, UPBD.OQ - Upbound Group Inc at Bank of America Consumer and Retail Conference