Light & Wonder reported a positive start to the year despite sounding alarm bells over the anticipated impact of a number of global challenges.
In particular, the developer highlighted the knock-on effect of US President Donald Trump’s economic policy of levying tariffs on imports to the US, as well as an almost doubling of remote gaming duty to 40%, which came into effect in April.
Matt Wilson, Light & Wonder’s President and Chief Executive Officer, told investors during the company’s first quarter earnings call: “Over the past several months, we have faced a number of external headwinds, including tariff pressures and more recently, geopolitical and macroeconomic uncertainty affecting end consumers. These are factors largely outside of our control, and we’ve managed through them with discipline.”
Even with mitigations, Light & Wonder expects these factors to have a $30m (£22m) impact on the company’s bottom line, leading to tempered EBITDA guidance of ‘mid to high single digits’ in 2026.
The slot manufacturer reported a positive start to the year against this backdrop of uncertainty, as it recorded consolidated revenue growth of 2% year-over-year to $790m (£580m) and AEBITDA growth of 5% YoY to $327m (£240m).
Growth was primarily driven by Light & Wonder’s gaming segment, which recorded a 3% YoY improvement to $512m (£375.9m) and its iGaming division, which grew 18% YoY to $91m (£66.8m).
US remains steady despite challenges
Alongside tariffs and tax changes, Light & Wonder is also beginning to monitor the cost of the ongoing tensions in the Middle East between the US, Israel and Iran.
The conflict has caused the price of oil to spike, increasing the cost of manufacturing and, therefore, the cost of living for the US consumer.
Despite these difficulties, Wilson said that gross gaming revenue remains strong in the US through the first quarter of the year.
“GGR’s holding up nicely in the face of a lot of geopolitical risk,” he told investors.
“[There are] a number of different factors that could be hitting the US consumer, but they’re powering right through it at the moment. It’s something to watch closely. You look at the fee per day numbers, you look at the reported GGR, it looks like the market’s holding on very well.”