Business Maverick

Business Maverick

Mattel Trounces Analysts’ Sales Estimates Amid Boom in Toys

Mattel Inc. Barbie brand dolls are displayed for sale at a Walmart Inc. store in Burbank, California, U.S., on Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2019. A PWC survey shows that 36% of consumers surveyed plan to shop on Black Friday. Deals will ultimately dictate where spending and visits go. Photographer: Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg

Mattel Inc. climbed as much as 8.3% in extended trading after reporting second-quarter results that soared past analysts’ expectations amid an ongoing toy-buying boom.

The world’s second-largest toymaker said Tuesday revenue rose 40% to $1.03 billion, beating the $875.8 million average of estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Mattel reported profit of 3 cents a share, excluding some items, better than the 6-cent loss analysts expected.

Chief Executive Officer Ynon Kreiz raised his forecast for the year, predicting sales will climb by 12% to 14%. The company expects $875 million to $900 million in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. Revenue next year and in 2023 should rise by mid-single-digit percentages, he said, with Ebitda exceeding $1 billion in 2022.

“We were up in every region and in all the key categories,” Kreiz said in an interview. “We do feel great about the brand momentum and retail and promotional plans heading toward holiday season.”

The results show brands such as Barbie and Hot Wheels continue to resonate with a new generations of kids: Global billings for dolls grew 51% while toy vehicles expanded 68%. The infant, toddler and preschool category grew 15%. Action-figure sales benefited from a new “Masters of the Universe” TV show airing on Netflix Inc., he said.

Toy sales slumped at the start of the pandemic but began to climb in the second half of last year as parents with children stuck at home sought ways to entertain them. Rival Hasbro Inc. on Monday said its sales jumped 54% to $1.32 billion in the second quarter.

Mattel, based El Segundo, California, has worked on improving profitability through cost cuts and other steps. Ebitda rose more than fourfold to $130.6 million in the quarter.

Shares of Mattel reached as high as $22.25 in after hours trading. The stock had climbed 18% this year to close at $20.54 on Tuesday, exceeding Hasbro’s 8.4% rise.

Gallery

Comments - Please in order to comment.

Please peer review 3 community comments before your comment can be posted

X

This article is free to read.

Sign up for free or sign in to continue reading.

Unlike our competitors, we don’t force you to pay to read the news but we do need your email address to make your experience better.


Nearly there! Create a password to finish signing up with us:

Please enter your password or get a sign in link if you’ve forgotten

Open Sesame! Thanks for signing up.

We would like our readers to start paying for Daily Maverick...

…but we are not going to force you to. Over 10 million users come to us each month for the news. We have not put it behind a paywall because the truth should not be a luxury.

Instead we ask our readers who can afford to contribute, even a small amount each month, to do so.

If you appreciate it and want to see us keep going then please consider contributing whatever you can.

Support Daily Maverick→
Payment options

Become a Maverick Insider

This could have been a paywall

On another site this would have been a paywall. Maverick Insider keeps our content free for all.

Become an Insider

Every seed of hope will one day sprout.

South African citizens throughout the country are standing up for our human rights. Stay informed, connected and inspired by our weekly FREE Maverick Citizen newsletter.