Hasbro vs. Mattel: Earnings From The Toy Giants (HAS, MAT)

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Published: October 20, 2008 8:01 am

We have seen earnings this morning from toy giants Hasbro Inc. (NYSE: HAS) and Mattel Inc. (NYSE: MAT). One is a relative winner, while one is not.

Hasbro managed to beat earnings expectations despite a 15% drop in earnings to$0.89 per share. That’s 3 cents better than analysts’ estimates. Revenue posted a 7% gain to$1.3 billion while Hasbro posted a 6% North American gain and a9% international gain. The company said that stronger sales in StarWars, Playskool, Nerf, and board games helped results.

Mattel missed earnings expectations despite posting less thana 1% gain in earnings. The toy maker made $0.66 per share, rather than the$0.71 analysts had expected. It posted a 6% gain in revenue to $1.95 billion andthe company noted that a weak dollar helped sales numbers by roughly2%. American Girl sales still rose 11%, but Barbie sales were off 1%at a time where advertising and operating costs were rising.

Mattel shares are down almost 4% pre-market at $13.89, and its 52-weektrading range is $13.11 to $22.07. So far we have yet to see any realdirection in Hasbro shares.

Jon C. Ogg
October 20, 2008

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