Continue reading Hasbro Up After Earnings News

Hasbro Up After Earnings News originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 18 Oct 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Hasbro, Inc. (HAS), a toy manufacturer that competes with Mattel, Inc. (MAT) and JAKKS Pacific, Inc. (JAKK), is near a 52-week high right now. And it's probably on a lot of minds at the moment; after all, we just got through the Santa season. Since 2010 is just about to begin, many shareholders who were new to the stock this year are probably wondering whether they should keep the company or book profits.

It all depends. If you bought with the intention of holding on for the long term and are willing to put up with potential downside risk, with an eye toward adding on the dips, I'd say you can safely hold the shares with confidence. Hasbro has a great collection of brands, and a portfolio probably will benefit over time from exposure to the company.

Continue reading Hasbro: Sell or Buy as Year Ends?

Hasbro: Sell or Buy as Year Ends? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 29 Dec 2009 17:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

First, here's the data. Sales decreased 8%. They were affected, in part, by currency translation. Earnings per share came in at 63 cents. This was two pennies below last year's income figure. According to Bloomberg, that profit performance misses expectations by a penny, but I've read other sources which report that Mattel met expectations. I think I'll call this one in line with projections.

Continue reading Mattel gets a bid on third-quarter news

Mattel gets a bid on third-quarter news originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 16 Oct 2009 14:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Here are some highlights from last week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

• Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) reported a surprise profit but is expected to return to losses next quarter.
• Coach Inc. (NYSE: COH) profit and revenue were in line with expectations, sending shares lower.
• Corning Inc. (NYSE: GLW) posted better-than-expected earnings but other concerns drove down shares.
• eHealth Inc. (NASDAQ: EHTH) reported solid Q2 numbers but Wall Street was not impressed.
• Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. (NYSE: GT) posted a smaller-than-expected Q2 loss, sending shares higher.
• JAKKS Pacific Inc. (NASDAQ: JAKK) reported swinging to a Q2 net loss and revenues were flat.

Continue reading Earnings highlights: Coach, Corning, Goodyear, Visa, Waste Management ...

Earnings highlights: Coach, Corning, Goodyear, Visa, Waste Management ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 01 Aug 2009 15:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

THQ (NASDAQ: THQI), a video-game software publisher that competes with Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS), Take-Two Interactive (NASDAQ: TTWO), and my personal favorite, Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ: ATVI), lost well over 6% of its market value during Tuesday's after-hours trading session. The culprit catalyst? First-quarter earnings.

I was a bit surprised by the sell-off at first. After all, sales increased over 77%, and earnings per share on an adjusted basis came in at 10 cents versus a loss of 38 cents one year ago. That sounds awesome on the surface, as does the fact that Reuters says the market was actually expecting a loss of 6 cents per share!

Continue reading THQ powers past estimates in Q1, but should stock be sold?

THQ powers past estimates in Q1, but should stock be sold? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 29 Jul 2009 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

JAKKS Pacific (NASDAQ: JAKK) is in rough shape. Sure, the toy industry can be tough. Just ask Hasbro (NYSE: HAS) and Mattel (NYSE: MAT). Even with great brands stocking a powerhouse portfolio, getting, and then keeping, the attention of kids is a difficult task. Well, JAKKS Pacific not only has that challenge to contend with, it has others as well.

Let's start with the awful earnings report management released to the market after the bell on Tuesday. For the second quarter, the company lost 3 cents per share on an adjusted basis. This compares to a profit of 17 cents per share in the year-ago period. Revenues were flat and unexciting.

Continue reading JAKKS Pacific: A speculative buy after the awful Q2 report?

JAKKS Pacific: A speculative buy after the awful Q2 report? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 29 Jul 2009 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Mattel, Inc. (NYSE: MAT) is all about fun and games, but it doesn't play around when it competes against Hasbro, Inc. (NYSE: HAS) and JAKKS Pacific (NASDAQ: JAKK). In fact, the stock is up over 7% today as of this writing on the toy manufacturer's earnings news. According to Reuters, Mattel made 6 cents per share during the second quarter, beating estimates by a whopping five pennies.

Pretty good news for Mattel, considering it's been having trouble lately with its Barbie line. Mattel has also had problems with its top-line sales. They dropped 19% in Q2. Fluctuations in the value of the dollar helped to hinder the sales picture, but make no mistake -- Mattel has to step things up a couple notches to keep the top line healthy. Toys are a difficult category to sell during a recession. And when toys do sell, even during the Christmas retail period, they might not command top dollar. Hot toys do, of course, but an entire portfolio cannot necessarily be saved by a single fad item.

Continue reading Mattel up on earnings news, but its Barbie toys need help

Mattel up on earnings news, but its Barbie toys need help originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 17 Jul 2009 17:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Whoa! That is very unattractive indeed. I mean, last year at this time, JAKKS Pacific had earned $0.03 per share. I know we're out of the Christmas season and all, but come on, that's a huge difference. If you look at the earnings release, you'll see that it's readily apparent that consumers didn't take too kindly to the company's current product mix. The company said that closeout sales exerted a negative effect. Also, acquisition costs bruised the bottom line a bit.

Continue reading JAKKS Pacific reports loss, stock is not having fun

JAKKS Pacific reports loss, stock is not having fun originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 23 Apr 2009 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Hasbro (NYSE: HAS), a toymaker that competes with Mattel (NYSE: MAT) and JAKKS Pacific (NASDAQ: JAKK), reported results for the first quarter on Monday. They weren't that spectacular. No big earnings beat here. Net sales were down 6%, even excluding the effect of currency translation. Net income dropped 44% to $0.14 per share. According to this source, that number unfortunately merely met Wall Street expectations.

Of course, I suppose things could have been worse. Hasbro could have missed expectations by a mile. In this kind of economy, we probably should be glad that a company whose products can easily be cut from any discretionary family budget at least was able to keep up with prevailing wisdom.

Continue reading Hasbro meets expectations in tough Q1

Hasbro meets expectations in tough Q1 originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 20 Apr 2009 15:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

JAKKS Pacific (NASDAQ: JAKK), a toy maker which competes with Hasbro (NYSE: HAS) and Mattel (NYSE: MAT), did not have a merry Christmas. In that regard, it's no different than the competition. Times are tough, and since toys are not a necessity, it's no wonder that earnings for JAKKS Pacific missed Q4 estimates by a rather significant amount. Net sales dipped by over 5%, and net income dropped 47% to $0.55 per share according to the earnings release. The call was for $1.02 per share. Did I say estimates missed by a rather significant amount? I didn't realize that I was in the mood for understatement.

Continue reading JAKKS Pacific found no Christmas magic in Q4

JAKKS Pacific found no Christmas magic in Q4 originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 19 Feb 2009 11:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Hasbro

Continue reading Hasbro shares up on earnings miss -- does this mean it's a buy?

Hasbro shares up on earnings miss -- does this mean it's a buy? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 09 Feb 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Mattel, Inc. (NYSE: MAT), big rival of Hasbro, Inc. (NYSE: HAS) and JAKKS Pacific (NASDAQ: JAKK), had one apocalyptically bad quarter. According to today's Stocks in the News, the toy maker earned $0.49 per share in the fourth quarter. Expectations were for $0.72 per share. Know that horrible Christmas retail season you've been hearing about? It's real.

Mattel, it seems, wasn't able to leverage any of its brand power to save itself from the recession. Well, I suppose that isn't entirely true, since American Girl sales went up 5% in Q4 according to the corporate press release. But Mattel's famous, historical brands, Hot Wheels and Barbie, did no heavy lifting whatsoever, and you would have expected them to help out at least a little. Worldwide gross sales for Fisher Price decreased 10%. For Barbie, the plunge was 21%. And for the Wheels category (which includes Hot Wheels, Matchbox, and remote-control items), sales dropped 19%.

Continue reading Mattel did terribly in the holiday quarter -- is it a buy on the sell-off?

Mattel did terribly in the holiday quarter -- is it a buy on the sell-off? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 02 Feb 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Mattel Inc. (NYSE: MAT), which competes with toy makers Hasbro Inc. (NYSE: HAS) and JAKKS Pacific Inc. (NASDAQ: JAKK), will be reporting earnings for the fourth quarter on Monday, February 2. This is going to be an exciting one for the market. Why? Well, it was an awful Christmas for retail. If Mattel, a company that thrives on the season, can beat expectations, then investors can maybe feel a little bit better about the market. Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) surprised Wall Street and went beyond expectations during the holiday season, so perhaps there is hope for Mattel.

But I can't say I'd be willing to bet on it. Mattel should earn somewhere around $0.72 per share on the bottom line. That wouldn't be a great number, but it wouldn't be a disaster, either, because in the previous year Mattel delivered $0.76 per share.

Continue reading Earnings preview: Can Mattel possibly beat the analysts after this terrible Christmas?

Earnings preview: Can Mattel possibly beat the analysts after this terrible Christmas? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 01 Feb 2009 11:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Hasbro (NYSE: HAS) management recently spoke to analysts at its Investor Day conference. Here's the transcript. We all know the deal about these conferences: companies want to put their best foot forward and convince Wall Street that, if things are going good they are about to get even better, or, if things are going bad they won't be as bad as people thought and they will be improving either soon or on a long-term basis. You can bet that it was the latter tone taken by Team Hasbro at the event. In fact, CEO Brian Goldner said something which I thought was quite amazing: did you know that there actually will be a Christmas this year?

Frankly, I had my doubts. Of course, even though there will be a Christmas, and even though Santa will be delivering a lot of toys to kids this holiday season, it's not going to be a pleasant one for toy manufacturers. We're in a bad recession, folks, which is about to wreak psychological havoc on even the strongest consumer mind. Hasbro wants investors to know that parents will buy the stuff on their children's lists. Hasbro is further betting that the company's products will be on a lot of those lists.

The brand equity inherent in its portfolio was mentioned as a particular strength, one that will help keep margins strong and defend the company against competition not only from the likes of Mattel (NYSE: MAT) and JAKKS Pacific (NASDAQ: JAKK) but also from companies that put out more generic playthings. Management also mentioned that Hasbro is in a position of financial strength because of its cash flow, and that it remains confident that revenue expansion can go beyond increases in costs and expenses.

Continue reading Hasbro attempts to put best foot forward on analysts' call

Hasbro attempts to put best foot forward on analysts' call originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 18 Nov 2008 10:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

In his Validea newsletter, John reese explains, "Benjamin Graham -- considered the greatest investment guru by Warren Buffett -- built his reputation by using an extremely conservative, low-risk approach to investing." Buffett, incidentally, was Ben Graham's student.

Reese continues, "To Graham, preserving one's original capital was every bit as important as netting big gains. Having lived through the 1929 market crash, it's no surprise that the strategy Graham laid out in his classic book The Intelligent Investor was a conservative, loss-averse approach.

"To Graham, an investment wasn't something that could be turned into quick, easy profits; anything that offers such 'easy' rewards also comes with substantial risk, and Graham abhorred risk. In terms of specifics, Graham's approach limited risk in a number of ways, and my Graham-based model lays out several of those methods.

Continue reading Top 10 Benjamin Graham value plays: Men's Wearhouse, Carlisle, Movado and Scholastic make the grade

Top 10 Benjamin Graham value plays: Men's Wearhouse, Carlisle, Movado and Scholastic make the grade originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 24 Oct 2008 12:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

4Kids Entertainment Inc. (NYSE: KDE), a licensing operation meant to target kids with various toys and potential fads, suffered through a terrible second quarter. The top line increased 37% to $16.5 million. Sounds pretty good so far, right? Yeah, then we get to the bottom line. The net loss was $0.42 per share. This compares to a net loss of $0.17 per share in the previous year's Q2. And what did Wall Street think the company was going to lose? About $0.23 per share, according to Earnings.com. I'd call that a rather bad shortfall.

The press release promoted the fact that the Chaotic trading-card asset is performing up to expectations. 4Kids is very hopeful that it can create momentum behind the cards and eventually turn them into another Pokemon or Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise. Maybe management can, maybe it can't. That's the problem with 4Kids. It's difficult to retain a desire to allocate investment funds into this stock since you can never really tell what product line is eventually going to win out for the company. It's a constant exercise in speculation. For instance, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was weak this quarter compared to the year-ago period. Who knows if the property will be hot again two quarters from now. Going with a Hasbro, Inc. (NYSE: HAS), a Mattel, Inc. (NYSE: MAT), or a JAKKS Pacific (NASDAQ: JAKK) would probably make for safer sledding.

4Kids' stock is up slightly as I write, and it isn't far from its 52-week low. It isn't cheap, and it isn't a buy. This is the kind of stock you would definitely need to see some momentum strength in before buying. Otherwise, you'd be risking too much. Granted, the stock has been strong the last month or so, but considering today's earnings report, I'd need to see it get well over $10 per share before I'd take another look.

Disclosure: I don't own any company mentioned; positions can change at any time.

4Kids Entertainment's Q2 loss is not fun at all originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 11 Aug 2008 15:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

LeapFrog Enterprises (NYSE: LF) reported a decent quarter, but I won't be buying the stock. I just think there are better ideas out there in this sector. First, let's play around with the numbers.

For Q2, LeapFrog saw its top line increase by 22% to a little over $68 million. The net loss was 32 cents per share versus a net loss of 44 cents a year earlier. According to Earnings.com, analysts were expecting the loss to be about 44 cents per share. There was, however, a little help from a tax benefit in the quarter; last year, the company recorded a tax expense. LeapFrog not only scored on the bottom line, but it also expanded its gross margin. So, the quarter seemed all right. But, I then look at the cash flow statement and see that LeapFrog has been using cash for operations the last six months. In the similar time period a year ago, LeapFrog reported positive operational cash flow.

LeapFrog's stock was up over 5% in after-hours trading on Monday after the earnings release. The stock has been strong in a bad market according to the AOL Finance snapshot, and the pop in the after-hours session placed it close to a 52-week high. Again, though, I think there are better ideas out there. Hasbro (NYSE: HAS) is a toy company I'd much rather align my portfolio with. I could even look at Mattel (NYSE: MAT) and JAKKS Pacific (NASDAQ: JAKK).

I know that the stock may be signaling better times ahead, and toy companies certainly make their profits in the latter part of the year, but I still am cautious on this business. When I wrote about the company's fiscal year, I also noted bad cash-flow characteristics, as well losses on the bottom line. So, in the end, I just don't want my portfolio to play around with this low-priced equity.

Disclosure: I don't own any company mentioned; positions can change at any time.

Why I am still avoiding LeapFrog originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 05 Aug 2008 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Hasbro

Yet, the stock is down today, as of this writing, by over 2%. What the heck? Well, one thing that should be noted on the earnings growth is that it really isn't as huge as it appears on the surface. Last year at this time, the company took back some warrants issued to George Lucas' media empire that caused the GAAP earnings to come in at quite a low number. If you take the effect of them out of the equation, then, unfortunately, earnings only grew this quarter by a measly penny.

Of course, it's also a tepid market day, so that could also be working against the stock. However, inflation is an issue as well. According to this article from Reuters, the specter of rising input costs is being felt. But does this mean I should no longer be bullish on the company? While I feel that inflation is something to watch with Hasbro, I remain bullish on the shares, although I would wait for a pullback so a higher yield can be received for one's investment dollars. It's difficult, I suppose, to be bullish on a toy company when I am personally bearish on both the economy and the equities markets, but I do like the recent strength of Hasbro's stock and I like the prospects for its brands (e.g., Star Wars, Transformers) ahead of the holiday season. Hasbro's portfolio is keeping me going...hopefully it will keep the stock going, too.

Disclosure: I don't own any company mentioned; positions can change at any time.

Hasbro beats expectations, but the stock sells off -- what gives? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 21 Jul 2008 16:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Mattel (NYSE: MAT), a toy company that competes with Hasbro (NYSE: HAS) and JAKKS Pacific (NASDAQ: JAKK), got some good news earlier this week. Its stock was upgraded by analyst Gerrick Johnson of BMO Capital Markets, according to the AP, although it wasn't necessarily an overwhelming vote of confidence. The analyst is switching the rating from "underperform" to "market perform," and if you check out the AP piece, you'll see that he basically is saying that while he doesn't see a big reason to sell the stock, he doesn't see a big reason to buy it either. This was a call based on simple valuation.

I was glad when I read this clarification because, when I first spied this headline, I was a bit flummoxed. I honestly didn't expect Mattel to receive some huge upgrade at this point, even though I agree that the stock is certainly cheap. My main reason for this hinges on the best-of-breed character of Mattel's colleague Hasbro. I just wrote about this company and the strength of its stock at the beginning of the week, and if I were to buy any toy business right now, it probably would be the maker of Monopoly and Mr. Potato Head. Hasbro's got the brand strength as well as the stock strength, it seems, and even though Mattel packs a dividend-yield punch at over 4%, this market might be too tough to go with companies that are nowhere near a bullish trend.

Long-term, the maker of Barbie will rebound. Short-term, it may languish. So you'll have to consider your timeframe when taking a look at Mattel and Hasbro. Mattel does have a nice yield, but Hasbro and its product portfolio could be better positioned come the holiday season. It's going to be an interesting battle between these two rivals once the weather turns cold...

Disclosure: I don't own any company mentioned here; positions can change at any time.

Mattel receives an upgrade, but I'm not ready to buy originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 11 Jul 2008 13:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

CNNMoney over the weekend reviewed the first half of the year for the markets. Among its lists of winners and losers, one stock got my attention.

Believe it or not, Hasbro (NYSE: HAS), a competitor of Mattel (NYSE: MAT) and JAKKS Pacific (NASDAQ: JAKK), was up quite nicely through the end of June. How nice? The stock increased in value by almost 40%. That's impressive, but is it persuasive? What I mean is, should one believe that the company's first-half strength is an undeniable indication that the trend will continue for the rest of the year?

I have been bullish on Hasbro and I think it's a great company that should benefit from the upcoming holiday season, but should doesn't necessarily imply would. We are in what I would call an all-bets-are-off market. The bears, and their claws, are slashing their way through the hallowed halls of Wall Street, and if the negative-wealth effect really gets going, thus further damaging consumer confidence, then one would have to wonder how Hasbro will fare in the second half of the year.

Without a doubt, though, put Hasbro on your watch list and perform some due diligence on the company. It's got some great brands in its portfolio like Monopoly and Transformers, and keep in mind that its Star Wars line is due to receive a nice catalytic jolt from the upcoming Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated project. Hasbro's stock dropped almost 7% in the last month. This followed a lot of up months. If the stock experiences a further pullback, and the dividend yield rises, it may become attractive.

Disclosure: I don't own any company mentioned; positions can change at any time.

Will Hasbro's stock continue to perform? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 07 Jul 2008 14:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.