AOL Money & Finance

MAT posts

JAKKS Pacific reports loss, stock is not having fun

JAKKS Pacific (NASDAQ: JAKK), which competes with fellow toymakers Hasbro (NYSE: HAS) and Mattel (NYSE: MAT) for the attention span of all the kids out there, reported a very unattractive first quarter. JAKKS said it lost $0.40 per share. According to this source, JAKKS was expected to lose four pennies less.

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

Hasbro meets expectations in tough Q1

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

Earnings highlights: Goldman Sachs, Google, Citigroup, GE, Intel, Nokia and more

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

Continue reading Earnings highlights: Goldman Sachs, Google, Citigroup, GE, Intel, Nokia and more

Closing Bell: What recession? Earnings make six-week run (C, GE, DRYS, ERTS, MAT, GOOG)

Today was a very light event day outside of two DJIA components reporting earnings. We saw another instance where stocks held on to gains and did not sell the news too bad. It looks like the indexes actually have made it six straight weeks up now. Here are today's closing bell levels:

DJIA: 8,131.33
S&P500: 869.57
NASDAQ: 1,673.07

Continue reading Closing Bell: What recession? Earnings make six-week run (C, GE, DRYS, ERTS, MAT, GOOG)

Mattel's quarterly loss grows

Early this morning, Mattel (NYSE: MAT) announced that its quarterly loss totaled $51 million, or 14 cents per share. This loss met the Street's expectations, but it was also a penny wider than the same quarter a year ago. The toy giant blamed the larger-than-anticipated loss on a stronger dollar and inventory cuts at retailers. Quarterly sales dropped 15% to $785.6 million in the quarter, including a 7% hit from the stronger dollar, reducing overseas sales values.

Mattel's CEO Robert Eckert stated that the company will keep controlling costs as "tough market conditions test the resilience of toy companies," which rely on parents to boost sales. Unfortunately for Mattel, parents have been cutting back on toy purchases in the current market environment, forcing retailers to cut inventories in an effort to curb excess merchandise. The article cites a report from market research group NPD Group that showed total retail toy sales dropped 3% in 2008.

Continue reading Mattel's quarterly loss grows

The week in preview: The new earnings season ramps up

Alcoa Inc. (NYSE: AA) started off the new earnings season with disappointing results that helped to stifle the recent rally. Was that enough of a sign of what's to come? No, probably not. But the earnings reports start to fly in earnest this week, which should provide a more detailed picture of the state of things.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters anticipate that some of the biggest names will prove to be holding their own. Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) is expected to post a profit of $4.91 per share, marginally higher than a year ago, and Johnson & Johnson's (NYSE: JNJ) expected $1.22 per share profit is slightly lower year over year. Even Mattel Inc.'s (NYSE: MAT) estimated loss of $0.13 per share is the same as in the year-ago period.

Continue reading The week in preview: The new earnings season ramps up

Should you be looking at Hasbro?

I was looking at The Hollywood Reporter the other day and came across an item about Hasbro (NYSE: HAS) and an innocent little DVD deal it made that involved some animated product, including old episodes of the cartoon version of Transformers. That reminded me that the Transformers sequel, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, is due out at the end of June. That further reminded me that it might be time to take a look at the stock of Mattel's (NYSE: MAT) archrival.

Hasbro had a rough time last Christmas. When I covered the toy maker's earnings in February, I noted that they experienced a significant drop and that they missed analyst expectations. But I also noted something else: the company's shares rallied on the bad earnings release. That gave me pause. Could this be an interesting indication about Hasbro's future? Was the stock a buy?

Continue reading Should you be looking at Hasbro?

JAKKS Pacific found no Christmas magic in Q4

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

Hey, toy companies: Cheaper toys means lower profits

Companies like Mattel (NYSE: MAT) and Hasbro (NYSE: HAS) have apparently decided that selling toys in a recession means offering products that the consumer can buy even in the face of a poor economy. That means toys that sell for less. And that means lower revenue -- perhaps losses.

According to Reuters, "Mattel is selling Elmo gloves for $30 this year, while its $60 Elmo Live doll was in the spotlight a year earlier. Hasbro is promoting its $28 Lil' Patter Pup, whereas last year's focus was on the $180 toy puppy called Biscuit."

Over the past year, shares in Hasbro and Mattel have behaved very differently: Mattel is off more than 40% while Hasbro is down about 10%.

Continue reading Hey, toy companies: Cheaper toys means lower profits

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

Hasbro (NYSE: HAS), a toy maker that competes with Mattel (NYSE: MAT) and JAKKS Pacific (NASDAQ: JAKK), reported a steep drop in quarterly earnings on Monday. Net income was $0.62 per share in the fourth quarter, compared to $0.84 per share in the year-ago period. Net sales pulled back by 5%, given the effects of currency translation. According to Stocks in the News, analysts were hoping for something along the lines of $0.74 per share.

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

Mattel's American Girl an ace in the hole

Recently, I took my daughter to the American Girl store at the Mall of America here in Minneapolis.

This was no regular trip to the store. This was an event. We made reservations for lunch at the café, and the night before she readied her Kit Kittredge doll with a new outfit and hairdo.

I had no idea how big of a deal this was going to be, but I was looking forward to finding out what the fuss was all about.

Continue reading Mattel's American Girl an ace in the hole

Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: RBS, COH, BJ, QCOM, SNDK, MAT, MGM ...

Analyst upgrades:
  • HSBC upgraded Royal Bank of Scotland (NYSE: RBS) to Overweight from Neutral as it believes the risk of immediate nationalization has been removed.
  • JP Morgan upgraded DTS Inc (NASDAQ: DTSI) to Overweight from Neutral to reflect accretion from the Neural acquisition and its expectation the company can generate strong cash flow during the downturn. The firm raised its target to $18.
  • Cowen upgraded Coach (NYSE: COH) to Outperform from Neutral citing the recent sell-off in shares.
  • BJ's Wholesale (NYSE: BJ) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at UBS.
  • First Horizon (NYSE: FHN) was upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley.
  • Spartech (NYSE: SEH) was raised to Hold from Underweight at KeyBanc.

Continue reading Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: RBS, COH, BJ, QCOM, SNDK, MAT, MGM ...

Cramer on BloggingStocks: China's the driver

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says the importance of this nation cannot be overstated.

How long before we start feeling the positive effect of a market that is up 13% and is the biggest user of commodities? How long do we think oil can stay down (or copper or steel) when the stock market of China, the growth engine, is no longer sputtering and has ample room to run?

As people sell down BP (NYSE: BP) (Cramer's Take) and Conoco (NYSE: COP) (Cramer's Take), they simply must believe that the Chinese stimulus plan is already a failure. Anyone on the Mattel (NYSE: MAT) (Cramer's Take) conference call -- talk about a company with Chinese insight -- certainly thinks so. The description of China from reports like Mattel is one of Cormac McCarthy's The Road-like devastation.

Continue reading Cramer on BloggingStocks: China's the driver

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

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?

Next Page >

Symbol Lookup
IndexesChangePrice
DJIA+44.138,324.87
NASDAQ-9.121,787.40
S&P 500+2.29898.71

Last updated: July 06, 2009: 04:12 PM

BloggingStocks Exclusives

Hot Stocks

DailyFinance Headlines

Latest from BloggingBuyouts

WalletPop Headlines

AOL Business News

BioHealth Investor Headlines

Sponsored Links

My Portfolios

Track your stocks here!

Find out why more people track their portfolios on AOL Money & Finance then anywhere else.

BloggingStocks Partners

More from AOL Money & Finance