Strong Holiday Barbie Sales Help Toy Maker Mattel Beat Estimates

Toy maker Mattel Inc. reported its fourth quarter financial results and revealed that Barbie is the queen of all toys.

Barbie sales had jumped 19% in the quarter, helping to create a 10% revenue increase for the company to $1.6 billion.

Sales of Barbie did well at brick-and-mortar retail locations, up 30 percent.
This quarter helped Mattel see its highest growth rate in 15 years.

“This was an exceptional quarter for the company with our best performance in years,” Mattel chief executive Ynon Kreiz on an earnings call.

Fourth quarter earnings at $130.5 million, or 37 cents a share, were compared to flat results a year ago.

Mattel’s overall net sales rose about 10% to $1.63 billion for the fourth quarter, beating analysts’ estimates of $1.58 billion. Adjusted earnings of 40 cents per share beat estimates of 23 cents per share.

Hot Wheels, the company’s second largest brand saw a 13% increase in the quarter.

Mattel additionally announced a $250 million cost savings program that it expects to achieve by 2023.

Mattel’s sales abroad also grew by seven percent, including a rise of 8 percent in Asia, and three percent in Latin America. “We believe the company is on solid ground to grow profitability,” said CEO Kreiz.

Mattel’s revenues grew by 2 percent to $4.6 billion for the full year in 2020.

“We do expect to deliver strong sales growth in the first half (of 2021) compared to last year, but it will probably be more challenging in terms of comparison in the second half,” Kreiz told Reuters.

ahead the company has projected currency-neutral net sales to rise by a mid-single-digit percentage in 2021, compared with a 3% increase in 2020. Analysts however are expecting a 4.6% rise in sales this year, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

Disclaimer: We have no position in any of the companies mentioned and have not been compensated for this article