Hasbro Sees Sales Spike, But Profit Not Lifted

Hasbro the toymaker, the company that is behind Play-Doh, Nerf products and Monopoly, reported on Monday that during its fiscal second quarter for 2014, it turned around its boys segment that had struggled because of its Transformers and Marvel products. However, the surge of 32% in sales from its boy’s toys was not enough to lift the overall profit and results in revenue above what Wall Street had estimated.

Due to this, Hasbro shares were down in early trading on Monday.

Hasbro announced revenue for the second quarter of $829.3 million, which represented an increase of 8% over the same period last year when revenue topped $766.2 million.

The figure did not reach the $842 million that was estimated by Wall Street.

Net income dropped $33.5 million, equal to 26 cents a share, which was down from the same period a year ago of $36.5 million equal to 28 cents a share.

Excluding certain items, such as a tax adjustment that was unfavorable amounting to more than $13.7 million equal to 10 cents a share, Hasbro reported a profit of more than 36 cents a share, a figure that was one cent short of estimates on Wall Street.

The performance in the second quarter reflects the continuing re-imagination of brands and brand blueprints that had a positive impact on the investment and focus on strategic growth opportunities, said CEO and president at Hasbro Brian Goldner.

Strong growth during the second quarter was experienced in the franchise brands from Hasbro, for its licensing and entertainment sector and emerging markets.

The brightest area for Hasbro amidst its results for the quarter was the boys segment. In its prior quarters the segment had been a drag with sales declining in 2013 by 22% and growing by 2% in the first quarter of this year.

However, during this quarter sales were up 32% to over $335.78 million, which was the best of all four segments at the toy company.

The segment of girl’s toys kept its strength with a sales increase of 10% to end the quarter at $163.78 million from strong sales for Nerf Rebelle and My Little Pony.