Hasbro the toymaker that sells brands like Nerf, Monopoly, Play-Doh and Transformers, saw its shares soar by 8% in Monday trading before the market opened after it topped revenue and profit forecasts.
Early money prior to the opening bell, Hasbro shares had increased by 8.2% or by $5.40 per share. The company posted earnings for the first quarter of 21 cents a share, which topped the 8 cents a share estimates on Wall Street.
The toymaker also beat the top line with its revenue ending the quarter at $713.4 million beat Wall Street estimates of $660 million. Hasbro announced that it had a negative impact from currency due to a strong dollar of $62.5 million.
The quarter received his strength from a 10% revenue jump to over $272.5 million in its boy’s category, from Nerf and Transformers, just two of its franchise brands, as well as growth in products from Marvel and the first shipments of Jurassic World.
The category of preschool also had a good quarter with an increase of 22% in revenues. The Playskool Heroes products and Play-Doh brand fueled by the increase in Transformers Rescue Bots and the first Jurassic World shipments powered gains.
The game category also fared well, helped by its Magic: The Gathering as well as Monopoly, said the company. The only weak area experienced by the company was in its section of girls’ toys. That category’s revenues were down 15% during the first three month of 2015, due primarily because of declines in Easy Bake, Furreal Friends and Furby products.
Last week the numbers for the quarter were also weaker at Mattel.
