Growth spurred by 69% boost in doll sales
Mattel Inc. stock rallied late Thursday after the toy maker reported a narrower-than-expected quarterly loss and said its sales surged nearly 50%.
Mattel MAT, +0.81% said it lost $115 million, or 33 cents a share, in the first quarter, compared with a loss of $211 million, or 61 cents a share, in the year-ago quarter.
Adjusted for one-time items, the company lost 10 cents a share, compared with 56 cents a share a year ago.
Sales rose 47% to $874 million, from $594 million a year ago, Mattel said. Worldwide gross billings for dolls rose 69% to $381 million, mostly thanks to growth in Barbie and American Girl, Mattel said.
Analysts polled by FactSet expected Mattel to report an adjusted loss of 35 cents a share on sales of $684 million.
“While growth this quarter was partially driven by year-over-year COVID-related comparisons, we believe our outstanding results, overall, are attributable to the strength of our brands, quality and breadth of our product, world-class supply chain, global commercial capabilities, and very effective demand creation in close collaboration with our retail partners,” Chief Executive Ynon Kreiz said in a statement.
The stock ended the regular trading day up 0.1%.