Boston, MA 02/03/2014 (wallstreetpr) – On Jan 31, Mattel, Inc. (NASDAQ:MAT)’s shares fell by almost 10% as it announced lower than expected quarterly results on account of low holiday season sales in the U.S.
Retailers suffer
The U.S. No.1 toy company Mattel, Inc. (NASDAQ:MAT), was caught in the decline in demand during the important holiday season crisis. While the U.S. economy has been stumbling upon recession times, the last holiday season proved to be one of the weakest in terms of sales since 2008. Factors like unfavorable and harsh weather conditions along with a declining money sources at dispense have led shoppers to refrain from indulging during the Thanksgiving and Christmas week in 2013. Retailers have been hurt the most from all of this in the U.S. Mattel’s fourth quarterly sales fell 10% in North America.
Mattel, Inc. (NASDAQ:MAT)’s shares were at $38.84 in trading before market opened, which means a decline of 9.7% for the toy maker. Net income increased to $369.2 million or $1.07 per share as compared to last year’s $306.5 million or 87 cents a share. According to Thomson Reuters I\B\E\S, average analysts’ forecast was a gain of $1.20 per share. While analysts were estimating $2.37 billion sales, Mattel trailed with $2.11 billion that means sales declined by 6%.
Global sales fall
In a statement, Mattel, Inc. (NASDAQ:MAT)’s chief Executive Officer, Bryan Stockton, said that the year was over all a challenging and transformative one in the retail sector. There was a weak demand for preschool toys and action figures, which mark the highest selling category for Mattel’s competitor Hasbro Inc (NASDAQ:HAS) and Mattel itself, respectively, according to Wells Fargo analyst Tim Conder. For Mattel, the gross sales globally declined by 13% for its Barbie brand. Other popular brands like Hot Wheels and Fisher-Price were down by 8% and 13% respectively. Only the American Girl brand reported to have increased worldwide gross sales and saw an upsurge of 3%.
