Mattel cuts 2025 forecast after two-month pause, hurt by tariff uncertainties
The Hot Wheels parent had pulled its sales and profit forecasts in May, when U.S. President Donald Trump's shifting trade policy upended global supply chains and cast uncertainty over consumer spending trends.
CEO Ynon Kreiz told Reuters that timing shifts in retailer ordering patterns had an outsized impact on Mattel's U.S. business during the second quarter. He expects that the company will recover most of its sales in the back half of the year.
Shares of Mattel were down 4.5% in volatile trading after the bell, as it also forecast lower 2025 gross margin compared to last year.
Mattel now expects a rise in 2025 net sales of 1% to 3%, compared to its February target of a 2% to 3% increase. It forecast adjusted per-share profit between $1.54 and $1.66, below its prior estimate of $1.66 to $1.72 apiece.
Adjusted gross margin is expected to be 50%, compared to 50.9% in 2024.
"We believe the slowdown is being impacted by the current trade environment and the company's full-year margin guidance shows a larger-than-expected impact from tariffs," CFRA analyst Zachary Warring said.
Analysts have warned that retailers such as Walmart (WMT.N), opens new tab, Target (TGT.N), opens new tab and Amazon.com (AMZN.O), opens new tab were limiting building up inventory going into the key holiday season to minimize exposure to higher tariffs.
Earlier in the day, rival Hasbro (HAS.O), opens new tab raised its annual revenue outlook but warned that its U.S. customers had postponed their orders to later this year owing to tariff uncertainty.
In May, Mattel outlined plans to fully mitigate tariff costs in 2025 through a combination of price hikes and diversifying its supply chain.
"We estimate the tariffs exposure this year, based on current tariff levels, and before any mitigation actions, is less than $100 million," Kreiz said on Wednesday.
Mattel reported a quarterly 6% drop in net sales to $1.02 billion, missing analysts' estimate of a 2.7% decline to $1.05 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG.
The weakness was driven by a 16% fall in North America sales, primarily due to fewer new product launches for Barbie and delayed inventory decisions by retailers.
Adjusted profit came in at 19 cents per share, compared with the estimate of 15 cents apiece.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
27 minutes ago
- Reuters
HEDGE FLOW Hedge funds ditch tech and buy essentials, Goldman Sachs says
LONDON, July 28 (Reuters) - Hedge funds fled technology stocks at the fastest pace in 12 months in the latest week, just as the S&P 500 (.SPX), opens new tab reached all-time highs, a note to Goldman Sachs (GS.N), opens new tab clients and seen by Reuters said. The S&P 500, which includes seven tech stocks in its top 10 largest constituents by market value, has surged roughly 28% since its 2025 low, while the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC), opens new tab has jumped 38% in that time. As of Friday, the S&P 500's forward price to earnings ratio, which reflects the value of a company's stock relative to its projected future earnings, was 23.11, around five-month highs, according to LSEG/Datastream. "U.S. equities valuations (such as price earnings ratios) are now 30% higher than their recent decade average, while 10-year yields remain stubbornly high and volatile. The future path of equities may depend partly on a decline in long-term rates; however, we do not seem to be there yet," Lombard Odier Investment Managers head of macro Florian Ielpo said in a note on Friday. Globally, hedge funds sold tech stocks, some of the most richly valued equities, more than any other sector last week, the Goldman Sachs note said. Rather than shorting the sector, hedge funds tended to ditch long bets and exit trades, the bank said. A short bet is designed to profit from a drop in an asset price. This week's exodus was the largest the bank had seen since July 2024, Goldman Sachs said. Hedge funds fleeing tech stocks centered on trading in North America and Europe. Every kind of tech stock was sold, including semiconductor chip companies, as well as those in software and IT services, the bank said. Meanwhile, shares in consumer staples - companies that sell items that people purchase regardless of economic conditions - were among the most net bought U.S. stock sectors this week, Goldman said. Hedge funds piled into these stocks for the fourth straight week and their trades were almost entirely long positions - those that will profit if the stock prices rise. The kind of companies whose shares hedge funds bought included those that sell food and beverages and personal care products.
Finextra
29 minutes ago
- Finextra
AccessFintech appoints Sarah Shenton from Goldman Sachs as CEO
AccessFintech, the data network driving capital optimization and greater operational capacity, today announced the appointment of Sarah Shenton as Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately. 0 This strategic leadership change marks a significant step for the company as it positions itself for its next phase of growth. Shenton brings over 20 years of experience in operations, engineering and strategic investing to AccessFintech. Most recently, she led the Value Accelerator at Goldman Sachs' alternative assets business, where she collaborated with leadership teams at high-growth companies to drive scale, operational efficiency and commercial success. A long-time advocate for AccessFintech, Shenton led Goldman Sachs' Series A investment in the company and served as a Board Director from 2018 to 2025. She succeeds John Shay, who has effectively led the company as Interim CEO. John will remain part of the firm as Special Advisor to the CEO, ensuring a seamless transition and offering continued support and industry expertise to the leadership team. 'Sarah brings a rare combination of operational depth, technical insight and strategic vision to the CEO role,' said John Shay. 'Her deep knowledge of our company and industry, alongside her commitment to our mission, will be invaluable as we embark on our next growth phase.' 'I am honored to take on the role of CEO,' said Sarah Shenton. 'We've created a strong foundation and an ecosystem that matters, and now is the time to build on this success and deliver exceptional value to clients. As technology continues to transform markets, I look forward to working with our amazing team to seize the exciting opportunities ahead.' Shenton's appointment follows a unanimous decision by the Board, built on years of close collaboration during her tenure as a Director since 2018. 'Sarah's deep market expertise and long-standing commitment to AccessFintech's vision make her exceptionally well-suited to guide the organization into its next chapter of growth,' said Kevin Marcus, Partner at WestCap, on behalf of the AccessFintech Board. 'We are also deeply grateful to John Shay for his steady leadership as Interim CEO and are pleased he will continue to play an active role on the team as an Advisor.' AccessFintech has built a powerful data and workflow platform —the Synergy Network— that connects and distributes 75+ distinct data sets across 250+ leading financial institutions, enabling real-time collaboration and execution management across the post-trade lifecycle. Under Shenton's leadership, the company will continue to strengthen its role as a critical player in capital markets infrastructure and advance its mission to improve financial operations for clients.
Finextra
29 minutes ago
- Finextra
FNZ signs five-year cloud and AI deal with Microsoft
FNZ, a leading end-to-end wealth management platform has today announced a global, five-year strategic partnership with Microsoft to transform the wealth management industry through technology, innovation and AI-driven digital solutions. 0 The partnership combines FNZ's industry-leading technology, wealth management expertise and global reach with Microsoft's advanced AI capabilities, cloud infrastructure and engineering excellence. By integrating Microsoft Azure AI Foundry at the heart of its platform, FNZ is redefining how financial institutions, advisors and their clients interact by delivering more personalized, intelligent and resilient digital wealth management experiences. This collaboration with Microsoft accelerates this transformation by helping FNZ bring new solutions to market faster, enhance client outcomes, boost advisor productivity and drive innovation across industry. With more than 650 financial institution partners, over 26 million end investors and close to $2 trillion in assets under administration, FNZ brings scale to the partnership. This provides access to one of the largest wealth management data sets in the world, enabling the powerful application of AI, cloud technologies and analytics to deliver deeper insights, greater personalization and better outcomes for advisors, clients and institutions alike. Through the partnership, FNZ will work with Microsoft to deliver advanced AI tools, drive new technology development and collaborate on joint go-to-market initiatives, including: • Creating a next-generation advisor and investor experience: FNZ will integrate Azure AI Foundry capabilities, including Azure OpenAI in Foundry Models, into its market-leading platform to provide enhanced personalization, greater efficiency and a next-generation user experience. • Innovative applications for data and analytics: FNZ will utilize Microsoft Fabric to strengthen its data and analytics capabilities, delivering deeper insights tailored to the unique needs of wealth managers and advisors. • Co-development and joint engineering: FNZ will develop new digital wealth solutions by embedding Azure AI Foundry into FNZ's global platform. Joint engineering teams will accelerate product innovation, enhance platform intelligence, and deliver secure, scalable services that strengthen risk management, compliance and resilience. FNZ will also deploy GitHub Copilot across its engineering teams to boost developer productivity and innovation. • Resilience and scalability: By combining FNZ's market-leading platform and delivery capabilities with Microsoft's technologies and tooling, the partnership will help create more resilient, scalable and industrial-strength solutions for financial institutions. • Enhancing operational efficiency: FNZ will also deploy Microsoft 365 Copilot and intelligent agents to support middle- and back-office processes. • Global joint go-to-market: FNZ will collaborate with Microsoft on joint go-to-market activities, including the development and deployment of modular wealth solutions through multiple channels, including the Microsoft Marketplace, alongside coordinated global marketing initiatives and joint participation in industry events. Roman Regelman, Group President, FNZ, said: "FNZ has always been at the forefront of innovation in wealth-management technology. Partnering with Microsoft allows us to accelerate our AI-led roadmap and enhances our ability to deliver personalized, intelligent and resilient solutions to our clients, strengthening our position of leadership." "Together, we are not just upgrading technology. We are setting a new standard for how wealth management is delivered. Partnering with Microsoft further advances our mission to open up wealth, by making investing more accessible to more people worldwide." Bill Borden, Corporate Vice President, Worldwide Financial Services, Microsoft, said: 'Our partnership brings together Microsoft's AI and cloud technologies with FNZ's global platform and expertise in wealth management to deliver insights that will lead to more impactful and personalized experiences for advisors and their clients. Together, we're helping financial institutions lead as Frontier Firms by reimagining their operations through agentic AI, accelerating innovation, and unlocking new value across the wealth management ecosystem.' FNZ is backed by some of the world's largest institutional shareholders, including Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (La Caisse), Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments), Generation Investment Management and Motive Partners.
