Hasbro’s stock surges more than 10 percent as sales recover from COVID

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Shares of Hasbro surged more than 10 percent after the toy giant reported strong financial results following more than a year of virus-related struggles.

As movies and television series began to produce new shows after a year of pandemic-driven shutdowns, sales of toys and games linked to those shows has soared in the most recent quarter.

Sales were up 54 percent to $1.3 billion while entertainment related revenue from its film and production division was up 47 percent to $227 million — fueled in part by such franchises as Peppa Pig,

Toys based on movie franchises rose 33 percent to $689.2 million. My Little Pony and recently launched series “Cruel Summer” and “The Rookie,” the Pawtucket, RI-based company said on Monday.

Hasbro shares were recently up 10.4 percent at $102.03.

Hasbro did not fully capitalize on the hot demand for toys during the pandemic, when its sales lagged its biggest rival, Mattel, which owns the Barbie brand.

But the return of film and television production has turned things around for Hasbro, its chief executive Brian Goldner said.

The second quarter, “is an important inflection point as we return to growth in our entertainment business,” Goldner said on an earnings call with analysts.

“Peppa is the second most viewed pre-school brand in the world while we have the ‘My Little Pony”‘ film coming out in in September on Netflix and we have ‘Dungeons and Dragons’ live action film in production for the first quarter of 2023. Overall, this a very good and important time for us as we return to growth.”

Hasbro slashed its losses from $34 million a year ago to $23 million.

The company also flagged supply chain problems linked to transportation as it expands the number of freight carriers it contracts with to get merchandise more expeditiously as the crucial holiday season approaches. It did not raise its annual revenue target of double-digit growth because of the bottlenecks and planned price hikes as a result of rising commodity prices.

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