Barbie’s world just got a little less sparkly. Third-quarter results from parent company Mattel show the toy giant is feeling the pinch as it heads into the holiday season amid rising inventories and declining sales. For toy companies, the quarter just preceding the all-important holiday season functions as a preview — with Walmart and Target revealing their holiday sales estimates through their ordering patterns. If the giant retailers expect a big Christmas , they place large third-quarter orders. If th ...

Group 1 - Mattel's shares have shown positive performance over the past year, but have experienced significant volatility in the last three months [1] - The stock initially surged due to encouraging guidance for 2025, but then fell sharply due to tariff concerns [1]

Core Viewpoint - Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (CHD) reported mixed first-quarter 2025 results, with adjusted earnings per share (EPS) beating estimates but net sales missing expectations, reflecting a challenging operating environment [1][2]. Financial Performance - Adjusted EPS for the quarter was 91 cents, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 89 cents and the company's guidance of 90 cents, although it represented a 5.2% decline year over year [1]. - Net sales totaled $1,467.1 million, down 2.4% year over year, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1,511 million and the company's guidance for a nearly 1% increase [3]. - Organic sales decreased by 1.2%, driven by a 1.4% drop in volumes, partially offset by a 0.2% increase in pricing and mix [4]. Segment Analysis - **Consumer Domestic**: Net sales fell 3% to $1,129.8 million, with organic sales down 3% due to a 3.1% volume drop [6]. - **Consumer International**: Net sales increased by 2.7% to $261.9 million, with organic sales climbing 5.8%, driven by a 5.9% volume growth [7]. - **Specialty Products**: Sales declined 9.3% to $75.4 million, although organic sales grew by 3.2% [8]. Cost and Margin Insights - Gross margin contracted by 70 basis points to 45%, with adjusted gross margin at 45.1%, down 60 basis points year over year due to higher manufacturing costs [5]. - Marketing expenses decreased by $15.4 million year over year to $136.6 million, while adjusted selling, general, and administrative (SG&A) expenses increased by 40 basis points to 15.2% of net sales [5]. Future Outlook - For 2025, CHD projects organic sales growth of around 0-2%, down from a previous estimate of 3-4%, reflecting ongoing macroeconomic challenges [15]. - Adjusted EPS growth is now expected to be 0-2%, a reduction from the earlier guidance of 7-8% [17]. - The company anticipates a decline in organic sales of 2% for the second quarter, with adjusted EPS projected at 85 cents, a 9% decrease from the prior year [18].