Earnings pay off huge for Mattel

Mattel soared as much as 30 percent, the biggest intraday gain on record after the toymaker’s quarterly results blew past estimates, and posted its first earnings beat in three years.

Analysts applauded the Barbieand Hot Wheels-driven sales strength and believe that, together with the gross margin and earnings beat, shares should move higher. And, while highlighting global retail transactions that declined by doubledigits in the fourth quarter, lagging shipments, they still said Mattel’s “well positioned for 2019.”

Next, analysts will watch for 2019 guidance, which management will discuss at the 2019 Toy Fair in New York next week. In contrast to Mattel’s betterthan-expected holiday quarter, Hasbro Inc. earlier announced that its quarterly results fell short of analysts’ expectations. Shares fell as much as 5.1 percent.