Mattel was not immune to the worst holiday shopping season in 40 years. Sales of the company's signature Barbie dolls and Hot Wheels toys fell more than 20% compared with the fourth quarter of 2007,
leading to a 46% drop in net income for the three months ended Dec. 31 and a 16% drop in its stock price yesterday. Sales were down 6% in the U.S. and 20% in international markets.
"The
thinking is that adults . . . are going to buy toys for their kids no matter what," Chris White, an analyst with Wedbush Morgan Securities in Los Angeles, tells Martin Zimmerman. "But what we're
seeing in the current economic downturn is clearly without precedent in recent memory."
Despite some of the most aggressive markdowns ever on merchandise, retail sales in the U.S. were
down 2.2% during the two-month holiday period compared with a year earlier, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers.
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