:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/GettyImages-2225778716-fe39993235464d3b849f94e4826bf922.jpg "Mattel Sees Growth in Uno and American Girl Dolls. Barbie Sales Are Slipping.")
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Key Takeaways
- Uno cards, Hot Wheels cars and American Girl dolls are popular purchases, according to Mattel, while Barbie and Polly Pocket sales have slowed.
- Mattel says it is on track to meet its 2025 sales goal despite retailers shifting more of their orders to the fourth quarter.
Uno is still number one.
The multi-colored game deck is the top-selling card game and has grown for nine quarters in a row, according to Mattel (MAT), its parent company, which late Tuesday briefed analysts about the trends the toy and game giant sees heading into the holiday shopping season.
Among those trends: American Girl doll sales are on the rise, with Mattel saying that the segment had its fourth consecutive quarter of growth during the period ending Sept. 30; other popular items included Hot Wheels cars, Monster High dolls and toys related to the Jurassic Park and Wicked movies. Sales of Barbie and Polly Pocket toys trailed off, executives said on a conference call.
Mattel’s quarterly sales fell 6% year-over-year, and its net income fell 25%. The company said its numbers fell because retailers changed order methods in the face of tariffs. It expects to make up the sales in the months ahead, and reiterated its full-year forecast of 1% to 3% sales growth, though some analysts observed that the third-quarter performance adds pressure on the company to close the year strong.
“Near-term uncertainty could weigh on the shares despite an overall better ’26 outlook,” UBS wrote Wednesday.
What This News Means for Consumers
Both Mattel and Hasbro have said they would raise prices in response to tariffs, though Mattel said today that it’s done raising prices for the year. Both companies likely have greater ability to limit price increases than smaller toy and game companies with less negotiating power.
Fewer retailers are picking up products abroad, and more are relying on Mattel to import and warehouse goods, despite it costing retailers more, CFO Paul Ruh said. This gives retailers “more flexibility to commit to orders” amid shifting trade policies and consumer dynamics, Ruh said. (Both ordering options present Mattel with similar “economics,” he said.)
Retailers tend to place domestic shipment orders closer to when they need merchandise, which has shifted many orders into the fourth quarter, Mattel said. “They want to be ready for the season, and they’re stocking up,” Ruh said, according to a transcript made available from AlphaSense. “These trends are tracking in line, actually, with our full year outlook.”
Mattel raised prices in recent months in response to tariffs. It won’t consider additional increases until 2026, Ruh said. The new prices haven’t weighed on consumer demand, the company said.
Additional insight on how the toy industry is faring may come on Thursday, when Hasbro (HAS) is slated to discuss its results with investors.
Mattel shares, recently off less than 1%, are up about 6% so far this year.
