(Reuters) -Hasbro reported a steeper-than-expected drop in holiday-quarter sales and profit on Tuesday, sending its shares down 11% in premarket trading, as a persistent demand weakness in the toy industry weighed on sales of its digital and board games.
Sluggish demand from a pullback in leisure spending and cautious inventory planning by retailers like Walmart and Target hurt Hasbro’s sales in the past year.
For fiscal year 2024, its consumer products segment, which made up more than half of its fiscal 2023 sales, is expected to decline by 7% to 12%.
Revenue in its core Wizards of the Coast segment is forecast to decrease 3% to 5%, owing to weakness in digital gaming.
Last week, Barbie maker Mattel reported a softer holiday quarter and forecast tepid sales in 2024.
The Monopoly maker’s net revenue fell about 23%, to $1.29 billion in the fourth quarter, ended Dec. 31. Analysts on average expected a 19.3% drop, to $1.36 billion, according to LSEG data.
Excluding items, Hasbro’s profit per share was 38 cents, compared to the estimate of 66 cents.
(Reporting by Savyata Mishra in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai)
