Earnings Preview: Hasbro to show consistent improvement in Q3

Toy maker Hasbro (HAS) is scheduled to report third-quarter results on Monday before the market opens. The company is expected to see consistent improvement during this year after the uncertainty caused by the loss of Toys R Us. But job-cuts report has dragged the stock down today.

Also, a Wall Street Journal report stated that Hasbro will cut less than 10% of the jobs for dealing with the fallout from the bankruptcy of Toys R Us. Experts believe that this job loss could be announced when the company reports the quarterly results. These job cuts have been attributed as part of the meaningful organizational changes and ongoing transformation.

Analysts, on average, predict earnings of $2.23 per share on revenue of $1.71 billion for the third quarter. In comparison, during the prior year quarter, reported earnings were $2.09 per share on revenue of $1.79 billion. Analysts remained mixed with regard to recommendation trends as an equal number have “strong buy” or “buy” rating and “hold” rating on the stock.

Investors were mourning for the death of Toys R Us and this has hurt Hasbro’s Q1 and Q2 results. Traders remained focused on the company’s upcoming earnings report as it could highlight what is happening in the storied toy industry despite the uncertainty in the sector.

Hasbro surges on upbeat Q2 results

In the second quarter, Hasbro’s bottom line declined 11% year-over-year due to the closing of Toys R Us as well as general weakness in Europe. On the other hand, the company has taken a proactive approach by adding 21,000 new doors.

These new opening has enabled Hasbro to turn into an omnichannel retailer having various capabilities including gaming retailers, sporting-goods stores, dollar stores, and drugstores. Experts believe that Hasbro has expanded its presence in traditional retail stores as well as in e-commerce.

In the recent months, few analysts were bullish on the company. They believe investors could undervalue Hasbro’s opportunity for the next several years. The analysts see persistent improvement for the balance of this year as the company expected the uncertainty to remain till this year-end.

Shares of Hasbro opened higher but turned negative due to the job cuts reports on Friday. The stock is now trading down about 1% on the Nasdaq at 3 pm EDT.

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