Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ:HAS) released its earnings report for the second quarter of 2013 this morning before Wall Street rang the bell. The toy manufacturer showed earnings of $0.29 per share for the three months period on revenue totaling $766.3 million. On Friday’s market shares in Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ:HAS) closed at $45.38.
Consensus among 13 analysts following the company showed expectations of 35 cents per share earnings from this morning’s report. Consensus revenue estimates came to $795 million for the period. In the same three months of 2012 Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ:HAS) earned 33 cents per share on revenue of $811 million.
Hasbro cost cutting program
This morning’s earnings report will be used by investors to evaluate the cost cutting program currently in process at Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ:HAS). The company announced in January of this year that it had plans to get rid of one in ten of its workers in order to improve margins and return more value to shareholders.
That announcement was made in the company’s January earnings report in which the company revealed a fourth straight quarter of below expected takings. The company said that the program would save $100 million annually by the time it is completed in 2015.
Hasbro structural wobble
Because of the seasonality of the toy business, investors have a hard time getting a clear picture of Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ:HAS) business from a second quarter earnings report. One of the most difficult things for investors to discern is how changes in the market are likely to affect the company. For analysis like this, investors usually have to wait until the full year report.
There are structural changes in the toy market that are affecting the company, however. The rise of digital board games is cutting into the company’s traditional puzzle/games segment as copy cat games have arrived on tablet for low prices or, as is seen in the case of Scrabble, for free.
Nobody is quite sure of the effect changes like this are having on Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ:HAS) in 2013, but revenue has been below expectations. Hasbro has made attempts to get into the digital market, but the company has yet to make an impression on the market by delivering a wildly popular game.
Investors are not giving up, however. Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ:HAS) shares have appreciated by more than 25 percent since the start of 2013, though the company has not beaten a high set in mid-May. Hasbro executives will host a conference call at 8:30 a.m. in order to discuss this morning’s earnings report.
