Mattel Q4 Profit Down

(RTTNews) - Mattel Inc. (MAT) Thursday said its fourth-quarter profit dropped from a year ago as sales declined 3%. Earnings for the quarter trumped Wall Street analysts' estimates, while revenues fell short of expectations.

Net loss for the quarter was $0.2 million or break even per share, compared with last year's profit of $9.6 million or $0.03 per share.

Adjusted earnings for the quarter were $0.11 per share. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters estimate earnings of $0.01 per share.

Fourth-quarter sales dropped 3% to $1.47 billion from $1.52 billion last year. Analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $1.50 billion for the quarter.

CEO Ynon Kreiz said, "2019 was an important inflection point in our turnaround. We stabilized our topline after five consecutive years of revenue decline, continued to significantly improve profitability, and achieved positive operating cash flow and positive free cash flow for the first time in three years."

Gross sales in the North America segment increased by 1%, while International segment sales were flat.

MAT closed Thursday's trading at $14.40, down $0.11 or 0.76%, on the Nasdaq. The stock further dropped $0.13 or 0.90% in the after-hours trade.