MAT won a lawsuit that bars MGA Entertainment Inc. from making and selling Bratz dolls. MAT had charged that a former employee had thought of the Bratz concept while working for MAT and thus MGA had no right to manufacture the dolls. As of June 2008, Bratz dolls had totaled $3.1 billion in sales.
Because of higher manufacturing costs and decreased consumer spending, Mattel announced on November 6th that it will cut 1,000 jobs to reduce its operating expenses.
Mattel's revenue rose 3% during the period to $1.84 billion, but missed analysts' expectations of $1.91 billion. Also, Mattel's net income decreased 1% during the quarter, primarily because of an estimated $40 million of charges associated with their massive toy recalls during the quarter. International sales increased 10% in Q3, which was partially offset by a 2% decline in domestic sales.
On July 18, 2008 Mattel released its second quarter earnings results. Mattel's profits fell compared to the same quarter of 2007, but their earnings beat analysts' expectations. Shares rose roughly 13% on the earnings results.
On April 21, 2008 Mattel reported its first quarter earnings results. The company reported a loss of $46.6 million causing shares to fall over 8%. Mattel cited increased costs and low sales of its Fisher Price branded products as drivers for the loss during this period.
Mattel released its 4Q '07 earnings on January 14, 2008. The company reported a 15% increase in net income from the same period a year before. Earnings per share also increased to $0.89, up from $0.75 in the same period during 2006.
On November 21, 2007 the state of California filed a lawsuit against Mattel among a number of other toy makers. The suit claims that the companies produced and or sold toys that contained illegal amounts of lead.
Mattel released its 3Q '07 earnings results on October 15th. The company reported a 1% decline in revenues, due mainly to charges related to their recalls this quarter.
Mattel issued a recall for 9 million chinese manufactured toys because of dangers from lead based paint and tiny magnets that can be swallowed by small children.
Mattel announced two major toy recalls in two weeks due to possible hazards from lead paint in Chinese-manufactured toys. The first recall affected 1MM MAT's Fisher-Price unit. The second was much bigger, as the company recalled over 18MM toys due to potential dangers to children. One major Chinese manufacturer for MAT--Lee Der Toy Co.--has gone out of business completely.
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