Hasbro's Strong Earnings Surprise Wall Street

Third-quarter earnings were nearly quadruple from a year ago, exceeding analyst expectations, and broke a three-quarter streak of posting losses. Hasbro earned $50.6 million (29 cents per share), compared with $13.8 million (8 cents per share) last year. Net revenues were $893.4 million, down nearly 17% percent from last year, making the sharp upturn in earnings more impressive. "Our strategy of focusing on expense reductions and growing our core brands is continuing to pay dividends," said Alan Hassenfeld, Hasbro's Chairman and CEO. Hassenfeld said the decline in revenue was due to weak sales of Pokemon, Furby and the sale of Hasbro Interactive. Hassenfeld said its Disney version of Monopoly was one of the most successful introductions of a licensed Monopoly game in the brand's 66-year history.