Mattel Calls Holiday Toy Industry Outlook "Challenging"

Mattel's CFO is already warning of a "challenging environment" for the holidays as the company expects a quieter shopping environment for consumers. With multiple households affected by pandemic era belt-tightening, the rush for Barbies and Hot Wheels might not be as lightning quick as observers might expect. During a post-earnings call, Mattel talked about their outlook headed towards December. "We are operating in a challenging macroeconomic environment with higher volatility that may impact consumer demand," said CFO Anthony DiSilvestro. Reuters reported some other background on the situation moving forward as well. It seems like things are still looking okay from the summer, but there are no guarantees.

"We expect to see an accelerated growth rate in the fourth quarter with significant gross margin expansion," CEO Ynon Kreiz told Reuters. It's interesting to consider that some analysts believed that Mattel would have trouble meeting demand after the runaway success of Barbie in theaters. However, the company met that demand pretty well. As an added bonus, the movie did so well that it softens the blow of some decreased consumer spending. (Honestly, if they had been planning ahead, they would have secured some of the mounting fortune in Halloween costume money that will be raked-in this weekend.) Still, there's a lot to be excited about for the Barbie brand and beyond.

Barbie Made Mattel A Wild Amount Of Money

A definite bright spot for Mattel this year was Barbie cleaning up at the box office. CEO Ynon Kreiz spoke with Yahoo! at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia and Tech Conference in San Francisco not too long ago. That led to a gross of $125 million for 2023. That lofty number includes their portion of Barbie's box office profits.

"It is more than we assumed entering the year, and we expect that in future years there will be continued benefit from the movie. This is about long-term franchise management," Kreiz explained. "It's not just about the quarter or the year. It was never about just trying to sell more toys. It was about creating a cultural event, creating a societal moment. And we believe the benefit will carry forward for years to come."

Mattel Films Not Just Making Movies To Move Toys

Barbie's surprise success is great for Mattel. But, Mattel's Ynon Kreiz told Semafor that boosting Barbie sales wasn't the plan for the movie. In fact, the executive says that the company looked to kick-start that collection of Mattel-inspired movies. The most important byproduct of Barbie's success might be attracting big-name creators to work with Mattel Films. Greta Gerwig's caliber of talent is basically what they were looking for.

"We didn't make this movie to sell more toys," Kreiz shared. "It was about creating quality content that people want to watch. If people watch our content, and connect with it, good things will happen. We are collaborating with the best people out there and they run with the ball. It's one thing for us to say, 'we will make the next Hot Wheels movie.' It's another thing to say, 'J.J. Abrams will make the next Hot Wheels movie.'"

Want To Revisit Barbie?

In Barbie, to live in Barbie Land is to be a perfect being in a perfect place. Unless you have a full-on existential crisis. Or you're a Ken. From Oscar-nominated writer/director Greta Gerwig comes Barbie, which hit theaters on July 21st. Barbie stars Oscar-nominees Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling as Barbie and Ken, alongside America Ferrera, Kate McKinnon, Michael Cera, Ariana Greenblatt, Issa Rae, Rhea Perlman, and Will Ferrell. 

The film also stars Ana Cruz Kayne, Emma Mackey, Hari Nef, Alexandra Shipp, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Simu Liu, Ncuti Gatwa, Scott Evans, Jamie Demetriou, Connor Swindells, Sharon Rooney, Nicola Coughlan, Ritu Arya, Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter Dua Lipa and Oscar-winner Helen Mirren. Gerwig directed Barbie from a screenplay by Gerwig & Oscar nominee Noah Baumbach, based on Barbie by Mattel. 

Do you think the holidays will see record sales? Let us know down in the comments!