Shares of Hasbro Inc. HAS shed 0.7% in premarket trading Thursday, after the toy maker missed fourth-quarter profit and revenue expectations, as weakness in consumer products offset strength in Wizards of the Coast and gaming, and provided a downbeat full-year outlook. The company swung to a net loss of $128.9 million, or 93 cents a share, from net income of $82.2 million, or 59 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Excluding nonrecurring items, such as charges related to implementing its Blueprint 2.0 strategy of focusing on fewer, bigger brands, adjusted earnings per share rose to $1.31 from $1.21 but missed the FactSet consensus of $1.33. Revenue fell 16.6% to $1.68 billion, below the FactSet consensus $1.72 billion. Consumer products revenue dropped 25.9% to $1.00 billion and entertainment revenue slumped 11.8% to $334.8 million, while Wizards of the Coast and digital gaming revenue grew 22.0% to $339.0 million. “We forecasted a challenging 2022, and that came to fruition,” said Chief Financial Officer Deborah Thomas. For 2023, the company expects adjusted EPS of $4.45 to $4.55, below the FactSet consensus of $4.88, and revenue to be down in the “low-single digits” percentage range, while the FactSet revenue consensus of $5.96 implies a 1.8% rise. The stock has gained 4.3% over the past three months through Wednesday, while the S&P 500 SPX has tacked on 4.8%.
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