MW Hasbro's stock rallies as it grows profit margins and readies new Star Wars toys

By Steve Gelsi

Toy company's first-quarter results wow Wall Street. Its outlook excludes any impact of tariffs due to uncertainty over trade negotiations.

Hasbro Inc. crushed Wall Street analyst estimates for profit and revenue on Thursday, as it shifts to higher-margin business such as licensing and benefits from brisk sales of its Magic trading cards.

Hasbro $(HAS)$ also announced a fresh agreement with toy and game licensing deal with Walt Disney Co. $(DIS)$ for the blockbuster Star Wars and Marvel franchises. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Hasbro's stock was up 7% in premarket trading. As of Wednesday's close, the company's share price had fallen 5.8% in 2025, while the S&P 500 SPX was down 8.6%.

A 46% jump in revenue in Hasbro's Wizards of the Coast and digital-gaming unit fueled a first-quarter adjusted profit margin of 25.1%, up sharply from 19.6% in the year-ago period.

Hasbro's first-quarter profit increased about 69% to $98.6 million, or 70 cents a share, from $58.2 million, or 42 cents a share, in the year-ago quarter.

Adjusted first-quarter profit of $1.04 a share soundly beat the FactSet consensus estimate of 67 cents a share.

First-quarter revenue increased by 17% to $887.1 million, well ahead of the analysts' target of $771.1 million. The margin of the revenue beat was the widest in at least five years, according to available FactSet data back to April 2020.

Hasbro is working with Legendary Entertainment on a Magic the Gathering live-action movie and TV series based on its trading-card games as an example of its licensing business that it plans to grow.

The company stuck to its profit outlook issued on Feb. 20 and said the figures do not include any tariff impact due to the current uncertainty over negotiations between the U.S. and its trading partners.

Hasbro said it's working to reduce its reliance on Chinese-made products, as it pivots toward "asset-light" businesses such as licensing for movies and videos.

-Steve Gelsi

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April 24, 2025 07:53 ET (11:53 GMT)

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