Mattel, Inc. 2026 Q2 Earnings Call

Katina, please go ahead. Thank you operator, and good afternoon, everyone.

Joining me today are Ynon Kreiz, Mattel's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Paul Ruh, Mattel's Chief Financial Officer, and Roberto Stanichi, Mattel's President, Chief Marketing and Global Brand Officer. This afternoon, we report Mattel's second quarter 2026 financial results. We will begin today's call with Ynon and Paul providing commentary on our results, after which we will provide some time for questions. Please note that during the question and answer session, we respectfully ask that you limit to one question and one follow-up so that we can get to as many analysts and questions as possible today. Today's discussion, earnings release, and slide presentation may reference certain non-GAAP financial measures and key performance indicators, which are defined in the slide presentation and earnings release appendices.

Please note that gross billings figures referenced on this call will be stated in constant currency unless otherwise stated. Our earnings release, slide presentation, and supplemental non-GAAP information can be accessed through the investors section of our corporate website, corporate.mattel.com, and the information required by Regulation G regarding non-GAAP financial measures, as well as information regarding our key performance indicators, is included in those documents. The financial results included in the earnings release and slide presentation are preliminary until Mattel's Form 10-Q is filed with the SEC, and actual results when disclosed in the Form 10-Q may differ from these preliminary results. Before we begin, I'd like to remind you that certain statements made during the call may include forward-looking statements related to the future performance of our business, brands, categories, and product line. Any statements we make about the future are, by their nature, uncertain.

These statements are based on currently available information and assumptions, and they are subject to a number of significant risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ from those projected in the forward-looking statements. We describe some of these uncertainties in the Risk Factors section of our latest Form 10-K annual report, our Form 10-Q quarterly reports, our most recent earnings release and slide presentation, and other filings we make with the SEC from time to time, as well as in other public statements. Mattel does not update forward-looking statements and expressly disclaims any obligation to do so, except as required by law. Now, I'd like to turn the call over to Ynon.

Good afternoon. Thank you for joining our second quarter 2026 earnings call. We continue to execute our strategy to grow our IP-driven play and family entertainment business with multiple proof points across toys, digital, and film. Mattel achieved strong growth in net sales of 10% as reported and 9% in constant currency with a double-digit increase in North America. Growth was driven by both owned and partner IP and digital games following the full acquisition of Mattel163. Mattel was number 1 globally in its 3 categories, dolls, vehicles, Infant, Toddler, and Preschool, and gained share in vehicles and action figures versus Kana. We continue to execute our capital allocation priorities, including investing in organic growth and buying back our shares, all while maintaining a strong balance sheet.

As we have discussed, the investments in organic growth are designed to accelerate top and bottom line and capture even more value from our IP faster. Examples include self-published mobile games, building sets, trading cards, D2C, first-party data, and technology and infrastructure. These investments are progressing well, and we continue to expect that in aggregate, they will have high ROI with a net positive contribution to the bottom line in 2027 and beyond. Top line growth has continued in the third quarter to date with positive POS year-to-date. We believe we are well-positioned for the back half of 2026 and are reiterating our full-year 2026 guidance. As it relates to the global toy industry, it grew strongly in the first half and we expect it to grow for the full-year with a toyetic theatrical slate and continued expansion of adult consumers.

Looking at our category performance, we are seeing the benefit of our diverse portfolio and a complementary combination of owned and partner brands, which are managed as part of our brand-centric operating model. Growth was driven by vehicles and challenger categories collectively. Within vehicles, Hot Wheels had another outstanding quarter, growing 12%, supported by continued strength across both kids and adult collectors. Our collectible die-cast business continues to perform exceptionally well, demonstrating the expanding appeal of the brand. Within the challenger categories, growth was driven by games led by UNO, including the contribution of Mattel163, as well as action figures including Toy Story 5 and Masters of the Universe. Dolls declined primarily due to lower revenue from streaming content for Barbie as well as Polly Pocket, partially offset by growth in K-pop Demon Hunters and Disney Princess and Frozen.

We continue to expect Barbie trends to improve in the back half of 2026, driven by new content, including the Barbie Nutcracker animated special, along with product launches such as the new Barbie Dreamhouse. We continue to expect Barbie to return to growth in 2027. Infant, Toddler, and Preschool declined primarily due to Fisher-Price. Within Fisher-Price, Little People continued its strong momentum, growing high double digits, supported by new partnerships including Nintendo, and continued strength in its core offerings. Little People is demonstrating potential to become an increasingly meaningful growth driver. As we shared before, we're actively assessing our Infant, Toddler, Preschool business to ensure it is best positioned to achieve its full potential. At the same time, we continue to focus on profitability and optimize the product lines. We are also making strong progress in digital games and film.

In digital games, the integration of Mattel163, which we fully acquired in the first quarter, is progressing well, and we are leveraging our combined capabilities as we look to expand our pipeline of future games. In addition, we launched our first self-published mobile game based on Masters of the Universe, establishing our publishing and digital customer acquisition capabilities. Our second self-published mobile game, UNO Wild, is in soft launch. The game has hit all its production milestones to date, and we are encouraged with the early progress. We are gearing up for a full global commercial launch in early 2027. As the number one traditional card game in the world, we have a unique opportunity to extend UNO's resonance beyond the physical format and deepen consumer engagement through mobile games. UNO Wild will expand the universe of UNO mobile games currently offered by Mattel163.

We also recently announced two new licensed PC and console titles based on Hot Wheels and Barbie, which are scheduled for release later this year. In film, Masters of the Universe was released in theaters globally and just recently launched on Amazon's Prime Video streaming service. It is now available to hundreds of millions of Amazon subscribers. In its first week, Masters of the Universe was both the number one film on Prime Video globally, as well as the number one most-watched movie across all streaming platforms in the U.S. The movie has brought excitement to this iconic franchise, introducing the mythology to a new generation and deepening engagement with longtime fans. The full product line across toys, adult collectibles, apparel, publishing, and digital continues to expand.

Gross billings for Masters of the Universe has more than tripled year to date, and we expect significant growth this year as a result of the movie and for the brand to be an important action figure franchise for Mattel into the future. Our next movie, Matchbox, which we produce with Apple and Paramount Skydance, is set for release on October 9th on Apple TV, along with a strong product offering in the fourth quarter. With that, Paul will cover the financials in more detail.

Thanks, Ynon. As you just heard, we achieved strong growth in net sales with Toys and Entertainment each contributing meaningfully in the quarter. Consumer demand in the first half of the year was up low single digits and remains positive through Q3 year to date. The acquisition of Mattel163 contributed nearly $49 million in revenue and approximately $14 million in adjusted operating income during the quarter. Now that Mattel163 has been fully integrated, going forward, we will not separately report these standalone results. Looking at gross billings by region, three of our four regions grew with North America up 12%, EMEA up 7%, Asia Pacific up 4%, while Latin America was comparable. We believe the shift in retailer ordering patterns in the U.S., which impacted U.S. gross billings for four quarters in a row, has now largely stabilized. Moving down the P&L, adjusted gross margin was 48.6%.

The decline was primarily due to the negative impact of 170 basis points from the gross incremental cost of tariffs, 120 basis points from inflation, 110 basis points from higher royalties, as well as 60 basis points of unfavorable foreign exchange. Going the other way, 120 basis points from the addition of Mattel163 and 80 basis points from other, including tariff mitigation actions and Optimizing for Profitable Growth savings. Advertising increased $45 million to $124 million, including expenses associated with Mattel163. Brand marketing and consumer engagement activities and theatrical releases in the quarter. Adjusted SG&A increased $38 million to $384 million, primarily due to the strategic investments as well as expenses associated with Mattel163.