Posts for Ticker ‘HAS’

Top Analyst Calls (BT, CSCO, EMC, HAS, ITW, MAT, NTAP, OMC, TEN, VECO)

These are some of the top pre-market analyst upgrades and positive research calls we have seen from Wall Street with more than two hours until the market opens:

BT Group (BT) Raised to Overweight at Morgan Stanley.
Cisco Systems (CSCO) Started at Canaccord.
EMC Corp. (EMC) Started at Canaccord.
Hasbro (HAS) Started as Buy at KeyBanc.
Illinois Tool Works (ITW) Raised to Outperform at William Blair.
Mattel (MAT) Started as Buy at KeyBanc.
NetApp (NTAP) Started as Buy at Canaccord.
Omnicom (OMC) Raised to Outperform at Oppenheimer.
Tenneco (TEN) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
Veeco Instruments (VECO) Started as Buy at Merriman Curhan Ford.

JON C. OGG

Posted on: June 16, 2009 – 6:25 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , , , , ,

The 52-Week Low Club (IP)(MAT)(HAS)(ADCT)(HBAN)(RF)(NCX)

Sad_clownNOVA Chemicals (NCX) Ratings cut pushes shares down to $1.28 compard to a 52-week high of $32.46.

Regions Financial (RF) Still falling after analyst downgrades. Falls to $2.67 from 52-week high of $25.84.

International Paper (IP) Cut by Goldman Sachs. Drops to $7.87 from 52-week high of $33.77.

Hasbro (HAS) May be reaction to bad earnings at Mattel (MAT) HAS off to $21.68 from 52-week high of $41.68.

A D C Telecommunications (ADCT) Bad outlook. Big earnings charge. Drops to $3.20 from 52-week high of $17.45.

Huntington Bancshares (HBAN) Dragged down by banking sector. Hits $1.93, down from 52-week high of $14.13.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Posted on: February 2, 2009 – 4:44 pm in HI/LOW, , , , , ,

Hasbro vs. Mattel: Earnings From The Toy Giants (HAS, MAT)

We have seen earnings this morning from toy giants Hasbro Inc. (NYSE: HAS) and Mattel Inc. (NYSE: MAT).  One is a relative winner, while one is not.

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Posted on: October 20, 2008 – 8:01 am in Earnings, Entertainment, ,

Early-Bird Analyst Downgrades (AAP, ALNY, COMV, DISH, DPS, HAS, NATI, NVTL, STEL)

These are some of the early analyst downgrades or negative calls we are seeing this Wednesday in early pre-market hours:

  • Advance Auto Parts (AAP) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
  • Alnylam Pharma (ALNY) Started as Underperform at Leerink Swann.
  • Comverge (COMV) Cut to Neutral at Broadpoint Capital.
  • DISH Network (DISH) Cut to Market Perform at Bernstein.
  • Dr. Pepper Snapple (DPS) Cut to Neutral at UBS.
  • Hasbro (HAS) Cut to Underperform at BMO Capital.
  • National Instruments (NATI) Cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse.
  • Novatel Wireless (NVTL) Cut to Sell at Piper Jaffray.
  • StellarOne (STEL) Cut to Underperform at Baird.

JON C. OGG
August 20, 2008

Posted on: August 20, 2008 – 6:32 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , , , ,

Hasbro (HAS) Would Be Nuts Not To Fight “Scrabulous”

HasbroHasbro Inc. (HAS) is getting quite a bit of flack from every corner of the Internet for waging a legal battle against the popular Facebook knock-off of Scrabble called "Scrabulous." Much of the criticism is dead wrong.

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Posted on: July 31, 2008 – 3:31 am in Law,

Trivial Pursuit, Now All Hasbro’s (HAS)

Hasbro, Inc. (NYSE:HAS) has finally purchased all of the intellectual property rights related to the Trivial Pursuit brand from Horn Abbot Ltd. and from Horn Abbot International Ltd.  Hasbro paid out an aggregate purchase price of some $80 million to the Horn Abbot companies for the intellectual property rights. 

This isn’t going to change much about the game itself, but now Hasbro will get to keep everything from the gross sales of the Trivial Pursuit games.  Hasbro has developed and marketed Trivial Pursuit under a license agreement from the Horn Abbot companies since 1983.  If you trust the Wikipedia numbers, 88 million copies had sold in 17 languages as of 2004.

You should try playing Trivial Pursuit in Spanish against Spaniards who won’t let you translate anything besides the Spanish you know… and then winning.

This won’t change much about the game itself, although now Hasbro can take it any direction it wants with more offshoots than it already has and can keep all of the pie pieces.

Jon C. Ogg
March 31, 2008

Jon Ogg produces the Special Situation Investing Newsletter and he can be reached at jonogg@247wallst.com; he does not own securities in the companies he covers.

Posted on: March 31, 2008 – 11:33 am in Entertainment,

Top 10 Pre-Market Analyst Calls (ACI, RATE, BKS, GS, HAS, MOS, OXPS, POT, SIRF, YHOO)

These are not the only analyst calls impacting stocks this morning, but these are the key calls that 247WallSt.com is focusing on this morning:

  • Arch Coal (NYSE: ACI) raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
  • Bankrate (NASDAQ: RATE) downgraded to Hold at Jefferies.
  • Barnes & Noble (NYSE: BKS) downgraded to Neutral at JPMorgan.
  • Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) downgraded to Market Perform at Oppenheimer.
  • Hasbro (NYSE: HAS) raised to Buy at Banc of America.
  • Mosaic (NYSE: MOS) raised to Buy at Citigroup.
  • OptionsXpress (NASDAQ: OXPS) started as Sell at Merriman Curhan Ford.
  • Potash (NYSE: POT) raised to Buy at Citigroup
  • SiRF Tech (NASDAQ: SIRF) downgraded across the board: Jefferies, Lehman, Oppenheimer.
  • Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) raised to Buy at Canaccord Adams; downgraded to Neutral at Banc of America.

Jon C. Ogg
February 5, 2008

Posted on: February 5, 2008 – 7:24 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , , , , ,

Top 10 Pre-Market Analyst Calls (GTOP, HAS, MAT, ITRI, MVL, RIMM, RAD, SGP)

If analysts were cowboys they’d say, "It’s getting pretty darn thin out there on the research front."  Here are the few analyst calls we are looking at today ahead of what most of Wall Street and Main Street will be treating as a 4 or 5 day weekend:

  • Genitope (NASDAQ: GTOP) downgraded to Underperform from Sector Perform at RBC.
  • Hasbro (NYSE:HAS) and Mattel (NYSE:MAT) both started as Hold at Citigroup.
  • Itron (NASDAQ:ITRI) raised to Outperform from sector Perform at RBC.
  • Marvel Enterprises (NYSE: MVL) started as Sell at Citigroup.
  • Research in Motion (NASDAQ:RIMM) raised to Outperform from Peer Perform at Bear Stearns; Goldman Sachs raised estimates.
  • Rite Aid (NYSE: RAD) raised to Buy from Neutral at UBS.
  • Schering-Plough (NYSE: SGP) raised to Overweight from Equal Weight at Lehman Brothers.

Yep, that’s right.  It is really only the TOP EIGHT RESEARCH CALLS today.

Jon C. Ogg
December 21, 2007

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Posted on: December 21, 2007 – 8:36 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , , ,

Top 10 Pre-Market Analyst Calls (ANDE, ADSK, CCL, RCL, KO, PEP, HAS, MAT, OVTI, ORCL, TGT)

There are many other impacting analyst calls today, but these are the top calls that 24/7 Wall St. is focusing on:

  • The Andersons (ANDE) raised to Buy at Banc of America.
  • Autodesk (ADSK) raised to Buy at Jefferies.
  • Carnival Cruises (CCL) and Royal Caribbean (RCL) both started as Outperform at Wachovia.
  • Coca-Cola (KO) and Pepsico (PEP) both started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.
  • Hasbro (HAS) and Mattel (MAT) both started as Outperform at Wachovia.
  • OmniVision (OVTI) and Oracle (ORCL) both raised to Outperform at CIBC.
  • Target (TGT) cut to Neutral from Buy at Merrill Lynch.

Jon C. Ogg
November 14, 2007

Jon Ogg produces the 24/7 Wall St. Special Situation Investing Newsletter; he does not own securities in the companies he covers.

Posted on: November 14, 2007 – 7:56 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , , , , , ,

Can A New Dungeons & Dragons Version Insulate Hasbro From Current Toy Industry Woes? (HAS, MAT)

Mattel’s (NYSE:MAT) recalls are quite well known now.  We know that Chinese toys are being checked and tested and complained about across the board, and rightfully so.  Chinese suppliers have been exposed probably hundreds or thousands of times of cutting corners and using cheap or substandard materials all the way down to poison or contaminated goods.  So right now every toy company and consumer products company is testing their products from China.

This morning Hasbro (NYSE:HAS) announced that in light of Mattel’s woes that it too is intensifying safety checks on its own toys.  How could they be completely immune?  We didn’t exactly give Hasbro the world’s greatest marks on their announcement this morning, but there is another development that might actually help.  Hasbro has a franchise on its books that acts as a gift that keeps on giving: Wizards of the Coast, and the beloved Dungeons & Dragons (R) franchise.  This is the game that all the parents used to worry about their kids playing because of exaggerated and isolated instances of some kids losing their minds, and now all those parents read Harry Potter themselves.  It is still a puzzle as to whom the real joke is on.  But the Dungeons & Dragons franchise is about to get another formal makeover for next year.

Today Wizards of the Coast confirms that the new edition will launch in May 2008.  The new system will include illustrated rulebooks, pre-painted miniatures (test that paint boys), web-based tools, online community forums, faster game play, faster prep time, new character options, faster campaign building tools, online magazine content, and a digital game table for virtual and remote game playing.  There will be some book preview releases late this year and early next year, but the first live demos of 4th Edition will happen at the D&D EXPERIENCE(TM) gaming convention in Washington, D.C., in February 2008. The full scope of 4th Edition books, miniatures, and adventures will be available in the spring and summer of 2008.

This new 4th edition is dubbed the D&D Insider(TM).  Web estimates are far as total dollars spent on the gaming system are impossible to track because new sales often get recycled as used game sales and hand-me-downs.  Some estimates have 15 million game players over the history of the game and some estimates are north of 20 million players since its inception in the 1970’s.  Generally speaking, the game itself and the offshoots for it have been responsible for over $1 Billion in retails sales in the US alone.

Hasbro just expanded a prior share buyback plan by $500 million back in early August, and it is no secret that a crummy market is not helping stocks based on discretionary income.  Hasbro shares are down 1.5% today at $27.18, and the 52-week trading range is $19.13 to $33.49.  Apparently our interpretation of the Transformers(TM)  related sales already being baked into the cake was true and then some.

Jon C. Ogg
August 16, 2007

Jon Ogg can be reached at jonogg@247wallst.com; he does not own securities in the companies he covers. 

Posted on: August 16, 2007 – 10:41 am in Entertainment, Product Review, , , , , , , , , ,

Hasbro (HAS) To Test China Toys: It’s Never Too Late To Look Good

Hasbro (HAS) is making a big deal out of the fact that it will step up the amount of testing that it gives toys coming in from China. According to Reuters, the company’s "toys will undergo a rigorous testing process similar to the "three-point" check system Mattel (MAT) disclosed on Tuesday."  Hasbro says that any paint used in toys will be examined throughout the manufacturing process.

The toys, those being examined, at the ones that Hasbro has been selling to children, one has to suppose, without rigorous inspection.

The opens an interesting door, and it is one that Hasbro’s PR people should not have walked through. The fact that the company is going to step up scrutiny means that it was sub-standard before. It means that Hasbro did not want to invest the cash in making sure that the toys were OK before they came into the US.

It means that Hasbro is admitting, in an odd sort of way, that it put profit over safety.

Douglas A. McIntyre can be reached at douglasamcintyre@247wallst.com. He does not own securities in companies that he writes about.

Posted on: August 16, 2007 – 4:48 am in Uncategorized, ,

Media Digest 8/16/2007 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Barron’s

According to Reuters, China Mobile’s (CHL) net rose 28%.

Reuters writes that Amgen (AMGN) will fire 14% of its sales force.

Reuters reports that Hasbro (HAS) will increase inspection of products from China after Mattel (MAT) recalls.

Reuters also reports that Take Two (TTWO) has received a Wells Notice from the SEC.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Kraft (KFT) is working on selling its Post cereals business.

The Wall Street Journal writes that a KKR affilate is delaying paying $5 billion in short term debt.

The WSJ writes that Paul Allen is considering taking Charter (CHTR) private.

The WSJ writes that several reporters have sued HP (HPQ) for spying on their phone calls and records.

The Wall Street Journal writes that Google (GOOG) has begun to market Sun’s (SUNW) StarOffice product.

The New York Times writes that NetFlix (NFLX) is using high-end customer service to compete with Blockbuster (BBI).

The FT writes that the EU will investigate bond rating agencies Moody’s and S&P for poor calls on sub-primce issues.

Batton’s writes that buying EMC (EMC) could be a cheap way to get part of the IPO of one of its divisions VMWare (VMW)

Douglas A. McIntyre

Posted on: August 16, 2007 – 3:16 am in Press Digest, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Media Digest 8/10/2007 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Barron’s

According to Reuters the Asia central banks put extra cash into the banking systems as markets there fell sharply.

Reuters writes that Man Group, the UK hedge fund, has delays its IPO.

Reuters writes that Toyota (TM) sees slower growth in the US.

Reuters writes that Buick tied Lexus in the JD Power reliability study, the first time the US brand has finished in first place.

The Wall Street Journal writes that Countrywide Financial (CFC) said the credit markets could affect its financial position.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the SEC is checking the books of banks including Bear Stearns (BSC) and Goldman (GS) to see whether they may be hiding mortgage investment loses.

The WSJ writes that profits at refiners are dropping as the price of gas comes down.

The WSJ writes that chip demand drove up profits at Nvidia (NVDA).

The WSJ reports that Electronic Arts (ERTS) and Hasbro (HAS) will create video games based on popular games like Monopoly.

The WSJ reports the niche channels are moving off cable to the internet.

The New York Times reports that Goldman Sachs (GS) size has not protected its stock price.

The NYT reports the Universal Music will begin selling music without copy protection.

FT writes that Chrysler is trying to expand in markets outside the US.

Barron’s reports that shares in Emulex (ELX) fell after it reported modest earnings

Douglas A. McIntyre

Posted on: August 10, 2007 – 3:19 am in Uncategorized, , , , , , , ,

Is “Transformers” Boost Already Reflected in Hasbro Shares? (HAS, MAT)

Hasbro, Inc. (HAS-NYSE) has been a beneficiary of the upcoming "Transformers" movie coming on July 4.  The upcoming blockbuster film has been ‘in the can’ and ready to go for some time, and investors have run the stock up roughly 10% off of the lows over the last 6-months.  This may not seem like much of a run, but shares are up close to 90% in the last year.  This film release has also been a known commodity for some time.

Hasbro has owned this brand for years and it has become popular again with kids.  As far as products coming out, the company will have bedding, shirts, toys, video games, action figures, and more.    As far as the ‘next big thing’ TheStreet.com gave an interview with the head of Hasbro and the CEO said they have many more things coming down the road.

For whatever this is worth, the JULY07 $32.50 CALLS are at $0.70, so using a static picture and assuming only today’s trading you could infer that options traders do not expect the stock to rise above $33.20.  Of course that is very subjective and is not a perfect number since it is only representative of a snapshot in time, but it at least gives a bit of a guestimate as to what the rest of the trading world is thinking.  Even if you used a straddle pricing, you would determine on a static basis the stock would not fall below 31.95 nor rise above $34.05 based upon the event. 

As a reminder, Hasbro is a toy company and despite the "Transformers" movie, the quarter ending this week in June is usually considered the throw-away quarter for the sector (same for video game companies).  Its current P/E ratio is above 20 and based on consensus estimates of $1.85 EPS for fiscal 2007, it trades at roughly a 17.4 forward P/E. This is a premium to the largest competitor Mattel Inc. (MAT-NYSE): $10 Billion market cap; 17.5 trailing P/E ratio, and 15.9 forward P/E ratio.   Hasbro’s stock has had a 52-week trading range of $17.00 to $33.43. 

Jon C. Ogg
June 25, 2007

Jon Ogg can be reached at jonogg@247wallst.com; he does not own securities in the companies he covers.

Posted on: June 25, 2007 – 11:57 am in Entertainment, ,

Pre-Market Analyst Calls (June 5, 2007)

AAP raised to Neutral at JPMorgan.
ALDN cut to Mkt Perform at FBR.
ALY started as Outperform at Wachovia.
BEBE cut to Mkt Perform at FBR.
BEN cut to Underweight at JPMorgan.
BHP raised to Buy at Citigroup.
CPO started as Buy at BB&T.
CRZO started as Buy at Sun Trust Robinson Humphrey.
FIF raised to Outperform at Piper Jaffray.
HAS cut to Underweight at JPMorgan.
JNPR cut to Neutral at UBS.
OCNF started as Buy at Cantor Fitzgerald.
OHI started as Neutral at UBS.
OPWV cut to Underweight at JPMorgan; cut to Underperform at CIBC.
ORBC started as Mkt Perform at Piper Jaffray.
REG started as Neutral at Baird.
SFLY started as Strong Buy at JMP Securities.
SWIR raised to Outperform at CIBC.
SLR raised to Neutral at Credit Suisse.
TELK cut to Mkt Perform at Wachovia.
TRMP cut to Underperform at Bear Stearns.
WRI started as Outperform at Baird.
XEC cut to Neutral at UBS.

Jon C. Ogg
June 5, 2007

Posted on: June 5, 2007 – 6:37 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,