8/4/2026

speaker
Operator
Conference Operator

Thank you for standing by and welcome to the Mattel, Inc. Second Quarter 2026 Earnings Conference Call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speaker's remarks, there will be a question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question during that time, simply press star, then the number one on your telephone keypad. I would now like to turn the call over to Katina Matsudakis, Mattel's Head of Investor Relations. Katina, please go ahead.

speaker
Katina Matsudakis
Head of Investor Relations

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 Stanicki, Mattel's President, Chief Marketing and Global Brand Officer. This afternoon, we reported 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 billing 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.matel.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 Matel'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, brand, 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.

speaker
Ynon Kreiz
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

Good afternoon and 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 Mattel 163. Mattel was number one globally in theater categories, dolls, vehicles, infant order and preschool, and gained share in vehicles and action figures per circana. 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, B2C, 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. A collectible back house business continues to perform exceptionally well, demonstrating the expanding appeal of the brand. Within the challenger categories, growth was driven by gains made by Uno, including the contribution of Mattel 163, 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 Dream House. 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. Daily 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 Mattel 163, 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 different consumer engagement through mobile games. Uno Wild will expand the universe of Uno mobile games currently offered by Mattel 163. 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. Rose Williams 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 from a tale into the future. Our next movie, Matchbox, which will 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.

Disclaimer

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