Star Wars isn’t the only toy franchise helping to bring smiles to the faces of Hasbro’s investors. Nerf, which makes a range of toy guns known as blasters that shoot foam projectiles, has been on a tear for Hasbro for over a year. Sales for Nerf rose a solid 13% last year, and gained by a double-digit percentage again in the first quarter. According to Hasbro, Nerf was the best-performing brand from its vast portfolio. Explaining the strength in Nerf in an era where kids play Angry Birds for hours on their iPad boils to a constant stream of innovation for the brand and relatively affordable prices for the blasters. ‘It’s about the great innovation and really engaged fan base that we call Nerf Nation — we inspire them to create the kinds of trick shots to get engaged,’ Hasbro Chairman and CEO Brian Goldner told TheStreet in a Feb. 12 interview. Added Goldner, ‘We have a new lineup called Nerf Rival that is more paintball-like in that it has the circular projectiles, but it doesn’t have the paint.’ Nerf’s new paintball-like blasters will look sweet in the hands of any kid peddling around in the company’s recently launched Battle Racer peddle kart. The kart is priced at $249.99 and holds up to four blasters and extra projectiles, not to mention donning two cupholers to quench the thirst of five year olds locked in grueling Nerf battles. TheStreet tested out the product and found it well made, easy to maneuver and likely a provider of hours of fun for those aged 4-10. On the downside, assembly was a little time consuming, the steering mechanism had a proensity to slip out of its socket and the cupholders weren’t deep enough to hold a bottle of water without spilling while doing battle. But all in all, it’s a must-have holiday season toy for any child with at least one Nerf blaster in the house. Meanwhile, Nerf is nonetheless one component that drove Hasbro to a solid first quarter. Excluding the impact of the strong U.S. dollar, net sales increased 20% year over year. Adjusted for one-time items, earnings per share rose 81%. Sales were led by 24% and 41% gains in Hasbro’s boys and girls segments, respectively. Top-selling products included none other than Star Wars, which benefited from Disney’s newest cinema blockbuster smashing box office receipt records globally, as well as interest in Yahtzee, Nerf, Disney Princess, Frozen, and Play-DOH. Hasbro shares have gained about 16% over the past year, outperforming the S&P 500’s 3.4% decline. TheStreet’s Brian Sozzi reports from New York.
Subscribe to TheStreetTV on YouTube:
For more content from TheStreet visit:
Check out all our videos:
Follow TheStreet on Twitter:
Like TheStreet on Facebook:
Follow TheStreet on LinkedIn:
Follow TheStreet on Google+:
source
