Barbie Still in Fashion at Mattel: Fool by Numbers

On Jan. 29, Mattel (NYSE: MAT  ) released fourth-quarter earnings for the period ended Dec. 31.

• Healthy performance of core brands in domestic and international markets drove an increase in worldwide net sales by 14%, with net profits rising to $286.4 million.
• Net margin decreased to 13.6% (in spite of improvements in gross and operating margins) because of a rise in SGA expenses.
• Worldwide gross sales for the Barbie brand were up 3%, while Fisher-Price registered the maximum growth of 16% and fueled strong sales of its Core Fisher-Price and Fisher-Price Friends.
• For more fun and games, see what longtime Fool contributor Rick Munarriz has to say about Mattel here.

(Figures in millions, except per-share data)

Income Statement Highlights

	Q4 2006	Q4 2005	Change
Sales	$2,108.8	$1,842.9	14.4%
Net Profit	$286.4	$279.2	2.6%
EPS	$0.75	$0.69	8.7%
Diluted Shares	384.0	402.5	(4.6%)

Get back to basics with a look at the income statement.

Margin Checkup

	Q4 2006	Q4 2005	Change*
Gross Margin	48.0%	47.8%	0.2
Operating Margin	18.4%	17.5%	1.0
Net Margin	13.6%	15.2%	(1.6)

*Expressed in percentage points.

Margins are the earnings engine. See how they work.

Balance Sheet Highlights

Assets	Q4 2006	Q4 2005	Change
Cash + ST Invest.	$1,205.6	$997.7	20.8%
Accounts Rec.	$943.8	$760.6	24.1%
Inventory	$383.1	$376.9	1.6%

Liabilities	Q4 2006	Q4 2005	Change
Accounts Payable	$1,356.3	$1,062.4	27.7%
Long-Term Debt	$635.7	$525.0	21.1%

Learn the ways of the balance sheet.

Cash Flow Highlights

	YTD 2006	YTD 2005	Change
Cash From Ops.	$876.0	$467.0	87.6%

Find out why Fools always follow the money.

Related Companies:

• Hasbro (NYSE: HAS  )
• LeapFrog (NYSE: LF  )
• RC2 (Nasdaq: RCRC  )
• JAKKS Pacific (Nasdaq: JAKK  )
• International Game Technology (NYSE: IGT  )

Related Foolishness:

• Barbie Bites Back
• JAKKS Deals In
• Hasbro's Famous Jedi Trick

Mattel is a former Motley Fool Inside Value recommendation. Hasbro is a Motley Fool Stock Advisor selection.

Fool by Numbers is designed to give you the raw earnings information in a timely fashion, putting all the numbers you need in one easy-to-read place. But at The Motley Fool, we believe numbers tell only part of the story, so check Fool.com for more of our in-depth discussion of what the numbers mean. This data has been provided by Netscribes. To provide feedback on this article, please click on the "feedback" button below.