Kissing LeapFrog Doesn't Make It a Prince

They say a girl needs to kiss a lot of frogs before finding her prince. LeapFrog Enterprises (NYSE: LF) shareholders now know that you have to wait through a lot of painful quarters to earn a king's ransom.

The educational electronics specialist struggled again in its latest quarter. Net sales fell by 18% to $56 million. The company also posted a slightly wider net loss of $0.44 per share.

Before you go forgiving LeapFrog, blaming the red ink on seasonal sleepiness, do yourself a favor and look into how rival toy makers like JAKKS Pacific (Nasdaq: JAKK), Mattel (NYSE: MAT), and Motley Fool Stock Advisor recommendation Hasbro (NYSE: HAS) panned out last month. They all clocked in as profitable.

Total operating expenses for LeapFrog came in lower than last year, but hold your applause. Every single line item that accounts for operating expenses rose, save for a dramatic dip in the company's advertising budget. LeapFrog is saving its marketing muscle for new products that will be introduced over the next few quarters.

We do have to be fair here. The company still has a relatively fresh CEO who came over from Orbitz (NYSE: OWW) last summer. Turnarounds take time. Even the top line's shortcoming can be pinned to a dip in products that the company is in the process of phasing out.

The company's reading business -- what put LeapFrog on the map several years ago -- will be relaunched next year. The struggling toy maker is also hoping to grow its educational gaming and infant businesses.

You wouldn't expect the company to tell you otherwise, and that's why you have every right to be jaded. LeapFrog has been a serial disappointer lately. It has missed analyst estimates in five of the last six quarters. Until LeapFrog is ready to play this game to win, do yourself a favor and pick a profitable toy maker instead.

Longtime Fool contributor Rick Munarriz relished the way his youngest son took to his LeapPad before outgrowing it. However, he does not own shares in any of the companies mentioned in this story. He is also part of the Rule Breakers newsletter research team, seeking out tomorrow's ultimate growth stocks a day early. The Fool's disclosure policy dreams of someday joining Colonel Les Claypool's Fearless Flying Frog Brigade.