The Toys Are Back in Town

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It's Christmas in July for the leading toymakers. Investors don't expect a lot from Hasbro (Nasdaq: HAS) and Mattel (NYSE: MAT) during the seasonally soft second quarter, but both companies are still playing Santa.

It was Hasbro's turn to come down the chimney this morning, posting better-than expected results. Net revenue rose 13% to $784.3 million, powered by success in its homegrown toy brands and its licensing deal with Marvel (NYSE: MVL).

Earnings clocked in at $0.25 a share during the period, well ahead of both the $0.03-a-share profit it posted a year ago, and the $0.22-a-share bottom-line target that analysts sought.

You can't say that I didn't tip you off. Hasbro is one of the seven companies I singled out last week as consistent market beaters reporting earnings this week. With this morning's win, Hasbro has now topped Mr. Market's expectations for five consecutive quarters.

This comes on the heels of Mattel's one-two punch on Friday. Mattel's profits were cut in half to $0.03 a share during its seasonally forgettable second quarter, but that was actually better than Wall Street's hosed-down projections. Perhaps more importantly, Mattel also scored a major courtroom victory in its fight over MGA's popular line of Bratz dolls.

Bratz was designed by a former Mattel hire, and a federal court sided with Mattel's exclusivity as pertaining to any toys that designers make while employed by the company. Whether Mattel will stand to collect juicy royalties or be awarded the actual Bratz line remains to be seen, but it's good news for a company that has seen its once-flagship Barbie doll languish in recent years.

This doesn't mean that investors should necessarily warm up to smaller toymakers like RC2 (Nasdaq: RCRC), LeapFrog (NYSE: LF), and JAKKS Pacific (Nasdaq: JAKK). The good news from both Mattel and Hasbro is company-specific. You'll  have to judge each company based on the potential of its own toy lines. However, there's no ignoring toy stocks, even if we're at the polar opposite end of the telltale holiday season.

Ho, ho, ho.

More holiday cheer:

• Next Week Will Save Wall Street
• Hasbro's Performance Is Not Trivial  
• The Best Company I've Ever Seen