JAKKS & Thrills

JAKKS Pacific (Nasdaq: JAKK  ) respects its elders. At the very least, it's opening the door to let the industry leaders go first.

The fast-growing toy maker let market bellwethers Hasbro (Nasdaq: HAS  ) and Mattel (NYSE: MAT  ) report their quarterly earnings yesterday. Now it's JAKKS' turn to go.

The market didn't like what the toy titans had to say yesterday, sending both stocks lower on an otherwise buoyant day. JAKKS isn't giving Mr. Market a reason to hit the niche again.

JAKKS' stock opened 3% higher this morning after the company posted healthy results. Net sales grew 12% to $357.8 million, well ahead of the 4% top-line spurt that analysts were expecting. Earnings growth wasn't as kind, inching up to $1.47 a share after backing out a favorable tax benefit and an unfavorable trademark write-down. It's barely ahead of the $1.45 a share it earned a year ago, but smack-dab in line with Wall Street's consensus guesstimate.

JAKKS makes toys like the EyeClops magnifier that was a runaway hit this past holiday season. It also is a major maker of licensed products like lunchboxes featuring Viacom's (NYSE: VIA  ) Nickelodeon characters, action figures of World Wrestling Entertainment (NYSE: WWE  ) stars, and Disney (NYSE: DIS  ) playthings for the Disney Princess and Hannah Montana franchises. It also teams up with THQ (Nasdaq: THQI  ) to put out World Wrestling Entertainment video games. Earlier this month it announced the acquisition of toddler furniture manufacturer Kids Only and baby doll accessories maker Tollybots. 

Given the nature of the toy industry, a lot is riding on the upcoming holiday season. JAKKS isn't overly concerned. It's sticking to its guidance, looking for a profit of $2.80 a share with net sales of at least $891.4 million. That welcome conviction prices the stock at a ridiculous seven times this year's earnings, and this is a company with far more cash on its balance sheet than debt.

Growing in a lackluster market? Keeping its balance sheet respectably clean? Single digit P/E ratio? It's not the only way to win the game for investors, but it sure seems like one of the easiest.

More holiday cheer:

• Hasbro and Mattel aren't growing as quickly as JAKKS.
• EyeClops was a hit online last year.
• Kirstin Graham named JAKKS her "Stock of the Week" earlier this year.