If you're an RC2 (NASDAQ:RCRC) investor, it "zincs" to be you. The toy and collectibles maker warned that it would miss its fourth-quarter profit guidance, because higher zinc prices ate into margins on is flagship die-cast lines.
The last few months have been heavy on the adrenaline at RC2. Two months ago, the company sold off its trading-card and sports-collectibles business. Last month, RC2 decided to discontinue several of its automotive-collectibles lines.
The company had originally expected to earn between $2.52 and $2.62 a share for all of 2006, before one-time hits for its recent divestitures. RC2 now expects to clock in lower than that when it posts its fourth-quarter results next month. Making matters worse, the disappointment bleeds beyond the bottom line. RC2 also warned that sales of its continuing product were running flat, with a dearth of retailer reorders until the holiday season had passed.
The company knows that is has to raise its selling prices if zinc costs remain stingy, but after all of the brand reshuffling in recent months, is RC2 a company still worth owning? I think so.
Its latest moves position the company as a more conventional toymaker. Between its Learning Curve toddler toys and its John Deere (NYSE:DE)-licensed agricultural playthings, RC2 is less of a slave to fickle pop culture trends, and more of a rival to companies like Mattel (NYSE:MAT) and Hasbro (NYSE:HAS). Judging by the most recent results at the toy-making bellwethers, that's not a bad place to be.
The diversification process will also help it focus on growing its remaining lines. Like its die-cast John Deere toy tractors, it's time for RC2 to work the land to see what grows.
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Longtime Fool contributor Rick Munarriz goes through plenty of the Learning Curve Thomas the Tank Engine toys for his youngest son. 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. Mattel is a former Inside Value pick. The Fool has a disclosure policy.
