Mattel Earnings: Sales Plummet and its Dividend Disappears

After enduring quarter after quarter of disappointing results, investors held out hope that toymaker Mattel, Inc. (NASDAQ: MAT) might finally begin to show signs that the turnaround it has long sought would finally begin to materialize. The company laid out a plan earlier this year at an investor day presentation to get things back on track and had slashed the dividend by 61% from $0.38 to $0.15 to finance some of those initiatives.

Unfortunately, a bankruptcy filing by key-customer Toy "R" Us, which accounts for an estimated 11% of Mattel's sales, cratered its results. The company struggled with tighter inventory management by retailers and dismal results across all its brands, causing third quarter sales to plummet. Now Mattel is suspending its dividend completely, and investors balked, sending shares down as much as 28% in after-hours trading.

Even the new Fashionistas line could help Mattel this quarter. Image source: Mattel.

Source: Fool.com