Hasbro (HAS) turns 100 this year. It's been a special journey. The Pawtucket-based toymaker is a cultural icon that made memories for generations of Americans thanks to brand names like Monopoly, Twister, Transformers, Play-Doh, Nerf, Milton Bradley, Parker Bros, and G.I. Joe. But it's a New Age with new challenges for the 29-billion-dollar U.S. toy industry. Electronic devices are muscling aside the board games so many of us gathered our families around in our own youths. Video games, smartphones, and tablets are now the go-to fun sources and time-consumers for kids. Complicating this digital shift is the sad reality that kids are growing up faster these days. They quickly tire of the toys and games that entertained so many of us for years — a phenomenon that's been dubbed “age compression.” Hasbro has refused to get left behind. It's adapted. And it's found a way to win: ✓ By going digital itself ✓ By turning to an unlikely set of customers for growth: The “Kidult” ✓ And by leveraging demand for box-office brands through savvy licensing agreements. LikeFolio's proprietary data is telling the tale too. Hasbro has infused new leadership talent across the top of the company — a key reason it's leading the toy industry's digital shift and capitalizing on pop-culture fandom. It has plenty of room to grow, especially internationally. Last year's acquisition of D&D Beyond added “Dungeons & Dragons” — the world's biggest role-playing game — to the Hasbro portfolio. And social media is buzzing about the latest Hasbro stuff and this summer's launch of the D&D streaming channel. So, with the stock down and the dividend yield high, we are playing the “Magical Gains Ahead” card… And dealing "Kidults" into the game. Let me show you why at 100, Hasbro still has some magic up its sleeve for investors… Click here to continue reading |
No comments:
Post a Comment