Hot Wheels maker zooms past Wall Street expectations

Hot Wheels maker zooms past Wall Street expectations Mattel Inc., the nation's leading toymaker and a major importer through Southern California ports, Monday beat Wall Street expectations, posting a first-quarter sales jump of $147 million over the 2006 period.
   Net income at the El Segundo-based firm, however, fell to $12 million, or 3 cents a share, from $30.2 million, or 8 cents a share, for the year-earlier period.
   Analysts, according to Reuters Estimates, were expecting a loss of 5 cents a share.
   First quarter sales increased to $940.3 million from $793.3 million, topping analysts’ average estimate of $847.8 million.
   Mattel attributed the sales jump to a 27 percent increase in Fisher Price products and a 15 percent increase in sales of the Wheels category, which makes Hot Wheels and Matchbox brands.
   Another Mattel mainstay, Barbie, saw a worldwide sales increase of 2 percent in the first quarter, offsetting a domestic first quarter decline in sales of the doll line.