Monday, December 24, 2007

Mattel's "American Girl" dolls

It seems that these dolls are now the must have gifts for young girls. Their stores in Chicago, NY and LA are always crowded, and now they have bistros in Atlanta and Dallas. The dolls sell for $89, and they have many "must have" accessories. The Limited Edition "retired" dolls "sell" on eBay for more than it cost on retail, so some Mom's talk about the "investment" attributes of these dolls, while the "Just like You" dolls look like the young girl.

Mattel's stock has been beaten down on China concerns while domestic toy companies have been doing fabulous business.

I think Mattel's (MAT 20.19) American Girl will do over $300 million in revenue for the 4th quarter and well over $500 million for the year, versus the $440 million of revenue and almost $100 million in net income American Girl generated last year. It should be a bright spot for the company, and may serve as a catalyst to get the stock off the bottom of the charts.