Barbie sales up, Mattel shares up, but Q1 revenue is down

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Barbie recently had a 50th birthday, and she’s been going out a lot lately -- out of the toy store and into the homes of children and collectors.

Although Barbie’s recent milestone of five decades as a top toy is good news for Mattel Inc., declining revenue is crashing the party. So far investors don’t seem to mind.

For the first quarter, Mattel posted a $51-million loss, or 14 cents a share, but shares rose more than 12% in early trading today to $14.63.

Today’s continued interest in Mattel stock can be attributed, at least in part, to good old Barbie; sales rose 18% in the U.S. during the January-to-March period.

In last year’s first quarter, the El Segundo toy maker reported a loss of $46.6 million, or 13 cents a share. Revenue in this year’s first quarter dropped 15% from the year-earlier quarter, to $786 million from $919 million.

-- Nathan Olivarez-Giles