| At
the
end of the second quarter of the year
2000, Hasbro Inc. (HAS) reported its
second quarter earnings. They were far
lower than previous recent earnings had
been, and the stock price plummeted. It
was hovering around 17 per share before
the earnings announcement was released,
and now it. s hovering around
11. The Wall Street people mainly see
financial reports and graphs that
indicate the company is going down, but
in this case, teenagers can see further.
Why did Hasbro. s
profits drop so dramatically? Two
reasons. The Furby craze was
over, and Star Wars toy sales were dropping
off. Furby wasn. t going to
last anyway, and there will always be some
new craze that kids will sink their teeth
into (at the moment it. s Pokemon,
and Hasbro actually has a license to
make a lot of the Pokemon toys sold in
stores today). In addition to that, the
last Star Wars movie came out a while
ago. Most of the die-hard fans already
have their toys.
Unlike
the Furbies, Star Wars will be around
for a while longer. A company called
Wizards of the Coast, which is owned by
Hasbro, has purchased the rights to make
the new Star Wars Roleplaying Game,
which will be played by fans everywhere.
Wizards of the Coast is also coming out
with the 3rd Edition of the
incredibly popular roleplaying game:
Advanced Dungeons and Dragons.
The
highest point Hasbro stock has reached
in the past ten years was achieved
within a week or two of the release of
Star Wars: Episode One, and the
associated toys.
George Lucas has told
the public that the next Star Wars movie
is due to come out sometime in the
year 2002, and there has been no indication
that Hasbro won. t continue making
the high-quality desirable Star
Wars toys that they. ve been
making. Suddenly Hasbro. s low
price becomes less of an indication that
the company is going down the tubes, and
more of an indication that now would be
a good time to buy a solid long-term
investment at a low price.
Hasbro
is also the second largest toy company
in the world, and has a very promising
future if you look at the market, as
opposed to a list of numbers.
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