U.S. stocks climbed on Tuesday following news that in-person talks between U.S. and Chinese trade officials are poised to restart next week. Investors also pored over a torrent of mostly encouraging earnings reports today. Both the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES: ^DJI) and the S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) rose nearly 0.7%.
As for individual stocks, Hasbro (NASDAQ: HAS) and Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) handily outpaced the broader market’s gains thanks to their respective strong quarterly updates.
Hasbro smashes estimates
Hasbro stock popped 10% to a new all-time high after the toymaker announced significantly better-than-expected second-quarter results. Revenue climbed 9% year over year (or 11% at constant currencies) to $984.5 million, translating into a 65% increase in adjusted net income to $99.3 million, or $0.78 per share.
Analysts, on average, were only modeling earnings of $0.50 per share on revenue of $956.8 million.
Chairman and CEO Brian Goldner called it a “high-quality” quarter, pointing out “positive consumer trends at retail and profitable growth led by several geographies and brand categories.”
In particular, Hasbro saw revenue from its legacy franchise brands climb 14% to $576 million, including outsized gains for Play-Doh, Monopoly, and both the tabletop and digital versions of its Magic: The Gathering game. Partner brands sales increased 3% to $213.4 million, helped by licensed toys based on Disney‘s Avengers, Spider-Man, and Aladdinmovies.
As such, Goldner said the company believes it’s on track to meet its target for profitable growth in 2019.
Coke’s refreshing quarter
Shares of Coca-Cola gained 6.1% after the soft drink giant released solid second-quarter results and raised its full-year revenue outlook.
Coke’s net revenue climbed 6% year over year to $10 billion, driven by a 4% increase in concentrate sales and a 2% contribution from favorable pricing and product mix. That translated into adjusted net income of $2.72 billion, or $0.63 per share, up 4% year over year even despite a 9-percentage-point headwind from foreign currencies.
“Our strategy to transform as a total beverage company has allowed us to continue to win in a growing and vibrant industry,” stated Chairman and CEO James Quincy. “Our progress is positioning the company to create more value for all of our stakeholders, including our shareowners.”
For full-year 2019, Coke now sees organic revenue increasing 5% year over year, a modest boost from its old 4% target. The company also reaffirmed its outlook for 2019 adjusted earnings per share to rise or fall by 1% from $2.08 in 2018.
