Sales in Hasbro’s game category were up 13% in its third quarter, with increases in Magic: The Gathering , Duel Masters, Pie Face, Simon, and Bop-It driving the growth, the company said on Monday.
Games were only part of the story, though, as Hasbro posted a great quarter overall. Sales were up 14% to $1.68 billion vs. $1.47 billion in the 2015 period, and earnings were up 24% to $257.8 million, from $207.6 million in the year ago period.
The fastest growth was in the Girls category, where sales were up 57% behind the launch of Hasbro’s Disney Princess, which the company said was ahead of plan, Disney Frozen, and Trolls.
Boys was up only 2%, with tough comparisons to Jurassic World last year. Star Wars merch also shipped later this year, going on sale September 30 vs. September 4, Force Friday, last year. The company said it expected its sales of Star Wars products to be flat vs. 2015, with year to date sales up over last year, but Rogue One expected to generate fewer sales than Force Awakens.
Habro stock was up over 7% the first day after the announcement of the Q3 earnings.