Barbie Sales Take Off as Parents Try to Cut Down on Screen Time

“The brand is more relevant than ever at 62 years old,” Mattel Chief Executive Ynon Kreiz said in an interview Thursday.

After years of struggles and rising competition from other dolls, Mattel sought to reinvigorate the Barbie brand by introducing new body sizes, skin tones, hair colors and career paths. Recently, Barbie has also been boosted by hits like a “Color Reveal” product where you dip a doll into water to disclose what kind it is.

The pandemic has helped, too. Parents say they are looking for ways to entertain their children that don’t involve a screen and many are gravitating to familiar toys.

“Parents prioritize spending on their kids and look for quality, trusted products,” Mr. Kreiz said.

Alyson Johnson said that the pandemic has been hard on her 8-year-old daughter, who isn’t able to socialize with her friends like she used to. But her daughter has been doing a lot more imaginative play during the past six months, which Ms. Johnson tried to encourage with purchases like a four-pack of election-themed Barbies, including a candidate and campaign manager.

“This is a really stressful time, especially for my daughter,” said Ms. Johnson, who runs a sports marketing and communications firm and lives in Califon, N.J. “I’m trying to find more things to do that allow her to play on that instead of being on screens.”

The pandemic didn’t start off well for Mattel. Lockdowns forced tens of thousands of stores that sell Mattel toys globally to close, depriving the company of sales. And parents early on stocked up on what industry executives call “boredom busters” like board games and puzzles to fill the hours indoors as opposed to Barbie dolls and Hot Wheels cars.

Consumers started to buy more Barbie dolls as the pandemic wore on, but retailers managed their inventories tightly and didn’t replenish their stocks quickly.

Now, Mattel is at a point where retailers are filling up their shelves with toys ahead of the holidays while also trying to meet demand from consumers. Mr. Kreiz said that Barbie sales at the retail level were up 50% in the latest quarter, while Mattel’s overall retail sales were up at a “strong double digit” rate.

Mattel’s other brands did well too. Its vehicles business posted 6% sales growth, led by Hot Wheels. Sales in a category that includes action figures, building sets and games rose 14%, helped by the “Baby Yoda” plush doll and Uno card game.

One category that continues to struggle is its infant, toddler and preschool division, with sales down 6%, due to declines in Fisher-Price and Thomas & Friends products.

For the period ended Sept. 30, Mattel posted earnings of $316 million, or 91 cents a share, on $1.6 billion in revenue.

Analysts polled by FactSet recently expected the company to post earnings of 39 cents a share on $1.5 billion in sales.

The company is now focusing on the holiday season, and working closely with retailers to make sure they have adequate supply of its toys to sell. Mattel expects its sales and profits to rise in the fourth quarter.

“We see the momentum continuing,” Mr. Kreiz said.

Another parent who has splurged during the pandemic is Jean Serra. The Milton, Mass., public-relations executive bought a handful of Barbie products, from a nursery playset to a doll-sized donut float, on Amazon.com over the past several months for her 8-year-old daughter. Ms. Serra said her daughter had previously played with Disney princess dolls but began gravitating toward Barbie last year after receiving a Dream House for Christmas.

She said the pandemic purchases are well worth it to keep her daughter off screens. “I don’t blanch at it because the price point is fairly low,” she said.

Write to Paul Ziobro at [email protected]