Mattel has won back the rights from Hasbro to produce toys based on Disney princesses
The shares of Mattel Inc (NYSE:MAT) are surging this morning, up 8.4% to trade at $21.26 at last check. This jump comes after news that the toymaker has won back the rights from Hasbro (HAS) to produce toys based on Walt Disney's (DIS) "Frozen" franchise and Disney princess lineup, including "Cinderella" and "Snow White." Hasbro had nabbed the rights over seven years ago, and is down 1.9% today.
Mattel stock has had a volatile last few months on the charts, after both its November and mid-January rallies were capped at the $23 level. Today's bounce has MAT rising from yesterday's slump, which had the stock closing at its lowest level since October, and below its 320-day moving average for the first time since September of 2020. The equity is also looking to take back most of its year-to-date deficit -- off 9% coming into today.
Short interest has been steadily building, and now makes up 6.1% of the stock's available float. In other words, it would take roughly seven days to buy back these bearish bets, at MAT's average pace of daily trading.
Options traders have been more pessimistic than usual, too. Though calls are still outnumbering puts on an absolute basis at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), Mattel stock's 50-day put/call volume ratio of 0.61, which stands higher than 96% of readings from the past year.