Citigroup Analysts Downgrade Mattel; CFO Warns Cap Will Hit Retail, Travel, Hospitality
Citigroup’s equity research team and JPMorgan downgraded Mattel’s rating to neutral, citing decelerating revenue growth, margin pressures and uncertain sales outlook. Incoming CFO Gonzalo Luchetti warned that a credit-card interest-rate cap would cut consumer net interest margins and trigger massive ripple effects across retail, travel and hospitality.
1. Analysts Downgrade Mattel
Citigroup and JPMorgan analysts reduced Mattel’s rating to neutral, pointing to slowing revenue growth, margin compression from rising material costs and an unclear demand trajectory in the global toy market.
2. Incoming CFO Warns on Rate Cap
Gonzalo Luchetti, set to assume the CFO role at Citigroup, cautioned that capping credit-card interest rates would materially erode consumer finance net interest margins and create significant downstream impacts for retailers, hotels and travel operators.