Sherwood News

Lego just posted a blockbuster H1

...especially compared to the rest of the toy industry

8/28/24 10:24AM

Big brick energy

Lego just keeps building on its position as the world’s biggest toymaker, after posting record first half sales of 31 billion Danish kroner (or $4.65 billion) as well as H1 operating profit which was up 26% compared to the same period in 2023.

That sort of growth on its own would be reason enough for Lego execs and investors to celebrate, but it’s even more impressive when you take the wider toy market into consideration. According to Circana research, toy sales were up from the pre-pandemic era in 2023, but had shrunk 7% compared to 2022, and the biggest names in the toy game are showing signs of the slowdown. Indeed, Mattel, the company behind Barbie and Hot Wheels, saw sales drop 1% in the first half, while My Little Pony and Monopoly makers Hasbro saw revenue dip 21%.

Well played

More than 90 years on from when the company was founded, people are still in love with Lego, a portmanteau of the Danish words for “play well”, as the company adds to the classic sets that have cemented its success through the decades. Lego Star Wars, for instance, remains one of the brand’s top performing themes, 25 years into its existence.

The company keeps diversifying too, adding ~300 new sets in the first half of 2024, as the ability to appeal to older demographics with offerings like the Botanical Collection — which has blossomed since launching in 2021 when many had a little more time to get creative — continues to set the Danish brand apart.

The company’s doubling down on its partnerships in the digital world on the back of its lucrative Fortnite collaboration, and it’s also making a lot of noise about its eco credentials, with Lego reporting that 30% of the resin it used in 1H 2024 came from a blend of fossil-fuel material and recycled or renewable sources, per the Financial Times.

Max Knoblauch14h

The Trump administration is reportedly planning a 50% made-in-America requirement for USMCA tariff relief

Qualifying for USMCA-related lower tariffs may soon require more US-made vehicle components, according to reporting by The Wall Street Journal.

The Trump administration is reportedly planning to introduce a 50% US content requirement for vehicles covered by the trade pact to receive lower tariffs. The content would be measured by cost, according to the WSJ.

There currently isn’t any US-specific requirement for those lower tariff rates, but in order to receive preferential tariffs, vehicles are must contain at least 75% regional content (components made in North America). Per Reuters reporting, the Trump admin is seeking to raise the regional requirement to 82%.

These reported plans are subject to change as the US negotiates USMCA terms with Mexico over the next few months.

Overall, Tesla will likely have the easiest time qualifying for any stricter requirements. The automaker’s vehicles contained the highest amount of US/Canadian content in 2025, according to American University research. Ford, GM, and Stellantis all scored lower.

Notably: the underlying government data that many domestic content measurements rely on intentionally combines US and Canadian components, so it’s difficult to know exactly how much of any given vehicle is specifically US-made.

Exclusive | Trump Administration Wants Autos Under USMCA to Be at Least 50% Made in America

These reported plans are subject to change as the US negotiates USMCA terms with Mexico over the next few months.

Tom Jones20h

The $640,000 Luce makes the average Ferrari look like a bargain

Put aside the shape; put aside the smoothing out of Ferrari’s iconic sharp edges; put aside, even, the calls from former Chairman and President Luca Cordero di Montezemolo to “take the Prancing Horse off.” On the grounds of price alone, Luce detractors might have a point.

By now, many of us will have read the criticisms of Ferrari’s first fully electric vehicle, as the Luce — which was unveiled to the world earlier this week and promptly saw the company’s shares crash out in New York and Milan — gets subtly shaded by competitors online and not-so-subtly shaded by basically everyone else.

What makes all of this worse for Ferrari is that, even by the luxury car maker’s notoriously high standards, they’ve slapped a pretty hefty price tag on the Luce, and the company’s CEO, Benedetto Vigna, has already been forced to defend the €550,000 ($640,000) price point, saying yesterday that it’s “fair to pay for innovation,” per Reuters.

While Ferrari’s cars have been getting more expensive of late, as recently as 2022, Ferrari’s average revenue per car sold was around $340,000. At nearly twice that price, this new electric model is obviously proving a little much (visually, conceptually, and financially) for many loyal and long-standing fans of the Prancing Horse to stomach.