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Hasbro lifts 2022 outlook, Plug Power supplying Walmart, Lululemon inks NIL deal

Yahoo Finance Live looks at several of the day's trending stock tickers.

Video transcript

RACHELLE AKUFFO: It is time for our triple play, the three tickers that Brad, Dave, and myself are watching this afternoon. Now my pick for the day is the ticker symbol PLUG. That's PLUG representing Plug Power. Now the stock is up over 9%, as you can see, now over 10% in late trading there. And this is on news of its deal with Walmart. Now Plug will deliver up to 20 tons of liquid green hydrogen per day to Walmart's lift trucks across its US distribution and fulfillment centers.

Now this builds on Walmart already being an early adopter of Plug's hydrogen energy back in 2012. The stock has been plagued with volatility year to date, as you can see there, just sort of peaking a little bit, but still sort of edging down there. But investors are really betting on green energy becoming the norm in the next decade, especially when you look at things like the greenhouse emissions targets, and then, of course, you have Europe trying to wean itself off Russian energy amid the Ukraine crisis.

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Now we did see that CEO Andy Marsh told Bloomberg that 20% of world energy will ultimately come from hydrogen, and fuel cells will run from that hydrogen. The company that has created the first commercial market for the hydrogen fuel cells is Plug Power. The company that's building the first green hydrogen network across the US is Plug Power, so really touting that it's a long-term view on where clean energy is heading.

BRAD SMITH: Yeah, it's certainly significant, and there's also that psychological aspect to this as well, because if you think about the number of installs that are going to be necessary to take place, whether that's for the consumer who are parking their vehicles in those parking lots for Walmart or whether it's for some of the deliveries that are parking their vehicles as well, this has a much more larger ranging implication because of time spent potentially on a Walmart premises as well.

And so if that converts at all into some of the revenues that they may see in the future, this could also be a boon to Walmart's business if they're able to keep you there longer, make sure you're charging more, and also tap that they're running on clean energy along the way, too.

Also here, my pick on the day, Hasbro. They reported first quarter 2022 financial results. They missed on earnings, but the HAS shares, they're maintaining gains. And this is most attributable to raised guidance as well as toy prices. I'll come back to the prices in a second. But here were some of the details. Net revenues increased year over year 4% to $1.16 billion. But operating profit declined by 19% year over year. Franchise brands, they continue to be the bread winner here, bringing in $543 million of that total revenue pie.

So in this segment, think about brands like Magic the Gathering, Transformers, and is there any parent who hasn't told you about the power of Peppa Pig? But then the largest growth for the quarter came in from partner brands. This is the category where they account for franchises like Marvel, Star Wars, Fortnite. And then just briefly coming back to the toy price increases, they'll be taking effect second quarter, which is current quarter 2022, to offset higher input and freight costs.

DAVE BRIGGS: Interesting to hear their CEO, Brad, Chris Cox say that he wants fewer bigger opportunities, and some of those opportunities, one you and I remember, starting lineup figures are coming back. They're partnering with Fanatics and Dungeons & Dragons, which probably predates you. It might even predate me a little bit. So they want to expand on that franchise as well.

My pick is Lululemon. Of course, you know the ticker symbol, LULU. It's a very interesting deal why I spotlight Lululemon. They have their first ever male name, image, and likeness golfer deal in college. You know those deals to give kids an extra buck or two to help pay for college. Well, the guy they signed happens to be a 36-year-old former NBA star who made $90 million in his NBA career.

His name is JR Smith, a former NBA star who certainly does not need the name, image, and likeness money, but he's getting it. He returned to college, North Carolina A&T, walked onto the golf team, and it's a very interesting story. Stock, you can see, been in very good shape year to date, as well as on the day, up nearly 5%. So LULU having a good day. And it's fun to see, Rachelle, to see a 36-year-old get a little NIL money.

RACHELLE AKUFFO: It's true because usually when you think of NIL these days, it's all about the college students. So, good for him for getting a little bit of shine there. And obviously, Lululemon really expanding there, as you were mentioning. In our previous shows, they're expanding into sneakers and other things. So good for them to sort of dip out there and go in a, you know, I guess not middle-aged range, but, you know, a little bit higher, to be more polite, yeah.

BRAD SMITH: I think my family would be upset if I didn't say, go Aggie golf, at the end of the day. We got a lot of North Carolina A&T in the family.

DAVE BRIGGS: Is that right?

BRAD SMITH: Yeah, for sure. So, go Aggie golf.

DAVE BRIGGS: I like the Lulu golfwear. It's good stuff.