Barbie sales continue to slide in Mattel's 3Q as American Girl posts surprising decline

Mattel's got girl problems, and they start with Barbie. Sales of the iconic doll continued to slide in the toymaker's third quarter and a surprising drop in sales of American Girl toys is putting additional pressure on the company as it heads into the crucial holiday season.

Mattel Inc. reported Thursday that Barbie sales fell 21 percent for the three months ended Sept. 30. That's steeper than the 15 percent drop in the second quarter.

American Girl's third-quarter sales declined 7 percent, compared with a 6 percent rise in the second quarter.

Mattel reported a third-quarter profit of 97 cents per share on revenue of $2.02 billion. Analysts polled by FactSet expected a profit of $1.02 per share on revenue of $2.18 billion for the El Segundo, California-based company.