Playboy Enterprises Inc. (NYSE: PLA), much like its founder Hugh Hefner, continues to show signs of spunk. The adult-entertainment company today reported better-than-expected third quarter profit, helped by strong licensing sales and international TV revenue.

Shares of the Chicago-based company are up about 10% over the past six months. Playboy is gaining new pop culture relevance thanks to "The Girls Next Door" and that will be further helped whenever the big budget movie about Hefner gets made.

Playboy, though, is a small fish in a very big media pond. Net income for the quarter was $2.6 billion, or 8 cents per share, compared with $1.1 million, or 3 cents, a year earlier, beating Wall Street consensus forecasts of 6 cents. The revenue figure of $82.8 million -- only a 1% gain from the year-earlier period -- missed analysts' estimates of $86 million.

Though Hefner is synonymous with the Playboy brand, he doesn't come cheap. Playboy owns the southern California mansion that he calls home and which investors have argued the company could sell at a tidy profit. Of course, as long as the head Playboy remains alive, that's not going to happen. Nonetheless, some investors continue to see value in the brand.

Max Holmes' Plainfield Special Situations Fund has been snapping up shares of the adult entertainment company all year and now owns 789,600, according to a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. Playboy now expects revenue for its Licensing Group to be up 25% to 30% this year excluding sales of original artwork.

Reports of Playboy's death have been swirling for years. While it's true that the publishing business continues to suffer, demand for its content continues to remain strong. That's right, sex sells. Remember, you read that first here.