Hasbro (NYSE: HAS) isn't doing too well today. Shares of the toy entity are down 3.5% at the time of this writing in early afternoon trading. Third-quarter results are the catalyst, apparently. Management must hate this, because on Friday, rival Mattel (NYSE: MAT) saw a bid after its own earnings release.

Hasbro's top line contracted 2%, and earnings per share, even with some dilution from a joint venture with Discovery Communications (NASDAQ: DISCA) and investments in Hasbro's virtual-studio initiative, increased 11% to 99 cents. Expectations were beat by six pennies. Gee, that was better than Mattel's performance. The maker of Barbie actually saw a per-share earnings decline and came in line with forecasts.

Hasbro Inc. (NYSE: HAS), the toy and game maker whose brands include Transformers, Playskool, Milton Bradley, and Wizards of the Coast, is scheduled to discuss its third quarter 2009 financial results in a webcast Monday at 8:30 AM ET. You can catch the webcast live or replayed on the company's website.

The three months that ended in September included Comic-Con, the release of the G.I. Joe movie, and the introduction of the Hasbro Studios management team. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expect this Pawtucket, R.I.-based toy maker to report that earnings grew 4.3% from a year ago to $0.93 per share. Sales for the quarter are expected to be 1.7% higher to $1.3 billion.

Game and toy maker Hasbro (NYSE: HAS) had its chance to impress Wall Street with its second quarter results Monday morning, and the company indeed did not disappoint, posting stronger than expected earnings.

Spurred by strong sales of G.I. Joe and Transformers toys, the company reported a 5% jump in profit with earnings of 26 cents per share. Going into today's earnings report analysts had expected earnings of just 23 cents per share.

Hasbro (NYSE: HAS), a toymaker that competes with Mattel (NYSE: MAT) and JAKKS Pacific (NASDAQ: JAKK), reported results for the first quarter on Monday. They weren't that spectacular. No big earnings beat here. Net sales were down 6%, even excluding the effect of currency translation. Net income dropped 44% to $0.14 per share. According to this source, that number unfortunately merely met Wall Street expectations.

Of course, I suppose things could have been worse. Hasbro could have missed expectations by a mile. In this kind of economy, we probably should be glad that a company whose products can easily be cut from any discretionary family budget at least was able to keep up with prevailing wisdom.

Boosted by its licensing rights and marketing agreements for such characters as Spider-Man, Fantastic Four and Transformers, quantitative analyst Vahan Janjigian recommends toy maker Hasbro (NYSE: HAS).

The editor of The Forbes Growth Investor says, "Hasbro has done an outstanding job of selecting licensing opportunities," noting that licensing agreements with Lucas Licensing and Marvel Entertainment give Hasbro rights to develop toys based on Star Wars movies and Marvel comic books.

The Marvel deal, he notes, provides an excellent example. Janjigian says, "Its numerous comic book characters, some of which are more than 40 years old, offer plenty of potential for future sales, especially as more of them make it onto the big screen."

He states, "A renewed focus on core brands and licensed merchandise has led to strong results in the past year. First quarter net revenues surged 33.6% year-over-year to $625.3 million."

Spider-Man branded merchandise, he observes, which benefited from the release of the movie Spider-Man 3, was responsible for more than half of the growth in volume.

The recent opening of Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, he adds, could translate into brisk toy sales in the second quarter. Indeed, he forecasts, with seven films based on Marvel properties projected to be released over the next two years, Hasbro's prospects look "extremely promising."

Further, he says, "Hasbro should also benefit from the much hyped Transformers film." In fact, he notes, licensing revenues should receive a boost from the more than 230 Transformers-related agreements entered into by third-parties expecting to capitalize on the film.

He explains, "Transformers could signal more movie opportunities for HAS owned properties, which may further boost brand awareness and toy sales. Indeed, a G.I. Joe movie is already in the works."

The advisor concludes, "And let's not forget the company's more traditional products. The company has some of the most recognized brand names in the toy industry. Milton Bradley and Parker Brothers make classic board games such as Monopoly and Scrabble."

Each day, Steven Halpern's TheStockAdvisors.com features the latest investment ideas and market commentary from the financial newsletter community.