It was a great weekend for comic book fans. First, Saturday was Free Comic Book Day. I hope you were able to celebrate (I did!). Second, Marvel's (NYSE: MVL) X-Men Origins: Wolverine, licensed to and distributed by News Corp. (NASDAQ: NWS), opened on Friday.

As expected, it completely annihilated the competition (I would have said clawed the competition, but I'm sure that pun has already been done to death by now) at the domestic box office over the weekend.

Continue reading Was 'Wolverine's' box office that great?

Was 'Wolverine's' box office that great? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 04 May 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

DreamWorks Animation (NYSE: DWA), whose cartoons compete with similar products from Disney (NYSE: DIS), News Corp. (NASDAQ: NWS), Viacom (NYSE: VIA), Time Warner (NYSE: TWX), and Sony (NYSE: SNE), issued its Q1 stats after the bell on Tuesday afternoon.

Now, I'm just about 100% certain that I've used this goofy pun before, so let me apologize upfront for dragging it out yet again (you'll soon see that I had no choice): DreamWorks Animation had a quarter that dreams are made of!

Continue reading DreamWorks Animation has a monster good quarter

DreamWorks Animation has a monster good quarter originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 29 Apr 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Well, my friends, last week I discussed the better-than-expected box office results of Disney's (NYSE: DIS) Hannah Montana: The Movie. The project grossed well over $30 million in its opening weekend and ranked in first place. Looks like the half-life was short on this one.

According to Boxofficemojo, the early estimates for this past weekend place Montana in fourth place with roughly $12 million. This represents a huge dive of 60%. The film does not have any legs, let me tell you. Disney shareholders should be disappointed (I'm one, and I'm very disappointed).

Continue reading Hannah Montana film sees big drop in second weekend -- yes, the fad is over

Hannah Montana film sees big drop in second weekend -- yes, the fad is over originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 20 Apr 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Well, I didn't necessarily think it was possible, but it was. Disney's (NYSE: DIS) Hannah Montana: The Movie rose to the top of the domestic box office charts over the Easter holiday weekend.

As of early estimates at Boxofficemojo, the Miley Cyrus flick took in $34 million. Yes, I was bearish on her prospects, as you'll see in this preview article. I agreed with industry experts when they said Fast and Furious, distributed by General Electric's (NYSE: GE) Universal, would retain its number-one status.

I was wrong. Furious came in second with over $28 million. DreamWorks Animation's (NYSE: DWA) Monsters vs. Aliens was third with over $22 million, and its total tally has now gone beyond $140 million. It's doing decent business, and it looks like it has a chance to beat the $180 million that Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa captured. Not bad.

Continue reading Hannah Montana is still hot, but is the fad close to an end?

Hannah Montana is still hot, but is the fad close to an end? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 13 Apr 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

General Electric (NYSE: GE) shareholders have a little something to celebrate today. Fast & Furious, distributed by GE's Universal asset and starring Vin Diesel, came in first place over the weekend at domestic theaters according to Boxofficemojo.

The racing movie scored about $72 million as of early estimates, more than enough to secure the top spot. I know that such success won't do much for GE in terms of stock movement, but hey, as a GE shareholder myself, it's personally been a tough year with all the financial awfulness at GE Capital, so if one of GE's latest movies is a hit, I'll take it.

Continue reading General Electric speeds up the box office

General Electric speeds up the box office originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 06 Apr 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

DreamWorks Animation (NYSE: DWA) has done it again. The studio's new computer cartoon, Monsters Vs. Aliens, which was distributed by Viacom (NYSE: VIA), debuted in the top slot over the weekend at domestic multiplexes. According to Boxofficemojo estimates at the time of this writing, the film earned around $58 million. I think we all expected the performance in terms of rank, but I have to say that I thought the film would have taken in north of $60 million.

If you look at this very useful reference, you'll see that the opening for Monsters is relatively decent when compared to other DreamWorks Animation openings. But since both Kung Fu Panda and Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa had both hit the $60 million mark, I thought Monsters could do the same. An element to keep in mind is the timing. This is the first time that the studio opened one of its animated projects in March since The Road to El Dorado, and that one doesn't really count since it wasn't a CGI affair. So from that standpoint, perhaps this is a big victory.

Continue reading 'Monsters Vs. Aliens' is a dream for DreamWorks while '12 Rounds' is a nightmare for WWE

'Monsters Vs. Aliens' is a dream for DreamWorks while '12 Rounds' is a nightmare for WWE originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 30 Mar 2009 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

DreamWorks Animation (NYSE: DWA) reported Q4 earnings after the bell on Tuesday, and the shares dropped over 5% in the after-hours session. As you might have guessed, the company missed expectations.

According to my earnings preview, the call was for 60 cents per share. Unfortunately, DreamWorks reported 58 cents per share on a 31% drop in net sales. However, there also was a 12-cent per-share tax benefit included in that bottom-line number. Last year, DreamWorks reported 98 cents per share.

This wasn't the quarter that dreams are made of.

Continue reading DreamWorks Animation finds that a panda is no ogre when it comes to earnings

DreamWorks Animation finds that a panda is no ogre when it comes to earnings originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 25 Feb 2009 08:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

First off, both are great companies. No, not every move they make is perfect (example: Marvel still can't properly monetize its Incredible Hulk property with a decent film). But both stocks have held up relatively well, in my opinion, during the financial implosion. Both stocks are also below their respective 52-week high's and above their respective 52-week low's. That's not a bad position to be in (although I should point out that I generally would like to get these two around their 52-week low's). But which stock has the edge?

Well, Marvel's shares have been strong lately. According to the AOL quote at the time of this writing, Marvel is in the green in all time frames (year-to-date, one-month, one-year, etc.). DreamWorks Animation is in the red in a couple spots, but for the most part, it's been performing somewhat similarly to Marvel. I don't really see that much of a difference in terms of strength. Plus, both are arguably essentially equal in terms of valuation (at least in my opinion).

Continue reading DreamWorks Animation versus Marvel Entertainment: Which one is a buy?

DreamWorks Animation versus Marvel Entertainment: Which one is a buy? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 07 Jan 2009 12:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.