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.

DreamWorks Animation (NYSE: DWA) will be reporting Q4 earnings today after the market closes up shop. How will the computer-cartoon studio do? Well, I can tell you that investors are hoping for excellent numbers, considering that the stock hit a 52-week low of $18.87 on Monday.

The call is for 60 cents per share. That would be a pretty steep drop compared to last year's Q4, which came in at 98 cents per share. Of course, as this transcript from Seeking Alpha demonstrates, DreamWorks benefited last year from Shrek the Third. That's a tough act to follow, so the drop in income is to be expected. What the market really wants is a beat.

Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ: ATVI), a video-game publisher that competes with Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS), THQ (NASDAQ: THQI), and Take-Two Interactive (NASDAQ: TTWO), reported earnings for the fourth quarter on Wednesday after the bell. The company did well during the holiday-selling season, in my opinion. According to this source, adjusted quarterly earnings of 31 cents per share beat estimates by two pennies. Non-GAAP sales of $2.3 billion also beat analyst expectations.

However, the market decided to sell the stock in the after-hours session after the earnings were released because of what was perceived to be a poor outlook for the next fiscal year (as I was writing this piece, the shares were off by about 4%). Analysts were hoping that 2009 would bring 67 cents per share on an adjusted basis, but Activision Blizzard's management team thinks 61 cents per share is more likely.

So, I'm still trying to figure out a strategy for the coming year for my portfolio. Stocks are starting to feel a little better to me, but I'm very, very cautious about timing in terms of trades. For instance, I'd rather wait until we see a substantial pullback from the recent rally before taking some of my cash on the sidelines and putting it to work. But I've got two ideas in the movie sector that I'm looking at: DreamWorks Animation (NYSE: DWA) and Marvel Entertainment (NYSE: MVL).

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).

According to Boxofficemojo, holiday cheer is currently ruling the silver screen. Time Warner's (NYSE: TWX) Four Christmases was number one at domestic theaters this past weekend with an estimated haul of $18 million. This is the movie's second weekend out, and it's the second time that it captured the top slot. What gives? Seriously. Is the movie that good? I expressed similar sentiment last week about the flick. I guess congratulations are in order for Time Warner and its marketing machine.

And I continue to be surprised by Summit Entertainment's Twilight. The teen phenomenon doesn't seem as phenomenal to me anymore. It came in second over the weekend, and its cumulative gross now stands at slightly under $140 million. Is it me, or were you thinking that Twilight would have snared over $200 million by now?

And just to prove that all my expectations are being turned upside down, let me say that I thought Disney's (NYSE: DIS) Bolt would have surely made it past the century mark by its third weekend at the multiplex. Not even close. Right now, Bolt has close to $80 million in its dog bowl (hey, I had to come up with one goofy pun, right?). By comparison, DreamWorks Animation's (NYSE: DWA) Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, which is distributed by Viacom (NYSE: VIA), has grossed about $165 million after its fifth weekend at bat.

On Saturday of this past weekend, I was discussing the domestic box-office potential of Summit Entertainment's Twilight with a friend of mine (we didn't discuss the ranking potential since one didn't need to be a clairvoyant to see a first-place showing in the film's immediate future).

I initially proffered a $100 million take in terms of a prediction, but then backed down and decided that $80 million might be more like it. I wasn't sure if Twilight, even with all its hype, could possibly propel itself to a number that was recorded in three digits. Well, in an overall sense, I was completely wrong. Although the movie didn't make $100 million, I still obviously thought that it was stronger than it turned out to be.

According to published estimates from Boxofficemojo at the time of this writing (final numbers are due later), Twilight pulled in around $70 million. Don't get me wrong, that's a big take, and the movie did beat Sony's (NYSE: SNE) Quantum of Solace, which came in second. But, according to the daily estimates, the Friday-through-Sunday numbers show a decidedly negative trend.

It's interesting, too, because when I saw the $35 million Friday figure, I really thought that something higher than $70 million would be the end result. On Saturday, however, Twilight's take dropped over 40% when compared to its opening day, and on Sunday, the drop was almost 35% compared to Saturday.

I think we all knew which film would come out on top this past weekend. Sony's (NYSE: SNE) new James Bond adventure, Quantum of Solace, grossed an estimated $70 million at domestic theaters over the last three days according to Boxofficemojo. Excellent showing, Jimbo. As far as I'm concerned, though, I think you have to give the number-two film even more credit.

DreamWorks Animation (NYSE: DWA) and its distributor, Viacom (NYSE: VIA), need to be given major kudos for their work on Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa. The first Madagascar took in about $193 million in total at the domestic box office back in 2005. It was released during the summertime. The sequel is definitely going to hit $200 million. This past weekend it took in roughly $36 million, and its total stands at approximately $118 million. With the Thanksgiving holiday still to come, I figure there will be plenty of business for DreamWorks Animation's cartoon.

The wild card here is Disney's (NYSE: DIS) Bolt project. That one will do well, judging by the commercials I've seen so far. How much thunder will it steal from the second Madagascar when it is released this Friday? A lot, I think. Still, I'll keep to my $200 million prediction. I believe there will be enough discretionary dollars left for both cartoons.

Without a doubt, DreamWorks Animation (NYSE: DWA) really nailed it with its latest computer-cartoon sequel, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa. According to estimates at Boxofficemojo, the film, which is distributed by Viacom (NYSE: VIA), was number one at the box office over the weekend at domestic theaters.

That was expected. But I have to give kudos to the studio's marketing department for improving the previous film's opening weekend. Madagascar, which was released in May 2005, took in $47 million during its opening weekend. As of this writing, Escape 2 Africa has been credited with about $63 million. Considering that this isn't the summertime, I thought the sequel's debut performance was pretty cool.

And here's another equally cool fact: if the estimates hold, then Escape 2 Africa's first-weekend take will be slightly higher than Kung Fu Panda's opening weekend of $60.2 million. You've got to call that a success. Disney's (NYSE: DIS) Pixar brand definitely better take notice, especially if DreamWorks Animation can consistently put out blockbusters during both the summer and fall.

Well, I have to admit, I thought Disney's (NYSE: DIS) High School Musical 3: Senior Year was going to drop quite a bit in rank this past weekend at domestic theaters even as early estimates from Boxofficemojo had indicated, putting Lions Gate Entertainment's (NYSE: LGF) Saw V in first place with $3.1 million for that day, while Senior Year dropped all the way down at spot number five with about $1.7 million. I was somewhat blown away by the expected decline. It was going to be Jigsaw's day, of course, but even so I didn't think Halloween would have that much of an effect on Disney's musical juggernaut.

But then, once the weekend estimates were actually in, the story changed. Senior Year was back on top! I guess moviegoers took a break from singing in the aisles to pay Jigsaw some respect on the dark holiday (maybe Lions Gate should put out a Saw musical in the future).

After that, it was back to the stories that populate the corridors of East High. Senior Year took in around $15 million, while the Saw sequel came in third with a haul of $10.1 million. Kevin Smith's Zack and Miri Make a Porno, distributed by the Weinstein Co. and featuring comedy superstar Seth Rogen, was second with $10.7 million. General Electric's (NYSE: GE) Universal captured the fourth slot with Changeling, earning $9.4 million. The Haunting of Molly Hartley, from Freestyle Releasing, was fifth, grossing $6 million.

DreamWorks Animation (NYSE: DWA), the computer-cartoon studio that competes with the animation product of other entities such as Disney (NYSE: DIS), News Corp. (NYSE: NWS) and Sony (NYSE: SNE), posted Q3 results after the close on Tuesday. Revenues saw a modest decrease of almost 6%, coming in at $151.5 million. I am categorizing a 6% decrease as modest in this case because the studio had a Shrek sequel out in the previous year. The drop was expected. Net income was 41 cents per diluted share, a figure which includes a $0.03 tax benefit. Even so, DreamWorks Animation beat expectations. Wall Street was counting on only 32 cents per share.

Operational cash flow isn't faring too badly. It increased 9%, and the company seems to be doing well enough in terms of generating revenues from its portfolio of films. Kung Fu Panda helped to drive the quarter, but it isn't done yet, as the home-video release should affect Q4 in a most positive manner.

Now that the data is out, DreamWorks Animation is really readying itself for its next big test. Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, the sequel to the hit Madagascar, is waiting in the wings. In fact, the wait is almost over. The film is due November 7, and the company needs to post big numbers on this one.

I've been looking around for stocks, my friends. I haven't bought one in a while and I'm itching to do so. But I don't want to just buy for the sake of buying. No way, not in this market. One of the many stocks I've been keeping my eye on as of late is DreamWorks Animation (NYSE: DWA).

As an owner of Marvel (NYSE: MVL) stock, I recognize the potential, speculative value of buying a company that is a closer play on Hollywood than, say, a Disney (NYSE: DIS) is, ahead of the release of a big tentpole production by said company. A tentpole for DreamWorks is coming up in Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa.

No, this sequel isn't a Shrek flick, but I still think there is a chance that it will do good business come this Thanksgiving. In fact, a recent press release from IMAX touts the fact that the movie's run is being extended in the company's popular theaters. Problem is, though, DreamWorks is in no way ready to be bought yet.

The way I like to play a Marvel or a DreamWorks is to buy (or add) on a severe pullback. I remember when I got some Marvel shares on a, if I recall correctly, one-day 20% drop. That was so sweet. I bought immediately and was so happy when I sold into the strength of Spider-Man 3 many months later. I've been meaning to do this with DreamWorks, but I guess I haven't gotten the chance (or, I haven't watched closely enough to catch one of those days).

Well, you can't win 'em all. I certainly found that out with Viacom's (NYSE: VIA) latest quarterly results. The media company delivered the complete opposite of my expectations. Let's go through the numbers.

Revenues for the second quarter increased 21% to almost $3.9 billion. Net income from continuing operations expanded 19% to 64 cents per share. That beat the estimate I was using by three pennies (other sources listed a lower estimate for earnings). No matter how you slice it, Viacom showed Wall Street how it's done.

Now, let me admit how wrong I was. I thought media networks would shine during the quarter and that the film division might not do as well. Operating income at media networks increased 4%, while Paramount and its colleagues increased their segment's profit by almost 300%! You can thank the new Indiana Jones movie, as well as Marvel's (NYSE: MVL) Iron Man and DreamWorks Animation's (NYSE: DWA) Kung Fu Panda, for bringing the crowds into the multiplex and the money into Viacom's coffers.

Viacom (NYSE: VIA) is due to report Q2 earnings on Tuesday, July 29, after the market closes. What will be in store for the media company and fierce competitor of Disney (NYSE: DIS), News Corp. (NYSE: NWS), Sony (NYSE: SNE), and Time Warner (NYSE: TWX)? According to data at Zacks.com, the company may report something in the vicinity of $0.61 per share, which would be good for 12% growth on the bottom line. Viacom has a reasonable chance of beating the estimate, based on past history.

There will be a few key elements that investors will be looking at. One product that has been a driving factor for Viacom's success is, believe it or not, a video game. Rock Band, which competes against Activision Blizzard's (NASDAQ: ATVID) Guitar Hero titles, has been a boon for the company, and the MTV segment specifically. The game, which is distributed by Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS), will have a sequel coming out this fall, and I hope management enlightens Wall Street about how it feels it will do against Activision Blizzard's new iteration of its own musical-gaming system and how it plans to promote it. Will there be any special synergies between MTV and the sequel? Watch for data on the number of song downloads that Rock Band is fueling.

When I took a look at Viacom's last earnings report, I found that the media-networks division was doing great business. Its operating income had jumped 15%. The media segment, which includes the valuable MTV Networks, should do well again in Q2, and I would expect something close to this kind of growth rate. However, I would be watching for signs from management that the economy may be affecting advertising. Going forward, this will be the challenge for MTV, Nickelodeon, etc. And speaking of Nickelodeon, are there any initiatives on the board to counteract the incredible growth that the Disney Channel has seen thanks to properties such as Hannah Montana? Investors should listen to the conference call for information about marketing plans and new shows, as well as merchandising schemes for the upcoming holiday season.

Activision Blizzard Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVID) reported preliminary Q1 earnings earlier in the week, and from a shareholder's perspective, they were great. These results are for Activision itself, and do not take into account the effect of the merger with Vivendi Games.

OK, consider the following. Management had previously thought that Q1 would see revenues of about $500 million. The game publisher should actually deliver around $650 million on the top line. And in terms of earnings per diluted share, Activision should do at least $0.16. Previously, the call was for $0.04 per diluted share. Activision obliterated its own projections, and one has to wonder when the momentum is going to stop.

I hope it never does, of course, since I own shares of the company. Competitors such as Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS) and THQ (NASDAQ: THQI) are doing everything they can to keep up. Their stocks certainly aren't near 52-week highs, and in the case of EA, a takeover of Take-Two Interactive (NASDAQ: TTWO) seems to be the biggest priority in terms of counteracting the Activision Blizzard juggernaut. Now, in terms of drivers for the quarter, Activision benefited from Guitar Hero and, believe it or not, a game based on DreamWorks Animation's (NYSE: DWA) Kung Fu Panda. In fact, the Panda title was mentioned first in terms of drivers. This shows that, even though Activision has some awesome intellectual properties of its own, it still knows how to derive value from investments in licensed properties.

I didn't think Disney's (NYSE: DIS) Wall-E movie would do as well as it did over the weekend. I thought $60 million was too much to hope for (see my previous piece on the subject). I was wrong. According to Boxofficemojo, the Pixar picture pulled in more than $62 million at domestic theaters and came out on top.

Assuming the film continues to do well in upcoming weekends, Wall-E should provide a nice counterbalance to the relative disappointment of Disney's Prince Caspian project that was released in May. While Wall-E won't move Disney's stock all by itself, the movie and its characters should help drive the studio segment in future quarters, as well as provide some opportunities for promotions and initiatives in other parts of the company, such as the theme parks.

Wanted, distributed by General Electric's (NYSE: GE) Universal, debuted in second place with a haul of more than $50 million. The movie, starring Angelina Jolie, had some snazzy, Matrix-like commercials powering its appeal. I can see why the numbers were big on this one. Time Warner (NYSE: TWX) and Get Smart didn't stand a chance against Wanted. It dropped two spots to third place with a tally of $20 million. And, no, I still don't find Steve Carell funny.