DreamWorks Animation (DWA) reported third-quarter earnings earlier in the week. It's one of those fun stocks that investors like to check out (I like checking it out, at least). I'm sure a lot of market participants would love to find an excuse to add the stock to a trading portfolio, mostly because the idea that it will be purchased by some bigger entity is perhaps too big to ignore.

At the time of this writing, shares were exchanging hands at a quote of $35.23, which meant that they were down less than 1%. The 52-week low is $26.61 while the 52-week high is $44.77. As the one-year chart shows, the technical story is not as attractive as the computer-generated images produced by the company.

Disney's (DIS) Iron Man 2 did it again. According to early estimates from the Associated Press (which could change once final numbers are issued, like they did last time around), the superhero flick, which is distributed by Viacom (VIA), captured $53 million over the weekend at domestic theaters, making it the top feature once again.

The new Robin Hood picture, starring Russell Crowe and brought to multiplexes by General Electric's (GE) Universal Pictures, came in second with what I thought was a weak $37 million.

Disney (DIS) purchased Marvel Entertainment last year, and the first release since that corporate marriage was consummated, Iron Man 2, opened this past weekend at domestic theaters. The project dominated the screens, as it was expected to do. According to estimates at Box Office Mojo, the movie, which is distributed by Viacom (VIA), brought in about $133 million.

The rest of the weekend's features all made less than $10 million; talk about an unfair fight. Time Warner's (TWX) A Nightmare on Elm Street came in second with $9 million. DreamWorks Animation's (DWA) How to Train Your Dragon, also distributed by Viacom, was third, grossing over $6 million. News Corp.'s (NWS) Date Night took up the fourth spot, while CBS (CBS) Films and The Back-Up Plan did enough business to secure position number five.

DreamWorks Animation (DWA), a cartoon studio that competes with Disney (DIS), News Corp. (NWS), and others, saw its stock sold off during Wednesday's market session. Wall Street was not excited by the latest earnings data. But does this mean the company should now be considered a pariah?

The stock closed yesterday at $41.38. This represented a decline of 98 cents, or 2.3%. The shares hit an intraday low of $40.07. Talk about pessimistic. Then again, maybe the pessimism will turn out to be short-term in nature. After all, the one-year chart reflects a bullish tone.

While searching through the news, I caught an item highlighted by theflyonthewall. It was a piece on the economic science of advertising a feature movie. And it mentioned DreamWorks Animation's (DWA) How to Train Your Dragon. That film hasn't done as well as management probably expected; it certainly didn't do as well as the market expected, judging by the price action of DWA after the flick's first weekend at bat.

According to Reuters, all the studios are trying to deal with the inflationary aspects related to opening a movie. Whether you're a Disney (DIS) or a Time Warner (TWX), it makes no difference; if you want a big debut weekend for a tent-pole production, you're probably going to put a lot of capital to work (and, by definition, at risk).

DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc. (DWA) is down today. Very down. At the time of this writing, shares of the animation studio were off well over 8%, and volume was pretty huge. The cartoon How to Train Your Dragon is not sitting well with Wall Street.

That's because the movie's opening gross apparently was much less than what analysts wanted to see. According to Box Office Mojo, Dragon, which is distributed by Viacom, Inc. (VIA), pulled in around $43 million at domestic theaters over the three-day weekend, making it the top project. The Walt Disney Company's (DIS) very successful Alice in Wonderland fell to second place.

DreamWorks Animation (DWA) has an animated film coming to the the multiplexes next week. It's called How to Train Your Dragon. I have no idea what it's about (aside from the fact that it obviously involves training dragons). But I do know that a marketing transaction with Walmart (WMT) is making headlines.

According to a press release, Walmart and DreamWorks Animation apparently have come up with a very tightly coordinated plan to promote the project. There will be special sections dedicated to Dragon inside the stores. More than 100 licensed items will be lining the shelves. And some sort of event featuring a Viking vessel in Times Square will see what it can do to get potential ticket buyers interested in the flick.

DreamWorks Animation (DWA), a producer of computer-animated movies that competes with Disney (DIS), News Corp. (NWS), and others, closed about a nickel away from the 52-week high on Monday. At $39.20, is the stock getting ahead of itself?

Possibly, but there's much to consider with this situation. Although I don't relish looking at stocks when they've already made a move, you have to give some credit to DreamWorks Animation and its film-franchise business model. Indeed, the company is creating valuable intellectual properties capable of spinning off future sequels for purposes of capturing cash flow. Not only that, but television is set to become a larger part of the business plan.