incredible hulk posts
FeedPosted Jan 7th 2009 12:14PM by Steven Mallas (RSS feed)
Filed under: News Corp'B' (NWS), Media World, Film,
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).
Continue reading DreamWorks Animation versus Marvel Entertainment: Which one is a buy?
Posted Nov 8th 2008 9:40AM by Trey Thoelcke (RSS feed)
Filed under: Earnings Reports, Cisco Systems (CSCO), Time Warner (TWX), General Motors (GM), Viacom (VIA), Revlon (REV), Blockbuster Inc 'A' (BBI), Best Buy (BBY), Whole Foods Market (WFMI), News Corp'B' (NWS), QUALCOMM Inc (QCOM), Activision Inc (ATVI), Goodyear Tire and Rubber (GT), MBIA Inc (MBI),
Here are some highlights from this past week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:
Also, our Obama Picks include companies whose earnings could benefit from the outcome of the presidential election.
For more earnings highlights from this week, see Ford, Toyota, Goldman Sachs, Disney, Sprint, ADM and others.
Upcoming quarterly reports include AIG (NYSE: AIG), Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX), Tyson (NYSE: TSN), Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), Applied Materials (NASDAQ: AMAT), Macy's (NYSE: M), Dr Pepper (NYSE: DPS), Kohl's (NYSE: KSS), Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT), JCPenney (NYSE: JCP).
Visit AOL Money & Finance for more earnings coverage.
Posted Aug 9th 2008 11:40AM by Trey Thoelcke (RSS feed)
Filed under: Earnings Reports, Time Warner (TWX), Exxon Mobil (XOM), Whole Foods Market (WFMI), Federal Natl Mtge (FNM), Procter and Gamble (PG), News Corp'B' (NWS),
Here are some highlights from this past week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:
Continue reading Earnings highlights: Fannie Mae, Time Warner, P&G, Playboy, News Corp. and others
Posted Jun 30th 2008 9:59AM by Steven Mallas (RSS feed)
Filed under: General Electric (GE), Time Warner (TWX), Walt Disney (DIS), Film,
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.
Continue reading Disney's "Wall-E" beats my expectations
Posted Jun 12th 2008 12:11PM by Sheldon Liber (RSS feed)
Filed under: Rants and Raves, Media World, Film, Stocks to Buy,
I just came back from an advanced screening of Marvel Entertainments (NYSE: MVL) Incredible Hulk and it surpassed my expectations as did Iron Man before it.
The preview Wednesday night, two days ahead of the premier scheduled for Friday the 13th, is probably too scary for little tykes but it is a superb blend of movie technology magic and the passion of the cast and crew.
It's all in the eyes. Unlike the glib Tony Stark character in Iron Man, played fittingly by Robert Downey Jr., Edward Norton is the emotionally gamma ray charged green powerhouse that only roars, and must communicate his feeling though his eyes. This is the case when the Hulk's temper rages and when he is expressing his affection for Dr. Elizabeth Ross, played by to perfection by Liv Tyler.
Continue reading Marvel HULK definitely is Incredible!
Posted May 3rd 2008 7:30PM by Eric Buscemi (RSS feed)
Filed under: Products and Services, Launches, General Electric (GE), Time Warner (TWX), Walt Disney (DIS), Viacom (VIA), Sony Corp ADR (SNE), News Corp'B' (NWS)
Since last year's
summer movie preview featured mostly sequels and adaptations, this year's preview has been expanded to include more than just potential "blockbusters." The following is a chronological list of not only the most hyped film fare of the summer, but other noteworthy smaller entries, and a short commentary on each.

5/2 - Iron Man, Viacom (NYSE: VIA)'s Paramount PicturesThe first of two big
Marvel Entertainment (NYSE:
MVL) adaptations of the summer, the Robert Downey Jr. led
Iron Man has been getting a ton of hype and critical acclaim. This is the second year that a comic book adaptation has kicked off the summer, following last year's
Spider-Man 3, which grossed over $150M over its opening weekend.
5/9 - Speed Racer, Time Warner (NYSE: TWX)'s Warner Bros.Another big-budget adaptation of a generations-old cartoon. Last year's
Transformers was, to my surprise, a huge success, so maybe
Speed Racer, in the capable directing hands of the Wachowskis, can be as well.
Continue reading 'Iron Man' vs. 'Indy': Preview of potential summer blockbusters
Posted Feb 19th 2008 4:00PM by Steven Mallas (RSS feed)
Filed under: Earnings Reports, Walt Disney (DIS), Sony Corp ADR (SNE), News Corp'B' (NWS)
Marvel (NYSE: MVL) reported Q4 and full-year earnings this morning, and as a shareholder, I have to say that the company came through like any superhero would. Net sales for the fourth quarter leaped 28% to $109.3 million, while earnings per diluted share more than doubled to $0.35. For the year, net sales soared 38% to $485.8 million, and earnings per diluted share again went beyond the doubling point, coming in at $1.70.
But, when we get to the cash-flow statement, we shudder as if we are in the presence of a diabolical villain bent on our utter destruction. You see, cash was used for operations as opposed to being generated. Fans of free cash flow -- I being one of them -- hate this. But, perhaps we can cut Marvel some slack. The cash-flow statement explains something we already know -- making movies is an expensive proposition, so the use of cash was highly influenced by the investments in film production. Marvel has Iron Man and a new version of The Incredible Hulk coming to theaters this year; if they are big hits, then this use of cash will hopefully not seem like such an evil thing.
Continue reading Marvel's (MVL) super earnings report
Posted Feb 12th 2008 1:30PM by Steven Mallas (RSS feed)
Filed under: Time Warner (TWX), Walt Disney (DIS), Viacom (VIA)
Viacom's (NYSE: VIA) Paramount studios had a pretty kickin' year at the multiplex in 2007. According to Boxofficemojo.com, Paramount came out on top in terms of market share at 15.5%. It distributed some great hits -- Transformers, the DreamWorks Animation (NYSE: DWA) films Shrek the Third and Bee Movie, Will Ferrel's Blades of Glory comedy, and Eddie Murphy's Norbit. Viacom's movie business seems to be doing better. According to the latest 10Q for the reporting period ending September 30, 2007, operating income for the filmed-entertainment segment was $71.7 million versus a loss of nearly $8 million in the previous year's comparable quarter (the nine-month period still showed a loss). So, Paramount needs to keep the momentum going this year. How will it top the power of last summer's blockbuster Transformers? With a little swashbuckling help from Indiana Jones, of course!
To get things started, the media company sent out a press release alerting fans of fast-paced adventure that the first teaser trailer for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull will be released on February 14 during ABC's Good Morning America program and in theaters across the globe. For those of us who've been waiting with a will of patience that was oftentimes as excruciating and as taxing as sitting through yet another news item about Britney Spears' latest mental breakdown, this is one heck of a Valentine, although I do hate teaser trailers (they are, after all, such a tease!).
Will the new Indy flick be a big hit this summer? I think it will be, although it isn't an absolute given, since a lot of the younger demos probably find the Raiders aesthetic a bit antiquated these days; plus, there will be stiff competition from Disney's (NYSE: DIS) new Pixar cartoon Wall-E, Time Warner's (NYSE: TWX) The Dark Knight, and Marvel's (NYSE: MVL) Incredible Hulk project. Still, we're talking about George Lucas and Steven Spielberg here, and they still retain a lot of cultural pull with all demographics. Viacom and Paramount will probably be happy with the results from Crystal Skull come the summer , although I think it's safe to assume that Lucas and Spielberg will be taking a large portion of the grosses. Nevertheless, Viacom is in on the action, and I'm sure it wouldn't want it any other way.
Disclosure: I own shares in Disney and Marvel.