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.

DreamWorks Animation's (DWA) Shrek Forever After is an overall disappointment (in my opinion, at least) because of its relatively weak opening theatrical gross, but I am impressed by its third-weekend performance. According to early estimates at Box Office Mojo, the cartoon, distributed by Viacom (VIA), is in the top spot yet again. It took in $25 million at domestic theaters, and its total gross so far stands at over $180 million.

Surprisingly, Get Him to the Greek, from General Electric's (GE) Universal Pictures, made only $17 million. That was good for second place, but I thought it would have easily done over $20 million. Universal has to be at least a little down on this debut, but I knew the project's relatively low budget, which is reportedly $40 million, would offer some room for spinning. This Reuters article quotes an exec doing just that.

Last week, I said DreamWorks Animation (DWA) bombed with Shrek Forever After. This week, it's the Mouse's turn to fail miserably. Disney (DIS) was supposed to have a blockbuster on its corporate hands in Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, a project that was produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, the same man who turned Pirates of the Caribbean into a major film franchise.

After looking at the Friday-through-Sunday estimates, I can see that the company has nothing on its corporate hands, unfortunately. According to early numbers from Box Office Mojo available at the time of this writing, Persia settled for third place with $30 million.

Jeffrey Katzenberg, CEO of DreamWorks Animation (DWA), must be feeling just awful. The new Shrek bombed. There's no way to spin the statistic (although I can't wait to see how the company tries). According to early estimates at Box Office Mojo, Shrek Forever After grossed $71 million at domestic theaters over the three-day weekend. Why is this so bad? It was number one, after all.

To begin with, big tent-pole pictures are in trouble if they don't score over $100 million in their debut spots. It's simply the way it is. Beyond that, you have to check out what the first Shrek made back in 2001 during its opening: that flick captured $42.3 million. You mean to tell me the fourth in the series couldn't make at least double what the original did? If it had to bomb, it could have bombed a little less severely, don't you think?

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.

Viacom (VIA.B) is getting some attention. According to reports, financial publication Barron's is enthusiastic about the value of the media company's shares. Indeed, Barron's makes a compelling case.

The price of the stock, in terms of the P/E ratio, does look rather inexpensive. When you put the P/E ratio against the technical strength of the shares, there's no way not to be intrigued. Viacom is up by a double-digit percentage on a year-to-date basis, and it isn't far from a 52-week high.

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.