Marvel’s Iron Man pushes MVL up
Marvel Entertainment’s (NYSE: MVL) Iron Man generated box office receipts of $100.75 million in its opening weekend, the 10th best opening weekend ever. The performance is even more impressive when one considers that this was the first movie the company produced internally. (Friends are telling me that it’s really good.)
Although shares of MVL jumped after last weekend’s box office numbers were announced, what might be going unnoticed is the fact that the company also raised its full-year earnings guidance by a nickel on Monday to between $1.35 and $1.55 per share. Notably, the new forecast excludes the impressive performance by Iron Man.
Brokerage analysts had mostly been keeping their 2008 earnings estimates unchanged over the past 30 days, leaving the consensus forecast even at $1.51 per share. Interested investors should keep an eye on Marvel’s earnings estimates (http://at.zacks.com/?id=4572) to see if Iron Man causes brokerage analysts to reassess the company’s prospects.