Propelled By Film & Game Licensing Deals, Marvel's Results Soar

The company benefitted from a growing list of entertainment, publishing, toy and consumer product deals, propelling net sales up 96% to $84.4 million and net income up to $6.7 million (17 cents per share), versus a loss of $5.1 million last year. With its library of over 4,700 characters, Marvel Enterprises is experiencing a licensing boom. Its Q3 results included $4 million in revenue related to "Spider-Man: The Movie", but looking forward the company also cited a long list of licensing deals with game publishers, including: -Blade (Activision, release dates: 2000, 2002) -Spider-Man (Activision, 2001, 2002, 2004) -X-Men (Activision, 2001, 2002) -Marvel vs Capcom (Capcom 2002) -Daredevil (Encore, 2003) -Iron Man (Activision, 2003) -The Incredible Hulk (Universal Interactive, 2003) -The Punisher (THQ Inc., 2003) -Wolverine (Activision, 2003) -Elektra (Encore, 2004) -The Call (THQ, In development) -Fantastic Four (Activision, In development) -Captain America (THQ, TBD) -Nick Fury (THQ, TBD) -Marvel Universe (Universal Interactive, 2005) Based on its strong results, Marvel raised its guidance for the current fiscal year.