Driven largely by licensing revenues created by the release of Spider-Man 3, Marvel reported a net income of $36.3 million for the third quarter compared with just $13.2 million in Q3 2006.  Marvel's strong Q3 performance beat Wall St. estimates and sent the price of Marvel's stock soaring by 17%.  Though licensing was the prime mover, Marvel's other segments also flourished in the third quarter.  Publishing, where sales increased from $30.9 million in Q3 2006 to $34.9, managed to maintain its momentum thanks to strong performances from World War Hulk and Stephen King's Dark Tower; while in the toy category sales declined but profits nearly doubled as Marvel continued its transition from toy producer to licensor.

Marvel's joint venture licensing program with Sony for Spider-Man 3 contributed over $24 million during the quarter (versus .8 million in Q3 2006) and the settlement of various audit claims added $16.8 million.  Overages (licensing fees paid in addition to the up front licensing advances for sales over and above agreed upon goals) totaled a whopping $24.1 million for the quarter -- a good indication that the Spider-Man property is alive and well.

In a conference call to industry analysts Marvel Vice Chairman Peter Cuneo noted that Marvel's core businesses such as publishing, which are largely unaffected by movie releases, continued to show substantial steady growth.  Marvel raised its estimates for earnings on individual shares for 2007 to $1.60-$1.65, and forecast 2008 earnings of between $1.30 and $1.50 per share, though Marvel's 2008 estimate does not include any revenue from the company's two self-produced movies, Iron Man & Hulk 2, both of which will debut next year.

Marvel disclosed that it had spent $186 million so far in 2007 (from its 'risk-free' line of credit -- see 'Marvel Gets Financing') on the production of movies.  Principal photography on Iron Man is over, and filming on the Hulk 2 will wrap up in two weeks.