CNN Money predicts a bad 2006 for Marvel

CNNMoney, in an article overflowing with comic book references, is predicting a pretty rough 2006 for Marvel and its stockholders, but an excellent 2007 because of Spider-Man 3:

...for shareholders of comic book publisher Marvel Entertainment, these past few months have been like those dark times when their favorite character temporary loses his or her superpowers.

In November, Marvel shocked Wall Street with sales and earnings guidance for 2006 that was substantially below consensus estimates.

Shares of Marvel plunged 22 percent on the news. If Comic Book Guy from "The Simpsons" were a shareholder of the company, he would undoubtedly declare that it was the Worst...Earnings Announcement...Ever.

So with the company set to report its fourth-quarter results for 2005 on Thursday, should investors turn the page on Marvel or is the company set to do its best Jean Grey imitation? (For those of you not in the know, she's the character from Marvel's X-Men series that dies and returns as the Phoenix.)

The article goes on to discuss how Marvel only has one movie coming out in 2006 (X-Men 3) while three are on tap for 2007 (Spider-Man 3, Ghost Rider and FF 2). So if you ever wanted to own Marvel stock, this might be a good year to buy it.

Marvel will host a webcast tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. to announce their fourth-quarter results.