Marvel's fourth quarter results webcast/press release

Marvel released their fourth quarter results this morning and held a webcast, which featured a Q&A with analysts.

Some of the highlights from the webcast:

--Movies: Marvel is "very excited" to have regained the rights to Hulk (from Universal) and Iron Man (from New Line). Avi Arad, Chairman and CEO of Marvel Studios, said that Marvel was able to take both films back because neither studio was able to meet the principle photography timelines that had been set, although Universal will still ultimately distribute Hulk. Marvel is in active development on Nick Fury, Ant-Man, Thor and Iron Man; Arad called it a "horse race," with scripts being developed and directors being approached. He wasn't sure at this point which one would come out first, but they do hope to have one of them out in 2008 as part of their deal with Paramount.

--2006 vs. 2007: In answering a question about 2007, Peter Cuneo, Vice-Chairman of the Board, said he had "nothing specific" to say at this point, but he did point out that Marvel would have three new films with toy tie-ins ... Spider-Man 3, Fantastic Four 2 and Ghost Rider. He added that the X-Men movies were "not a dynamo" when it comes to licensing or toys, which would affect 2006 earnings. As we reported earlier this week, analysts are already looking at 2007 as being a strong year for Marvel, with 2006 not being as great.

--Delaying Ghost Rider opening to President's Day 2007: When asked why the release date for Ghost Rider was pushed back from summer 2006 to February 2007, Arad called the movie slate for summer 2006 an "incredible traffic jam," mentioning the third X-Men movie, the second Pirates of the Caribbean movie, Miami Vice and Superman Returns. "Why jeopardize the franchise and not make the most of it by going in the middle of rush hour?" Ghost Rider is currently in post production.

--Ultimate Avengers DVD: Marvel is happy so far with sales and fan reactions to the Ultimate Avengers DVD, which came out his week, though they said it is too soon to tell how well it would ultimately do. Ultimate Avengers can be found on the Amazon.com best-selling DVD list, where it has been all week; this morning it comes in at #9. A second Ultimate Avengers release and an Iron Man DVD are in the works.

--Publishing: Sales were up 6 percent in the fourth quarter, and Marvel is "very pleased with 2005" overall. Cuneo said he thinks Marvel has "the most profitable print publishing business in the world, though I can't prove it." He sited great trade paperback sales and said the deal with 7-Eleven was "going well."

--More info:Official press release on earnings from Marvel (.pdf format)