Analysts Project the Health of DreamWorks Animation

Now with flouride-enriched Add On:

As the market goes on melting, DreamWorks Animation gets ready to roll out its latest financials. The smart-money crowd (via A.P.) offers a teaser:

DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. ... reports its fourth-quarter earnings Tuesday ... The slumping DVD market is likely to weigh on the company, which releases two movies a year and relies on the home video market to keep its coffers full between releases.

However, it is banking on a transition to an all 3-D film slate going forward to help offset some of the pain. 3-D movies earn better revenue than their 2-D counterparts, but the credit crunch has slowed the deployment of the digital projectors that enable their viewing.

DreamWorks Animation is set to release "Monsters vs. Aliens," its first 3-D release, on March 27 ...

Analysts, on average, expect DreamWorks Animation to see revenue fall 20 percent to $233 million, with earnings per share down 39 percent to 60 cents per share, according to a survey by Thomson Reuters ...

We'll know how accurate the estimates are tomorrow. Kind of important to know these things, because the viability of a major player in animation impacts the viability and health of the industry. So knowledge, for people in the biz, aids informed planning. And planning enhances survival.

Or so it seems to me.

Add On: Yeowp.

DreamWorks Animation SKG (DWA.N) posted lower profit for the fourth quarter, which fell short of expectations, as the company faced a tough comparison to the year-ago quarter which was bolstered by its "Shrek the Third" DVD release.,/p>

DreamWorks Animation posted fourth-quarter net income of $51.6 million, or 58 cents per share, compared with $94.1 million or 98 cents per share, in the year-earlier period. Revenue fell to $199.8 million from $290.2 million.

Shares of DreamWorks fell 0.8 percent in after-hours trade to $19.61 a share from a close of $19.76 a share.

Okay, so maybe DWA will outperform expectations next quarter.