Well, it looks like Hasbro’s huge licensing deal with Marvel, anchored by the toy and game rights to “Spider-Man 3,” is already paying off, with analysts upgrading their stock to OverPerform. The deal cost Hasbro $205 million for a five year contract, and they’re already projecting $300 million in sales in 2007 alone based on their upcoming toy lines. With the tie-in rights to movies like Spider-Man 3, Fantastic Four 2 and who knows what other Marvel movies, it’s looking like Hasbro practically has a license to print money, and Wall Street’s already starting to notice.
The company on Jan. 9 said it signed a five-year licensing deal with Marvel Enterprises Inc. giving it rights to sell games and toys based on Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, X-Men, Captain America and other Super Hero characters owned by Marvel. Under the license, Hasbro agreed to pay Marvel an upfront payment of $100 million, followed by $70 million on the movie release of “Spider-Man 3,” and another $35 million on the release of “Spider-Man 4.”
ANALYST TAKE: “We are upgrading shares of Hasbro based on significantly higher sales and earnings expectations during calendar year 2007 based on the new license agreement with Marvel,” PiperJaffray wrote in a Jan. 10 client note, in which it raised its rating to “Outperform” from “Marketperform.” The Marvel license will add $300 million in sales and bolster profit by 25 cents per share in 2007, PiperJaffray added.
