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Viacom (NYSE: VIA), a content player in competition with News Corp. (NASDAQ: NWS), Time Warner (NYSE: TWX), Sony (NYSE: SNE), and General Electric's (NYSE: GE) NBC Universal, issued Q3 numbers today. If we had a different market on our hands, I think the stock would have reacted better to the news. Revenues were down 3%, but adjusted income rose 25% to 69 cents per share. According to Bloomberg, the bottom line came in well ahead of estimates, which were pegged at 57 cents per share.

Sounds good, doesn't it? Well, the company's A shares are down slightly as I write this by about 0.6%, and the B shares are just about flat. Like I say, if the broader indexes were in an uptrend this afternoon, we probably would have seen a pop in the stock.

Here are some highlights from last week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

• Altria Group Inc. (NYSE: MO) Q3 earnings beat by a penny but sales fell short of expectations; shares fell.
• AMR Corp. (NYSE: AMR) reported a Q3 net loss and plunging revenue but also raised $4 billion in cash.
• BB&T Corp. (NYSE: BBT) topped Q3 earnings expectations but said bad-loan provisions nearly doubled.
• Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) missed estimates and posted a Q3 loss due to delays for a couple of jet products.
• Capital One Financial Corp. (NYSE: COF) shares rose after it reported better-than-expected Q3 numbers.
• Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE: KO) posted a better-than-expected Q3 profit but sales fell short, and shares fell.

Hasbro (NYSE: HAS) isn't doing too well today. Shares of the toy entity are down 3.5% at the time of this writing in early afternoon trading. Third-quarter results are the catalyst, apparently. Management must hate this, because on Friday, rival Mattel (NYSE: MAT) saw a bid after its own earnings release.

Hasbro's top line contracted 2%, and earnings per share, even with some dilution from a joint venture with Discovery Communications (NASDAQ: DISCA) and investments in Hasbro's virtual-studio initiative, increased 11% to 99 cents. Expectations were beat by six pennies. Gee, that was better than Mattel's performance. The maker of Barbie actually saw a per-share earnings decline and came in line with forecasts.

Hasbro Inc. (NYSE: HAS), the toy and game maker whose brands include Transformers, Playskool, Milton Bradley, and Wizards of the Coast, is scheduled to discuss its third quarter 2009 financial results in a webcast Monday at 8:30 AM ET. You can catch the webcast live or replayed on the company's website.

The three months that ended in September included Comic-Con, the release of the G.I. Joe movie, and the introduction of the Hasbro Studios management team. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expect this Pawtucket, R.I.-based toy maker to report that earnings grew 4.3% from a year ago to $0.93 per share. Sales for the quarter are expected to be 1.7% higher to $1.3 billion.

Toy maker Mattel (NASDAQ: MAT), whose competitors include Hasbro (NYSE: HAS) and JAKKS Pacific (NASDAQ: JAKK), issued its Q3 release this morning. The numbers weren't as fun as some of the company's products, but investors are giving the stock a healthy bid as I write this. What would be the reason behind such reaction, especially on a down day for the Dow?

First, here's the data. Sales decreased 8%. They were affected, in part, by currency translation. Earnings per share came in at 63 cents. This was two pennies below last year's income figure. According to Bloomberg, that profit performance misses expectations by a penny, but I've read other sources which report that Mattel met expectations. I think I'll call this one in line with projections.

I'm reiterating my Buy rating for Hasbro Inc. (NYSE: HAS), first recommended on June 22, 2009 at a price of $24.30, but there are qualifiers and conditions.

First, Hasbro is now a high-risk stock, a downgrade from the moderate-risk category in June, largely on the continuance of the 'frugal consumer' trend in the United States.

Quentin Tarantino's new epic, Inglourious Basterds (sorry, spell-checker), was the top film at domestic theaters this past weekend, according to Boxofficemojo. Distributed by The Weinstein Company, Basterds took in around $37 million, as of early estimates.

Last week's number-one flick, Sony's (NYSE: SNE) District 9, dropped to second place this time around, but don't feel too badly for the project. The cumulative gross on it is well beyond $70 million at this point. A $100 million domestic take should be a lock. Then again, $100 million isn't what it used to be; still, the movie supposedly didn't cost a ton of money, so perhaps the studio will do okay financially (see my previous box-office article for a discussion on budgets, as well as an insightful comment from a reader on the subject).

Moviegoers were in the mood for allegorical science fiction this past weekend. According to Boxofficemojo, District 9, distributed by Sony (NYSE: SNE) and produced by Lord of the Rings helmsman Peter Jackson, grossed an estimated $37 million at domestic theaters.

Viacom's (NYSE: VIA) G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, based on the famous Hasbro (NYSE: HAS) toy brand, was second with $22.5 million. And coming in third was The Time Traveler's Wife from Time Warner (NYSE: TWX), a romantic drama that captured $19 million in ticket sales.

Viacom (NYSE: VIA) and Hasbro (NYSE: HAS) are living it up this summer. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is doing fantastic business. The sequel is on its way to a domestic take of $400 million. And now, just this past weekend, the two companies have scored with G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra.

According to Boxofficemojo, Joe came in first with about $56 million as of early estimates available at the time of writing. That was more than enough to beat the second-place film, Sony's (NYSE: SNE) Julie & Julia. The latter cooked up around $20 million. Disney's (NYSE: DIS) G-Force came in third with $9.8 million.

U.S. stock markets may be poised to rise, extending their gains from earlier this week, as traders bet that the worst of the steepest economic decline since the Great Depression is ending. Then again, they may end their recent winning streak.

It's one of those days.

S&P Futures expiring in September were little changed as investors digested the latest batch of earnings news. These recent quarterly reports have been largely viewed positively. Some investors may be worrying if stock valuations have gotten too rich.

JAKKS Pacific (NASDAQ: JAKK) is in rough shape. Sure, the toy industry can be tough. Just ask Hasbro (NYSE: HAS) and Mattel (NYSE: MAT). Even with great brands stocking a powerhouse portfolio, getting, and then keeping, the attention of kids is a difficult task. Well, JAKKS Pacific not only has that challenge to contend with, it has others as well.

Let's start with the awful earnings report management released to the market after the bell on Tuesday. For the second quarter, the company lost 3 cents per share on an adjusted basis. This compares to a profit of 17 cents per share in the year-ago period. Revenues were flat and unexciting.

Here are some highlights from last week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

• Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) met Q2 earnings estimates but fell short of revenue expectations.
• Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE: KO) lower Q2 results beat expectations, lifted by strength in non-cola beverages.
• Continental Airlines Inc. (NYSE: CAL) reported net loss was accompanied by a job cuts announcement.
• Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) surprised with a Q2 profit due mainly to a huge gain from debt reduction.
• Hasbro Inc. (NYSE: HAS) posted better-than-expected Q2 earnings due to Transformers and G.I. Joe toys.
• Hershey Co. (NYSE: HSY) posted strong numbers for Q2 and also raised its full-year guidance.

Today was a day saved by CIT Group, Inc. (NYSE: CIT). The stronger Leading Economic Indicators helped, but today was all about a less futile financial services sector. It was also the 9th day in a row that the NASDAQ was up on the day.

Here were the unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow 8,847.93 +103.99 (1.19%)
S&P 500 950.97 +10.59 (1.13%)
Nasdaq 1,909.29 +22.68 (1.20%)

Top Analyst Calls

Game and toy maker Hasbro (NYSE: HAS) had its chance to impress Wall Street with its second quarter results Monday morning, and the company indeed did not disappoint, posting stronger than expected earnings.

Spurred by strong sales of G.I. Joe and Transformers toys, the company reported a 5% jump in profit with earnings of 26 cents per share. Going into today's earnings report analysts had expected earnings of just 23 cents per share.

Mattel, Inc. (NYSE: MAT) is all about fun and games, but it doesn't play around when it competes against Hasbro, Inc. (NYSE: HAS) and JAKKS Pacific (NASDAQ: JAKK). In fact, the stock is up over 7% today as of this writing on the toy manufacturer's earnings news. According to Reuters, Mattel made 6 cents per share during the second quarter, beating estimates by a whopping five pennies.

Pretty good news for Mattel, considering it's been having trouble lately with its Barbie line. Mattel has also had problems with its top-line sales. They dropped 19% in Q2. Fluctuations in the value of the dollar helped to hinder the sales picture, but make no mistake -- Mattel has to step things up a couple notches to keep the top line healthy. Toys are a difficult category to sell during a recession. And when toys do sell, even during the Christmas retail period, they might not command top dollar. Hot toys do, of course, but an entire portfolio cannot necessarily be saved by a single fad item.