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

• AnnTaylor Stores Corp. (NYSE: ANN) sees Q1 profits beating estimates but reaffirmed the full-year outlook.
• Blockbuster Inc. (NYSE: BBI) beat Q1 earnings expectations but fell short of revenue estimates.
• Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS) posted strong Q4 and full-year results on titles such as Rock Band.
• Fossil Inc. (NASDAQ: FOSL) forecast Q1 earnings just a penny below analysts' estimates.
• IMAX Corp. (NASDAQ: IMAX) doubled its Q1 loss and missed Wall Street's expectations.
• JC Penney Co. Inc. (NYSE: JCP) profits fell 50%, and it predicted trouble would continue through the year.
• Kohl's Corp. (NYSE: KSS) posted a smaller-than-estimated Q1 profit decline and cut its full-year outlook.
• Liz Claiborne Inc. (NYSE: LIZ) swung to a Q1 loss on restructuring but beat analysts' expectations.
• Lumber Liquidators Inc. (NYSE: LL) posted strong Q1 results despite the housing slump.
• Macy's (NYSE: M) beat low Q1 expectations despite weak same-store sales.
• Nissan Motor Corp. (NASDAQ: NSANY) Q4 profit surged but it warned of lower profits this year.
• Nordstrom Inc. (NYSE: JWN) posted smaller-than-estimated Q1 profit decline and cut its full-year outlook.
• Priceline.com Inc. (NASDAQ: PCLN) beat Q1 expectations due to increased bookings.
• Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI) posted a narrower Q1 loss in line with expectations.
• Sony Corp. (NYSE: SNE) swung to a Q4 profit but fell short of Wall Street estimates.
• Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S) beat low Q1 estimates as its loss widened on charges and lost subscribers.
• Tiffany & Co. (NYSE: TIF) projected beating Q1 earnings forecasts and raised its dividend.
• Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) posted Q1 profits up on international growth and bargain shoppers.
• Whole Foods Market Inc. (NASDAQ: WFMI) Q2 profits fell due to the Wild Oats acquistion.
• XM Satellite Radio (NASDAQ: XMSR) reported a bigger-than-expected Q1 loss and a surge in subscribers.

Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS) issued Q4 and full-year numbers on Tuesday. The competitor of Activision (NASDAQ: ATVI), THQ (NASDAQ: THQI) and Take-Two Interactive (NASDAQ: TTWO) reported adjusted fourth-quarter revenues of $919 million, which was good for a 50% increase. Earnings per diluted share were $0.09 on an adjusted basis, also representing a 50% jump. For the full year, adjusted revenues jumped 30% to $4 billion and earnings per diluted share rose 36% to $1.06. Not too bad.

EA, according to Briefing.com, also beat Wall Street's expectations by quite a bit. EA was forecast to only break-even on a non-GAAP basis, so the difference was a nice $0.09. In terms of operational cash flow, EA increased the metric by 33% during the fourth quarter, but for the full year, operational cash flow decreased 15%. Ah, such is life, I guess. Nevertheless, EA produced 27 titles that sold over a million units this year -- three more than in the previous year. Fifteen of its titles sold over 2 million units -- five more than the last fiscal period. Titles such as Army of Two and Rock Band, as well as various sports franchises, drove the results.

Things sound pretty good, don't they? EA is definitely a major force on the Sony (NYSE: SNE) PlayStation, Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) Xbox 360 and Nintendo (OTC: NTDOY) Wii platforms. But EA has had some challenges during this console cycle, and there is the perception that it needs a major merger to combat the threat posed by the Activision and Vivendi Games transaction. And let's not forget that Activision is on fire all on its own. That's what the whole attempted takeover of Take-Two is all about.

Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS) closed at $54.27 Monday.

ERTS is scheduled to report Q1 EPS after the market close today.

ERTS unsolicited $2 billion buyout offer for Take Two (NASDAQ: TTWO) expires on May 16.

ERTS May 55 straddle is priced at $3.55. ERTS June option implied volatility of 36 is near its 26-week average according to Track Data, suggesting non-directional price fluctuations after EPS & TTWO offer expiration.

Option Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com

Take-Two Interactive (NASDAQ: TTWO) needs to demonstrate the strength of its franchises other than Grand Theft Auto in order to fend off a bid from Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS), and this latest bit of news could help it do just that.

In a press release issued on Friday, the company announced that its 2K Games unit had "reached an agreement for BioShock, the universally acclaimed smash-hit video game, to be developed as a feature film by Universal Pictures." Gore Verbinski, director of the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy, will produce and direct the film.

In a clear -- and completely justified -- swipe at critics who characterize the company as a one-trick pony, chairman Strauss Zelnick said that " Our ability to attract a major studio and unparalleled creative team speaks volumes about the strength of our BioShock franchise. It also demonstrates how Take-Two is delivering value based on our strategy of creating and owning our industry's most powerful intellectual property. "

This development certainly plays into Take-Two's argument that it can build value as a stand-alone company. As far as I can tell, none of EA's games have been transformed into Hollywood movies.

That said, Bioshock the movie sounds like a surefire flop to me.

Before the bell: Futures higher as oil retreats, dollar strengthens

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) raised $4 billion for a fund that invests in infrastructure projects, far exceeding the $2.5 billion target it has set. Other than ports, roads and parking lots, governments are spending more and more on infrastructure, especially water, electricity and telecommunications, and funds for such undertakings are greatly required.

Research In Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) today introduced the BlackBerry Bold smartphone. While it was hailed an iPhone killer by some, the company continues to position the BlackBerry as a smartphone for business and heavy users, rather than try to cut into Apple's consumer market. According to RIM's statement, "the BlackBerry Bold is designed to give business professionals and power users unprecedented functionality and performance in an intuitive BlackBerry smartphone. It is the first BlackBerry smartphone to support tri-band HSDPA high-speed networks around the world and comes with integrated GPS and Wi-Fi, as well as a rich set of multimedia capabilities." If you wondered, the QWERTY keyboard is still there, but its most amazing feature is apparently the display. While RIMM is up 1.6% in premarket trading, some think it's in for a bruising.

And meanwhile, of course, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) is continuing its push to bring the iPhone worldwide. Singapore Telecommunications Ltd said it and its mobile associates -- Bharti Airtel Ltd, Globe Telecom Inc and Australian unit Optus -- will bring the iPhone to Singapore, India, Australia and the Philippines later this year as they had signed the agreement with Apple.
As for the 3G iPhone, it may launch when Steve Jobs gives his keynote address on June 9, the first day of the 2008 World Wide Developers conference. While no announcement was made, Fortune has confirmed the date of the keynote with Apple public relations.

No matter how you slice it, whether you look at GAAP or non-GAAP statistics, Activision, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI) kicked it during the quarter. And I mean really kicked it.

Net sales for Q4 set off at warp factor 11, rising 93% to $602.5 million. Earnings per diluted share on a reported basis came in at $0.14, reversing a year-ago loss of $0.05 per share. For the full fiscal year, Activision grew revenues by 92% -- again, sales growth in the 90's! -- to $2.9 billion. Earnings per diluted share were $1.10 in 2008 versus a measly $0.28 in 2007. Take that, Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS) and THQ Inc. (NASDAQ: THQI)! Activision is truly taking advantage of consoles from Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT), Sony Corporation (NYSE: SNE), and Nintendo Co. Ltd. (OTC: NTDOY). Titles such as Call of Duty 4, Guitar Hero, and Transformers drove the results -- like I always say, it's always about the quality of the slate. On an adjusted basis, earnings beat expectations by a whopping $0.12, according to Briefing.com.

I bet EA is really wishing its deal went through for Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO) right about now! I believe Activision will continue to do well the rest of the year, and I love its fundamentals, but what about the stock? As of this writing, it's up about 3%. If you are looking to trade Activision, I'd probably wait until all the earnings excitement is over and be patient for pullbacks as the market may perceive that everything is priced in at the moment now that the news is out.

Disclosure: I own shares in Activision; positions can change at any time.

THQ's (NASDAQ: THQI) Q4 results were not good at all. Revenues were up over 8% to $187 million, but the software publisher lost an adjusted $0.37 per diluted share from continuing operations. Last year at this time, THQ generated positive adjusted net income of $0.13 per diluted share from continuing operations. The full fiscal year was no better -- revenues were basically flat at $1 billion. The company lost an adjusted $0.23 per diluted share from continuing operations during the year compared to an adjusted profit of $1.20 per diluted share from continuing operations in 2007.

This publisher is no Activision (NASDAQ: ATVI) or Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS) right now. Its slate is performing poorly, and the company's stock is likewise in the dumps. But what about the future? A few years back, THQ wasn't a bad investment decision. I have a feeling that THQ will rebound as the current console cycle continues its forward path, especially when further price cuts in hardware make their way to market.

THQ, however, needs to get its slate back on track, and to really go after the Sony (NYSE: SNE) PlayStation 3 and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) Xbox 360 players. It seems to be doing OK with the Nintendo (OTC: NTDOY) Wii platform in terms of revenue mix. Perhaps the deal struck with DreamWorks Animation (NYSE: DWA) for a video game based on the animation company's 2010 feature Master Mind will help.

Nevertheless, there is nothing exciting in the earnings release, nothing that makes me think that THQ is out of the dark woods yet. Again, though, I would expect the publisher's stock to rebound in the future. Question is, how patient will investors be?

Disclosure: I own shares in Activision; positions can change at any time.

Take-Two Interactive (NASDAQ: TTWO) announced that its ultra-violent game Grand Theft Auto IV took in $500 million in sales in its first week. According to The New York Times "The report exceeded the sales expectations of analysts." It would mean that the company pushed out six million copies." As it turned out, estimates were right on the ball.

The market will say that the numbers will make it harder for larger video-game publisher Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS) to take over Take-Two. The offer sits at $25.74. The stock trades about $1 less than that.

The problem with Wall Street's view of the offer from EA is that it is not unlike Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT)'s bid for Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO). The board at the portal may have viewed it as undervalued, but there are no other buyers. The bid went away and Yahoo!'s shares fell. If EA walks, TTWO shares drop.

Take-Two will tell the world that the Grand Theft Auto IV numbers warrant a higher offer from EA. If the larger company has any sense, it will walk away. That would move TTWO shares back to $17 where they traded before the offer. Management at the smaller company will look like a fool.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com and author of the Ten Stocks Under $10 letter.

I really want to turn bullish on Midway Games Inc. (NYSE: MWY), but there's no way I can do that right now. The company's stock is below $3 a share, and it's there for a reason. But, let's first look at a couple positives from the software publisher's latest earnings release. Net revenues shot up 170% to $29.9 million in Q1; that beat expectations, according to Briefing.com. And the net loss per share also beat expectations by a penny -- it came in at $0.29 per diluted share on an adjusted analysis.

But, that net loss is worse than the previous year's net loss of $0.20 per diluted share, also adjusted. Like I say, someday I want to report that Midway has turned the corner and is a buy. I simply can't do that, even though I recently bought the publisher's catalog title Rampage: Total Destruction for the Nintendo Gamecube and am having a great time with it -- guess it goes to show that you can't always judge a company's stock by the fact that you enjoy its products. One thing that Midway needs to do is perhaps seek some synergy from Viacom, Inc. (NYSE: VIA)'s MTV and Nickelodeon channels. Sumner Redstone is, after all, the controlling shareholder of Midway. Granted, THQ Inc. (NASDAQ: THQI) deals with the Nickelodeon characters at the moment, but in the future, Redstone needs to figure out a way to use his media assets to promote Midway and perhaps funnel some licensing deals to the publisher. MTV is certainly doing well with its own video-game ambitions via Rock Band, which is sold by Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS).

One thing I must point out is that, since my last article about Midway, the stock is up. This was mentioned to me by a reader. So, in objective trading terms, if you went against my opinion, you would have made money, no question. However, I have to stick to my guns and say that I personally wouldn't play the volatility in Midway's shares. Yes, you could luck out with it, maybe Redstone will come along one day and buy out the remaining shares at a big premium (doubtful, at least the big-premium part). I wouldn't want to speculate on such an outcome; I am still content with my Activision, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI) shares as a way to play video-game investing.

Disclosure: I own shares in Activision; positions can change at any time.

Viacom (NYSE: VIA) issued its Q1 earnings results on Friday. The conglomerate seems to be doing all right with its strategy of leveraging content to drive growth. Revenues were up 15%, and adjusted diluted earnings per share jumped 29% to $0.44. But it can be seen that there's a dichotomy going on if you look into the performance of the two main operating segments: media networks saw its operating income rock up 15% while filmed entertainment tallied up an operating loss for the quarter. Even though that loss was narrowed by over 40%, I always get disappointed when I see a studio in the red -- it reminds me that the movie business is a risky, oftentimes low-return one.

But, should you be down on Viacom's movie business right now? Maybe not, since Paramount is currently distributing Marvel's (NYSE: MVL) Iron Man -- see Sheldon Liber's recent article about the film. That should hopefully improve things going forward, as might Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Viacom also will be distributing Kung Fu Panda for DreamWorks Animation (NYSE: DWA). Sumner Redstone is certainly counting on these projects to be huge. And speaking of huge, the company's Rock Band continues to fuel the media networks segment -- it's sold by Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS), and it is apparently holding its own against Activision's (NASDAQ: ATVI) Guitar Hero. The synergies between MTV and the music system are obviously pushing this one. Maybe the studio should get in on the video-game action by greenlighting a movie based on Rock Band -- maybe Jack Black could star in it!

Overall, I think Viacom is performing as it should, and I hope the movie division can bring in some profits during the coming months (I think it will). As for the stock, I'd ideally like to see it a bit lower before I'd consider buying it.

Disclosure: I own shares of Activision and Marvel; positions can change at any time.

So Take-Two Interactive (NASDAQ: TTWO) is about to have one heck of a week. Tell me if I'm wrong, but I'm willing to bet everyone reading this knows that today is launch day for Grand Theft Auto IV on the Sony (NYSE: SNE) PlayStation 3 and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) Xbox 360 consoles. And I'm sure there were many hardcore fans at Best Buy (NASDAQ: BBY) and GameStop (NYSE: GME) today, ready with cold-hard-cash in their hands to snag the software; in fact, this article talks about how some stores were open at midnight to satisfy the pent-up demand (remember, this title was delayed). And Douglas McIntyre discussed the game earlier today as being a potential barometer in terms of consumer confidence.

With all this incredible buzz, with the projection that GTA IV might move close to 10 million discs this year, should you be interested in taking on some Take-Two stock for your investment portfolio? The answer for me is no, Take-Two is not a buy here. Remember that we still have the whole arbitrage game going on with it since Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS) wants to buy the publisher; also recall that Take-Two is gunning for a higher offer and purposely delayed further negotiations until after the release of GTA IV. I sold my position when the whole buyout offer was made a while ago, and I'm still glad that I did -- for me, the trade was over at that point, and I was happy to simply own my Activision (NASDAQ: ATVI) shares.

Take-Two Interactive (NASDAQ: TTWO), the troubled video game company, is releasing the new version of its popular game Grand Theft Auto IV. The product is expected to set all-time records for the sales of a single video game title.

The Wall Street Journal writes that one analyst "predicts first-week Grand Theft Auto IV sales could be more than $400 million. On Metacritic.com, which compiles game-review scores from dozens of publications, the PlayStation 3 version of the game had a 100 out of 100 score." In other words, it will sell like hotcakes.

Leaving aside the hostile takeover offer by Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS) to buy Take-Two, the potential sales of the game raise an interesting question.

Consumers pocket books are tight. A larger and larger portion of their income is going to food and gas as the price of those staples rises. Eating out and buying clothes from retailers has clearly dropped off. Many people don't have the money to buy the basics.

In the face of all that, Grand Theft Auto IV is expected to sell extraordinarily well. Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT)'s Halo 3 has already set sales records. Game consoles, the PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii are all setting sales records.

Either the consumer has a little more money than most analysts think, or the only thing they have money to do is sit for hours in their darkened homes and play video games.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst and the author of Ten Stocks Under $10.

I'd like to own Nintendo (OTC: NTDOY), but there are a couple things that bother me about the current chapter of its amazing story. First, let me take a look at a report about the video-game juggernaut's earnings.

According to The New York Times, Nintendo's profit number was one for the record books. Sales soared to the sky, rocketing 73% to over $16 billion. Net profit also went ballistic -- in a good way -- by about 48%, coming in at $2.5 billion. Yeah, the Wii console was a big driver, but don't forget that little handheld wonder called the Nintendo DS -- people sometimes miss that part of the tale, and they shouldn't. The DS sold over 30 million units on a global basis during the fiscal year, while the Wii sold over 18 million units. Yep, Sony (NYSE: SNE) and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) still have something to worry about, as the Wii has taken the shine away from the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360. The company's position in the current gaming cycle is strong, no question. And publishers like Activision (NASDAQ: ATVI) and Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS) all strive to be big supporters of Nintendo's systems.

Here are the problems, though, that I alluded to at the opening. First, as of this writing, the ADR's are, according to AOL Finance, priced at $71.14 (the ADR's don't change during the day on this quote system, as they update after the close; I'm seeing a current bid on my brokerage's quote system of $68.50, so the shares might possibly go lower tonight). This represents something of a recent run-up, so I'm not interested in chasing the stock at these levels (last time I was interested in Nintendo, there was a price drop). But, there could be a more pressing issue -- on an anecdotal level, in my area, the Wii's are currently plentiful. Has the system peaked? Hey, don't go by my anecdotal observations, but I'm just saying that, for me personally, buying Nintendo at this time is something I'd have to consider very, very carefully.

Disclosure: I own shares of Activision; positions can change at any time.

Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS) failed to win over the majority of Take-Two Interactive (NASDAQ: TTWO) shareholders with its hostile bid of $25.74.

According to the Wall Street Journal (subscription required), Electronic Arts now says it may lower its bid, with a company EVP saying that "The passage of time, whether due to regulatory issues or intransigence by Take-Two management, will diminish the value and certainty of our offer."

I'm not so sure. Take-Two shareholders rejected the bid, presumably because they feel that it's inadequate. It's hard to understand how a lower bid would be more enticing. With just 8.3% of shares tendered in EA's offer, the company is not close to completing a deal.

Take-Two executives say that the bid undervalues the company's turnaround effort and upcoming release of the latest game in the Grand Theft Auto series.

But I think shareholders may be overdiscounting some of the bizarre risk factors that come with Take-Two Interactive, which has historically been a corporate governance Porta-Potty. Here's a quick sample of the least boilerplate of the more than nine pages of risk factors included in the latest 10-K: