Comics: Marvel Entertainment stock continued to slip--albeit...

Comics: Marvel Entertainment stock continued to slip--albeit slightly compared to its plunge Wednesday--after its disclosure earlier this week that its year-end profit will not meet Wall Street expectations, due in part to a drop in sports card sales caused by the baseball strike and hockey lockout. The stock of the comic book and trading card company, which dropped 10% on Wednesday, closed down another 12.5 cents at $14.125 on Thursday. Marvel said it expects 1994 earnings of 60 cents a share, less than the 70 cents analysts had expected. The company reported net income of $56 million, or 55 cents a share, last year on revenue of $415.2 million. Two analysts downgraded the stock, one citing a poor earnings outlook for the company’s sports trading card business and flat sales of comic books. The company said it increased its year-end reserves for card returns to $35 million, up from $12 million last year.