Greetings, true believers, and excelsior! Investors and fans of POW! Entertainment (Pink Sheets: POWN), the entertainment franchising company founded by comic book legend Stan Lee, got a big surprise yesterday when stock shares rocketed 400 percent in a single afternoon – and another one today after it rose 61 percent after market open.The source of the jump was an important piece of investor news that hit the wires yesterday. Yesterday afternoon, POW! Entertainment released news that it had signed an exclusive production deal with Walt Disney Studios, in which Lee’s production company would “develop and produce all forms of entertainment,” according to the press report.
In response, POW! Entertainment’s share prices skyrocketed both yesterday afternoon and this morning. This is one of the few times when a single bit of news affected a Pink Sheets company so much, especially over the course of two days.
For those not in the know, POW! Entertainment specializes in creating, producing and licensing character franchises for the entertainment industry, including animation, live-action feature films, video games and merchandising. The company was responsible for the superhero movie “Lightspeed” which premiered on the SciFi Channel and quickly became a cult favorite, along with a number of cartoons currently being negotiated in Japan, such as Ultimo, Hero Man, and Quartz.
Dick Cook, chairman of Walt Disney Studios, was extremely excited about the deal, and hinted that Lee’s talent at creating iconic, beloved characters was one of the main reasons the deal was made.
“As the father of such renowned comic book heroes as Spider-Man, the Hulk, and the X-Men among others, Stan is considered one of the most creative and inventive forces in the industry today,” Cook said in the release. “His innate talent of tapping into the human qualities of his super hero characters has certainly struck a chord with generations of audiences and readers around the world. We are honored to be working with someone as formidable as Stan and his production company and welcome them to the Disney family.”
Cook wasn’t the only one who was thrilled with the deal. Stan Lee himself was eager about the deal, according to the press release.
“It’s like the realization of a dream,” Lee said with his usual charm. “Ever since I was a young boy, Disney represented the best and most exciting film fare to me. And now, many decades later, with movies such as their incredible Pirates of the Caribbean spectaculars, Disney is still at the forefront of family entertainment, excelling in live action, animation, TV, theme parks – whatever it takes to bring fun and fantasy to audiences everywhere.”
Lee also said that he looked forward to the deal with “indescribable enthusiasm.”
Despite all the glowing praise surrounding the deal, the press release doesn’t say much about what the deal is about, nor about the specific titles or characters POW! Entertainment would be working with. Still, the news is enough to whet anybody’s interest – especially investors.
Market News First attempted to contact POW! Entertainment, but calls were not returned.
Share prices of POW! Entertainment broke past their previous 52-week high today, rising 62 percent after the market’s open to 55 cents a share.
