Movies Heat up Earnings at Lions Gate

It's not a story you hear much this year: Lions Gate Entertainment (NYSE:LGF) has a solid backlog of movies, record revenue in its latest quarter, and a stock price at a high.

Lions Gate has certainly ruffled some feathers by taking on the distribution of Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11, a film that Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) decided against distributing because it, well, torched President George W. Bush.

Lions Gate realizes, though, it will get a real bonus from the DVD market for hits such as The Cooler and Godsend. It should be no surprise that the company upped guidance for fiscal year 2005, which ends June 30, 2006. It expects to produce approximately $700 million in revenue.

This growth has not gone completely unnoticed in the market; the stock has risen more than 150% from last year. This compares with Pixar (NASDAQ:PIXR), which has risen just more than 5%, and Time Warner (NYSE:TWX), which is just barely more than its price from a year ago.

While many independent film studios have died or been consumed by global conglomerates, Lions Gate has built a strong brand in the indie marketplace. In fact, it has one of the largest film libraries in the entertainment industry. And it's not sitting on shelves collecting dust; the company has been studiously monetizing its content.

Lions Gate seems to be the only "pure play" in the film industry. The big surprise is that a mega entertainment studio has not already made a bid for this company.

Fool contributor Tom Taulli is the author of The EDGAR Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements. He does not own shares in any of the stocks mentioned.