U.S. game publisher and developer THQ has announced its earnings results for the third quarter of its 2004 financial year, which falls from October to December, showing strong sales of its licensed games based on Pixar, Nickelodeon, and WWE properties. The company's holiday quarter, like a number of other game publishers last year, saw profits exceeding its initial expectations: a poll by Thomson First Call had analysts predicting a profit of $1.15 per share based on likely sales of $334 million, but the actual results saw THQ's earn a profit of $62.9 million ($1.58 per share) on sales of $400.3 million, an impressive result. Fiscal year-to-date, THQ shipped more than four million units of The Incredibles, two million units of The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, two million units of WWE SmackDown! vs. Raw, two million units of Finding Nemo and one million units of SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom. In addition, original properties Tak 2: The Staff of Dreams and Full Spectrum Warrior are approaching shipments of one million units. The company also said that MX Unleashed, launched in February 2004, recently surpassed one million units shipped. Despite the lift reported in the statement, THQ's stock rose by a mere 14 cents on the news, as a result of simultaneously posted expectations that the fourth quarter of the 2004-2005 financial year would see more conventional results. The current prediction is that THQ will turn a profit of 21 cents per share on $165.28 million in sales during Q4, which places it ahead of the same period last year, but back in line for analysts' overall yearly predictions. "We are on track to post excellent results for fiscal 2005," said Brian Farrell, president and CEO of THQ. "Our strong portfolio of both licensed and original properties and our world- class product development organization provide the foundation for THQ's long- term success."