Monday's Winners & Losers: Marvel

Updated from 2:11 p.m. EST with new stock prices

Shares of Marvel Entertainment(MVL) were among the NYSE's winners Monday, soaring 16.2% after the entertainment company blew past Wall Street's third-quarter profit targets.

Marvel posted third-quarter earnings of $36.3 million, or 45 cents a share, on sales of $123.6 million. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected a profit of 28 cents a share and sales of $90.5 million. The company attributed the performance to strength in its licensing business, particularly for Spider-Man 3 merchandise.

For the full year, Marvel now sees earnings of $1.60 to $1.65 a share, above its prior view of $1.30 to $1.55. The company lifted its sales forecast for the year to $455 million to $475 million from a prior range of $375 million to $435 million. Wall Street projects full-year earnings of $1.44 a share and sales of $431 million. Shares of Marvel were jumping $3.77 to $27.08.

American Financial Realty Trust(AFR) and Alfa Corp. (ALFA) also saw big gains after each agreed to buyouts.

Gramercy Capital(GKK) agreed to acquire American Financial for $5.50 a share in cash and 0.12096 shares of Gramercy stock. Including debt, the deal is valued at $3.4 billion. Gramercy, a unit of New York office owner SL Green(SLG), expects to own approximately 27 million square feet of commercial real estate in 37 states after the deal. Shares of American Financial were up $1.61 to $8.06, while Gramercy shares were up 11 cents to $24.33.