Hobbit stocks to watch: Time Warner, Dolby, Imax

Warner Bros/Everett Collection Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — As Bilbo Baggins and Gandalf return to the silver screen in "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug," investors may turn to Wall Street to capitalize on the millions that fans are likely to shell out on the movie and related merchandise.

"The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug" — the second installment of the prequel to "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy — is expected to gross $330 million, according to David Miller, an analyst at B. Riley & Co., making it one of the biggest hits of the 2013.

Click to Play Film Clip: 'The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug'

Watch a clip "The Hobbit" film sequel "The Desolation of Smaug," featuring Evangeline Lilly as the elf Tauriel and Orlando Bloom reprising his role as Legolas from "The Lord of the Rings" film trilogy. (Photo/Video: Warner Bros.)

That will help to pay for a lot of champagne at Time Warner Inc.'s Warner Bros. Entertainment which is distributing the film and should generate free publicity for companies like Dolby Laboratories Inc. and Imax Corp. Even companies like Google Inc. are trying to take part in the expected fanfare. The search company's Chrome browser is offering a free app that provides a "Journey through Middle-earth."

Here is a quick run down of Hobbit stocks to watch that could potentially benefit if the movie lives up to the hype.

/quotes/zigman/528906/delayed/quotes/nls/twx TWX 65.82, -0.60, -0.90% /quotes/zigman/3968820/delayed/quotes/nls/imax IMAX 28.50, +0.17, +0.60% /quotes/zigman/361455/delayed/quotes/nls/dlb DLB 37.44, -0.30, -0.79% Time Warner, Dolby, Imax Here are a few stocks with links to the latest movie based on The Hobbit.

Time Warner (TWX) : The stock is up 38% year to date. Miller at B. Riley & Co. rates the stock at neutral with a price target of $68.

Dolby Laboratories (DLB) : "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug" is presented in Dolby Surround 7.1. The stock is up 28% so far in 2013.

Imax (IMAX) : The stock is up 27% year to date. The movie will be shown at select IMAX 3D theaters. The stock is rated a buy with a price target of $35 at B. Riley & Co.

RealD Inc. (RLD) : The stock is down 25% year to date. The company, which develops 3-D cinema technology may be hit by a stronger box office share for IMAX from "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug," according to Eric Wold at B. Riley.

Regal Entertainment Corp. (RGC) : The stock of the theater chain company is up 39% year to date.

Cinemark Holdings Inc. (CNK) : The movie theater company is well positioned to capitalize on the film's popularity with movie goers with operations both in the U.S. and Latin America. Shares of Cinemark are up 26% so far this year.

News Corp (NWS) :  The company owns HarperCollins Publishers, the publisher of J.R.R. Tolkein's The Hobbit. The stock is up about 12% from June, when the old News Corp. split into two companies: News Corp and Twenty-First Century Fox, Inc. (FOX)  News Corp also owns MarketWatch, the publisher of this report.

After hours: Adobe, Restoration Hardware

In non-Hobbit news, Adobe Systems Inc. (ADBE)  said after Thursday's closing bell that its fourth-quarter profit fell to 13 cents a share from 44 cents a share a year ago. Excluding items, the maker of Photoshop earned 32 cents a share. However, Creative Cloud subscribers rose by a better-than-expected 402,000 to 1.4 million. Shares of Adobe jumped 6% in extended trading.

Restoration Hardware Holdings Inc. (RH)  late Thursday reported adjusted third-quarter profit of 32 cents a share, above the 28 cents a share forecast by analysts. Separately, the company said Co-Chief Executive Officer Carlos Alberini resigned, effective Jan. 31. Alberini has been named chairman of the board and CEO of Lucky Brand. The company will begin to search for his successor soon. Shares of Restoration Hardware skidded 13% in after-hours trading.