Agoura Hills, Calif. - Video game publisher THQ on Thursday raised its sales and earnings outlook for its third quarter and the year 2007, citing strong holiday game sales.

THQ cited stronger than expected sales of titles like "WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2007," "Cars" and "Avatar: The Last Airbender" for current and next-generation systems.

THQ now expects net income of 91 cents a share for its third quarter, ended Dec. 31, up from its previous forecast of net income of 65-70 cents per share. Third quarter sales are now expected to reach $475 million, up from a range of $400-$425 million. For 2007, THQ raised its revenue forecast to $1 billion, up from a prior estimate of between $925-$975 million.

Earlier this week, the company reported that an internal investigation found no evidence of fraud in its stock options granting practices.

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http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/070111/lath039.html?.v=85
http://tinyurl.com/yglxjr (Reuters)
http://www.thq.com