Streaming Subscriber Growth and Vaccines Bullish for Disney

Disney (DIS) reported another quarter of massive subscriber gains for Disney+ and steady growth for the Hulu and ESPN streaming services.  Subscribers for Disney+ came in at almost 74mm vs expectations of 65mm, growth of about 16mm subscribers since the end of last quarter.  About half the gain came from India, where DIS charges less […]

Explaining Income Equities

Beginning this quarter, we are adding a new blog post to cover the income-oriented stock and ETF ideas we have been increasingly using in client portfolios.  Not all clients use these investments, but we have broadened their use, so we thought it would be useful to produce summary commentary each quarter. Up until 2020, most […]

Is ViacomCBS Pivot to DTC Too Late?

ViacomCBS (VIAC) reported slightly better than expected earnings for 3Q20.  The good news was both advertising and cable affiliate fees came in above Wall Street expectations.  Advertising was still down versus last year due to COVID impacts but -9% is a vast improvement from 2Q20 even with a boost from political spending.  More impressively, cable […]

Election May Be Over But Nexstar Remains A Winner

Nexstar Media Group (NXST) reported another great quarter driven by political advertising and tight management of operating expenses.  Results easily exceeded recently raised consensus estimates.  Throughout 2020, this has been a consistent pattern for NXST, a testament to the strength of the management team and the strategic and financial success of the acquisition of Tribune […]

Activision Blizzard to Resume Uptrend in 2021

Activision Blizzard (ATVI) reported strong 3Q20 earnings driven by its Call of Duty franchise.  Revenues and earnings were above management guidance and the even higher analyst estimates.  Management raised the 2020 outlook, and initial comments on 2021 suggest management believes earnings can grow against the tough 2020 COVID-boosted results. Over the summer, we made sales […]

Models Stable Ahead of Election

There are no changes to the recommendations from Northlake’s Market Cap and Style models for November.  For our Market Cap theme, we continue to favor mid cap.  In our Style theme, we remain neutral between growth and value.  There will be no changes to client positions in the S&P 400 Mid Cap (MDY) or the […]

Facebook Performing Well Amid Pandemic

Facebook continues to perform well despite the economic impact of the pandemic and negative publicity surrounding privacy and political issues.  Ad revenue grew 22% during 3Q20, powering a better than expected earnings report.  This is the second consecutive quarter that Facebook had better than expected advertising growth, supporting the idea that it is a COVID […]