Entries by Steve Birenberg

Sold Dreamworks as Weak Quarter Raises Long-Term Issues

Despite my hopes that Dreamworks Animation (DWA) had a good set up going into last night’s earnings reports, the stock is going to trade down sharply this morning. Adjusted for a one-time tax benefit, EPS missed estimates due to higher costs associated with new ventures to diversify revenue (TV, virtual worlds, Broadway) and an adjustment […]

Dreamworks Animation Earnings Preview

Several of Northlake’s long positions report this week beginning tonight with Dreamworks Animation (DWA). DWA has been very weak as the collapse in DVD sales has crushed estimates and compacted long-term valuation. However, the stock may be a good setup for a rebound. Getting past the earnings report could allow investors to look forward where […]

Monday Media Musings: February 23, 2009

Here’s the morning after Oscar edition of Monday Media Musings. The Bull Market Can Found at Your Local Theater The good news at the box office continues. Based on data form BoxOfficeMojo.com, the top 12 films were 33% this weekend. This leaves the 2009 winning streak intact with every weekend up year-over-year. Year-to-date, the box […]

Time Warner Break Up Approved

Back in late November when Time Warner was trading just over $9, I wrote a column for Real Money explaining Why You Should Own the shares. Today the stock stands at $7.56, down about 16%, a bit worse than the S&P 500 which is down almost 13%. During this time, Disney (DIS) and News Corporation […]

Monday Media Musings: February 9, 2009

Monday Media Musings is back despite battling a major technology crash at Northlake. Servers are back and all the backup systems functioned well. Box Office Booming in 2009 Americans continue to go to the movies. Whether it is a relatively cheap night, a desire to leave their troubles, or just a hot streak of good […]

Both Dreamworks in the News

Dreamworks is in the news. First, Dreamworks SKG, the privately held, live action movie studio that is home to Steven Spielberg, is changing plans and will use Disney (DIS) as a distribution partner as opposed to Universal Pictures (owned by GE). Second, Dreamworks Animation (DWA), the publicly held animation company, was the subject of a […]

Time Warner: Relatively Good Earnings But Murky Outlook

Given the circumstances, Time Warner (TWX) reported decent 4Q08 results and provided better than expected guidance. However, to be perfectly honest, there are so many charges and related future cost savings that it is very difficult to tell whether guidance for “about flat” results in 2009 fairly reflects underlying operating trends. I fear that guidance […]

Time Warner 4Q08 Earnings Preview

Time Warner effectively preannounced 4Q08 results when it updated its guidance for 2008 last month. The guidance brought 2008 EBITDA to a gain of just 1% but several items were legitimately one-time so the headlines off the guidance update were more negative than management intended. Underlying growth in 2008 is probably closer to 3% which […]

February 2009 Model Signals: Back to Growth

Northlake’s Style model shifted from value to growth for February. Hopefully, it was only one month late. Last month was awful for value on a relative basis with the Russell 3000 Value (IWW) dropping 11.6% against a decline of just 5.6% for the Russell 3000 Growth (IWZ). The S&P 500 fell 8.6% so last month’s […]