Cablevison: Cable Good But Strategy A Mess

Cablevision reported better than expected results driven by its core Cable operations and Madison Square Garden. Revenues grew 11% to $1.84 billion ahead of consensus of $1.78 billion. EBITDA grew 20% to $610 million, ahead of estimates for $560 million. Financial and subscriber metrics at the Cable systems were better than expected. Revenues rose 8.6%, […]

Comcast Has Stabilized

Comcast reported good 1Q08 results. EPS matched estimates while revenue, EBITDA, and free cash flow exceeded estimates. Most subscriber metrics also beat estimates. Margins fell slightly as Comcast upped its marketing spending and began its aggressive rollout of service to small and mid-sized businesses. Comcast’s results closely paralleled those of Time Warner Cable. It appears […]

Catching Up With Cable Stocks

Cable stocks have acted pretty well this year. Comcast is up a bit and Time Warner Cable is down slightly. Both have easily outperformed the S&P 500. The other large cap cable stock, Cablevision, is down about equal to the market but at year end it was still in the process of being taken private, […]

Stability At Comcast

Comcast provided the stability and achievable guidance that is required to get a relief rally and improve sentiment toward the shares. The financial and subscriber results for 4Q07 were very close to guidance provided on December 4th. If anything the financial results for revenue, EBITDA, operating margins, and free cash flow were slightly better than […]

Cablevision Results Fall Short of Estimates

Cablevision (CVC) reported weaker than expected 2Q07 results and lowered 2007 guidance dealing another blow to the bull case for cable. Results were weak pretty much across the board with Telecom EBITDA and all subscriber metrics short of estimates. The only silver lining was lower than expected capital spending in thee quarter and a reduction […]

Stable Pricing Bullish For Comcast

One of the reasons I remain bullish on Comcast (CMCSA/CMCSK) is that the much feared price war over the components of the triple play – cable TV, high speed internet, and telephony – has not come to pass. In fact, what has long been feared to be a fight to the death is looking a […]

A Hedge Fund Manager Responds To Comcast Going Private

In response to yesterday’s post about the Bernstein analysis of Comcast as a private equity buyout candidate I received an email from my good friend and media confidante KG, who is also a hedge fund manager. As usual, KG is thought provoking: I read that Moffett analysis yesterday, and also read your piece. Such rationalization […]

Is Comcast A Candidate For A Private Equity Buyout?

One of the ways I keep up on all things media is through a Google email alert on Providence Equity, which is the major media focused private equity firm. An alert I received yesterday contained a link to an article discussing a note that Bernstein put out last week mentioning Comcast (CMCSA/CMCSK) as a perfect […]

Where Are All The New Cable and Satellite TV Customers Coming From?

One oddity in the current multichannel television landscape is that all the major players are gaining subscribers despite what most observers would consider a pretty intense competitive environment in a mature industry. My rough calculations suggest that DirecTV and Echostar’s Dish Network will add about 2 million subs combined this year. Verizon and AT&T could […]

Cablevision 1Q07 Earnings: Going Private But Meaningful

After listening to the Cablevision (CVC) conference call, my initial impression that the cable bears came away with more ammunition should have been a more balanced view. That said, the sentiment battle facing cable stocks is likely to remain difficult while the stocks do not reflect close to fair value in my opinion. CVC reported […]