About The Death of Cable…Comcast Proving Otherwise

It seems like everywhere you turn there is talk about cord cutting and cable losing subscribers.  Well, guess what?  For now at least, the narrative is false, especially at Comcast.  Comcast lost just 4,000 video subs in the seasonally weak second quarter against expectations for a loss of 31,000.  This was the best second quarter […]

Stabilization at Apple Good Enough For Now

Apple (AAPL) reported mostly inline results for its 3Q16 report.  Slight upside existed across most key financial and unit volume metrics.  Guidance for the current quarter ending 9/30/16 was similar.  Given recent sentiment surrounding AAPL, this was good enough to allow the shares to rebound in their initial response to the report, up 7-8%.  AAPL […]

From Video to Casino Games

Northlake is taking partial profits in Activision Blizzard (ATVI) after the shares have doubled since the initial purchase in November 2014.  The outstanding performance of ATVI against minimal change in the broader market led to position sizes up to 2X what Northlake usually targets.  Northlake still likes ATVI and sees upside to the upper $40s […]

Smooth Sailing At CBS

CBS reported a good quarter beating consensus EPS estimates comfortably with small upside in revenues.  The implication is good performance on profit margins and that was indeed the case especially in the core entertainment assets (CBS Network and content production) and the local TV stations.  Advertising drove the upside, with a gain of 31% exceeding […]

Disney: Consumer Products Frozen, ESPN Melting

Disney (DIS) reported a rare miss on sales and earnings in the fiscal second quarter of 2016. The disappointing results were driven by weakness in the consumer products and media networks segments. The studio segment continued to produce excellent results, driven by Zootopia in the quarter. Parks and resorts also performed well in the quarter, […]

Liberty Global On Track Despite Weak Start to Year

Liberty Global (LBTYK) reported slightly disappointing 1Q16 earnings.  However, the 2016 was maintained and the long-term story is intact.  Management made a strong case that any shortfalls were not unexpected based on internal budgeting and investors and analysts seemed to buy it as the shares finished positive after starting lower in response to the headlines. […]

Liberties on Plan Post Trackers

Liberty Media reported results following its split into three tracking stocks.  Northlake sold the shares that track ownership of the Atlanta Braves, the team’s new stadium, and the real estate development adjacent to the stadium.  We continue to hold shares in Liberty Sirius (LSXMA/LSXMK) and Liberty Media (LMCA/LMCK).  We read nothing in the quarterly reports […]

Activision Blizzard Gets Back on Track

Activision Blizzard (ATVI) bounced back from a disappointing end to 2015 with a strong beat on sales and earnings in the first quarter of 2016. ATVI also increased guidance for 2016. Based on the first quarter and management commentary on the conference call, we believe analyst estimates could be revised higher throughout the year as […]

Despite a Wall of Worry, Comcast Continues to Perform

Comcast (CMCSA) reported another good quarter, seemingly a habit for the company.  Against a lot of noise and negative headline regarding cord cutting, cord shaving, anti-cable regulation, and technological change, the company continues to execute superbly. The latest quarterly results were issued almost simultaneously with the acquisition of DreamWorks Animation (DWA).  CMCSA paid a steep […]

Lots of Bruises on Apple

Apple (AAPL) reported a disappointing quarter and issued guidance for the June quarter that was below expectations.  Missing the quarter on revenue and EPS is highly unusual for Apple.  There have been times in the past where guidance was considered disappointing but missing against consensus expectations on revenue and EPS is unusual.  Shipments of iPhones […]