iPhone 6 Cycle Powers Apple: Now and In Future

Apple (AAPL) reported another strong quarter driven by the incredible success of iPhone6 and 6 Plus.  Not that long ago, the debate surrounding the iPhone was whether Apple needed a lower end phone to sell in emerging markets.  Apparently, the missing ingredient was larger screen sizes.  AAPL sold 61.5 million iPhones in the March quarter, […]

OK Google Quarter, Next One Could Be Crucial

Google (GOOG/GOOGL) shares responded favorably to its latest quarterly earnings report, rising over 3% on the first day of post-earnings trading.  The results were largely in line with Wall Street expectations, coming as a relief to many investors who feared worse due to difficult foreign exchange headwinds, slowing growth in search, and the shift in […]

La Quinta Holdings: Bigger In Texas, But Bigger Than Just Texas

La Quinta Holdings Inc. (LQ) is a new buy for Northlake clients. The company owns, operates, and franchises midscale and upper-midscale select-service hotels located in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. LQ currently trades at an attractive valuation in comparison to its peers, and has several potential catalysts that should help drive the stock to a […]

Liberty Media: Addressing the Discount

Liberty Media (LMCA/LMCK) reported an uneventful quarter.  Not much of a surprise given all the restructuring activity in the past six months as the company split into two, separating its 28% stake in Charter Communications into newly formed Liberty Broadband (LBRDA/LBRDK).  Northlake clients now own stock in both classes of stock at both companies. LMCA/LMCK […]

Comcast Performs Well Again Amid Regulatory Noise

Comcast (CMCSK) reported another good quarter with mid single digit growth in revenue and operating cash flow and double digit gains in free cash flow.  Leaving aside all the noise around net neutrality regulation and the regulatory review of the Comcast-Time Warner Cable merger, CMCSK is executing very well on a consistent basis.  Investors have […]

Liberty Global Clears the Air to Smoother Flying

Liberty Global (LBTYK) faced a lot of headwinds in 2014 including slower than expected benefits of the acquisition of Virgin Media in the UK, a lengthy period with no buybacks awaiting the acquisition of Ziggo in the Netherlands, foreign currency weakness (100% of operations are in Europe, Chile, and Puerto Rico), and tough competitive conditions […]

Patience Paying Off at CBS

CBS reported fourth quarter results largely in line with analyst estimates.  After a tough year in 2014 when operating income fell and estimates declined steadily, reporting results merely as expected provided a sense of relief.  Furthermore, management commentary on 2015 trends was confident and a little more positive than investors were anticipating.  All of this […]

Activision Blizzard: Fewer Worries Equals Blue Skies

Activision Blizzard (ATVI) reported slightly better than expected holiday quarter results driven by good sell through of next generation video games.  Along with reported results from competing video game publishers, it appears that the better than expected sales of new video game consoles in 2013 and 2014 are now driving sales of software.  The game […]

Disney: Firing On All Cylinders

Disney (DIS) reported another excellent quarter, easily beating Wall Street estimates for revenues and earnings per share.  Especially impressive was the broad-based strength in the results, as every segment beat estimates on revenue and operating income. Two things come to mind when reviewing DIS latest results.  First, in general, stocks tend to do well when […]

Apple and Google: Stocks Respond Positively for Different Reasons

Apple and Google reported earnings last week and each stock responded very positively.  This was an interesting outcome given that Apple’s results were well ahead of expectations, while Google fell a little short of Wall street estimates.  Media Tlak has often noted how expectations and sentiment drive a stock’s immediate reaction to earnings.  Read on […]