Good Thoughts on Jobs and Apple

Walter Piecyk, an analyst I know at BTIG, wrote the following brief comment on Apple and published it this morning. The volume of Wall Street commentary on Apple this morning is enormous as expected. Walter’s note best captures my thinking so I reproduce it here with the hope that Walter and BTIG don’t mind. “The […]

Liberty Capital: New Buy Based on Asset Value and Narrowing Discount

Yesterday I began building client positions in the shares of Liberty Capital (LCAPA). Not all client positions were purchased but I expect to complete the buys within a few days. LCAPA is somewhat thinly traded and its shares are tied closely to those of Sirius XM (SIRI) making trading a bit tricky. LCAPA is the […]

Virgin Media Still Looking Good

Last Friday, I attended Virgin Media’s (VMED) analyst meeting in New York. Here are my thoughts: Despite jumping from $15 to $27 since Janaury 2010, VMED still has excellent upside as free cash flow is set to accelerate and management appears very disciplined toward using it to pay down debt and repurchase shares. Given the […]

Discovery Communications: Story is Fine But Quarter Required Perfection

Discovery Communications (DISCK) reported good 3Q10 results. EBITDA beat estimates indicating fundamental health of the business but EPS missed due to incentive compensation costs related to the steadily rising stock price. Also disappointing was an almost complete lack of share repurchases. DISCK reported after the close on Tuesday, a week ago. The stock had closed […]

CBS: Is Good Quarter and Buyback Enough?

CBS reported slightly better than expected results in 3Q10. Revenues fell a little short of expectations at $3.3 billion. Estimates called for an additional $60 million. However, excellent margins led to EBITDA of $667 million, ahead of estimates for $642 million. The operating beat flowed through to EPS and the adjusted EPS of 35 cents […]

Another Good Quarter for Virgin Media

Virgin Media reported solid third quarter results as management continues to execute very well at the operating level and take advantage of VMED’s superior broadband network in the United Kingdom. Overall growth in revenue and EBITDA remains modest, rising mid to upper single digits. Free cash flow is growing double digits as capital spending intensity […]

Ignore the Apple Worries, Operating Mometum Remains Impressive

Apple reported another strong quarter but the stock sold off due to concerns about guidance for the December quarter and disappointment in iPad sales. The guidance issue relates solely to gross margins, which Apple guided to 36%, well below recent quarters that have averaged about 40%. The company attributed the guidance to mix issues. iPhones […]

Google 3Q Earnings Revive Growth Thesis

I was expecting good 3Q10 earnings from Google but I thought it would be built on better cost controls. 2Q10 results that led to a big slide in the shares saw higher investment spending overwhelm a small top line beat. Ahead of the 3Q numbers, I expected another quarter of revenue strength but figured management […]

Trimming Discovery as Initial Long-Term Target Achieved

Yesterday all client positions in Discovery Communications (DISCK) were cut back by about 40%. Discovery has been an extremely successful investment with original purchases of the DISCA voting shares made near $16 in the fall of 2008 when the company first started trading as a separate asset-backed stock following a spin-off from Liberty Media. The […]

Selling DirecTV With Rising Fears of Price Competition in Mature Video Cable/Satellite Business

All Northlake client positions in DirecTV (DTV), including those in my personal accounts, were sold this morning. DTV proved to be a very successful investment having been sold for a gain of 84% and held for just short of 14 months. The original purchase was Liberty Media Entertainment, which restructured, merged with DTV, and ultimately […]