AT&T-Echostar Has Implications For Comcast

With an AT&T acquisition of Echostar apparently imminent, I want to reiterate that while in the short-term investors will see the deal as negative for cable, in the long run the outcome may not be nearly as dire feared. On its most recent conference call, Comcast specifically pointed to AT&T discounting using the satellite bundle […]

Buying More Endeavor/American Apparel

With all the chatter about Lululemon Athletica (LULU) following the New York Times expose’ on the seaweed or lack thereof in certain items the company sells, I thought it might be a good time to provide an overview of Northlake’s only long position that is not involved in media and telecom. Endeavor Acquisition Corporation (EDA) […]

Good Signs From Lionsgate

Lionsgate reported another confusing quarter. Revenues blew away expectations but so did expenses. EBITDA was a big negative number but the company reported over $21 million in free cash flow. The press release was vague and the simultaneously issued 10-Q did not directly address the absolute figures but instead focused on percentages. All that said […]

Routinely Good Quarter for Disney

Disney reported 4Q07 EPS of 42 cents adjusted for a tax benefit compared to consensus of 41 cents. Revenues of $8.93 billion matched the $8.98 million consensus. Comparing the segment numbers to my spreadsheet shows a remarkable closeness. This is actually one the things I like about Disney: the company is very tightly managed and […]

American Apparel/Endeavor Delivers Good News All Around

In the midst of the carnage yesterday, Northlake had one winner: Endeavor Acquisition Corporation (EDA). EDA is in the final stages of completing its acquisition of privately held American Apparel, a very hot teen retailer. The shares rose over 5% on heavy volume in response to a very positive press release. EDA announced that that […]

Disney 4Q07 Earnings Preview

Disney is expected to report strong 4Q07 financial performance capping another great year. For 4Q, consensus calls for EPS of 42 cents, up 17%, on revenues of $9 billion, up 2%. Operating income, a key metric for Disney investors, is expected to rise 14%. Estimates are unchanged since the last quarterly report although the tone […]

AOL and Cable Dragging Down Time Warner

Time Warner reported a solid quarter, ahead of analyst estimates. However, 2007 guidance was maintained suggesting that the 4Q will be weaker than expected. At the same time, segment results showed bad news at AOL and Cable which are the two key drivers of TWX shares. The cable news really wasn’t bad relative to collapsing […]

News Corporation On A Roll

Looks like a real good quarter for News Corporation. Results for 1Q08 are ahead of expectations. This should be very comforting for shareholders as the year was supposed to backend loaded. Revenues grew 19%, well ahead of the 9% gain expected. The revenue upside translated to profits as operating income rose 23% vs. expectations for […]

Rogers Communications Reports Another Good Quarter

Rogers Communications reported another excellent quarter with revenues, EBITDA, EPS, and free cash flow rising 13%, 26%, 61%, and 91%, respectively. These figures were at the high end of analyst estimates with the Cable and Media segments providing material upside to EBITDA. EBITDA and profit margins at wireless were a little lower than expected but […]

Good News At CETV Keeps On Flowing

Given the proximity of Central European Media Enterprises (CETV) annual analyst meeting on October 19th to the third quarter earnings report, I figured there would not be much new news or stock reaction to the results. Ooops. As it turns out, CETV reported better than expected results with all six countries where its own TV […]