Strong Quarter Boosts American Apparel

Outside of ETFs, Northlake clients own only one stock that is not involved in media or telecom. The company, Endeavor Acquisition Corporation (EDA), is a special purpose vehicle that has agreed to purchase teen retailer American Apparel (AA). The deal was announced last December and is scheduled to close in the second half of 2007. […]

Brief Apple Update

I have been waiting to round out long positions in Apple and build new positions for clients. SInce the stock brokedown and the market collapsed, I had been targeting $125 for Apple but decided to wait and with the stock decisively breaking that level I decided to make the move. I am optimistic about near-term […]

Cablevision Results Cause Comcast Pain

Comcast (CMCSA/CMCSK) took a serious dive yesterday, trailing the market action all day including a 3% drop when the DJIA was up close to 200 points, before recovering in the last half hour to close down 1%. I am certain that the poor quarter and reduced guidance from Cablevision (CVC) was at fault. CVC missed […]

News Corporation Looking Good

News Corporation (NWS) reported a very solid fourth quarter to wrap up a great fiscal 2007. Revenue and EBITDA rose 9% and 19%, respectively, with revenue comfortably beating estimates and operating income in line. The composition of operating income will please investors, however, as Cable Networks and Fox Interactive Media (MySpace) comfortably exceeded expectations offsetting […]

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 […]

Looking More Favorably on Dreamworks Animation

Paul Allen announced that he is dramatically reducing his remaining position in Dreamworks Animation. Following up on the sale of 12 million shares last November, Allen will now sell an additional 15-17 million shares leaving him with just 6 million shares. Of the shares to be sold, 10-12 million will be sold in a secondary […]

Virgin Media Delays Sale

Virgin Media announced that it was delaying the sale of the company. The brief press release indicated that financial and strategic buyers continue to express interest but unfavorable debt market conditions make delaying a sale in shareholders best interests. On July 2nd, Virgin Media received a proposal to take the company private. The buyer was […]

Ukraine Shortfall Pressures CETV Despite Otherwise Great Results

Central European Media Enterprises (CETV) reported second quarter revenues and EBITDA above estimates. However, the composition of the results caused concern among investors leading to a sharp 5.4% decline in the stock on above average volume. I think investors overreacted and remain very bullish on CETV shares. I was adding to positions in some client […]

Disney Earnings Growth Continues Unabated

Disney (DIS) reported another strong quarter. EPS of 58 cents exceeded the 55 cent consensus estimate with revenues in line with expectations at $9.05 billion. The upside came from margins with Broadcasting being unusually strong with operating income up 127%. Cable Networks also had higher margins than analysts were expecting. The only shortfall was operating […]

Central European Media Enterprises Earnings Preview

Central European Media Enterprises (CETV) reports second quarter earnings tomorrow morning. CETV is the largest TV broadcaster dedicated to serving Central and Eastern Europe and owns leading TV stations in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, Slovenia, Croatia, and Ukraine. CETV is a sizable US company controlled by Ronald Lauder and Apax Partners. The current market […]