More Cable and Satellite Companies Report

Yesterday saw earnings releases from Cablevision (CVC), Charter Communications (CHTR), and DirecTV (DTV) allowing investors to take a snapshot of the current competitive environment in multichannel TV. I think these results along with earlier reports from Comcast and Time Warner support eh bull case for cable over the short-term. CVC continued its strong double digit […]

Amazing! Lionsgate Reports A Routine Quarter

By recent standards, Lionsgate (LGF) reported a very routine quarter. There was little excitement in the numbers, full year guidance for March 07 was affirmed, and analyst questions on the conference call were not hostile. The lack of excitement was not just due to a generally inline quarter. LGF also made progress by releasing its […]

Cheap Is Not A Reason To Own Media Stocks

A new study by McKinsey & Co., highlighted at AdAge.com, does a good job of explaining why television advertising is facing such strong growth headwinds. The key pull quote from the AdAge article is that the study claims that “by 2010, traditional TV advertising will be one-third as effective as it was in 1990.” The […]

Disney 3Q06 Earnings Preview

The real excitement surrounding 3Q06 earnings from Disney (DIS) will concern how it impacts the outlook for FY07. Despite strong fundamentals and consistent double-digit growth, DIS shares have stalled over concerns about 2007. Recently, estimates have been falling and now reflect just over 10% EPS growth. Concerns surround tough comps for the theme parks, slowing […]

NTL: Not Bad But Could Have Been Better

I’d classify the 2Q06 earnings and conference call from NTL Incorporated as mixed. Mixed is not quite good enough for the short-term as that means there some issues. For NTLI shares to jump over the low expectations built into the stock, a clean quarter is required. I don’t think we will get that until 4Q06 […]

Weekend Box Office Good For Regal

I didn’t get a chance to do a formal review of 2Q06 earnings from Regal Entertainment (RGC) due to my PC crash. The shares had a well deserved sell-off following slightly disappointing earnings despite a strong fundamental backdrop formed by 8% growth in the domestic box office during the third quarter. Fortunately, this past weekend’s […]

NTL 2Q06 Earnings Preview

NTL Incorporated (NTLI) reports tomorrow morning. This stock has been my personal Waterloo but I think that investors are overly pessimistic especially in light of the significant free cash flow the company can generate in a no growth environment. The bar is set quite low for the quarter given the lousy action in the stock […]

Lionsgate 1Q07 Earnings Preview

Lionsgate (LGF) reports its 1Q07 on Wednesday after the close. With the key theatrical releases coming this fall and winter, LGF is looking at a backend loaded year so investors shouldn’t expect much out the quarter. The company had no box office success in the quarter but results weren’t bad enough to warrant any write-offs. […]

Time Warner Still Offers Little Upside

Time Warner (TWX) shares have responded well to 2Q earnings, regaining much of the losses since early July. However, the shares still remain well below the $17.50 level of early June. I think further upside is limited unless the market continues to revalue the cable industry upward. Cable is by far the company’s largest business […]

Taking Profits on Motorola

After much gut-wrenching action and analysis, I decided to take profits on Motorola (MOT) after owning it in most client accounts for almost two years. The stock has rebounded from $19 to over $23 since the company reported its excellent second-quarter results and raised guidance. I still think that MOT is back, and the Street […]