McDonald's (NYSE: MCD) announced its same-store sales results for the month of April Thursday, and the data indicate a healthy fast-food business ("healthy fast food" -- isn't that an oxymoron?).

Global comps as a whole increased 5%. Comps for European locations increased 6.3%, and the Asia/Pacific/Middle East/Africa segment saw a 7.8% rise in same-store sales. McDonald's restaurants in the States increased an anemic 2%. The weak domestic sales really need to be addressed so that they can pull more weight and add to the cool story that is McDonald's.

The stock has been a pretty decent performer over the last several months, rising over 6% over the three-month timeframe, and over the one-month period, it is up over 7%. And the longer-period returns from the past are even more impressive. Imagine how McDonald's stock would perform if management figured out how to get people to visit the U.S.'s Golden Arches more often. I suppose April's performance should be praised since March saw a decline in U.S. comps, as this article makes plain, but that depreciation was the first one in five years, and that says to me that McDonald's needs to be careful.

It's all about the marketing, of course. There are a lot of choices out there -- Burger King (NYSE: BKC), Wendy's (NYSE: WEN) and Yum! Brands (NYSE: YUM) -- so I think promotion of the brand is key. Some will disagree and say that menus and pricing are the big drivers -- they are important, don't get me wrong, but perhaps McDonald's needs to take a cue from Burger King and its campaign with the creepy-king thing -- those commercials are clever. Still, if this comps reports says anything, it says that you shouldn't count the clown out -- McDonald's is a blue-chip stock that is near a 52-week high, and not only is it a great long-term/core holding, but it's also quite possibly an interesting shorter-term idea as well.

Disclosure: I don't own shares in any company mentioned here; positions can change at any time.

No matter how you slice it, whether you look at GAAP or non-GAAP statistics, Activision, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI) kicked it during the quarter. And I mean really kicked it.

Net sales for Q4 set off at warp factor 11, rising 93% to $602.5 million. Earnings per diluted share on a reported basis came in at $0.14, reversing a year-ago loss of $0.05 per share. For the full fiscal year, Activision grew revenues by 92% -- again, sales growth in the 90's! -- to $2.9 billion. Earnings per diluted share were $1.10 in 2008 versus a measly $0.28 in 2007. Take that, Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS) and THQ Inc. (NASDAQ: THQI)! Activision is truly taking advantage of consoles from Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT), Sony Corporation (NYSE: SNE), and Nintendo Co. Ltd. (OTC: NTDOY). Titles such as Call of Duty 4, Guitar Hero, and Transformers drove the results -- like I always say, it's always about the quality of the slate. On an adjusted basis, earnings beat expectations by a whopping $0.12, according to Briefing.com.

I bet EA is really wishing its deal went through for Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO) right about now! I believe Activision will continue to do well the rest of the year, and I love its fundamentals, but what about the stock? As of this writing, it's up about 3%. If you are looking to trade Activision, I'd probably wait until all the earnings excitement is over and be patient for pullbacks as the market may perceive that everything is priced in at the moment now that the news is out.

Disclosure: I own shares in Activision; positions can change at any time.

News Corp. (NYSE: NWS), a media conglomerate that competes with Time Warner (NYSE: TWX), Disney (NYSE: DIS), Viacom (NYSE: VIA), CBS (NYSE: CBS) and Sony (NYSE: SNE), reported third-quarter earnings Wednesday, and they were pretty interesting, to say the least.

I mean, revenues increased 16% to about $8.8 billion, but earnings per share went up like crazy, coming in at $0.91 per diluted share versus $0.27 per diluted share a year ago -- that's more than three times as much as the comparable period's results! As you can imagine, there's a little catch. The stellar appreciation is due to a gain in a transaction with Liberty Media. According to a piece at CNBC, News Corp. earned $0.30 per share after adjustments, which was a penny shy of Wall Street's expectations.

So, News Corp. kind of had a so-so quarter. I think the top-line growth was pretty good even if bottom-line performance wasn't as nice as that special gain made it seem on the surface. Plus, News Corp. is working with some cool assets. Cable programming continues to score thanks to the strength of Fox News Channel, an important platform for the conglomerate which contains valuable brand name pundits such as Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity. News Corp. leverages the channel to drive growth in its other cable properties; in fact, Fox Business Channel is trying to make a name for itself and it definitely benefits from synergy with Fox News.

Overall, the cable programming segment delivered a 17% increase in operating income while Fox News saw its operating profit go up by 11%. The television segment increased its profits by over 50%, and the Fox network just about doubled its bottom-line base. Other parts of News Corp. didn't do as well, such as filmed entertainment -- this segment's profit took a dive to the tune of 36%. However, don't blame one of my favorite shows, Family Guy -- DVD sales of this hot property was a positive driver.

Those are the highlights that stuck out at me. As for the stock, I don't see a compelling reason to buy at the moment. News Corp. should do well over time, but it wasn't like these were blowout numbers or anything. I'll wait and see how the company is doing when it reports its fiscal-year stats.

Disclosure: I own shares in Disney; positions can change at any time.

THQ's (NASDAQ: THQI) Q4 results were not good at all. Revenues were up over 8% to $187 million, but the software publisher lost an adjusted $0.37 per diluted share from continuing operations. Last year at this time, THQ generated positive adjusted net income of $0.13 per diluted share from continuing operations. The full fiscal year was no better -- revenues were basically flat at $1 billion. The company lost an adjusted $0.23 per diluted share from continuing operations during the year compared to an adjusted profit of $1.20 per diluted share from continuing operations in 2007.

This publisher is no Activision (NASDAQ: ATVI) or Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS) right now. Its slate is performing poorly, and the company's stock is likewise in the dumps. But what about the future? A few years back, THQ wasn't a bad investment decision. I have a feeling that THQ will rebound as the current console cycle continues its forward path, especially when further price cuts in hardware make their way to market.

THQ, however, needs to get its slate back on track, and to really go after the Sony (NYSE: SNE) PlayStation 3 and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) Xbox 360 players. It seems to be doing OK with the Nintendo (OTC: NTDOY) Wii platform in terms of revenue mix. Perhaps the deal struck with DreamWorks Animation (NYSE: DWA) for a video game based on the animation company's 2010 feature Master Mind will help.

Nevertheless, there is nothing exciting in the earnings release, nothing that makes me think that THQ is out of the dark woods yet. Again, though, I would expect the publisher's stock to rebound in the future. Question is, how patient will investors be?

Disclosure: I own shares in Activision; positions can change at any time.

Playboy's (NYSE: PLA) shares are hovering near a 52-week low as I write this. The catalyst, you ask? The sexy company reported some dismal earnings this week. Net sales decreased 8%. The net loss came in at $0.09 per diluted share versus positive net income of $0.04 per diluted share in the previous year's quarter.

Even if you look at some of the adjustments, the Playboy story just isn't a seductive one. And according to a Reuters article, expectations were for a profit of $0.06 per share after adjustments. The net income of each Playboy operating division headed in a downward direction. And publishing, well -- that's been the saddest segment of all for a while now.

I have a question for Christie Hefner: Are you serious about turning your father's company around? Seriously. I've been giving Playboy the benefit of the doubt now for quite some time, and I'm not sure I can do that anymore. I want to, believe me; I'm a guy who has always been in love with the Playboy lifestyle. And, remember, the invitation is always open if you need me to come over to the Mansion to help you generate some new marketing strategies.

World Wrestling Entertainment (NYSE: WWE) stepped into the Wall Street ring on Tuesday -- and lost. The company's stock dropped about 8% at closing on the Q1 earnings release (it did recover a bit during the after-hours session). I'd probably call this profit-taking, although there was one thing about the earnings report that I didn't like: free cash flow.

Let me say first, though, that revenues increased more than 50% to $162.6 million, and that earnings per share rose almost 29% to 27 cents (according to Briefing.com, this matched expectations). This is excellent growth, and it shows the resilience of wrestling as an entertainment brand; sure, many on Wall Street may not take the company seriously, but they're wrong. I enjoyed, by the way, that WWE increased the buy-rates for its Royal Rumble and No Way Out pay-per-view events. Pay-per-view is a very vital part of WWE's operations, in my opinion. And let's not forget a big driver for the quarter -- Wrestlemania XXIV -- which brought in more than million buys.

Unfortunately, free cash tumbled off the mat, decreasing 77%. And, no, the amount generated did not cover the generous dividend that WWE pays. I would really like to see free cash flow do well every quarter since WWE has been a steady dividend-increaser over its time as a public company. Management must focus on the cash-flow statement and make it a priority.

Qwest Communications (NYSE: Q), a company whose competitors include Verizon (NYSE: VZ), AT&T (NYSE: T) and Sprint Nextel (NYSE: S), issued its Q1 results on Tuesday, and they weren't inspiring to me at all. Revenues declined 1% to $3.4 billion. Net income took a dive to the tune of 25%, coming in at $0.09 per diluted share. Those are year-over-year declines -- the sequential-quarter comparisons also told a tale of decline. Adjusting the earnings for some tax considerations did, however, yield a net-income increase of almost 6%.

But then there's one of my favorite measures of growth -- free cash flow. Qwest didn't hit this metric. Free cash, on an adjusted basis, was $56 million this time around versus $156 million last time around (I give Qwest credit for increasing its operating cash flow, however). Qwest was able to carve out some double-digit gains in its broadband and video subscribers, but that seemed to be of little help right now.

Overall, I came away from the earnings report -- which told a complex story of adjustments, EBITDA, and such -- not wanting to add this stock to my watch list. According to Briefing.com, Qwest missed expectations by a penny, and its revenues failed to go beyond what Wall Street was looking for. Considering the low price of the shares, and the fact that the dividend yield isn't one I'd chase, I'll feel free to leave this one alone.

Disclosure: I do not own shares in any company mentioned here; positions can change at any time.

Recently, Jonathan Berr took a look at CBS (NYSE: CBS) and its latest quarterly results. One of the things I found most interesting about the earnings release was the fact that CBS's dividend reputation is very much intact -- management raised the quarterly payout by 8% to $0.27 per share. It can certainly afford to do this as free cash flow was up 25% in the last quarter, and the amount was more than adequate for the dividend. CBS has been pretty good about increasing the payments, but I happened to come across a headline at CNBC that talked about Jim Cramer's concerns about CBS -- he basically would rather the media company focus on growth instead of income.

His point is a good one, and well-taken -- after all, growth is pretty darn exciting. But I think CBS management has been great at sharing the spoils with its stockholders, and I always think it's a neat thing when a media stock yields a decent amount. CBS currently yields 4.5% based on Monday's closing price -- that's a lot bigger than the yields offered by Time Warner (NYSE: TWX) and Disney (NYSE: DIS). Yes, it's a cliché, but shareholders are getting paid to wait, and that's awesome if you intend to hold the stock for a long time. As a Disney shareholder, I can tell you that CBS's yield makes me envious!

I think CBS will turn out to be more than just an income play though. I'm confident the company will grow the price of its stock over time. Granted, major networks aren't what they used to be in this world of cable television, but the landscape continues to change with new digital distribution models popping up all the time, and networks like CBS are looking to participate wherever it makes sense to do so. Considering CBS's ability to generate cash and its willingness to share, I have a feeling capital appreciation will eventually follow the dividend boosts.

Disclosure: I own shares in Disney; positions can change at any time.

I really want to turn bullish on Midway Games Inc. (NYSE: MWY), but there's no way I can do that right now. The company's stock is below $3 a share, and it's there for a reason. But, let's first look at a couple positives from the software publisher's latest earnings release. Net revenues shot up 170% to $29.9 million in Q1; that beat expectations, according to Briefing.com. And the net loss per share also beat expectations by a penny -- it came in at $0.29 per diluted share on an adjusted analysis.

But, that net loss is worse than the previous year's net loss of $0.20 per diluted share, also adjusted. Like I say, someday I want to report that Midway has turned the corner and is a buy. I simply can't do that, even though I recently bought the publisher's catalog title Rampage: Total Destruction for the Nintendo Gamecube and am having a great time with it -- guess it goes to show that you can't always judge a company's stock by the fact that you enjoy its products. One thing that Midway needs to do is perhaps seek some synergy from Viacom, Inc. (NYSE: VIA)'s MTV and Nickelodeon channels. Sumner Redstone is, after all, the controlling shareholder of Midway. Granted, THQ Inc. (NASDAQ: THQI) deals with the Nickelodeon characters at the moment, but in the future, Redstone needs to figure out a way to use his media assets to promote Midway and perhaps funnel some licensing deals to the publisher. MTV is certainly doing well with its own video-game ambitions via Rock Band, which is sold by Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS).

One thing I must point out is that, since my last article about Midway, the stock is up. This was mentioned to me by a reader. So, in objective trading terms, if you went against my opinion, you would have made money, no question. However, I have to stick to my guns and say that I personally wouldn't play the volatility in Midway's shares. Yes, you could luck out with it, maybe Redstone will come along one day and buy out the remaining shares at a big premium (doubtful, at least the big-premium part). I wouldn't want to speculate on such an outcome; I am still content with my Activision, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI) shares as a way to play video-game investing.

Disclosure: I own shares in Activision; positions can change at any time.

CVS Caremark (NYSE: CVS), a big competitor of both Walgreen (NYSE: WAG) and Rite Aid (NYSE: RAD), released its Q1 earnings last week. They were very good, and they reminded me that I probably need to throw a drugstore chain's stock in my core portfolio as a long-term play on the increasing health-care needs of the baby boomers (and every other demo, for that matter).

Looking through the reported growth rates, you can see that we're talking best-of-breed here. Revenues were up over 60%, and adjusted earnings per share increased over 18%, coming in at $0.55. The Caremark merger has obviously proven to be a good move. Same-store sales rose 3.9%, benefited in part by the early appearance of Easter in March.

According to earnings.com, CVS Caremark basically matched earnings expectations. That's okay, though, I don't think you can hold it against this big brand name. As of this writing, CVS is near a 52-week high. Buying at the 52-week high is always a dicey thing, but if you plan on holding for years, it wouldn't be that much of a concern. Shorter-term traders would need to wait for a pullback. But I like the first quarter results for CVS, and I think the stock is poised to do well over time. And like I said at the beginning, this really may be a stock for the core portion of an individual's investment program -- a true buy-and-hold idea.

Disclosure: I don't own shares in any company mentioned here; positions can change at any time.

This post is part of our Battle of the Brands feature. Let us know which brand you prefer, and check out other Battle of the Brands posts.

When it comes to nonalcoholic beverages, there are two that stand out from all the rest. I'm sure you know the names of the companies behind them -- Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) and PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP). That's right, it's Coke-versus-Pepsi time! This battle has been waging for a long, long time, and it is as legendary, as ultimate, as the conflict between good and evil. Of course, which one is "good" and which one is "evil" will depend on your taste buds (or, perhaps, the stock you own).

Oddly enough, I'm sort of on both sides. Consider: I own shares in Coke, but when it comes to choosing between Coke and Pepsi, believe it or not, I actually choose the latter! Nothing wrong with that, certainly; after all, you don't invest based solely on what you personally like or don't like. But I will give Pepsi this much -- its soda, simply put, seems a little smoother, a lot sweeter, and it doesn't have an aftertaste. There's something about Coke's flagship beverage that causes a strange taste to linger after its been downed. Maybe it's just me. But, yes, I have to come clean and confess that I do prefer Pepsi over Coke (although, I tell all my friends that Coke is the better-tasting drink, as you can imagine, and promote it whenever the opportunity arises). I should note, though, that all of this is a bit of a moot point, since I mostly eschew sugary soda these days in favor of the dietary counterpart -- on that count, I am most firmly in Coke's camp, as I happily consume Diet Coke exclusively, and cannot stand Diet Pepsi!

So, Mr. Softy CEO Steve Ballmer couldn't take the heat anymore. For all his talk about walking away and hostile bidding, he decides to try and make nice with the Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) board by apparently raising his offer. This man must feel that Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) desperately needs the internet portal (it doesn't). While Yahoo! is definitely a prime force on the 'net, I have to say that, in my opinion, Ballmer should've just stuck to his tough guns and left Yahoo! at the table. But, according to this AP item, The New York Times has indicated that the original $31 per share offer has possibly been increased by "several dollars," this according to that old standby "unnamed sources." The article even indicates that $35 is potentially feasible.

I've got to believe that most Microsoft shareholders will feel aggravated by this. The goofy dance that has been going on between Ballmer and Yahoo!'s CEO Jerry Yang has been, to say the least, trying. I mean, who wants to see Microsoft spend all that money on a company that may or may not properly synergize with Mr. Softy's core competencies. Isn't focusing on the cash-cow operating-system monopoly of more importance? Isn't the Office franchise worth increased attention? What about the success of the Xbox 360 -- why would Ballmer want to now get sidelined integrating the Yahoo! brand when the Xbox brand is starting to show mega long-term promise? These are the things that went through my mind when I first heard of the Microsoft bid. I mean, seriously, I can't believe $50 billion is now conceivably on the table as a bid for the portal. Sure, Yahoo! is valuable, but probably to another, more suitable company; as an example, I didn't think a combo between Time Warner's (NYSE: TWX) AOL and Yahoo! was that off the wall.

The way I see it, Microsoft is an innovative software company that should concentrate on increasing its free cash flow to grow dividends over time and to make selective, smaller acquisitions that don't require leaps of faith when it comes to integration. I thought Ballmer believed what he said when he stated that Microsoft doesn't need Yahoo! But, I guess Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) is getting under his skin, and his ego would have been too bruised if he failed in his quest to win over the Yahoo! board. Whatever; I still like Microsoft stock on a long-term basis, but I really would have liked it if the most famous software giant in the world didn't take on the risk of owning Yahoo!

Disclosure: I don't own shares in any of the companies mentioned here; positions can change at any time.

Viacom (NYSE: VIA) issued its Q1 earnings results on Friday. The conglomerate seems to be doing all right with its strategy of leveraging content to drive growth. Revenues were up 15%, and adjusted diluted earnings per share jumped 29% to $0.44. But it can be seen that there's a dichotomy going on if you look into the performance of the two main operating segments: media networks saw its operating income rock up 15% while filmed entertainment tallied up an operating loss for the quarter. Even though that loss was narrowed by over 40%, I always get disappointed when I see a studio in the red -- it reminds me that the movie business is a risky, oftentimes low-return one.

But, should you be down on Viacom's movie business right now? Maybe not, since Paramount is currently distributing Marvel's (NYSE: MVL) Iron Man -- see Sheldon Liber's recent article about the film. That should hopefully improve things going forward, as might Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Viacom also will be distributing Kung Fu Panda for DreamWorks Animation (NYSE: DWA). Sumner Redstone is certainly counting on these projects to be huge. And speaking of huge, the company's Rock Band continues to fuel the media networks segment -- it's sold by Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS), and it is apparently holding its own against Activision's (NASDAQ: ATVI) Guitar Hero. The synergies between MTV and the music system are obviously pushing this one. Maybe the studio should get in on the video-game action by greenlighting a movie based on Rock Band -- maybe Jack Black could star in it!

Overall, I think Viacom is performing as it should, and I hope the movie division can bring in some profits during the coming months (I think it will). As for the stock, I'd ideally like to see it a bit lower before I'd consider buying it.

Disclosure: I own shares of Activision and Marvel; positions can change at any time.

McDonald's (NYSE: MCD) may be the big brand name in the fast-food industry, but don't discount Burger King (NYSE: BKC). The King reported its fiscal Q3 numbers on Thursday, and they were pretty regal indeed.

Revenues increased 10%, and earnings per share did even better, rising 20% to 30 cents (that beat earnings by three pennies, says Briefing.com). Now, when talking about retail stores and fast-food joints, the issue of same-store sales always comes up, since it's such an important element to consider (be sure to keep in mind that comps must always be put in an overall context, especially if you are only measuring a one-month timeframe). Global comps increased 5.8% for the quarter, a good showing for Burger King which wants to become a force to be reckoned with around the world. The domestic side of things isn't doing too badly either as comps in the United States and Canada moved up 5.4%. Restaurant margins, however, decreased due to the challenging commodity-cost environment we all live in nowadays. Otherwise, I see these earnings as very positive for Burger King, and I am bullish on the stock.

Cable operator Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA), a competitor of DirecTV (NYSE: DTV) and DISH Network (NASDAQ: DISH), issued its first-quarter earnings report on Thursday, and overall it was a satisfying set of data. Revenues grew 14% to $8.4 billion. Adjusted earnings per share increased 12% to $0.19 (on a reported basis, however, they did decline by 8%). One of my favorite things to look at is free cash flow -- Comcast scored here, as free cash jumped 59% to over $700 million.

I've never owned Comcast stock, and I'm on record as preferring content companies over distribution platforms. That being said, I do have to say that Comcast is a pretty good name in its industry, and that it seems to be doing quite well with its various offerings. Looking through the earnings release, I see that Comcast added close to half-a-million digital cable customers. The high-speed internet service and digital-phone service also seem to be performing (on an anecdotal level, it does feel like more and more people are taking up the triple-play suite that Comcast is constantly promoting). The programming segment, which includes channels such as E! and The Golf Channel, saw revenues increase 20% and it delivered a nice stream of cash flow. The company bought back almost 2% of its outstanding shares, and management plans to buy more under its repurchase initiative.

If you're looking to get in on the stock, I'd wait for a pullback after Thursday's 8% pop in share price. Like I say, I do like content companies, but Comcast might be an interesting long-term idea, since it will probably be the beneficiary of a desire on the part of media conglomerates such as Disney (NYSE: DIS), Time Warner (NYSE: TWX), and Viacom (NYSE: VIA) to engage more digital distribution via video-on-demand and to, in fact, experiment with day-and-date release (which I talked about in a recent piece). If this paradigm ever hits a critical mass, then Comcast should do well with it.

Disclosure: I own shares in Disney; positions can change at any time.