Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS) issued Q4 and full-year numbers on Tuesday. The competitor of Activision (NASDAQ: ATVI), THQ (NASDAQ: THQI) and Take-Two Interactive (NASDAQ: TTWO) reported adjusted fourth-quarter revenues of $919 million, which was good for a 50% increase. Earnings per diluted share were $0.09 on an adjusted basis, also representing a 50% jump. For the full year, adjusted revenues jumped 30% to $4 billion and earnings per diluted share rose 36% to $1.06. Not too bad.

EA, according to Briefing.com, also beat Wall Street's expectations by quite a bit. EA was forecast to only break-even on a non-GAAP basis, so the difference was a nice $0.09. In terms of operational cash flow, EA increased the metric by 33% during the fourth quarter, but for the full year, operational cash flow decreased 15%. Ah, such is life, I guess. Nevertheless, EA produced 27 titles that sold over a million units this year -- three more than in the previous year. Fifteen of its titles sold over 2 million units -- five more than the last fiscal period. Titles such as Army of Two and Rock Band, as well as various sports franchises, drove the results.

Things sound pretty good, don't they? EA is definitely a major force on the Sony (NYSE: SNE) PlayStation, Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) Xbox 360 and Nintendo (OTC: NTDOY) Wii platforms. But EA has had some challenges during this console cycle, and there is the perception that it needs a major merger to combat the threat posed by the Activision and Vivendi Games transaction. And let's not forget that Activision is on fire all on its own. That's what the whole attempted takeover of Take-Two is all about.

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Home Prices Fall for 7th Straight Quarter
Twenty-eight metro areas saw double-digit drops in median house prices in the 12 months ending in March, according to the National Association of Realtors. Eight metro areas saw year-over-year price declines of more than 20 percent: Sacramento (29.2 percent); Riverside-San Bernardino, Calif. (27.7 percent); Lansing, Mich. (26.9 percent); San Diego (22.9 percent); Sarasota, Fla. (22.2 percent); Los Angeles (21.3 percent); Grand Rapids, Mich. (20.7 percent) and Las Vegas (20.2 percent).
Study: House prices -Bankrate.com

Sony (NYSE: SNE) posted a loss last quarter. That was not what Wall Street had expected. Part of the problem is that falling stock markets hurt the company's securities portfolio. Maybe Sony should stick to consumer electronics and stay out of the stock market.

The only large division of Sony that really did well was its digital camera business.

Sony made a long-term error by believing its television business could push its earnings up. Price competition in that sector has knocked margins down. Sony had also hoped that sales of the PS3 would pick up. They have to some extent, but Sony has dropped the price on the product. That is hardly a way to drive operating profits.

According to The New York Times, "Sony aims to sell 17 million liquid crystal display TVs in the year to next March, up from 10.6 million in the year just ended." Of course, if it can't make money on all those TVs, the volume increase may not matter much.

Sony says the next year looks good, but that may well not be the case. It missed numbers in the quarter announced today, and the key engines of future performance are TVs and improved PS3 sales to eliminate the losses in the company's gaming unit.

Both of the businesses are critical to a turnaround at Sony but may not do well at all.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

As is almost the case ahead of some key data announcement, investors tend to be looking for direction. Indeed, stock futures were mildly lower early Wednesday morning as the Street awaits CPI reading on inflation. Also in focus this morning is housing after a reading on foreclosures surged.

Already on Tuesday investors seemed nervous as U.S. stocks finished mixed on Tuesday. Retail sales, Wal-Mart results, Hewlett Packard's acquisition of EDS and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's speech on the markets affected stocks with the Dow ending 44 points, or 0.34% lower, the S&P 500 nearly flat as it was down half a point, or 0.04%, and the Nasdaq Composite ending 6 points, or 0.27%, higher.

This morning, stocks will likely get a clearer direction after April's Consumer Price Index report due out at 8:30 a.m. EDT. Economists, according to Briefing.com expect CPI to rise 0.3% in April, while core CPI, which excludes the volatile food and energy prices, is estimated to be up 0.2% in April. Investors want the report to allow the Fed to keep interest rates as they are so as to bolster the dollar, and hence commodities, somewhat.

Speaking of the dollar and commodities, though, oil keeps trading on its own set of "rules," it seems. Overnight, oil set yet another record, shrugging off gains in the dollar. The record, near $127 a barrel, was due to concerns that Iran may cut production. Oil has retreated since as the reports may have been overblown. This morning, at 10:30 a.m. EDT the weekly release of U.S. fuel inventories is due. Meanwhile, congress voted Tuesday to challenge President Bush to temporarily halt the daily shipment of thousands of barrels of oil into the government's emergency reserve.

ON Semiconductor (NASDAQ: ONNN) designs and manufactures a wide variety of power and data management semiconductors for customers in the automotive, communications, computer, medical, industrial and military/aerospace markets. It operates a network of manufacturing facilities, sales offices and design centers in key markets throughout North America, Europe and the Asia Pacific region. Top clients include Nokia (NYSE: NOK) and Sony (NYSE: SNE). Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN) is a major competitor.

The firm pleased investors last week, when it reported Q1 EPS of 21 cents and revenues of $421.9 million. Analysts had been looking for 14 cents and $386.9 million. Management also guided Q2 revenues to $545-$560 million ($400.6M consensus). Canaccord Adams subsequently upgraded the shares to "buy". Kaufman Brothers, Lehman Brothers and Wedbush Morgan reiterated their "buy" ratings.

I honestly thought Time Warner's (NYSE: TWX) Speed Racer would take the top spot over the Mother's Day weekend at the domestic box-office marketplace. Thankfully, I was wrong, since I own shares in Marvel Entertainment (NYSE: MVL).

Instead, Marvel's blockbuster Iron Man, which is distributed by Viacom (NYSE: VIA), grabbed the honors. According to estimates at Boxofficemojo.com, Iron Man grossed more than $50 million while Speed Racer drove away with about $20 million, good for second place. Yes, these are estimates, but I'll tell you what, my friends any changes to them later on won't alter the tale of Marvel beating the bigger studio. News Corp.'s (NYSE: NWS) new film, What Happens in Vegas, took in a similar amount to Racer and is currently pegged in third place. While first place is a lock, it's possible that second and third positions will be changed. Sony's (NYSE: SNE) Made of Honor and General Electric's (NYSE: GE) NBC Universal comedy Baby Mama were fourth and fifth, respectively.

This was Iron Man's second weekend, and I couldn't be more pleased by its performance. Hopefully, the picture is on its way to grossing at least $250 million domestically; subsequent weekends will get tougher for Marvel as more summer flicks open and gobble up screens and mindshare. For now, though, the company is a superhero. I just hope that the new Hulk, which will be opening soon, is a lot better than the one put out a few years back. For coverage on Marvel's latest earnings report, check out Sheldon Liber's recent piece.

Disclosure: I own shares in General Electric and Marvel; 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.

Since last year's summer movie preview featured mostly sequels and adaptations, this year's preview has been expanded to include more than just potential "blockbusters." The following is a chronological list of not only the most hyped film fare of the summer, but other noteworthy smaller entries, and a short commentary on each.



5/2 - Iron Man, Viacom (NYSE: VIA)'s Paramount Pictures
The first of two big Marvel Entertainment (NYSE: MVL) adaptations of the summer, the Robert Downey Jr. led Iron Man has been getting a ton of hype and critical acclaim. This is the second year that a comic book adaptation has kicked off the summer, following last year's Spider-Man 3, which grossed over $150M over its opening weekend.

5/9 - Speed Racer, Time Warner (NYSE: TWX)'s Warner Bros.
Another big-budget adaptation of a generations-old cartoon. Last year's Transformers was, to my surprise, a huge success, so maybe Speed Racer, in the capable directing hands of the Wachowskis, can be as well.

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.

The Nintendo Ltd. (OTC: NTDOY) Wii and Sony Corp. (NYSE: SNE) PlayStation 3 were released within two weeks of each other, in November of 2006, as the latter two of the three "seventh generation" home video-game consoles, with the Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) Xbox 360, released a year earlier, being the third. Now, a year and a half later, let's review how the two gaming machines stand up to each other.

Out of the gate, the Wii was a hit. It broke sales records, led by its revolutionary controller and Wii Sports, a silly mini-game compilation that came packaged with the console. The focus of the system was more on its unique game play, which Nintendo hoped would draw casual gamers, than its intense graphics abilities. The gamble paid off, as the Wii surpassed the Xbox 360, which was released earlier, as the top-selling console in September 2007.

The PlayStation 3 had no such luck at the start. The console's strategy, like the Xbox 360's, revolved around graphics, which made the system more expensive -- $499 for the basic PS3 at launch was double the Wii's $249 launch price. Sony also decided to intertwine the fate of the console with that of the next generation DVD technology the company backed, the Blu-ray disc. However, the release of the PS3 slightly predated the high-definition craze, and so having a Blu-ray player was not an important enough selling point to help the console at launch. Another issue for the PS3 at launch was the lack of a cornerstone franchise for the system. Xbox had Halo, and Nintendo, with its deep video-game roots, had Zelda, Mario, and Metroid. Without a "must buy" game or franchise, Sony was left out, and its PlayStations stayed on the shelves.

Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ: CGNX) provides machine vision computer systems that automate a range of manufacturing processes. Essentially, the systems link to video cameras and serve as eyes where human vision is insufficient. The firm's Modular Vision Systems automate the manufacture of discrete items (e.g: semiconductor chips) by locating, identifying, inspecting and measuring them during the manufacturing process. Its Surface Inspection Systems monitor the surfaces of materials processed in a continuous fashion (e.g: paper, metal, plastic) for imperfections. Cognex has offices throughout North America, Japan, Europe, Asia and Latin America. Boston Scientific (NYSE: BSX), Ford Motor (NYSE: F) and Sony (NYSE: SNE) are customers.

Cognex pleased investors earlier in the week, when it reported Q1 EPS of 20 cents and revenues of $60.5 million. Analysts had been looking for 17 cents and $59.9 million. Management also guided Q2 EPS to 20-24 cents (20 cent consensus) and Q2 revenues to $65-$68 million ($63.14 million consensus). The firm expects gross margin to remain in the low-70% range.

The theory makes sense. As the economy softens, Sony (NYSE: SNE), Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), and Nintendo will cut the prices of their game consoles to keep sales volumes up. The CEO of game publisher Activision (NASDAQ: ATVI) has stated as much.

According to Reuters, "With the rising costs of fuel and food and housing, it is more difficult to go out and buy a $399 console, and I think it's going to put pressure on the console manufacturers to reduce their prices," Bobby Kotick said.

The problem presents a delicate balance for the console makers. Nintendo's stock has soared because of the popularity of the Wii. Microsoft just began to make money in its device division in the first quarter of the year. After a number of quarters of losses, it looks like the PS3 may start to contribute to the Sony P&L.

Holding prices may keep margins high, but drop unit sales.

There are two factors that work in favor of the console producers. The first is that, as their manufacturing volume has gone up, component prices have come down. That means if retail prices are lowered, the companies can still make money.

The other factor is that all three companies get licensing fees from each video game that is sold to run on its platform. With new offerings like Grand Theft Auto IV on the market, those fees should soften the blow of lowering hardware prices.

Watch for the price of game consoles to be dropped -- and soon.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com and author of the Ten Stocks Under $10 letter.

So Take-Two Interactive (NASDAQ: TTWO) is about to have one heck of a week. Tell me if I'm wrong, but I'm willing to bet everyone reading this knows that today is launch day for Grand Theft Auto IV on the Sony (NYSE: SNE) PlayStation 3 and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) Xbox 360 consoles. And I'm sure there were many hardcore fans at Best Buy (NASDAQ: BBY) and GameStop (NYSE: GME) today, ready with cold-hard-cash in their hands to snag the software; in fact, this article talks about how some stores were open at midnight to satisfy the pent-up demand (remember, this title was delayed). And Douglas McIntyre discussed the game earlier today as being a potential barometer in terms of consumer confidence.

With all this incredible buzz, with the projection that GTA IV might move close to 10 million discs this year, should you be interested in taking on some Take-Two stock for your investment portfolio? The answer for me is no, Take-Two is not a buy here. Remember that we still have the whole arbitrage game going on with it since Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS) wants to buy the publisher; also recall that Take-Two is gunning for a higher offer and purposely delayed further negotiations until after the release of GTA IV. I sold my position when the whole buyout offer was made a while ago, and I'm still glad that I did -- for me, the trade was over at that point, and I was happy to simply own my Activision (NASDAQ: ATVI) shares.

LSI Corporation (NYSE: LSI) designs, develops and markets semiconductors used by original equipment manufacturers in the data networking and consumer electronics markets. It also provides a wide variety of storage systems, sub-assemblies, and storage management software applications. Top clients include Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ), IBM (NYSE: IBM) and Sony (NYSE: SNE).

The firm surprised the Street last week, when it reported Q1 EPS of ten cents and revenues of $660.75 million. Analysts had been looking for seven cents and $636 million. Management also guided Q2 EPS to 8-12 cents (seven cent consensus) and Q2 revenues to $650-$680 million ($634.62M consensus). Kaufman Brothers and Caris subsequently declared the stock a "buy". Friedman Billings and Deutsche Securities called it a "hold". All four firms upped their price targets from the range $4.50-$6.00 to the range $6.50-$7.00.