FeedPosted Nov 6th 2009 10:20AM by Steven Mallas (RSS feed)
Filed under: Earnings reports, Sony Corp ADR (SNE), Electronic Arts (ERTS), Activision Inc (ATVI), Technology, Nintendo (NTDOY)
Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ: ATVI) published third-quarter results on Thursday after the bell. I can't say I was wholly taken with them. I know the best is probably yet to come once the Christmas shopping season really gets under way, but I was a little disappointed that the company saw a decline in adjusted profit.
Excluding items, Activision Blizzard made 4 cents per share this quarter versus the 7 cents per share made in last year's similar period. Well, did I say I was a little disappointed? Make that a lot disappointed. After all, this is supposed to be the publisher with the best pipeline on the block, the one with the Guitar Hero franchise and a great portfolio of licensed intellectual properties.
Continue reading Activision Blizzard's Q3: Am I right to be bearish?
Posted Nov 3rd 2009 2:20PM by Steven Mallas (RSS feed)
Filed under: Earnings reports, General Electric (GE), Time Warner (TWX), Walt Disney (DIS), Viacom (VIA), Sony Corp ADR (SNE), News Corp'B' (NWS), Hasbro Inc (HAS), Media World
Viacom (NYSE:
VIA), a content player in competition with
News Corp. (NASDAQ:
NWS),
Time Warner (NYSE:
TWX),
Sony (NYSE:
SNE), and
General Electric's (NYSE:
GE) NBC Universal, issued
Q3 numbers today. If we had a different market on our hands, I think the stock would have reacted better to the news. Revenues were down 3%, but adjusted income rose 25% to 69 cents per share. According to
Bloomberg, the bottom line came in well ahead of estimates, which were pegged at 57 cents per share.
Sounds good, doesn't it? Well, the company's A shares are down slightly as I write this by about 0.6%, and the B shares are just about flat. Like I say, if the broader indexes were in an uptrend this afternoon, we probably would have seen a pop in the stock.
Continue reading Viacom does well in Q3, but there is still work to be done
Posted Oct 30th 2009 7:35AM by Melly Alazraki (RSS feed)
Filed under: Before the bell, International markets, Market matters, Sony Corp ADR (SNE), Chevron Corp (CVX), Alcatel-LucentADS (ALU), Duke Energy (DUK), Economic data, MetLife Inc. (MET)

U.S. stock futures drifted lower Friday morning, indicating a weaker start on Wall Street, a day after a market rally that was fueled by strong economic reports. But as investors catch their breath, they also await cautiously for data on consumer spending and sentiment, as earlier data this week surprised to the down side.
On Thursday, the government reported the economy grew 3.5% in the third quarter. While the growth was mostly due to government stimuli, it was enough to lift stocks some 2% for the day. Treasury Secretary Timothy
Geithner said Thursday the U.S. economy's return to growth shows some stability but recovery is fragile and needs nurturing.
Continue reading Before the bell: Futures lower as Street takes a breather, awaits more data
Posted Oct 29th 2009 2:50PM by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed)
Filed under: Microsoft (MSFT), Apple Inc (AAPL), Sony Corp ADR (SNE), Nintendo (NTDOY)
If the Wii were still cool, Nintendo (OTC: NTDOY) wouldn't have had to take a heavy hand to its full-year earnings forecast. The company's profit fell 52% year-over-year for the past quarter, due in large part to a decline in the game's popularity. Demand has slipped, with Sony (NYSE: SNE) and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) gaining ground with the core market of zealous gamers. Also, it's seen its position eroded by Apple's (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone, which is picking up some momentum as a gaming platform.
Nintendo's Q3 operating profit dropped to JPY64 billion ($709 million), falling far short of the analyst estimate of JPY90 billion. For the year ending March 2010, the company has chopped its forecast to JPY370 billion, far lower than the analyst expectation of JPY442.8 billion.
After dominating the gaming industry for the past three years, Nintendo's Wii gave up its position in the top spot to Sony's PlayStation 3 last month. The company has also been hurt by an increase in the value of the yen, which has hurt all Japanese exporters. Yet, even by local standards, Nintendo isn't measuring up. Its stock price is down 28% this year, compared to a 14% increase in the Nikkei 225.
Posted Oct 19th 2009 8:40AM by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed)
Filed under: Apple Inc (AAPL), Amazon.com (AMZN), Sony Corp ADR (SNE)
For retailers, the crucial season is on its way. Blow the Christmas rush, and next year starts off on a miserable foot. Success, of course, also delivers a healthy dose of momentum -- and a little bit of wiggle room, important in what will continue to be a tough economy through at least the first half of next year. For booksellers, now contending with a new variable in the form of digital readers, e-readers will play a major role in defining the winners and losers. So far, it looks like Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) is off to a great start, and it will take some genuine innovation for the competition to chip away at its market share.
Barnes & Noble (NYSE: BKS), once the leading names in literary retail, is expected to release its own e-reader this week. It will look a bit like Amazon's Kindle, according to Reuters, but with a touch screen intended to make the reader's experience easier. The price hasn't been disclosed yet, but rumor has it that it'll be higher than the Kindle's $259. BKS is staying mum on its plans in this space. There are others in the space, as well, including IREX Technologies, which is a spinoff of Royal Philips Electronics (NYSE: PHG), Asutek (tk: tk) and a project called FirstPaper that has Hearst behind it.
Continue reading Amazon in the lead, but Kindle competition is coming
Posted Oct 12th 2009 10:50AM by Steven Mallas (RSS feed)
Filed under: General Electric (GE), Walt Disney (DIS), Viacom (VIA), Sony Corp ADR (SNE), Film
General Electric's (NYSE: GE) studio division didn't have a great summer at the box office. This past weekend, though, the company's new comedy made waves at the box office.
According to Box Office Mojo, Universal's Couples Retreat, starring Vince Vaughn, took in about $35 million at domestic theaters as of early estimates, more than enough to capture the top slot. Sony (NYSE: SNE) took the next two spots on the chart with Zombieland, and the resilient cartoon Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs, respectively. Don't get too cocky, though, Sony, because Disney (NYSE: DIS) was right behind you with its Toy Story 3D special release.
Continue reading GE's 'Couples Retreat' or Viacom's 'Paranormal Activity' -- which is really No. 1?
Posted Oct 5th 2009 8:30AM by Steven Mallas (RSS feed)
Filed under: Time Warner (TWX), Walt Disney (DIS), Sony Corp ADR (SNE), News Corp'B' (NWS), Film
The movie-going public was in the mood to see a classic Hollywood horror archetype over the weekend: zombies. Yep, the walking dead, made popular by George Romero so many years ago, were feasting in darkened theaters across the country. According to Box Office Mojo estimates available at the time of this writing, Sony's (NYSE: SNE) Zombieland made the most money at domestic theaters over the past weekend, taking in $25 million.
Sony also captured second place with its computer cartoon, Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs. That film is on its way to a total haul of over $100 million. At the moment, it has better than $80 million in the bank. Shareholders of Disney (NYSE: DIS), however, had their own computer cartoons in the marketplace as well. The double feature of Pixar's Toy Story and Toy Story 2 came in third with $12 million. To be honest, I thought the idea of running those two back-to-back would be too much to take for the attention spans of the younger crowd. I know it would be way too much for me to take.
Continue reading Sony's zombies consume competition at box office
Posted Sep 29th 2009 8:30AM by Steven Mallas (RSS feed)
Filed under: Microsoft (MSFT), Sony Corp ADR (SNE), Activision Inc (ATVI), Nintendo (NTDOY)
September is drawing to a close. What does this signify? Well, one of my favorite times of the year, Halloween, will soon be upon us. Even more than that, holiday shopping is about to begin in earnest. Is your portfolio ready?
I've been checking around for investments in the retail sector. Problem is, so many of them have already had significant run-ups. However, even with these higher stock prices, the sector still might be an interesting one to look at since it's possible that Christmas could turn out okay. A post on DailyFinance discusses a report from the International Council of Shopping Centers, which basically states that numbers from this holiday season should see an improvement over last year's data.
Continue reading GameStop: Trade idea?
Posted Sep 28th 2009 8:30AM by Steven Mallas (RSS feed)
Filed under: Time Warner (TWX), Walt Disney (DIS), Sony Corp ADR (SNE), Film, Marvel Entertainment (MVL), Lions Gate Entertainment (LGF)
Disney (NYSE: DIS) desperately wants to get its movie business back in some kind of order. Look no further than the recent departure of Dick Cook. According to the Los Angeles Times, the studio head was forced to resign by CEO Bob Iger because of poor performance (Iger was right to do this, but I'm not sure he's any smarter than Cook, to be honest . . .). Unfortunately, Disney's latest project, Surrogates, starring Bruce Willis, might not do much to help the cause.
According to Boxofficemojo, Surrogates came in second over the weekend at domestic theaters, behind Sony's (NYSE: SNE) Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs. The Disney film captured an estimated $15 million versus Meatballs' $24.6 million (final numbers are due later).
Continue reading Disney's movie business suffers another setback with 'Surrogates'
Posted Sep 26th 2009 10:10AM by Steven Mallas (RSS feed)
Filed under: Rumors, Microsoft (MSFT), Time Warner (TWX), Viacom (VIA), Sony Corp ADR (SNE), Electronic Arts (ERTS), Technology, Nintendo (NTDOY)
Well, it's been an exciting month for the video-game industry. Viacom (NYSE: VIA) and Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS) released The Beatles: Rock Band to the market. Nintendo (OTC: NTDOY) cut the price of the Wii in an effort to better compete with Sony (NYSE: SNE) and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT). And rumors of consolidation in the industry are getting heavy. The buzz on some corners of Wall Street is that perhaps a major media conglomerate might want to take over THQ (NASDAQ: THQI).
According to The Wall Street Journal (subscription required), either Viacom or Time Warner (NYSE: TWX) might be interested in the publisher. There are plenty of reasons to believe this would be a logical move for either of those two. And there are plenty of reasons to suggest that buying THQ wouldn't make sense. I mean, take Viacom: wouldn't it rather concentrate on the Rock Band franchise? As for Time Warner, does it truly desire the hassle of integrating THQ? Right now, Time Warner's stock is in an upswing, and I don't think shareholders would want to ruin such momentum with the purchase of a software company that has been experiencing growth problems.
Continue reading THQ and the acquisition thesis
Posted Sep 25th 2009 8:30AM by Steven Mallas (RSS feed)
Filed under: Microsoft (MSFT), Sony Corp ADR (SNE), Activision Inc (ATVI), Technology, Nintendo (NTDOY)
It's finally happened. Nintendo (OTC: NTDOY) has reduced the price of its Wii gaming console. What once was $250 is now $200 (or, technically, $199.99, the psychologically important way of designating the new cost).
Why did Nintendo do this? Because both Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Sony (NYSE: SNE) have cut the costs of their own entertainment systems. Plus, we're simply at that point in the latest video-game cycle when cuts are implemented. Hardware eventually becomes less expensive. When demand levels fall off, more casual, value-oriented consumers are courted with cheaper prices.
Continue reading Will the new cost of the Wii benefit Nintendo investors?
Posted Sep 21st 2009 6:00PM by Steven Mallas (RSS feed)
Filed under: Forecasts, Microsoft (MSFT), Viacom (VIA), Sony Corp ADR (SNE), Electronic Arts (ERTS), Activision Inc (ATVI), Technology
Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ: ATVI) remains confident in its guidance for full-year earnings. According to StreetInsider.com, management is still looking for sales of $4.5 billion on the top line and adjusted earnings of 63 cents per share on the bottom line.
The publisher, which competes with Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS), should benefit from recent hardware price cuts made by Sony Corporation (NYSE: SNE) and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT). With more units in the field, there most likely will be higher demand for Activision Blizzard's awesome pipeline, which includes Call of Duty.
Continue reading Activision Blizzard still looking good?
Posted Sep 21st 2009 8:30AM by Steven Mallas (RSS feed)
Filed under: General Electric (GE), Time Warner (TWX), Sony Corp ADR (SNE), News Corp'B' (NWS), Film, Lions Gate Entertainment (LGF)
Sony (NYSE: SNE) had a tasty weekend. The studio's new computer-generated cartoon, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, finished the box-office race in first place. According to Boxofficemojo, Meatballs (and I am only shortening the title to Meatballs because, from what I've seen, most media outlets are using this standard; as far as I'm concerned, the movie should be shortened to Cloudy so as to avoid confusion with the classic Bill Murray comedy), made $30 million at domestic theaters as of early estimates. Don't worry, though; even if the estimates come in a little lighter than expected, Sony is going to remain top dog.
That's because the next two films on the chart are each credited with around $10 million. Time Warner's (NYSE: TWX) The Informant! and Lionsgate's (NYSE: LGF) Tyler Perry's I Can Do Bad All By Myself settled into the second and third spots, respectively. These two could conceivably change places once final stats are delivered to analysts.
Continue reading Sony tops at the multiplex with 'Meatballs'
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