Time Warner (TWX), whose colleagues include The Walt Disney Company (DIS), General Electric Corporation's (GE) Universal, and Sony Corporation (SNE), did an incredible job at the box office in 2009. It could even end up being the top studio, although there is currently some ambiguity on that count. This article over at Variety says that News Corp. (NWS) might come out ahead once all is said and done.

Nevertheless, according to Moviefone, Time Warner's movie operations captured an estimated $3.99 billion at multiplexes around the globe. Yes, it's an impressive feat, and it was done with the help of a major franchise. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince grossed well over $900 million on a worldwide basis. Even more amazing was the performance of surprise comedy hit The Hangover. And to think, that one had an R rating, something that tends to limit the potential for big success.

Continue reading Thoughts on Time Warner's 2009 Box Office Performance

Thoughts on Time Warner's 2009 Box Office Performance originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 31 Dec 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Funny People, distributed by General Electric's (NYSE: GE) Universal Studios, was the number one film this weekend. I don't know whether or not the critics liked it but, from a financial viewpoint, it failed.

According to Boxofficemojo, People grossed $23 million as of early estimates. Cool; that's enough money to beat Time Warner's (NYSE: TWX) incredibly competitive Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, which came in second with $17 million. Disney's (NYSE: DIS) G-Force is also credited with roughly $17 million, and has been given third place for now (final numbers will solidify the rankings when they are made available).

Continue reading GE's NBC Universal probably not laughing over opening of 'Funny People'

GE's NBC Universal probably not laughing over opening of 'Funny People' originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 03 Aug 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Disney (NYSE: DIS) had something of a magical weekend at the domestic box office. The company's new film, G-Force, a 3D-powered property, grossed an estimated $32 million according to Boxofficemojo, good for first place. Believe it or not, that was enough to take out Time Warner's (NYSE: TWX) Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, which dropped to second place (last weekend it debuted at number one, of course) with about $30 million.

These are estimated numbers at the time of this writing. When the final stats come out, it is conceivable that the rankings could change since we're talking about a difference of a mere $2 million. But I think they stand a good chance of staying the same.

Continue reading Disney's new rodent stars challenge Time Warner's 'Potter'

Disney's new rodent stars challenge Time Warner's 'Potter' originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 27 Jul 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

According to Boxofficemojo, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was the top film at the domestic box office over the three-day weekend. I'm sure this didn't surprise Time Warner (NYSE: TWX) shareholders. The latest installment of the popular fantasy series took in about $79 million as of early estimates. However, Prince actually opened last Wednesday. If you add in monies derived from the Wednesday and Thursday showings, you've got a gross of about $159 million so far.

This compares favorably to Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, which opened in July 2007. Phoenix made just under $140 million during its five-day debut. I like such growth. It shows that the franchise retains a good quantity of demand.

Continue reading Time Warner's wizard works wonders yet again at the box office

Time Warner's wizard works wonders yet again at the box office originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 20 Jul 2009 09:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS) did not have a good second quarter. According to preliminary results, the publisher is looking at an adjusted loss of 6 cents per diluted share; this compares unfavorably to a profit of 27 cents per diluted share in the year-ago period. Wait, did I just say unfavorably? I meant very unfavorably. EA merely met Wall Street's expectations.

Non-GAAP revenues, however, increased 20%, and cash flow from operations for the trailing twelve months rose over 50% (cash was used, however, for operations during the quarter). But shares were down in the after-hours session over 15% at one point. The market was reacting to the cautious outlook from management and comments about a slowing retail environment. Furthermore, EA needs to reduce its costs. The company is eliminating about 6% of its workforce. While Wall Street traditionally looks upon job cuts as a sign that management is taking steps to improve its operations, I think, in this case, shareholders will look upon the cuts as a sign that EA is floundering.

Can you imagine this? Shouldn't EA be doing an incredible job of maximizing shareholder value by taking its incredible pipeline of intellectual properties and monetizing it via the next-generation platforms provided by Sony (NYSE: SNE), Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Nintendo (OTC: NTDOY)? It should, but it's not. The publisher has sold millions of copies of high-profile titles such as Madden NFL 09 and Spore, but again, those costs and expenses are getting out of hand.

Continue reading Electronic Arts loses the earnings game in Q2

Electronic Arts loses the earnings game in Q2 originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 31 Oct 2008 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.