There has been talk that The New York Times (NYSE: NYT) may have to file for Chapter 11. The company quieted that talk by mortgaging part of its headquarters, cutting its dividend, and putting some of its New England properties up for sale.

Also, the Journal Register has gone bankrupt. It lost its NYSE listing months ago.

Which company in the newspaper industry is next?

Continue reading McClatchy: The next newspaper Chapter 11?

McClatchy: The next newspaper Chapter 11? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 22 Feb 2009 15:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Here are some highlights from this past week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

• Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: APC) reported that its Q4 profit tripled but it fell short of estimates.
• Biogen Idec Inc. (NASDAQ: BIIB) met earnings estimates but it is getting more pressure from Carl Icahn.
• BP (NYSE: BP) surprised Wall Street with a multibillion dollar Q4 loss due to lower oil prices.
• Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) beat Q2 estimates but warned that incoming orders have declined.
• Dick's Sporting Goods Inc. (NYSE: DKS) reaffirmed its previous Q4 guidance, which pleased investors.
• Estee Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE: EL) topped Q2 earings estimates and it announced job cuts.
• Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM) Q4 earnings fell on higher claim expenses and lower investment income.
• JDS Uniphase Corp. (NASDAQ: JDSU) adjusted earnings were in line with estimates but revenue fell.

Continue reading Earnings highlights: Time Warner, BP, Cisco, Motorola, Visa and others

Earnings highlights: Time Warner, BP, Cisco, Motorola, Visa and others originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 07 Feb 2009 09:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

According to a transcript of the News Corp (NYSE:NWS) earnings call posted on Alley Insider, advertising revenue at The Wall Street Journal is down 20% so far this year. What does that say for The Boston Globe or The New York Times which are both owned by The New York Times Company (NYSE:NYT)?

McClatchy (NYSE:MNI), the third largest newspaper chain in the US, announced a quarterly operating loss yesterday. That means it no longer has the money to pay interest on its debt. Either creditors will have to take a haircut or the company's papers will have to be sold. off.

It is now clear that no major newspaper in America is making a dime. Some reports say that The Globe loses $1 million a week.

Selling big newspaper may be impossible even if the price for some of them may just be $1. A new owner would have to be willing to shoulder huge operating losses and there may be no recovery in site.

The primary newspapers in some of the nation's largest cities may go away this year.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 24/7 Wall St.

If WSJ ad revenue is off 20%, other papers may face worse originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 06 Feb 2009 10:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Dividends are being cut at the fastest rate in 50 years. According to the AP, "Already this year, seven companies in the Standard & Poor's 500 index have decreased their dividends, removing some $12 billion from shareholders' pockets in the coming months."

As cash flow at big companies drops due to the recession, the trend is likely to get worse. GE (NYSE: GE) says its dividend is safe. That statement is true until it isn't. The conglomerate could still have unexpected losses from its financial unit. Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) still has a 7% yield. One of two bad quarters could knock that out.

Continue reading Stay away from shares with big dividends

Stay away from shares with big dividends originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 27 Jan 2009 11:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Through the third week in January, advertising pages at BusinessWeek are down 31%. At Entertainment Weekly, they are off 36%. Through their February issues, GQ and Gourmet's ad pages are off over 30%.

Today, the news came out that The New York Times Company (NYSE:NYT) is close to selling part of its building. It has already taken money from Carlos Slim, some of which comes with a 14% interest rate. The Times is now nearly out of options. It won't sell The Boston Globe which some experts believe is losing $1 million a week. That leaves the option of raising money by dumping assets out of the question.

The third largest newspaper chain in the US, McClatchy (NYSE:MNI) which has insisted it would be OK, now trades below $1.

Most of this has been written about before, but the numbers from print media that have come in during the last three days show that an industry which was in decline is in such a rapid decline that scores of newspapers and magazines will close over the next two or three months. Even a year ago, this was unimaginable.

The print media is something that most business people cannot imagine. It is an industry in trouble which cannot be fixed. Intelligence and hard work has no effect. The end of many of the world's greatest print brands are is in sight.

The bleeding was supposed to be slow enough so that there were be time to work on solutions.That opportunity is now well in the past.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 24/7 Wall St.

Options run out for print media originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 23 Jan 2009 03:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The McClatchy Company (NYSE: MNI) has watched its stock price tank from a 52-week high of more than $15 to its current price of $2.20 as the company's massive debt load has been made more ominous by the precipitous decline in advertising brought on by the weak economy -- on top of all the other problems facing newspapers. In 2005, the stock traded at better than $75 per share.

So now McClatchy is looking to sell the Miami Herald, according to The New York Times. But the Times added that its sources "said they knew of no serious offers for the paper, reflecting the evaporation of major investors' interest in buying newspapers."

Shocking! I can't believe that people aren't lining up to buy a newspaper that makes its money by selling advertising in one of the cities hardest hit by falling real estate prices.

You really have to question the intelligence of the company's board of directors and management: The company has paid out enormous dividends while acquiring companies like Knight Ridder at outrageous prices. Now they're looking to dump one of their most prestigious properties at a fire-sale price. And yet the dividend remains.

It's time for the dividend to go, along with everyone who's had anything to do with the company's strategic direction. It might be too late to salvage shareholder value, but they should at least find someone who knows what he's doing to give it a try.

No buyers for the Miami Herald? Shocking! originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 07 Dec 2008 17:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

It has come to this: The newspaper industry is in such bad shape that one of the largest chains will sell its crown jewel. McClatchy (NYSE: MNI), the debt-heavy paper firm, is working on auctioning the Miami Herald. With its revenue falling rapidly, the move may not be enough to save the parent company.

According to The New York Times, "The people briefed on the company's plans say The Herald generates a very slim operating margin and that the most attractive part of any deal could be its prime waterfront real estate." How remarkably sad that a transaction would be one with the primary purpose of selling valuable Florida land.

McClatchy does not have much choice. Its own operating margins are tiny. The firm said its ad revenue dropped 20% in October. In the third quarter, MNI had net income of $4 million on revenue of $451 million. McClatchy has over $2 billion in long-term debt.

There is still an excellent chance that MNI will follow other publicly traded newspaper chains Journal Register and Gatehouse to the point where their shares are delisted from NYSE and they are forced to sell most of their properties to pay off debts.

Selling the Herald does not solve the problem. Newspapers are not going to rebuild their revenue.

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

McClatchy's Miami Herald goes on the block originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 06 Dec 2008 12:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Here are some highlights from this past week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

• American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP) Q3 results were dragged down by charge-offs due to the recession.
• Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) posted stronger-than-expected results due in part to iPhone sales.
• Boeing Inc. (NYSE: BA) posted a bigger-than-estimated earnings decline due in part to the strike.
• Coach Inc. (NYSE: COH) reported Q1 earnings that were in line with Wall Street expectations.
• Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE: FCX) Q3 results fell more than expected due to lower copper prices.
• Kimberly-Clark Corp. (NYSE: KMB) edged past estimates but felt the squeeze from exchange rates.
• McClatchy Co. (NYSE: MNI) reported dismal Q3 results as advertising revenues dry up.
• Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) posted solid Q1 results but offered conservative guidance.
• New York Times Co. (NYSE: NYT) reported awful earnings and announced that it might cut its dividend.
• Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE: PM) topped profit estimates and maintained its guidance.
• RadioShack Corp. (NYSE: RSH) better-than-expected results were driven by sales of digital TV converters.
• Sun Microsystems Inc. (NASDAQ: JAVA) warned of a Q1 loss and acquisition-related charges.
• Texas Instruments Inc. (NYSE: TXN) missed estimates due to slowing mobile phone sales.
• United Parcel Service (NYSE: UPS) reported better-than-expected Q3 earnings.
• Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) earnings tumbled in Q3 and it announced layoffs.

For more earnings highlights from this week, see Amazon, McDonald's, Mattel, Pfizer, AT&T, Sony and others.

Watch for upcoming quarterly reports from Verizon (NYSE: VZ), Estée Lauder (NYSE: EL) , US Steel (NYSE: X), Aetna (NYSE: AET), Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG), Qwest (NYSE:Q), Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA), Kellogg (NYSE: K), Kraft Foods (NYSE: KFT), MetLife (NYSE: MET), Moody's (NYSE: MCO), Office Depot (NYSE: ODP), Avon (NYSE: AVP), CBS (NYSE: CBS), CVS Caremark (NYSE: CVS), Sun Microsystems (NASDAQ: JAVA), Eastman Kodak (NYSE: EK), Motorola (NYSE: MOT), Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM), Chevron (NYSE: CVX), Washington Post (NYSE: WPO).

Visit AOL Money & Finance for more earnings coverage.

Earnings highlights: Apple, Boeing, Microsoft, Yahoo!, UPS, American Express and others originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 25 Oct 2008 12:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

McClatchy (NYSE: MNI) is the third largest newspaper chain in the U.S. It is also in debt up to its eyeballs from its purchase of Knight-Ridder. Its only chance of paying that debt is to get operating income up. Because of the bad advertising environment, that has not worked out.

Things have gotten so bad that McClatchy may default on its debt and creditors may end up owning and operating the company. Investment bankers running printing presses -- nice picture.

In the last quarter, reported Tuesday, revenue at MNI dropped $100 million to $451 million. Operating income was only $40 million against debt service of $34 million. The margin for error is gone. In September, ad revenue dropped 20%, so the fourth quarter could be McClatchy's last as an independent company.

Banks that have loaned money to newspaper chains are in a bind. They can seize assets and hope to sell them to cover debt, but with the industry environment so bad, the chance of them getting their money back is slim.

The other option may be the more intelligent one. Alter loan deals to stretch out payments, take 100% of operating income to cover debt and hope that newspaper recover, even a little. That option beats selling assets in a market that does not want them.

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

Just when newspaper earnings couldn't get worse, McClatchy (MNI) reported originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 22 Oct 2008 10:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Many of the large newspaper chain purchases over the last several years have involved tremendous borrowing and the banks are at the door with eviction notices. Even the big companies in the industry are having trouble. According to The Wall Street Journal, Gannett, Inc. (NYSE:GCI) the country's largest newspaper publisher, said Wednesday it had tapped its credit line as short-term financing markets stall.

Several other chains, particularly McClatchy (NYSE:MNI) and Gatehouse (NYSE:GHS) are having crippling debt problems.

A number of media sources reported yesterday that the The Star Tribune in Minneapolis has missed a payment on its debt.

Although it is hard to imagine, some of these companies may fail and fail soon. The costs of newsprint, trucks, gas, and personnel are so great that a number of newspapers may complete shut down. Customers may wake up one morning and find the front step empty. The poor newspaper boy has lost his job.

It is a hard time when there is nothing to put in the bird cage.

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

Your newspaper won't be delivered today, or ever originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 02 Oct 2008 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Within the past years, several public newspaper companies have been pushed to the cliff of insolvency. They have taken on too much debt and the downturn in advertising has put them in a position where they cannot cover interest payments.

Journal Register was knocked off The New York Stock Exchange and is in the process of liquidation. The value of its properties has dropped so low that its common shareholders will get nothing and creditors will not recover the amount of their loans. Gatehouse Media (NYSE: GHS) has traded under $1 for weeks and also face delisting. Odds are that its properties will have to be auctioned off.

Banks may be employing a new tactic in the hope of getting their money out of the newspaper industry. Extend loans, let the companies cut expenses to the bone, and pray that advertising will get better. If it does, they might get their money back. McClatchy (NYSE: MNI), the nation's third largest chain, was the next company in the industry to head toward liquidation. Based on a new lifeline from its creditors, it may dodge that for awhile. According to The Wall Street Journal (subscription required), "The publisher of the Sacramento Bee and Miami Herald said Friday its banks agreed to loosen restrictions on the company's level of debt compared to cash flow, and its ratio of interest payments to cash flow."

The banks are making a big mistake. McClatchy's has many of its properties in California and Florida were the economies could be troubled for years. By letting McClatchy stay in business, the banks are risking that the value of the company's papers will drop even more. If McClatchy is sold off in pieces now, creditors might get most of their money back.

The holders of McClatchy's debt may have saved the company, for a few months at least. They have also put themselves in a position to lose most of their money.

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

Banks try to save the newspaper business originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 27 Sep 2008 13:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Newspaper chain Journal Register has been delisted from The New York Stock Exchange and will sell off its assets. That was an early sign that the U.S. newspaper industry was in extreme trouble.

On Tuesday, there were signs that newspapers are not just in decline. Many of the largest papers may simply fail over the next year. Huge newspaper group, McClatchy (NYSE: MNI), which bought the Knight-Ridder chain, said ad revenue was down nearly 18% in August and that it would cut 10% of its work force, about 1,200 people. McClatchy has over $2 billion in debt and it is becoming clear it will not be able to pay that off. In other words, the company is close to being insolvent and will probably end up auctioning off its properties.

If McClatchy does begin a liquidation, dozens of newspapers will be for sale. Those will be added to the ones from Journal Register, Cox and probably another large chain, Gatehouse. As the market becomes awash with properties, the value of newspapers will move down sharply. Large firms like Gannett (NYSE: GCI) can no longer take on debt to cherry pick properties and build their businesses.

An even worse sign that the end of many newspapers is around the corner is the possible closing of one of the largest properties in the U.S, the Newark Star-Ledger. According to The Wall Street Journal, "the publisher of the Star-Ledger told employees that it may have to close the newspaper in January after struggling to reach a new contract with one of its key unions." The Newhouse family owns the paper.

Newspaper failures will probably come by the dozens now. It leaves open the question of how people will get local news. Some analysts believe that the internet killed the paper industry. That will leave a big void on the information super-highway.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 24/7 Wall St.

The newspaper industry finally reaches point of failure originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 17 Sep 2008 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Before the bell: Futures lower; AIG, LEH, BCS, MS, JPM, SNDK, LYG ...

Before the bell: Futures lower; AIG, LEH, BCS, MS, JPM, SNDK, LYG ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 17 Sep 2008 08:13:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Tribune, formerly a public newspaper and broadcast company, lost the publisher of its largest newspaper, the LA Times, and the editor of its flagship, the Chicago Tribune. New controlling shareholder Sam Zell is in trouble, burdened by buyout debt he may not be able to pay.

Most analysts saw another modest drop in newspaper ad revenue this year. It has been much worse than that. At some companies in the industry, ad sales are off nearly 15%. An analyst recently dropped his price target on The New York Times Company (NYSE: NYT) to $8 and said the firm would have to cut its dividend. The stock currently trades at $13.21.

The two public companies which are at most risk for not making it another year are Gatehouse (NYSE: GHS) and McClatchy (NYSE: MNI). Both took on big debt loads buying newspaper properties. Both are seeing operating income chopped by falling sales. Either could hit debt service problems which could force them to sell properties of file for Chapter11.

Gatehouse dropped as low as $1.11 in the last few days. Its 52-week high is $19. McClatchy is down to $4.93 from a 52-week high of $28.65. Gatehouse is the most troubled with a high dividend and $1.3 billion in long-term debt.

Newspapers companies have gone from being in a tight spot to being candidates for liquidation. They are a short-seller's dream.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 24/7 Wall St.

As Tribune loses executive, some newpapers move toward Chapter 11 originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 15 Jul 2008 09:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Edgar Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements. He also operates MergerBook.com.

Gannett goes shopping for ShopLocal originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 09 Jul 2008 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

From TheStreet.com Network

• McClatchy to Cut 10% of Staff
• They Just Don't Get McClatchy!

Continue reading Cramer on BloggingStocks: Yesterday's technology, yesterday's news

Cramer on BloggingStocks: Yesterday's technology, yesterday's news originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 18 Jun 2008 09:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

McClatchy (NYSE: MNI), the third largest newspaper chain in the US, cut 10% of its work force as its May advertising fell about 16%. According to The Wall Street Journal, "McClatchy, which owns the Miami Herald, the Sacramento Bee and 28 other dailies across the U.S., expects to save about $70 million annually from the job cuts."

McClatchy made the mistake of buying competing chain Knight-Ridder two years ago, just as the business was falling apart.

The fact that newspapers are in trouble is old news. What is not is the terrible rate at which newspaper revenue is falling now. Based on the current rate of advertising attrition, papers could loss 40% to 50% of their major sales base in three years. Revenue from online versions of the papers is not growing nearly fast enough to replace that.

Many of the public newspaper chains still pay large dividends. With share prices down as much as 70% in the last year, they sport yields which their cash flow cannot support. Dividend cuts are likely to cause more investors moving out of the stocks.

McClatchy now has $2.4 billion in debt, most of its from the Knight-Ridder deal. That plan, put together by CEO Gary Pruitt, has nearly ruined the company.

Odd that he is not one of the 1,400 people leaving.

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

McClatchy (MNI) and the last days of newspapers originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 17 Jun 2008 04:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• UBS downgraded Anheuser-Busch (NYSE: BUD) to Neutral from Buy citing the InBev unsolicited bid.
  
• JP Morgan cut Brasil Telecom (NYSE: BRP) to Underweight from Neutral on concerns over the merger with Telemar.
  
• Piper downgraded Finisar (NASDAQ: FNSR) to Neutral from Buy following strong Q4 results, as they believe the company's acquisition of Optium creates substantial integration risk.

• Merrill cut Weyerhaeuser (NYSE: WY) to Neutral from Buy.
  
• PDL BioPharma (NASDAQ: PDLI) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Credit Suisse.
  
• Wachovia downgraded McClatchy News (NYSE: MNI) to Underperform from Market Perform.
  
• Archer Daniels (NYSE: ADM) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Morgan Stanley.

Analyst downgrades: BUD, BRP and FNSR originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 13 Jun 2008 11:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The newspaper business had been bad and getting worse. Ad revenue at some large chains with properties in the hard-hit economies of Florida and California are seeing their classified businesses drop by over 30% compared with last year. A number of newspaper chain stocks are down well over 50% since the middle of 2007.

The largest newspaper company in the U.S., Gannett (NYSE: GCI), is getting ready to take a $3 billion, non-cash charge to write-down the value of its assets. The charge will cover almost 20% of the firm's total assets. According to The Wall Street Journal, "The publisher of USA Today and more than 80 other daily papers, Gannett is the latest newspaper company to take an impairment charge reflecting difficult industry conditions."

Of all U.S. newspaper companies, Gannett is the most likely to weather the current storm, unless it never ends. The firm's long-term debt is $4 billion, which is modest for a company its size. Gannett's revenue last year was $7.5 billion.

Other companies in the industry may not be so lucky. Some, like McClatchy (NYSE: MNI) and Gatehouse (NYSE: GHS) have taken on substantial debt loads to buy other newspaper companies. They may not have the operating income to cover debt service.

That means a lot of newspapers could be auctioned off later this year.

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

Gannett (GCI) faces $3 billion write down originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 10 Jun 2008 09:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Before the bell: AAPL, INTC, HPQ, GCI, DFS, MCD ...

Before the bell: AAPL, INTC, HPQ, GCI, DFS, MCD ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 10 Jun 2008 08:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.