Akamai is a content delivery company that delivers web content for its customers besides offering additional value added services like advertising solutions and site acceleration. It competes with other players like InterNAP Network Services, Limelight Networks and Level 3 in this business and delivers close to 20% of global web traffic. Our price estimate for Akamai stands at $37.11, which is about 23% below the current market price.

The company recently released its Q4 2010 earnings, and we have increased our price estimate to $37.11 based on continued fast growth in revenues across all verticals. Our new estimates value the media content delivery segment as the most valuable for Akamai. We previously had e-commerce as the most valuable segment, but the rebound in media revenues has impressed us leading us to change our forecasts and the way we view this business.

Continue reading Media Content Delivery Becomes Largest Value Driver for Akamai

Media Content Delivery Becomes Largest Value Driver for Akamai originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 15 Feb 2011 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

One of the top growth companies over the past couple years has been Netflix (NFLX). The company has effectively transitioned from its DVD delivery business to streaming. However, the competition is heating up, and it is getting more expensive to license content.

Actually, one of the biggest competitive threats is Amazon.com (AMZN). Thursday the company announced that it has purchased LoveFilm, which is an online video rental service that's based in Europe.

Continue reading Amazon Buys LoveFilm, the 'Netflix of Europe'

Amazon Buys LoveFilm, the 'Netflix of Europe' originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 20 Jan 2011 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Not long ago, I wrote about Netflix (NFLX) hitting a 52-week high. At that time, the shares were around the $75 level. I cautioned that one had to be careful about buying an overbought stock. I mean, how much further could the equity climb?

Yeah, right. At the close of trading on Wednesday, the shares were priced at $86.98. The current 52-week high stands at $89.10 (as of this writing). And during yesterday's after-hours session, the stock climbed 1.6% to $88.40, in response to the first-quarter earnings report.

Continue reading Netflix Had a Great Quarter, but Be Cautious About Stock

Netflix Had a Great Quarter, but Be Cautious About Stock originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 22 Apr 2010 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Just a couple years ago, the shares of Ciena Corp. (NASDAQ: CIEN) were above $40. But since then, it's been brutal -- with the shares eventually falling to $5.35. After all, the company is in the competitive telecom-equipment space.

However, things have been getting better lately. In fact, the share price is now at $13.06.

And this week Ciena reported its fiscal Q3 earnings report. While revenues dropped 35% over the past year, they were actually up 14% over the prior quarter. There was a net loss of $26.5 million, or $0.29 per share.

Continue reading Ciena shows some telecom hope

Ciena shows some telecom hope originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 03 Sep 2009 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

In a move to bring profitability to its popular video sharing site YouTube, Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) has inked a deal with Time Warner, Inc. (NYSE: TWX) to show clips of the company's television shows and movies.

When Google announced back in 2006 that it would be paying $1.65 billion for the popular video sharing site, a lot of critics questioned whether or not the company would be able to turn a profit from the site, which at the time had around 46% of the online video market share.

Continue reading Time Warner inks deal with YouTube

Time Warner inks deal with YouTube originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 19 Aug 2009 18:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

While On2 Technologies (AMEX: ONT) has strong video compression solutions, the company failed to get much traction over the years (a key reason was the licensing fee structure). It's been especially painful for shareholders.

But today there was some good news: Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) agreed to purchase the company for $106.5 million in stock. On the news of the deal, On2's shares spiked 49% to $0.57.

Continue reading Google plunks down $106.5 million for its video ambitions

Google plunks down $106.5 million for its video ambitions originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 05 Aug 2009 13:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading NBC/News Corp.'s Hulu becomes third-largest video website in March

NBC/News Corp.'s Hulu becomes third-largest video website in March originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 30 Apr 2009 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Not long ago, I wrote about Google, Inc's (NASDAQ: GOOG) YouTube entering a deal with The Walt Disney company (NYSE: DIS) for some of the Mouse's short-form content. Now comes word that Sony Corporation (NYSE: SNE) is in talks with the video platform. Sony apparently wants to supply some feature-length content if a partnership can be struck.

Well, I think a deal will be struck, certainly. Sony obviously doesn't want to see a competitor like Disney getting all the YouTube action. Considering that YouTube is the name in online video, and that the majority of mainstream, casual web surfers know the brand and are comfortable in terms of using it, I can imagine that it doesn't take a genius to figure out that Sony needs to be in the YouTube business.

Continue reading Sony and YouTube discuss content deal

Sony and YouTube discuss content deal originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 06 Apr 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

With all the gloom in the global economy, I got to wondering whether there is anything else going on in the world of business. I'm looking for growth because I think that's what will ultimately bring the economy out of the doldrums. Not surprisingly, that growth is coming from technology companies. In Growth Matters, I look at consumer technology companies that point the way to growth trends -- and in the process introduce services and products you may want to explore.

If you want to make sense of all the video on the Internet so you can view just the good stuff, then Veoh Networks may be worth a visit. I interviewed Veoh Networks' CEO, Steve Mitgang, who told me an interesting tale about Veoh's history: "The founder of Veoh [Dmitry Shapiro] was an expert in security for Peer-to-Peer (P2P) networks. Video was active around enterprises as employees were watching more videos on YouTube."

Continue reading Growth Matters: Veoh finds you the Web's best video

Growth Matters: Veoh finds you the Web's best video originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 06 Mar 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Over the past few years, online videos have grown at a rapid clip. In fact, it's not uncommon for people to watch TV while on their laptops.

Unfortunately, this megatrend isn't translating into much money for Hollywood. If anything, it looks like ad revenues are evaporating.

Of course, traditional broadcast revenues are expected to drop next year as well because of the global recession. In other words, Hollywood is in a tough spot.

Another problem is that there is a spotty track record for online videos. Do people look at the ads? Is there a real brand-building experience?

Despite all the growth, the online video sector is still relatively small and doesn't really move the needle for Hollywood. When coupled with the global recession, it's typical to see cutbacks in experimental things, such as online video.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Streetsmart Guide to Short Selling: Techniques the Pros Use to Profit in Any Market. He is also the founder of BizEquity, a valuation website.

Online video dries up originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 16 Dec 2008 10:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

According to an AP article citing data from comScore Inc., people are still in love with the internet. In fact, they love to watch videos on the internet. Furthermore, views of videos online experienced an ecstatic rate of growth in February -- they shot up 66% compared to the year-ago period. Incredible, right? And if you're a media company, you love the data, right?

Well, if you're Google (NASDAQ: GOOG), you love it. If you're a Disney (NYSE: DIS) or a General Electric (NYSE: GE), you would be of two minds about it. For you see, while people are watching videos, oftentimes they are doing it on a platform like Google's YouTube -- they aren't necessarily watching them at ABC.com. The data show that YouTube increased its video views by 15% in February 2008 versus February 2007, and that it captured one-third of the 10 billion video views that occurred in February of this year. Amazing. But sites like ABC.com captured much, much less of those views -- that site, in fact, had a measly 1% share of the pie.

Major content players want surfing eyeballs to come to their sites so they can monetize their online libraries via methods of their own making. Media companies, simply put, still haven't figured out how to adapt to this new electronic entertainment economy, and they still haven't come to terms with YouTube. In an era of social networking and clip sharing, users love to copy content and upload it to sites like YouTube that are very easy and friendly to engage, thus bypassing the owners of such content. How does one fight this?

Continue reading Content providers like Disney still have to worry about YouTube, numbers show

Content providers like Disney still have to worry about YouTube, numbers show originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 17 Apr 2008 10:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

I recently met up with Suranga Chandratillake, the CEO of Blinkx (a video search engine). He always has something new to talk about, and this time was no different.

His firm has recently launched BBTV, an online service that provides near TV quality. "We have blended our service with the advantages of the web," said Chandratillake. "For example, if you want to know more about an actor, you can click his or her name on a digital transcript and get a profile. This is possible because of our speech translation technology."

Basically, this can be an innovative way to monetize video, which so far has been a tough thing to do.

OK, but isn't high-quality video bandwidth heavy? That's true. However, BBTV uses the power of peer-to-peer networking, which is fairly cost-effective.

To get things rolling, BBTV has a variety of indie films from Dogwoof on the site. "We have more than 250 content partners at Blinkx," said Chandratillake, "and we plan to leverage them on BBTV. We want to be the place for hard-to-get quality content."

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 DealProfiles.com.

BBTV - getting real TV on the Net originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 07 Apr 2008 13:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Google's (NASDAQ: GOOG) YouTube continues to gain visitors. It competitors have to be dismayed. Why bother posting video content at all when YouTube owns the market.

According to comScore, YouTube had a 34.3% share of all videos watched in the U.S. during January, an improvement of 1.7 share points over the previous month.

The competition barely registered. AOL, Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO), Viacom (NYSE: VIA), and Disney (NYSE: DIS) had embarrassing share figures, none posting a figure better than 3.2%.

Visitors to Google video sites spent an average of almost 110 minutes per viewer. No other large internet site was above 33 minutes.

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

Google's YouTube posts big numbers originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 15 Mar 2008 16:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

DivX, Inc. (Nasdaq: DIVX), which develops video applications, thought it could succeed in the topsy-turvey web business. So, in late 2006, the company launched Stage6.com.

Well, for the most part, it's not as easy as it looks and now DivX is closing down the site. Interestingly enough, DivX wasn't able to find a buyer for the property.

What happened? Well, I had a chance to interview Chase Norlin, who operates Pixsy (an online search engine). According to him:

"Stage6 likely needed a sugar-daddy to support operations going forward (e.g. acquirer with resources or large capital raise). Given the popularity of the service and the high quality of their streams, they probably had a significant bandwidth bill without the monetization to support that in the short term. Additionally, legal issues around copyrighted material may have added to the decision."

Continue reading Curtains for Stage6 - and more trouble for online video?

Curtains for Stage6 - and more trouble for online video? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 27 Feb 2008 03:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

One of my favorite novelists is Robin Cook. He is the pioneer of the medical thriller genre - with perhaps his most well-known title being Coma. In all, he has written 25 NY Times bestsellers.

Now he is moving to the online world. That is, Cook is teaming up with Vuguru, which is Michael Eisner's digital movie studio. Cyber Group Animation is also involved.

Basically, there will be a prequel - on the web and mobile - for Cook's upcoming work, Foreign Body. The debut will be on May 27, 2008. And, yes, I certainly look forward to it.

To get some perspective on all this, I interviewed Chase Norlin, who is the CEO of Pixsy (an online video search company). According to him:

"Perhaps the most notable aspect of this deal is the continued progress of the 'made-for-Internet' programming model, which reflects the inherent cost efficiencies of content production for this medium and the potential for a significant web-wide distribution impact. Tying this into the launch of a new book is a unique Hollywood-esque tie-in that makes a lot of sense."

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook. He also operates DealProfiles.com.

Robin Cook gets dot-com fever originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 30 Jan 2008 17:38:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Time Warner (NYSE: TWX) movie network HBO will begin testing an online video service. The new project would allow network subscribers to watch programming on their PCs or download them to watch later. According to The Wall Street Journal, "HBO is starting a trial of the service, called HBO Broadband, in Green Bay, Wis., the network says, and could roll it out more widely later this year."

While HBO's brand is well-known among cable subscribers, it is difficult to predict whether this will translate into a large audience online. The amount of premium content available over the internet is growing rapidly as companies like Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX), Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN), and Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) enter the industry. In a field this crowded, newer competitors may have trouble finding audiences.

HBO does have one distinct advantage. Many of the programs on the network are produced for its viewers and are not available elsewhere. This large amount of original content may draw a substantial audience for the new distribution channel.

But the field is getting crowded.

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

HBO goes PC VOD originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 21 Jan 2008 09:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

So far this year, online video is making a big mark. Just look at the Iowa caucuses, where voters posted their efforts on YouTube and then spread them across social networks like MySpace and Facebook. So what else might we see in 2008 for online video?

Well, I had a chance to interview Chase Norlin, who is the CEO of Pixsy (an online video company). According to him:

1. Expect to see continued enforcement by copyright holders over their online video assets; this will drive wider adoption of DRM and licensing platforms.

2. The online video ad category is growing but not at the pace to support the multitude of companies pursuing this market, and a shakeout is therefore likely.

3. More consolidation in the online video space and all other key internet categories.

4. Continued growth in the semipro video publishing market as content producers create and distribute their material in a more cost-effective manner than traditional outlets.

5. More unique video programming, created for the web, making its way to television.

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 DealProfiles.com.

Online video: What's tuning up for 2008? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 05 Jan 2008 17:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

I'm definitely looking forward to the "Dexter" finale this weekend. The Showtime Networks series is about a serial killer -- who uses his killing talents to snuff other serial killers.

Yes, it's not a typical show. So, maybe that's why the producers are going to do something creative; that is, they have partnered with Meebo to develop a Web 2.0 experience.

So, Dexter fans can chat -- with AIM, Google (NASDAQ: GOOG), MSN and so on -- with executive producers and the talent after the finale.

I had a chance to interview Chase Norlin, who is the CEO of Pixsy (a video search engine), who says:

"This makes perfect sense for Meebo to be in the private label business with instant messaging as the primary application, and certainly seems to be a complement to Showtime Networks' goals. No doubt, video integration into instant messaging applications stands to be a significant trend. Although, in the case of Meebo, I think they will eventually have to offer broader functionality in their private label product in order to win more distribution partners."

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 DealProfiles.com.

Dexter online finale -- something to die for originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 16 Dec 2007 12:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

NBC and SanDisk to provide video; Apple sighs originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 13 Dec 2007 10:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Google's YouTube leads U.S. online video market originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 03 Dec 2007 15:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.