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

• Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT) posted better-than-expected Q3 results, sending shares higher.
• AutoDesk Inc. (NASDAQ: ADSK) reported better-than-expected Q2 earnings, sending shares higher.
• Blockbuster Inc. (NYSE: BBI) had another disappointing quarter as same-store sales declined.
• CIT Group Inc. (NYSE: CIT) delayed its Q3 report due to ongoing debt restructuring and a possible bankruptcy.
• Dr Pepper Snapple Group Inc. (NYSE: DPS) Q2 earnings came in well ahead of Wall Street expectations.

Continue reading Earnings highlights: Blockbuster, Walmart, Applied Materials, ING, Priceline ...

Earnings highlights: Blockbuster, Walmart, Applied Materials, ING, Priceline ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 15 Aug 2009 12:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Pity poor Macrovision (NASDAQ: MVSN). First it unloads the print version of TV Guide for a measly $1 (and has to loan OpenGate Capital $9.5 million in cash to help cover the obligations assumed). Now, three weeks after agreeing to sell TVGuide.com and the TV Guide Channel to Alan Shapiro and One Equity Partners for $300 million, it turns around and dumps that deal in favor of a $255 million offer from Lions Gate (NYSE:LGF).

According to C21Media.net, the CEO of Macrovision defended the change as improving the speed and certainty of the deal closing. Apparently, the original deal contained a $45 million earn-out clause that could have reduced the final sale price. Lions Gate is also flush with cash, which never hurts.

In 2007, Macrovision acquired the properties as part of its $2.8 billion purchase of Gemstar-TV Guide. To make that deal, Microvision took on $800 million in new debt.

The move makes sense for Lions Gate, as both companies are busily expanding their stables of cable channels and internet-platform video entertainment production and distribution channels. In a gloomy market that has seen LGF stock lose over 42% of its value in the past six months, perhaps this move will serve to reinvigorate investors.

TVGuide.com, channel unsold, resold for $45 million less originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 06 Jan 2009 15:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

So, I just read that Lions Gate Entertainment (NYSE: LGF) purchased TVGuide.com and TV Guide Network from Macrovision Solutions Corp. (NASDAQ: MVSN) for over $250 million. Here's the press release. The question I have is: Why would Lions Gate want to do this?

I know I'm going to be called pretty ignorant by some for even thinking to disagree with this move, but nevertheless, I disagree with this move. The reason is simple (to me, at least). If I were a shareholder of the company, I think I'd rather have management focus on creating content as opposed to spending a lot of money to buy up a platform. Sure, these TV Guide properties have a high level of brand equity and are indeed widely distributed. But a quarter of a billion dollars is a lot of money, a sum that could have been allocated toward new movie franchises and content acquisitions.

Does Lions Gate really want the hassle of integrating the TV Guide portfolio into its business? Won't that distract the company from focusing on its desire to build a great library of movies and television shows so that it can become an attractive buyout candidate someday? I mean, let me get specific for a second. Take the Saw franchise. That's getting a little long in the tooth, isn't it? I look at that quarter-billion bucks and see a bunch of seed money for a ton of new concepts. If only a few made it to Saw-level, then I can only imagine that it would help shareholder value.

Continue reading Lions Gate buys TV Guide properties: Why?

Lions Gate buys TV Guide properties: Why? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 06 Jan 2009 00:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

According to Advertising Age, Macrovision Solutions Corporation (NASDAQ: MSVN) has sold the iconic TV Guide to the private equity firm OpenGate Capital. For $1. One freaking dollar! And, even worse, Macrovision is loaning OpenGate $9.5 million at 3% interest to cover the cost of reinvigorating the brand and fulfilling the obligation to serve its current subscribers.

As a child, I would pore over TV Guide, imaging what wonders lay in store for me in the coming week, unaware that the shows would almost always fall short of their promise. For many years, TV Guide and broadcast television were virtually inseparable. Now it's worth a cup of coffee.

The sale demonstrates the difficulty faced by businesses that try to do in print what the electronic world can do better. Want to know what's on tonight? Sites such as AOL Television can provide up to the moment listings, with links and background. With a majority of Americans on cable, program listing are only a button push away. Traditionalists can still find listing in the newspaper.

The type of insider features that were once the meat and potatoes of TV Guide have become core programming for a multitude of magazines such as People and another dying franchise, Reader's Digest. The airwaves are replete with meta-TV programs about TV programs, such as Entertainment Tonight.

No doubt OpenGate intends to reinvent TV Guide, but I have doubts that there is enough value left in the brand to claw its way back to relevancy.

However, I can't quibble that The Price Is Right (CBS, 11:00 a.m.).

TV Guide sold for $1 -- but wait, there's more originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 16 Oct 2008 11:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

For sale: Gemstar-TV Guide International originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 10 Jul 2007 12:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.