Lions Gate Entertainment (NYSE: LGF) is a stock I've been looking at for a long time. It often looked like a great trade. It actually was recently. On Monday, the stock closed at $6.26. That represented a great short-term rise.

I wish I had gone with my instincts and bought shares when they were below the $5 mark. But something always kept me from doing it. I was worried about the fundamental risk involved.

Continue reading Lions Gate's earnings: A horror story?

Lions Gate's earnings: A horror story? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 02 Jun 2009 08:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Time Warner (NYSE: TWX) won the box-office battle this past weekend. I have no idea what Watchmen is all about, except that there's a collection of superheroes and some sort of mutant blue dude in it, but I do know that it grossed around $55 million at domestic theaters, according to early estimates at Boxofficemojo.

For a rated-R mainstream pic that is over two and a half hours long, that isn't too bad. If it had been shorter and a little more open to younger demographics with a PG-13 rating, it probably would have taken in even more revenue. Come on, guys, think next time! Go for profit maximization.

Continue reading Time Warner's 'Watchmen' takes over the box office while Jonas Brothers tank

Time Warner's 'Watchmen' takes over the box office while Jonas Brothers tank originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 09 Mar 2009 11:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

According to Boxofficemojo, Tyler Perry's Madea Goes to Jail came out on top over the weekend at domestic theaters. As of early estimates, the film brought in over $40 million, proving that Tyler Perry's name can still sell tickets. This is great news for Lions Gate Entertainment (NYSE: LGF), which was looking to score a big hit after experiencing some weak performances at the box office.

Tyler Perry beat out News Corp.'s (NYSE: NWS) successful thriller Taken, which landed in the second spot. Coming in third was Coraline from General Electric Company's (NYSE: GE) Focus Features, although those two films could change positions once final numbers are in. Both of them scored around the $11 million mark. Time Warner Inc's (NYSE: TWX) He's Just Not That Into You was fourth and News Corp.'s Slumdog Millionaire, the toast of the Oscars telecast last night, was fifth. Both of those features scored similar amounts, about $8 million each, so we'll see what happens with their respective rankings. Poor Jason Voorhees. Last week, his movie, Friday the 13th, killed at the box office. This week, the slasher dropped 80% in terms of gross and landed in sixth place after debuting in the top slot. Talk about a bloody decline for Time Warner. Horror movies do tend to go down fast after the opening weekend, but I thought this particular feature might exhibit more strength.

Continue reading Tyler Perry's new 'Madea' movie brings in bucks for Lions Gate

Tyler Perry's new 'Madea' movie brings in bucks for Lions Gate originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 23 Feb 2009 17:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

So, let's see. Lions Gate Entertainment (NYSE: LGF) had the number-one film last weekend with Bangkok Dangerous. All I can say is what a difference a week makes, because the film dropped to position number eight this past weekend, according to early estimates from ace movie site Boxofficemojo.com. Of course, this wasn't entirely unexpected, since Dangerous' opening was kind of weak. But fear not, shareholders of Lions Gate, because one of the studio's biggest stars, Tyler Perry, opened relatively well.

Tyler Perry's The Family That Preys took in approximately $18 million, which was good for second place. Burn After Reading held a slight margin of victory over Perry's film. It currently is in first place with about $19.4 million to its credit. It's entirely possible the two could switch places once final figures roll in, but I have a feeling this ranking will stay.

However, one sad thing about Perry is that, important as he is to Lions Gate, his opening weekends seem to be falling in strength. According to this chart at Boxofficemojo,The Family That Preys didn't do as well as the previous two Perry features. Meet the Browns and Why Did I Get Married opened with $20 million and $21 million, respectively. The chart also shows that the final domestic grosses on his films have been in a decline.

Continue reading Tyler Perry comes through for Lions Gate

Tyler Perry comes through for Lions Gate originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 15 Sep 2008 12:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

According to Boxofficemojo, News Corp.'s (NYSE: NWS) Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who! is still selling a lot of tickets at the domestic box office, earning about $25 million over the Easter weekend. Its cumulative total now stands at approximately $86 million. That performance was good enough for the film to retain its number-one standing for the second weekend in a row. This isn't terribly surprising, since quality family pictures have a good chance of doing well during holiday periods.

During the weekend, I composed a post about the Tyler Perry franchise and its importance to shareholders of Lions Gate Entertainment (NYSE: LGF). Well, I was wrong about its potential in regard to Drillbit Taylor, which was distributed by Viacom (NYSE: VIA). While Tyler Perry's Meet the Browns is estimated to have grossed about $20 million in theaters, Taylor is credited with about half that amount. Apparently, the comedic star-power of Owen Wilson wasn't enough to trump the popularity of Tyler Perry's cinematic storytelling; Browns came in at second place, and it should be noted that its per-theater average was much higher than Horton's.

Continue reading 'Horton' still wowing 'em at the multiplex

'Horton' still wowing 'em at the multiplex originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 24 Mar 2008 09:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The weekend is here, and that means a lot of people are heading to the multiplexes in search of entertainment. And it isn't just any weekend -- it's Easter weekend, so studios are hoping that they can capture some revenue magic during the three-day frame. The new movies up for competition include Viacom's (NYSE: VIA) Drillbit Taylor, a comedy featuring Owen Wilson, and News Corp.'s (NYSE: NWS) Shutter, a spooky horror flick centered around photography.

The film I'm most curious about is Tyler Perry's Meet the Browns, which is being released by Lions Gate Entertainment (NYSE: LGF). That's because Tyler Perry has become a successful brand for Lions Gate. His films seem to have a good chance of opening relatively strongly, and Perry's last flick, Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married, did well last fall, taking in over $55 million at the domestic box office, according to Boxofficemojo.com. The Tyler Perry franchise offers a nice contrast to Lions Gate's other big-name series -- this would be, of course, the bloody and vicious Saw series.

I think Meet the Browns will do very well this weekend, but I'm not certain it will be able to jump ahead of Drillbit Taylor. I'm hoping I get a chance to see the latter, as it looks like a nice vehicle for Wilson; plus, John Hughes and Seth Rogen had a hand in the writing of the movie, along with Kristofor Brown. Lions Gate shareholders should welcome Tyler Perry's latest release, and cheer it on during this holiday box-office period.

Disclosure: I don't currently own any of these companies in my portfolio; positions can change at any time.

Lions Gate and Tyler Perry: A great combo originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 22 Mar 2008 16:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Lions Gate Entertainment (NYSE: LGF) reported Q3 earnings after the bell on Monday. Revenue growth was pretty cool, roaring up by double digits to just under $291 million. Unfortunately, the studio could only wring about $2 million from all that top-line take in terms of bottom-line income -- that translated to two measly pennies per share of diluted earnings. In the previous year's quarter, Lions Gate achieved $0.17 per diluted share. Talk about a drop! Earnings.com reported that analysts were hoping for $0.07 per share.

Lions Gate is big on mentioning its free cash flow position, a measure that oftentimes cuts through the vagaries of GAAP income and indicates how well a company is doing at generating the green stuff. Unfortunately, shareholders will be disappointed at this metric as well -- according to the company's calculations in the earnings release, free cash flow dropped like a rock into the abyss, declining 87% to $6.4 million. Increases in total expenses hit the earnings growth, while changes in working capital affected the cash flow.

Keep in mind that Lions Gate operates in the up-and-down world of movies; not every quarter is going to be a good one. The key thing to remember about Lions Gate is that it is for investors looking to get a more direct exposure to the movie industry than is possible with bigger media conglomerates such as Disney (NYSE: DIS), Time Warner (NYSE: TWX), News Corp. (NYSE: NWS), and Viacom (NYSE: VIA). As such, these kinds of quarters are inevitable, and a longer-term mindset is requisite. Not only that, but a big thesis behind Lions Gate is the possibility that it will eventually be acquired because of its valuable library -- Lions Gate is responsible for the Saw horror films featuring that sadistic trap-setting crackpot Jigsaw, the popular Tyler Perry features, and the bloody Hostel flicks. That isn't far-fetched at all. For now, however, the stock has been trading in a tight range, and it has been oftentimes categorized as dead money.

Disclosure: I own shares in Disney.

Lions Gate: A weak predator originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 11 Feb 2008 17:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.