This post is one in a series in which more than 60 newsletter advisors share their Top Stock Picks for 2011. This special report is courtesy of TheStockAdvisors.com.

"TV, cable and satellite systems all over the world are making huge investments to providing high definition programming," says Elisea Frishberg.

The contributing editor to The MoneyMan Report explains, "As a result, Harmonic (HLIT) could easily turn out to be one of the world's biggest winners for 2011; the company makes encoders, advanced fiber optic and digital delivery systems.

Continue reading Top Picks 2011: Harmonic (HLIT)

Top Picks 2011: Harmonic (HLIT) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 30 Dec 2010 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The Wall Street Journal suggests that cable stocks, which have sold off sharply over the last three quarters, might now be a good investment. That is probably wrong. The paper says that "while cable stocks lately have bounced from bottoms hit earlier this year, they still are trading at 10-year lows along several key metrics."

But, cable has never had so much competition and that is likely to grow. Firms such as Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) and Time Warner Cable (NYSE:TWC) are up against new fiber-to-the-home TV and broadband offerings from telecom companies, especially Verizon (NYSE:VZ). The phone firm's FiOS product is picking up customers and it has not been rolled out in most of the 18 million homes where Verizon has customers.

The phone companies have a special advantage. They can bundle cellular, broadband, TV, and landline service to individual customers and give them "one-stop shopping."

Cable is also up against new and improved products from satellite TV companies. Firms like DirecTV (NYSE: DTV) are adding a number of HD channels. Cable does not always have the bandwidth to put as many of these channels on its systems.

Cable stocks are down because competition is way up. Much of that has come recently and it is likely to get worse.

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

Can cable stocks get back in vogue? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 03 Apr 2008 10:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Cable stocks have fallen sharply and most trade near 52-week lows, but that is not keeping short sellers from continuing to believe that they could go lower. The short interest in Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA) and Charter (NASDAQ: CHTR) went up on December 14 compared to November 30 according to data from Nasdaq.

The slide in cable shares began around mid-year, when comments from Comcast indicated that the new TV-over-fiber products from telecom companies like Verizon (NYSE: VZ) were starting to take cable customers. Up until recently, cable was able to market voice, TV,and broadband as one package into the home. The telephone companies could not match that. But fiber installations have changed the picture, and competition is fierce.

Cable companies are starting to see slowing growth in their subscriber bases. That could push them to drop rates, and it is forcing them into capital expenditures to improve the speed of their own networks. Both moves put pressure on earnings.

Continue reading Shorts bet cable's problems aren't over: CMCSA, CHTR

Shorts bet cable's problems aren't over: CMCSA, CHTR originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 27 Dec 2007 10:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

For 25 years, Steven Halpern, editor of TheStockAdvisors.com, has surveyed the leading financial newsletter advisors asking for their favorite stocks for the coming year. This article is one of 100+ ideas in the Best Stocks for 2008 report.

"My top speculative pick for 2008 is Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT), a beneficiary of the 'video changes everything' theme," says Rusty Szurek with Next Inning.

"Harmonic is the only broad-line pure-play video infrastructure company of meaningful size left standing in the market today. Its three primary markets are cable, satellite and the budding world of telecom video or, as it's often called, IPTV.

"There is a war raging between these three competing methods for delivering TV programming. Fortunately for Harmonic, the bullets of differentiation these three industries are using in this war are derived from products Harmonic sells.

"Satellite operators are focused on leveraging HD programming through their inherent bandwidth advantage, but need to overcome weaknesses in downloaded video-on-demand. Cable companies are leveraging their inherent advantages to deliver rich video-on-demand experiences, but must quickly overcome bandwidth limitations to keep pace with satellite's rapid deployment of HD programming.

Continue reading Best Stocks for 2008: In tune with Harmonic (HLIT)

Best Stocks for 2008: In tune with Harmonic (HLIT) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 20 Dec 2007 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

For several years, Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA) was considered one of the most successful companies in America. It used its cable franchise to build a huge broadband, VOD, and VoIP cash machine. The so-called "triple play" of voice, TV, and broadband could not be matched by telecom competitors, so Comcast took hundreds of thousands of phone customers away from them each quarter.

From mid-2003 to early 2007, Comcast shares rose close to 100%. During the last three months, they are down 27%.

It finally occurred to Wall Street that competition from satellite TV and the new fiber-to-the-home products from telecom companies like Verizon (NYSE:VZ) were eating into Comcast's customer base. The company recently announced that its growth and cash flow would be less than expected. Customer growth was slowing and the firm had to put more money into infrastructure so that it could improve offerings for products like HDTV.

An influential cable analyst, Benjamin Swinburne of Morgan Stanley, says the slide in Comcast shares is over. According to Barron's the analyst "notes that the stock's multiples have been compressed to historic lows." He also thinks EPS and free cash flow could grow as much as 20% a year, if Comcast can keep adding voice and HDTV customers.

The logic for Comcast making a comeback may be a little thin. Verizon's FiOS is taking customers from Comcast and it is only in a small fraction of the 18 million homes that will eventually have access to the service.That means that the head-to-head competition for the cable company will actually increase. And satellite TV companies continue to ramp up their programming and HDTV offering.

The worst is probably not over for Comcast.

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

Comcast: Is the collapse over? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 07 Dec 2007 11:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Down from its 2000 high of nearly $100 a share to $20 in recent trading, Jason Jovine believes the time has come for long-term buy and hold investors to buy Time Warner, Inc. (NYSE:TWX).

The editor of The Tycoon Report asks, "This stock went down over 80% in the last seven years! What in the world happened?"

One primary factor was the market itself. Indeed, we all remember the bear market phase beginning in 2000. Another factor was its sector. Jovine notes, "Anything related to technology had led the market to its peak in the 1990's, and anything related to technology from 2000 on was to get severely punished regardless of the company or its earnings."

In addition, the advisor points to the merger with AOL as part of the problem. "This merger was announced near the stock's high," he explains. "After that, of course, we had the terrorist attacks on 9/11 and the accounting scandals which later followed."

Now, however, he sees the company's problems as being in the past. He says, "I believe that the stock has been punished enough and is now a very good buy."

He notes, "Overall revenues last year rose by over 4%. In their family of companies -- including AOL, HBO, Time Warner Cable, Turner Broadcasting System, New Line Cinema, Warner Bros. Entertainment, and Time Inc. -- the growth mainly came from Time Warner Cable and their networks, where revenues increased 34% and 7% respectively."

Meanwhile, he points to the stock's price to earnings ratio at about 12.5. He says, "Just as a point of comparison, Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSK) has a p/e of about 32. In other words, you are paying a lot more for the earnings of Comcast than you are for Time Warner's. I know that they do not have the same exact business models, but I still believe that Time Warner is undervalued at this price, and the comparison is still valid."

As to future prospects, he adds, "I think that Time Warner will either exceed or come in on the high end of their earnings projections when their next earnings announcement comes out in early May; stay tuned."

The stock, he concludes, is best suited for those with a long-term horizon. He says, "In my view, investors should buy the stock and hold it. This is an investment."

For more stock picks from the leading financial newsletter advisors, visit Steven Halpern's free website, TheStockAdvisors.com.

Jovine: It's time to buy Time Warner originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 21 Mar 2007 18:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.