Santa hasn't even been tugged down Central Park West yet, and Wal-Mart (WMT) is already slashing its prices. The market among major retailers is intensifying, with many offering products as loss leaders in order to entice customers into the store (physical or otherwise) and boost their basket sizes. Along with Target (TGT) and Amazon (AMZN), Walmart is slashing DVD prices, the same tactic it's using with books.

Retailers are rushing to undercut each other this year, which is causing prices to spiral down quickly. When Walmart announced reduced prices on several titles to $10, Amazon followed at $9.99, with Walmart stepping back in at $9.98.

Continue reading Walmart, Amazon now slash DVD prices: What's next?

Walmart, Amazon now slash DVD prices: What's next? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 08 Nov 2009 14:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) reported earnings for Q4 on Monday after the bell, and according to Trey Thoelcke's recap article, the DVD rental company blew past expectations. Wall Street was looking for $0.34 per share on a top line of $354.2 million. Well, Netflix delivered $360 million in net sales and $0.38 per share on the bottom line. That was an increase of 19% and 65% for the top and bottom lines, respectively.

Call me impressed. These are great numbers. In fact, Netflix added a net 718,000 subscribers in Q4. Last year at this time, the company added a net 415,000 subscribers. Now, let's look at the cash flow. According to the earnings release, Netflix is doing fine here, too. Free cash flow for Q4 more than doubled to $51 million. Free cash flow for the year also doubled to more than $94 million.

Continue reading Netflix beats expectations -- is the stock a buy?

Netflix beats expectations -- is the stock a buy? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 27 Jan 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Oh, Playboy (NYSE: PLA)! The news just keeps getting worse. I was checking out the stock quote this morning and saw that the sexy company's shares (by "sexy company" I refer to the fact that Playboy makes its money off naked women, I do not mean to imply that this is an awesome growth situation, as if you needed to be reminded, right?) are down to $1.75. Can that be right? I'm afraid it is. I then had to check the news to see what awful catalyst reared its ugly head this time. I found one that was posted earlier in the week at paidcontent.org. It looks like Playboy is going to be riddled with charges in the third quarter and will be ditching 80 jobs. It'll generate a net loss in Q3. And one final thing: it's getting out of the DVD business.

Say what? Are you kidding? The article also displayed a memo from CEO Christie Hefner. She basically tries to spin the exit from the DVD business as some sort of smart strategic move. Heck, it looks to me more like a move that she had no choice but to make to save money. I understand her thoughts about shifting to digital distribution, but come on, if the company can't make it in the home-video arena, then there's something really, really wrong with the business. The brand's power is being destroyed by all the competitive forces in the adult space. X-rated content is everywhere on the internet, amateurs can start up their own websites pretty easily, and clips can be posted and accessed on YouTube at a moment's notice. These are trying times for Playboy, and the CEO needs to realize that aggressive action must be taken to improve the brand equity of the Bunny.

Continue reading Playboy: Getting uglier all the time

Playboy: Getting uglier all the time originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 18 Oct 2008 17:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Hollywood Video parent Movie Gallery files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 16 Oct 2007 15:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Netflix down: Outage follows drop in subscribers

Netflix down: Outage follows drop in subscribers originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 24 Jul 2007 15:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Disney (NYSE: DIS) has decided to stop making straight-to-DVD sequels to its old animated hits like Bambi. It is an odd decision since the company makes money on the content. The Wall Street Journal claims that the products were killed by Steve Jobs and his friends who came from Pixar when Disney bought the animation firm. The new guys feel that the "Mickey Mouse XXV" sequels don't burnish the franchise. They hurt it.

Jobs could be right. Disney and Pixar have been known as the gold standard of animated films, with the Disney part of that franchise going back decades to the original studios of Mr. Walt Disney. Since it is not known outside of the company what kind of revenue is being given up, it is hard to judge.

But, the resurgence of "content" as a valuable asset for companies from Disney to Viacom (NYSE: VIA) may have emboldened the company's management to decide it does not want to damage something that it already has --cachet.

The other side of the argument is also compelling. A child of six probably does not know that a second-rate version of "Bambi Goes to Planet Hollywood" was made by the same company that created Toy Story and The Lion King. Unless, of course, that child reads The Wall Street Journal.

Douglas A. McIntyre is a partner at 24/7 Wall St.

Disney to let 'One Hundred and One' sleeping dogs lie originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 23 Jun 2007 16:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.