Lionsgate Entertainment (LGF) posted results for the fiscal third quarter earlier in the week. I would like to be bullish on the numbers, but I realize such emotion isn't in the cards after reading through the press release.

Maybe I should be at least a little considerate about the Q3 loss of 4 cents per share; last year at this time, the loss was 55 cents per share. Problem is, the loss for the nine-month period is 77 cents per share versus a profit of 2 cents per share in the comparable frame. Perhaps I should just focus on the quarter, but I couldn't help noticing what was going on over the longer term. Besides, who wants to see red ink, especially when, according to TheFly, execs couldn't beat Wall Street's expectations?

Continue reading Lionsgate Entertainment's Q3: Hollywood Is a Challenging Game

Lionsgate Entertainment's Q3: Hollywood Is a Challenging Game originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 12 Feb 2011 09:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

If you are looking for clues telling you which stocks have a good chance of increasing in value, you might want consider watching what insiders are doing. After all, talk is cheap, but when insiders put their own money on the line, you should sit up and take note.

Lions Gate Entertainment (LGF) topped the insider-buying charts for the week ending Jan. 14 as insiders snapped up 819,823 shares of company stock at a market value of $5,328,850. During the past six months, insiders have increased their overall holdings in the company by 35.40% and now own 2.94% of LGF stock.

Continue reading Insiders Snapping Up Lions Gate, JW Mays and More

Insiders Snapping Up Lions Gate, JW Mays and More originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 18 Jan 2011 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Market Down on DreamWorks Animation After 'Megamind' Debut

Market Down on DreamWorks Animation After 'Megamind' Debut originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 08 Nov 2010 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

A year ago, a fierce battle was being waged between two Hollywood studios for the dominance of the Halloween movie marketplace. Lions Gate Entertainment (LGF) was high on its latest gory sequel, Saw VI, while Viacom (VIA.B) was pinning its hopes on a low-budget film entitled Paranormal Activity. It was something of a David-and-Goliath situation; certainly the bloody brand equity of the Saw franchise could not be bested by some goofy found-footage-themed piece of celluloid?

Haven't the Goliaths of this world learned anything? Saw VI ended up the loser of the competition. I was amazed. Lions Gate, however, wanted to give it another shot. So, Saw 3D, which supposedly may be the final one of the series (yeah, we'll see), declared war on the sequel to Viacom's demon tale, Paranormal Activity 2, this past weekend; Jigsaw apparently is out for a little revenge.

Continue reading Saw 3D: Final Attempt Does the Trick for Lions Gate

Saw 3D: Final Attempt Does the Trick for Lions Gate originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 01 Nov 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Viacom Dominates Theaters with 'Paranormal Activity 2'

Viacom Dominates Theaters with 'Paranormal Activity 2' originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 25 Oct 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

I have to admit, I didn't notice until late this week that World Wrestling Entertainment's (WWE) Legendary film, which opened yesterday, was some sort of drama. Maybe I was aware of it, somewhere in the back of my mind, but honestly, I've suddenly been hit by the notion that WWE's celluloid division made one heck of a strange business decision in green lighting the project.

Let me say upfront that I have not seen the movie. But I've read several reviews, such as the one in the Los Angeles Times. They don't make me want to see the flick.

Continue reading WWE's 'Legendary': An Odd Choice for a Movie Strategy

WWE's 'Legendary': An Odd Choice for a Movie Strategy originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 11 Sep 2010 11:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

M & A. That's mergers and acquisitions. They're all over the financial pages. Intel (INTC) is buying Infineon's wireless division for $1.4 billion so the chip manufacturer can diversify beyond computers. HP (HPQ) or Dell (DELL) will end up with 3PAR, a cloud-computing company, at a cost of $2 billion or more. Carl Icahn, the billionaire financier, is making a hostile tender bid for Lions Gate (LGF), the film and television producer. 3M (MMM) is buying Attenti Holdings, an Israeli maker of remote monitoring technology used to track people, for $230 million. Exelon (EXC) is picking up a division of Deere (DE), a renewable energy unit, for about $900 million so it can enter the wind-power segment. Sanofi-Aventis (SNYNF) is trying to buy Genzyme (GENZ) but the board won't accept the bid of $18.5 billion. The board is open to better numbers. There are many more.

Is all this good for investors? Or is there some bad in there?

Continue reading Comfort Zone Investing: M&A: Good News ... or Bad?

Comfort Zone Investing: M&A: Good News ... or Bad? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 04 Sep 2010 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Closing Bell: When Every Bit of Data Rules (STRA, ADSK, SKS, INTC, ENER, LGF, REXX)

Closing Bell: When Every Bit of Data Rules (STRA, ADSK, SKS, INTC, ENER, LGF, REXX) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 31 Aug 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Has Lionsgate's Latest Film Exorcised Carl Icahn?

Has Lionsgate's Latest Film Exorcised Carl Icahn? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 30 Aug 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Lionsgate Beats Competition Again with 'Expendables'

Lionsgate Beats Competition Again with 'Expendables' originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 23 Aug 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Lionsgate (LGF) needed The Expendables to be a hit, as I noted last week. And management scored on that count. According to early estimates for domestic theatrical performance at Box Office Mojo, the movie nabbed first place with $35 million over the three-day weekend.

Coming in a strong second was Sony's (SNE) Eat Pray Love, which had a ton of buzz surrounding it going into its debut, capturing $23 million. Not bad.

Continue reading Lionsgate Scores Victory with 'Expendables'

Lionsgate Scores Victory with 'Expendables' originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 16 Aug 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Lionsgate Entertainment (LGF) is hoping it can dominate the upcoming weekend box-office race. And if it can't dominate, then it at least wants to come as close to dominating as possible.

The bottom line: it can't put in a mediocre performance -- and it most definitely cannot fail. It will release a movie this Friday called The Expendables. As the Los Angeles Times makes clear, it's a pretty important event for the studio.

Continue reading Lionsgate Needs 'The Expendables' to Be a Hit

Lionsgate Needs 'The Expendables' to Be a Hit originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 12 Aug 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

If you are looking for clues telling you which stocks have a good chance of increasing in value, you might want consider watching what insiders are doing. After all, talk is cheap, but when insiders put their own money on the line, you should sit up and take note.

Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. (LGF) topped the insider-buying charts for the week ending July 2 as insiders snapped up 7,071,774 shares of company stock at a market value of $49,502,418. During the past six months, insiders have increased their overall holdings in the company by 15.84% and now own 7.71% of LGF stock.

Continue reading Insiders Snapping Up Lions Gate, Saul Centers

Insiders Snapping Up Lions Gate, Saul Centers originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 06 Jul 2010 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Lions Gate Entertainment (LGF) was downgraded to a hold rating this week, according to our Analyst Calls piece. It's no longer a buy, says Jefferies, because Carl Icahn's tender offer is now expired.

If you ask me, I'd say it was the right call. I don't think the stock is currently appropriate for most investors simply because the whole struggle between Icahn and management leaves little clarity to the situation. Traders and arbitrage players are probably having a field day, but smaller participants would be entering a highly speculative scenario at this point.

Continue reading Lions Gate's Downgrade: The Right Call

Lions Gate's Downgrade: The Right Call originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 03 Jul 2010 11:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analyst Upgrades

• UBS upgraded UPS (UPS) and FedEx (FDX) to buy from hold based on recent weakness and leverage to a recovery. The firm raised its price target on UPS to $74 from $72 and on FedEx to $100 from $97.
• Bernstein upgraded Medicis (MRX) to outperform from market perform based on valuation and said the company has been executing well over the past few months. The firm has a $28 price target on the stock.
• Citigroup upgraded Weingarten Realty (WRI) to buy from hold, citing valuation and the company's improved balance sheet. The firm maintains a $24 price target for shares.
• Home Depot (HD) and Lowe's (LOW) were upgraded to market perform from underperform at BMO Capital.
• NextEra Energy (NEE) was upgraded to outperform from neutral at Baird.
• Nokia (NOK) was upgraded to neutral from reduce at WestLB.

Continue reading Analyst Calls: AMED, FDX, H, HD, HOT, LGF, LOW, MAR, MTB, MRX, NOK, UPS ...

Analyst Calls: AMED, FDX, H, HD, HOT, LGF, LOW, MAR, MTB, MRX, NOK, UPS ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 01 Jul 2010 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analyst Upgrades

• Barclays upgraded GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) to overweight from equal weight and said investor concerns regarding Advair and Avandia are overdone.
• Leerink upgraded Bristol-Myers (BMY) to outperform from market perform, citing management's pipeline execution. Shares were also upgraded at Citigroup this morning to buy from hold.
• Goldman upgraded Medco Health (MHS) to buy from neutral and raised its price target on shares to $76 from $67. The firm cites valuation and expectations that earnings will accelerate in 2H10 driven by a stronger generic outlook.
• U.S. Steel (X) was upgraded to neutral from sell at UBS.
• Blyth (BTH) was upgraded to hold from underperform at Jefferies.
• IPC The Hospitalist Co. (IPCM) was upgraded to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank.

Continue reading Analyst Calls: BMY, FSLR, GSK, LGF, MHS, PVH, SAI, SU, WAG, X ...

Analyst Calls: BMY, FSLR, GSK, LGF, MHS, PVH, SAI, SU, WAG, X ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 11 Jun 2010 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading 'Shrek' Surprises in Third Weekend

'Shrek' Surprises in Third Weekend originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 07 Jun 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Lions Gate Produces Another Fiscal-Year Loss

Lions Gate Produces Another Fiscal-Year Loss originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 02 Jun 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Icahn Ups Offer for Lions Gate

Icahn Ups Offer for Lions Gate originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 16 Apr 2010 13:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

What an interesting weekend at the box office. There was a lot to watch for those who invest in the media sector. Let's have a look at what went on.

First, Time Warner Inc. (TWX) scored with Clash of the Titans. I think most observers were expecting this one to reign supreme. According to estimates available at the time of this writing over at Box Office Mojo, Titans made over $60 million in the domestic marketplace. Shareholders are hoping that this will be the start of another good run for the studio. As you'll probably recall, Time Warner was very successful in the celluloid game during 2009.

Continue reading Time Warner and Lions Gate Clash at Box Office

Time Warner and Lions Gate Clash at Box Office originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 05 Apr 2010 17:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.