The sale of DVDs is going the way of the PC -- both have seen their market share dwindling. In a world of instant information, streaming videos are replacing DVDs. Last year, DVD sales fell by 43% to $7.8 billion from $13.7 billion in 2006, The Wall Street Journal reported.

There is another accompanying trend that reinforces streaming videos. Customers are spending more time online. Add the multiplier of time spent on social networks and it's streaming video hands down.

Continue reading Facebook Invades Netflix and RedBox's Turf

Facebook Invades Netflix and RedBox's Turf originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 09 Mar 2011 10:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Coinstar (CSTR) is, without a doubt, a very compelling stock to watch. I've been both bullish and bearish on the idea over the last several months. The one-year chart shows some fascinating price action. It makes one want to buy the name, but at the same time, I'm sure many investors wonder what the future will be like for the owner of the Redbox DVD-rental kiosk (i.e., how will it specifically adapt to the demand for digital delivery of movies?).

This week, TheFly mentioned that an analyst firm believes the stock will climb even higher, perhaps all the way to $80. That would represent a pretty impressive return based on where the quote is right now.

Continue reading Coinstar: Time To Buy or Sell?

Coinstar: Time To Buy or Sell? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 26 Nov 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

I'm going to offer up brief opinions on some of the events from the past trading week. Maybe you had your eye on one or two of them as well.

Playboy (PLA) reported a net loss in its second quarter. The red ink came out to 16 cents per share this time around; last year, the loss was 26 cents per share. You know what? It doesn't really matter if management was able to narrow the bleeding. Playboy is purely an arbitrage play now, with Hugh Hefner making a bid to take control of the business (a competing bid has been made by FriendFinder, which owns Penthouse). I would avoid making a buy here, since the arbitrage game can be a difficult one to win.

Continue reading Thoughts on Market Stories from the Week

Thoughts on Market Stories from the Week originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 07 Aug 2010 12:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Should You Avoid Coinstar?

Should You Avoid Coinstar? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 02 Aug 2010 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Is Coinstar a Buy in a Risky Market?

Is Coinstar a Buy in a Risky Market? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 29 Jun 2010 15:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Coinstar (CSTR - option chain) shares rose Wednesday after the company announced that it has extended its revenue sharing license agreement between Paramount Home Entertainment and Redbox Automated Retail, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Coinstar. If you think that the stock won't fall by too much in the coming months, then now could be a good time to look at a bullish hedged trade on CSTR.

CSTR opened Wednesday at $53.50. In morning trading, the stock hit a low of $52.30 and a high of $54.76. As of 12:15, CSTR was trading at $53.17 up 0.67 (1.3%). The chart for CSTR looks bearish.

Continue reading Coinstar's Redbox Extends Deal with Paramount

Coinstar's Redbox Extends Deal with Paramount originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 16 Jun 2010 13:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Blockbuster (BBI) is not a stock any sane investor should buy. First, it's under a buck. Second, it is currently down over 20% in afternoon trading, backed by significant volume. I'm seeing a price of just under 40 cents as I write this. Not a good situation.

Yet, I'm sure there are a fair amount of professional speculators out there making bets on the business. Hey, I can't predict the future, but I just don't see how anyone can take a chance on the shares. The one-year chart is terrible. And the most recent earnings report, released yesterday after the bell, is likewise a horrible sight to behold.

Continue reading Blockbuster's Terrible Q1

Blockbuster's Terrible Q1 originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 14 May 2010 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Let's have a look at a few earnings reports from earlier in the week. We'll check out two businesses operating in the arena of consumer products -- Colgate-Palmolive (CL) and Procter & Gamble (PG) -- and one that is prospering from a crimson DVD-rental kiosk that has become all the rage -- Coinstar (CSTR).

We'll start with the latter concern first. Coinstar was one of Friday's great stock stories. It shot higher by 16%, backed by an incredible amount of volume. Investors are apparently counting on this one to go even higher. In fact, some analysts believe that the shares may eventually reach $60.

Continue reading More Quarterly Releases: Coinstar, Colgate, and Procter & Gamble

More Quarterly Releases: Coinstar, Colgate, and Procter & Gamble originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 01 May 2010 09:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

TheStreet.com

Continue reading Is Blockbuster on the Verge of Bankruptcy?

Is Blockbuster on the Verge of Bankruptcy? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 17 Mar 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Can Redbox Survive 28-Day Delays?

Can Redbox Survive 28-Day Delays? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 18 Feb 2010 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

I'm going to take a brief look at two quarterly reports from the past week. We've got a popular restaurant chain on the menu, as well as a DVD-rental business that is causing Hollywood a lot of headaches.

The Cheesecake Factory (CAKE) reported flat sales revenue in the fourth quarter. And when I say flat, I mean it: $400.6 million versus $400.4 million. On an adjusted basis, net income was 28 cents per share, representing an increase of 87%. This was four pennies ahead of estimates.

Continue reading Two Quarterly Releases: The Cheesecake Factory and Coinstar

Two Quarterly Releases: The Cheesecake Factory and Coinstar originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 13 Feb 2010 11:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

On Tuesday evening, I took a different route home than usual, and drove past my local Blockbuster (BBI) store. It was hard not to notice the brand new "Store Closing" sign, and my carpool buddies and I briefly discussed the stiff competition the chain is facing from Netflix (NFLX) and smaller rival Redbox.

Well, in light of last night's updated fiscal-year outlook, I'm beginning to think I may have witnessed a real-life bad omen (feel free to email me for your own psychic reading). After Wednesday's closing bell, Blockbuster confessed that its preliminary fourth-quarter and full-year results were unexpectedly weak -- and as a result, shares of the penny stock are slipping ever closer to theoretical support at zero.

Continue reading More Pain for Blockbuster After Weak Forecast

More Pain for Blockbuster After Weak Forecast originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 21 Jan 2010 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Netflix, Inc. (NFLX) is trading down today. Looks like investors aren't in the mood for the stock just before the new year begins. At the time of this writing, shares of the online DVD-rental concern were off by nearly 3%.

Kind of sad, when you think about it. Netflix is up big on the year. It was a great story of capital appreciation: buy the dips, and you made out. Whenever you thought the company was about to head into a downturn, it ended up proving you wrong. When things seemed just absolutely awful, like they did back in the first quarter, Netflix was resilient in the face of financial adversity.

Continue reading Netflix Weak Today -- Sell Before 2010?

Netflix Weak Today -- Sell Before 2010? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 30 Dec 2009 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Blockbuster (BBI) is a terrible company and stock. After perusing the third-quarter report, published Friday after the bell, I don't see any reason to modify such a rough statement.

Sorry about that, but what else can I say about a huge revenue decline and a wider loss coupled with a story that continues to deteriorate? According to the Q3 earnings release, Blockbuster experienced a 21% drop on the top line. On an adjusted basis, the company lost 20 cents per share, compared to 9 cents per share in the comparable period a year ago. Helping to drive this abject performance was a 14% contraction in same-store sales.

Continue reading Blockbuster: A bomb of a quarter

Blockbuster: A bomb of a quarter originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 13 Nov 2009 08:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Is Netflix siding with Hollywood?

Is Netflix siding with Hollywood? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 11 Nov 2009 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Coinstar's (NASDAQ: CSTR) Redbox, a convenient movie-rental kiosk, has really shaken things up in the media industry. BloggingStocks has covered recent events surrounding this asset: Zac Bissonnette wrote an article earlier in the month discussing the subject of litigation with certain studios, and Brent Archer covered a possible options play connected to a deal with Viacom (NYSE: VIA).

I won't rehash all of the details, but let me boil it down to the salient issue: studios such as Disney (NYSE: DIS), General Electric's (NYSE: GE) NBC Universal, and Time Warner (NYSE: TWX) are all worried about the devaluation of physical media. Redbox charges a single dollar per day for a DVD rental. This frightens content makers. Executives at these companies believe that discs must be defended since they are an important way of amortizing costs associated with making films. Even those entities that have decided to engage the Redbox model probably aren't happy about it. Lions Gate (NYSE: LGF) surely doesn't enjoy the deflation of the DVD, but it is playing ball nevertheless.

Continue reading Redbox is really irritating the studios, but they should calm down

Redbox is really irritating the studios, but they should calm down originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 29 Aug 2009 12:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Coinstar (CSTR) to put Paramount films in Redbox kiosks

Coinstar (CSTR) to put Paramount films in Redbox kiosks originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 26 Aug 2009 12:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Redbox sues Warner Home Video over DVD availability

Redbox sues Warner Home Video over DVD availability originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 19 Aug 2009 16:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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

• Activision Blizzard Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI) reported better-than-expected Q2 results, sending shares higher.
• Blackstone Group (NYSE: BX) said it swung to a Q2 profit despite a dearth of leveraged buyouts.
• CBS Corp. (NYSE: CBS) Q2 earnings declined but still topped estimates, sending shares higher.
• Coinstar Inc. (NASDAQ: CSTR) reported stellar Q2 results driven by its the popularity of RedBox.
• Clorox Co. (NYSE: CLX) posted solid Q4 earnings but said revenues were flat due to currency effects.
• Duke Energy Corp. (NYSE: DUK) lower Q2 earnings beat expectations by a penny but revenue fell short.

Continue reading Earnings highlights: Blackstone, CBS, Humana, Playboy, Sirius, Whole Foods ...

Earnings highlights: Blackstone, CBS, Humana, Playboy, Sirius, Whole Foods ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 08 Aug 2009 15:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Not that long ago, Coinstar (NASDAQ: CSTR) was a sleepy business. Its retail kiosks helped with the mundane tasks like coin counting, money transfers, and so on.

However, the company has redefined its vision -- considering itself a big player in the automated retail category. And, it looks like the key to the strategy is its DVD rental kiosk platform, Redbox.

As seen with the latest quarterly results, Redbox is propelling growth. Revenues spiked 43% to $314 million, with profits going from $2.7 million, or $0.09 per share, to $7 million, or $0.23 per share. For the year, Coinstar expects revenues of $1.225 billion to $1.3 billion. Profits are forecasted at $0.80 to $0.86 per share.

Continue reading Coinstar: Red hot with Redbox

Coinstar: Red hot with Redbox originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 05 Aug 2009 15:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.