CHICAGO, Aug. 12, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: News Corporation (Nasdaq: NWSA), Cablevision Systems Corp. (NYSE: CVC) Viacom Inc. (NYSE: VIA.B) Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) and Time Warner Cable Inc. (NYSE: TWC).
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Here are highlights from Thursday's Analyst Blog:
News Corp. Beats
Despite the global economic unrest and declining sheen in the stock market on account of the recent phone hacking scandal in the U.K. that resulted in the closure of the publication of News of the World and abstinence from acquiring the remaining 61% stake in the British Sky Broadcasting Group, News Corporation (Nasdaq: NWSA) posted fourth-quarter 2011 financial results that beat Zacks' expectations.
Rupert Murdoch-controlled News Corporation's quarterly earnings of 35 cents a share came ahead of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 29 cents, and rose 6.1% from 33 cents earned in the year-ago quarter.
On a reported basis, including one-time items, News Corporation informed that quarterly earnings came in at 26 cents, down 21.2% from 33 cents delivered in the year-ago quarter due to the divestiture of Myspace and higher expenses.
News Corporation, a diversified media conglomerate, said that total revenue jumped 10.5% year over year to $8,962 million, reflecting growth across Cable Network Programming (up 14.5%), Filmed Entertainment (up 13.6%), Television (up 7%), Direct Broadcast Satellite Television (up 13.7%) and Publishing (up 10.6%). The Other segment's revenue plunged 24.4%. Total revenue also handily beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $8,466 million.
Total segment operating income, excluding one-time items, soared 45.1% to $1,352 million during the quarter.
News Corporation ended the quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $12,680 million, total borrowings of $15,495 million, and shareholders' equity of $29,506 million, excluding non-controlling interests of $578 million.
News Corporation also announced a dividend of 9.5 cents a share up from 8.5 cents, to be paid on October 19, 2011 to shareholders of record as on September 14, 2011. On July 12, 2011, the company's Board of Directors approved a share buyback program of $5 billion, and hinted that it will commence repurchasing shares after August 15.
Currently, we have a long-term Neutral rating on News Corporation. Moreover, the stock holds a Zacks #3 Rank, which translates into a short-term Hold recommendation, and correlates with our long-term view.
TV on Tablets – A Reality
Watching TV programs on tablets has become a reality. In a significant move yesterday, Cablevision Systems Corp. (NYSE: CVC) and Viacom Inc. (NYSE: VIA.B) jointly announced that they have resolved their legal dispute regarding Cablevision's streaming of Viacom contents on Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) developed iPAD, iPhone, and other similar devices.
Although, none of the companies revealed any details about the exact deal, it was only announced that Cablevision subscribers can stream Viacom's programming to their iPADS. It is not clear whether Viacom will get any additional fees for this facility.
Since last March, the entertainment industry is witnessing a new legal battle between cable operators and cable channels when cable MSOs, such as Time Warner Cable Inc. (NYSE: TWC) and Cablevision, introduced new application to stream TV programs on tablets. Thereby, any subscriber can watch the TV programs just by downloading the required application on tablets.
As soon as cable operators launched these offerings, Viacom was the first among several content developers to protest. The company argued that it has given the right to the cable operators to air its program on television and not for any other device. Viacom filed lawsuits against Cablevision and Time Warner Cable, claiming that these companies have violated their existing agreements and infringed copyright laws. In reply, cable TV service providers argued that tablets are nothing more than another screen for watching TV shows at home. Thus, there has been no violation.
It is now clear that TV streaming on tablets comes through a negotiated settlement. While the Viacom-Cablevision litigation is settled out of court, a U.S. District Judge in Manhattan approved a "standstill" agreement for Viacom-Time Warner Cable litigation last month, which puts this case on hold. The judgment was followed by a mutual negotiation, which is currently going on between the two entities.
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