Back in February, Comcast (CMCSA) announced its acquisition of the remaining 49% of NBCUniversal from General Electric (GE). Since that time, Comcast has become one of the leading media companies in the United States. Through the acquisition, Comcast has gained valuable movie properties, Broadway musicals, and theme parks, that are powering revenue and earnings per share higher. Now, with the recent announcement for a fourth "Jurassic Park" movie, Comcast's future looks even brighter.
On June 12th, 2015, Universal will release "Jurassic World". The "Jurassic Park" franchise has seen several huge blockbusters, but has declined in popularity and revenue through the history of the trilogy. The fourth movie, which will also be released in 3D, will hope to resurrect the franchise back to its glory days. In 1993, the first "Jurassic Park" movie was released and became the highest grossing film of the year. Here is a look at how all three movies have fared:
Hot Dividend Stocks To Own For 2015: Time Warner Inc.(TWX)
Time Warner Inc. operates as a media and entertainment company in the United States and internationally. It operates in three segments: Networks, Filmed Entertainment, and Publishing. The Networks segment provides domestic and international networks, premium pay and basic tier television programming services, and digital media properties, which primarily consist of brand-aligned Websites. Its premium pay television services consist of the multi-channel HBO and Cinemax premium pay television services. This segment provides programming to cable system operators, satellite service distributors, telephone companies, and other distributors; sells advertising; and licenses original programming to domestic and international television networks. The Filmed Entertainment segment produces and distributes feature films, television and other programming, and videogames; distributes home video products; and licenses rights to its feature films, television programming, and characters. T he Publishing segment publishes magazines and books; and operates various Websites, as well as engages in marketing services and direct-marketing businesses. This segment publishes magazines on style and entertainment, lifestyle, news, and sports. The company?s brands include TNT, TBS, CNN, HBO, Cinemax, Warner Bros., New Line Cinema, People, Sports Illustrated, and Time. Time Warner Inc. was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in New York, New York.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Lauren Pollock]
Time Warner Inc.(TWX)�� third-quarter earnings jumped 44% as the media company’s cost cutting and asset gains helped make up for essentially flat revenue. The bottom line easily topped expectations, but the company kept its guidance for the year intact. Shares rose 2.2% to $69.75 premarket.
- [By Sam Mattera]
HBO has its own online service, HBO Go, that is on par with Netflix. But to use it, you still need cable. There have been reports that HBO was considering offering the service separately, but so far, nothing has come of that -- and it seems unlikely. HBO's parent company, Time Warner (NYSE: TWX ) , owns several other cable networks, including TBS, TNT, CNN, and Cartoon Network. Offering HBO a-la carte would be a strike against the larger cable complex, of which Time Warner is a major player.
Top Media Stocks To Invest In 2014: CBS Corporation(CBS)
CBS Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a mass media company in the United States and internationally. The company?s Entertainment segment distributes a schedule of news and public affairs broadcasts, sports, and entertainment programming; produces, acquires, and distributes programming, including series, specials, news, and public affairs; produces and distributes theatrical motion pictures across various genres; and operates online content networks for information and entertainment. Its Cable Networks segment owns and operates multiplexed channels that offers subscription program services, including recently released theatrical feature films, original series, documentaries, boxing, mixed martial arts and other sports-related programming, and special events; and CBS College Sports Network, a 24-hour cable program service related to college sports. This segment also owns and manages Smithsonian Networks, which operates Smithsonian Channel, a basic cab le service in the United States. The company?s Publishing segment publishes and distributes adult and children?s consumer books in printed, audio, and digital formats. Its Local Broadcasting segment owns 29 broadcast television stations; owns and operates 130 radio stations in 28 U.S. markets and related online properties; and owns local Websites that combine television and radio local media brands online to provide the latest news, traffic, weather, and sports information, as well as local discounts, directories, and reviews. The company?s Outdoor segment sells advertising space on various media, including billboards, transit shelters and other street furniture, buses, rail systems, mall kiosks, stadium signage, and in retail stores. CBS Corporation was founded in 1986 and is headquartered in New York, New York.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Rick Aristotle Munarriz]
AP, Showtime From a high-end apparel retailer making a down-market move to the leading video service adding to its growing library, here are the wonders and blunders of the week. Amazon.com (AMZN) -- Winner Apple (AAPL) may have hit the market with the new iPad Air on Friday, but it was Amazon making the most of the launch -- to promote its own platform. Amazon has spent most of the week pushing its new 8.9-inch Kindle Fire HDX tablet at the top of the popular e-tailer's home page, pitting it against the iPad Air. Amazon points out that its Kindle Fire HDX is 20 percent lighter, packs 950,000 more pixels, and will set shoppers back $120 less than the somewhat comparable iPad Air. You have to admire Amazon's moxie here. Apple just moved more than 14 million iPads in its latest quarter -- and that was the older models during a non-holiday quarter. Amazon's willing to butt heads with the top brand in tablets, and it's doing it on a site that it knows will be getting very busy in the coming weeks as holiday shoppers begin to research the best tablet to buy this season. Well played, Amazon. lululemon ahtletica (LULU) -- Blunder When it comes to selling high-end yoga clothing, no one does it as well as lululemon athletica. Sure, there was that embarrassing episode earlier this year where its black Luon yoga pants were too sheer, resulting in the departure of its head of merchandising. However, how do you justify filling that opening by bringing in Kmart's head of apparel to be your new chief products officer? Kmart has struggled with years of declining comps, and it's a lackluster discount department store chain. Even if she was more than qualified for the gig, investor -- and more dangerously customer -- perceptions may mark down lululemon's image. Pitney Bowes (PBI) -- Winner Metered mail may be a fading industry, but that didn't stop Pitney Bowes from hitting a fresh 52-week high this week after posting encouraging quarterly results. The key here is tha
- [By WALLSTCHEATSHEET]
CBS provides maas multimedia products and services to a growing consumer base across the globe. The stock has been in a strong uptrend for the last several years and is now trading at all-time high prices. Earnings and revenue figures have been steadily increasing, in recent quarters, which has really pleased investors. Relative to its peers and sector, CBS has been a year-to-date performance leader. Look for CBS to continue to OUTPERFORM.
- [By Rick Aristotle Munarriz]
CBS"NCIS" is CBS' top rated drama. From left: Mark Harmon, guest star Colin Hanks, and Pauley Perrette. The market was loving CBS (CBS) on Tuesday, but don't be surprised if the love affair doesn't last. Shares of the broadcasting giant soared nearly 5 percent after it resolved a month-long dispute with Time Warner Cable (TWC) that had kept its channels off the air for the cable provider's 11.7 million customers. But there will be a price to pay for being unavailable to so many cable subscribers for so much of this summer, and we're not just talking about the immediate hit in the current quarter. Customers are getting tired of the games that content providers pay, and CBS is feeding the resentment as it tries to get subscribers to pay more for CBS, The CW, and lesser watched channels including Smithsonian Channel and TVGN. We don't know the terms of new carriage deal, but we know who's actually going to be paying the price: The average Time Warner Cable video customer's bill is up 8.5 percent over the past year. Is it any wonder why the pay TV industry is starting to lose customers? Audiences Are Thinning Out Industry analysts at UBS predict that cable and satellite television providers will lose 250,000 net subscribers this year. It will be the first year that the pay TV industry suffers an annual decline. CBS can argue that it's better off than its sibling Viacom (VIA), which takes in a more significant level of its television revenue from cable subscription fees. CBS has its namesake broadcast channel and more than two dozen local stations. A lot of people cutting the cord to save money will simply invest in HD antennas that they can use to access over-the-air channels including CBS. Well, it's not that easy. Local broadcast advertising was actually one of the few CBS businesses to see its profits decline in its latest quarter. The company blamed the decline on the loss of election-year political ad spending, but could it be that folks just aren't as p
Top Media Stocks To Invest In 2014: Comcast Corporation(CMCSA)
Comcast Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides entertainment, information, and communications products and services in the United States and internationally. Its Cable Communications segment provides video, high-speed Internet, and phone services to residential and business customers. As of June 30, 2011, its cable systems served approximately 22.5 million video customers, 17.5 million high-speed Internet customers, and 9.1 million phone customers. The company?s Cable Networks segment operates cable entertainment networks, such as USA Network, Syfy, E!, Bravo, Oxygen, Style, G4, Chiller, Sleuth, and Universal HD; news and information networks, including CNBC, MSNBC, and CNBC World; cable sports networks comprising Golf Channel and VERSUS; regional sports and news networks; international entertainment, and news and information networks, such as CNBC Europe, CNBC Asia, and Universal Networks International portfolio of networks; cable television production oper ations; and digital media properties consisting primarily of brand-aligned Websites and other Websites, such as DailyCandy, Fandango, and iVillage. Its Broadcast Television segment operates the U.S. broadcast networks, NBC and Telemundo; 10 NBC and 15 Telemundo owned local television stations; broadcast television productions; and related digital media properties. The company?s Filmed Entertainment segment operates Universal Pictures, which produces, acquires, markets, and distributes filmed entertainment and stage plays worldwide in various media formats for theatrical, home entertainment, television, and other distribution platforms. Its Theme Parks segment operates Universal Studios Hollywood park and Wet ?n Wild water park, as well as licenses intellectual properties and provides services to third parties that own and operate Universal Studios Japan and Universal Studios Singapore. Comcast Corporation was founded in 1963 and is based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Dan Moskowitz]
Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC ) �doesn't have the best reputation among its customers, but all that matters to investors is whether or not the company can make shareholders money through stock appreciation and dividend payments. Let's take a look at the Time Warner Cable situation and compare the company's potential to that of Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA ) and Charter Communications (NASDAQ: CHTR ) .
Top Media Stocks To Invest In 2014: Liberty Global Inc.(LBTYA)
Liberty Global, Inc. provides video, broadband Internet, and telephony services primarily in Europe and Chile. The company offers broadband services over cable distribution systems, including video, broadband Internet, and telephony; and video services through direct-to-home satellite, or through multichannel multipoint distribution systems. Its analog video services comprise basic and expanded basic programming; and digital cable services include basic and premium programming, digital video recorders, and high definition programming, as well as pay-per-view programming, such as video-on-demand and near video-on-demand. In addition, the company offers voice-over-Internet-protocol and circuit-switched telephony services, as well as mobile telephony services using third-party networks. Further, it owns programming networks that provide video programming channels to multi-channel distribution systems owned by the company and the third parties. As of December 31, 2011, the com pany owned and operated networks that passed 33,262,100 homes; and served 18,405,500 video subscribers, 8,159,300 broadband Internet subscribers, and 6,225,300 telephony subscribers. Liberty Global, Inc. was founded in 2004 and is based in Englewood, Colorado.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Sam Robson]
LONDON -- In the latest edition of this long-running story, it has been suggested that�Vodafone� (LSE: VOD ) (NASDAQ: VOD ) could use a substantial amount of the money it would receive from selling its stake in Verizon Wireless to fund a takeover of�Liberty Global� (NASDAQ: LBTYA ) .
- [By Alex Webb]
Kabel Deutschland is a key part of Vodafone�� expansion strategy as the carrier looks for ways to boost revenue and lock in customers with Internet and television offers in addition to wireless service. Kabel Deutschland is the biggest cable company in Germany, Vodafone�� largest market, and had drawn a rival bid from John Malone�� Liberty Global Plc. (LBTYA)
- [By WWW.MARKETWATCH.COM]
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Philippe Laffont of Coatue Management gave Liberty Global's (LBTYA) stock a big boost on Monday after he noted how the company will benefit from increasing demand for broadband, in part due to Netflix's expansion. He also speculated the possiblity of a high-profile takeover from major mobile operators such as Vodafone (VOD) . Liberty Global is a cable holding company owned by John Malone. Shares of Liberty Global were up 2.2% and shares of Vodafone gained 0.6% following Laffont's presentation at the Ira Sohn conference .
Top Media Stocks To Invest In 2014: DIRECTV(DTV)
DIRECTV provides digital television entertainment in the United States and Latin America. The company provides direct-to-home (DTH) digital television services, as well as multi-channel video programming distribution services in the United States. It offers various channels of digital-quality video entertainment and CD-quality audio programming directly to subscribers' homes or businesses, as well as video-on-demand services; and approximately 160 national high-definition television channels and 4 3D channels. The company also provides premium professional and collegiate sports programming, such as the NFL SUNDAY TICKET package, which allows subscribers to view the NFL games. In addition, it offers DTH digital television services in Latin America and the Caribbean, including Puerto Rico. The company provides its local and international programming under the DIRECTV and SKY brand names. As of December 31, 2010, it served approximately 19.2 million subscribers in the United States; and 8.9 million subscribers in Latin America. The company was founded in 1990 and is based in El Segundo, California.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Jayson Derrick]
Analysts at Barclays maintained an Equal-weight rating on DirecTV (NYSE: DTV) with a price target raised to $95 from a previous $73. Shares gained 0.34 percent, closing at $86.49.
- [By Laura Brodbeck]
Tuesday
Earnings Expected From: Frontier Communications Corporation (NASDAQ: FTR), GSI Group, Inc. (GSIG), Tesla Motors, Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA), WageWorks, Inc. (NYSE: WAGE), DIRECTV (NASDAQ: DTV), Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: REGN) Economic Releases Expected: �Australian trade balance, New Zealand�� unemployment rate, Canadian trade balance, eurozone PPI, British services PMIWednesday
- [By Dan Radovsky]
AllThings D also reports that bids have to be at least $1 billion, and DIRECTV (NASDAQ: DTV ) is said to be ready with a bid of at least that much. Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC ) , Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO ) , and the private-equity firms KKR, Guggenheim Digital, and Silverlake Partners are also ready to compete.
Top Media Stocks To Invest In 2014: Thomson Reuters Corp(TRI)
Thomson Reuters Corporation provides intelligent information for businesses and professionals worldwide. The company allows market participants to connect, access content, and trade in a secure environment through Thomson Reuters Eikon desktop, Thomson Reuters Elektron network, content integration and management technology, content feeds and databases, and transactions infrastructure solutions that support buy- and sell-side customers to trade in foreign exchange, fixed income and derivatives, equities, exchange-traded instruments, and commodities and energy markets. It also offers information, analytics, workflow, and technology solutions to buy-side and off-trading floor customers; access to liquidity in over-the-counter markets, trade execution, and connections for market participants and financial professionals? communities; and a suite of solutions offering informed outcomes to regulated industries and law firms. In addition, the company provides critical information , decision support tools, and software and services to legal, investigation, business, and government professionals; integrated tax compliance and accounting software and services for accounting and law firms, corporations, and government professionals; intellectual property and scientific resources that enable its customers to discover, develop, and deliver innovations; and data analytics, and performance benchmarking solutions and services to healthcare sector. Further, it offers coverage of global, regional, and national news in 20 languages covering politics, business, finance, entertainment, lifestyle, technology, health, science, and sports; and engages in advertising-supported direct-to-consumer publishing activities of Reuters.com and its network of Websites, mobile applications, and electronic out-of-home displays. The company was formerly known as The Thomson Corporation and changed its name to Thomson Reuters Corporation in April 2008. The company is headquartered in New York, New York.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Rich Smith]
This series, brought to you by Yahoo! Finance, looks at which upgrades and downgrades make sense, and which ones investors should act on. Today, our headlines feature an upgrade for Thomson Reuters Reuters (NYSE: TRI ) , a new buy rating for Novavax (NASDAQ: NVAX ) -- but for Union Pacific (NYSE: UNP ) , a downgrade. Let's get that bad news out of the way first.
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