After market closed, SINA Corp. (SINA) reported revenues of $96.4 million in the third quarter of 2009. Revenues was down 8.6% year over year but was up 6.8% sequentially. Revenues exceeded the company's guidance of $91.0 – $94.0 million and easily beat the Zacks Consensus estimate of $94.0 million. This reflects strong execution of the company’s online advertising business in China , which grew double-digits sequentially. We expect a huge improvement in SINA’s advertising business, as advertising spending recovers. SINA expects to benefit from government stimulus packages. Moreover, management is witnessing signs of a strong recovery in the advertising market in China in the second half of this year, which is reflected in the company’s higher-than-expected guidance. Advertising revenues decreased 16.3% year over year but was up 10% quarter over quarter, exceeding the company’s guidance of $60.0 – $62.0 million. Non-advertising ...

Viacom Inc. (VIA.B) today declared encouraging results for the third quarter. Quarterly net income from continuing operation was $443 million or 73 cents per share, compared to $385 million or 62 cents per share in the prior-year quarter. However, third-quarter adjusted (excluding one-time discrete tax benefit) EPS was 61 cents significantly above the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 55 cents. This is mainly due to soaring increase in operating profit and effective cost management. Quarterly revenues of $3.32 billion was down 3% year over year but was in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate.   Operating income was $784 million, up 14% year over year driven by the solid performance of the Filmed Entertainment segment. At the end of the reported quarter, Viacom had $249 million of cash & cash equivalent and $6,852 million of outstanding debt on its balance sheet compared to $792 million of cash & cash ...

Meredith Corp. (MDP) announced fiscal 2010 first quarter results prior to the opening bell today. The company recorded a GAAP net income of $18.3 million, compared to $18.6 million in the year-ago quarter. Excluding a favorable tax benefit, adjusted earnings per share came in at 34 cents per share, edging past the Zacks Consensus Estimate by a penny.  The company recorded an 8.7% year-over-year decrease in total revenues to $332.4 million. The decline was primarily caused by a 9.4% decline in advertising revenues to $191.8 million, coupled with a 2.1% reduction in circulation revenues to $69.9 million.  Meredith’s National Media group (earlier, Publishing group) posted a 7.5% decline in revenues to $271.6 million as performance continues to be affected by the downturn plaguing the print media industry. National Media’s advertising revenue fell 5% to $137 million during the quarter and the company expects it to decline ...

Sohu.com Inc.’s (SOHU) third-quarter earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 6 cents. This was the due to its strong online games unit and compelling portal business. Net income on a non-GAAP basis was $40.9 million or 96 cents per share versus $42.8 million or $1.08 per share last year. This was at the high-end of the company’s guidance of 92 cents to 97 cents per share.   Revenues for the quarter were $136.6 million, up 13.2% from $120.7 million in the year-ago period. This was in line with the company’s guidance of $133.5- $137.5 million. Revenues were mainly driven by a 25.8% increase in online gaming revenues to $68.7 million.   The increase in online gaming revenues was due to the higher active paying accounts (APA) and user base expansion, which reflects the growing popularity of Changyou's online games. Aggregate registered accounts increased 46%, while APA increased ...

As traditional print media continues its steep declines in advertising sales and circulation, publishers are struggling to come up with new and creative ways to generate revenue.

Ad revenues in the newspaper industry plunged 16.7% last year to $37.8 million r, according to the Newspaper Association of America (NAA). The 2009 take is estimated to fall another 17.3% to $31.6 billion according to Alan Mutter, a Silicon Valley executive who once lead the newsrooms of the Chicago Sun-Times and San Francisco Chronicle and now writes a blog titled “Reflections of a Newsosaur.”

Mutter’s estimate would put ad revenues at their lowest levels since 1965, when the industry took in $4.42 billion, or $30.22 billion when adjusted for inflation, the Columbia Journalism Review (CJR) reported.

While the worst economic downturn since World War II has eviscerated the fortunes of print media companies like The New York Times Co. (NYSE:

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Guidance Overview   SINA Corporation’s (SINA) third quarter revenue guidance of $91.0 – $94.0 million was below the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $97.0 million. The shares fell 1.12% and closed at $30 yesterday when the company’s lower third quarter 2009 outlook disappointed investors. SINA expects Advertising revenues to be $60.0 – $62.0 million and non-advertising revenues to be $31.0 – $32.0 million in the third quarter. The company remains guarded on advertising spending, particularly brand advertising, as consumers remain cautious. Economic growth in China has continued to slow down in the global economic downturn. SINA is also facing severe competition in its mobile business and expects it to be flat in the next few quarters. Competition in the online brand advertising field in China is fierce crowded by big players such as Sohu.com Inc. (SOHU), Shanda Interactive (SNDA) and Baidu, Inc. (BIDU)....

Sohu.com’s (SOHU) second quarter revenue beat the consensus estimate by 3.3%, while the EPS beat by $0.07. This was the result of strength in its online games, advertising revenue and portal business. Revenue for the quarter was $127.1 million, up 24.6% from $102.0 million in the year-ago period. This was above the high end of the company’s guidance of $121.0- $125.0 million and above our estimate of $124.0 million. Revenue was driven by a 39% increase in online game revenue to $66.6 million and 4.6% increase in brand advertising revenue to $43.6 million. Online game revenue exceeded the high end of the company’s guidance by $1.6 million, while brand advertising revenue was in line with guidance. The increase in online gaming revenue was due to the higher active paying accounts (APA) and user base expansion, which reflects the growing popularity of Changyou's online games. Despite a ...

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL - May 12, 2009 - 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: Nanosphere, Inc. (NSPH), CBS Corporation (CBS), News Corporation (NWS), Corrections Corporation of America (CXW) and John Bean Technology Corp. (JBT).

Get the most recent insight from Zacks Equity Research with the free Profit from the Pros newsletter: http://at.zacks.com/?id=4579.

Here are highlights from Monday's Analyst Blog:

Nanosphere Q1 Revs Disappoint

Nanosphere, Inc. (NSPH) reported financial results for the period ending March 31, 2009 following the market close on May 7, 2009. Revenue came in at $255,225, all of which was from product sales, which consisted largely

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In a move designed to reduce its reliance on advertising revenues, Editor-in-chief of Dow Jones and managing editor of The Wall Street Journal (WSJ, a subsidiary of News Corporation [NWS]), Robert Thomson yesterday unveiled plans to introduce a "sophisticated micro-payments service" for access to individual online articles later this year. The announcement is consistent a number of key personnel changes, which point to a greater emphasis on the company's digital media assets going forward.News Corp. recently reported lower-than-expected net income of $2.7B, effectively flat y/y, compared with $2.7B in 3Q08. Total operating income decreased 48% y/y, primarily due to a 97% y/y and 99% y/y decline in Newspaper and Film division contributions respectively.In the company's conference call, Chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch provided a slightly more optimistic outlook than 2Q09 on medium term earnings prospects suggesting that advertisers were slowly returning to the marketplace. ...

Online social networking has been the buzz word for the last 5 years with the birth of MySpace and Facebook which were later followed by LinkedIn and Twitter. The Trinity as I call it, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter have ascended to the forefront of talks regarding the future of this business. Rumors have surfaced over the past month that Twitter was being eyed by the likes of Google [GOOG: 403.47, 0.00 (0.00%)] and Apple [AAPL: 132.50, 0.00 (0.00%)]. I believe that it is time that I now offer my perspective on the issue as these companies continue to mature at a rapid pace and permeate the lives of people worldwide.The Trinity has several choices when analyzing the future of their businesses. The two that have been on the minds of investment bankers and venture capitalists is

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