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PCS Profit Soars, but Churn Rises – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 21:56:52 +0000

Leading unlimited wireless carrier MetroPCS Communications (PCS) reported better-than-expected third-quarter 2009 results with earnings per share (EPS) of 21 cents outpacing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 9 cents, as well as the prior-year quarter EPS of 13 cents. Net income increased 64% year over year to $73.6 million, driven by healthy revenue growth across all segments.

Revenue & EBITDA

Consolidated revenues of $895.6 million reflect 30.4% year-over-year increase, fuelled by 33% annualized growth in service revenue that reached $812.3 million (91% of total sales). Equipment revenue was $83.3 million, up 9.5% year over year.

Revenues at the Core Markets segment increased 18.6% year over year to $809 million. Northeast Markets revenues grew to $87 million from $5 million reported a year-ago. Consolidated adjusted EBITDA increased 35% year over year to $272 million.

ARPU & Churn

Reported ARPU (average revenue per user) of $41.08 represents an improvement from $40.73 reported in the year-ago quarter, driven by the success of the company’s new unlimited international calling plan. Monthly average churn rate (a measure of customer attrition) rose to 5.8% from 4.8% registered in the prior-year quarter.

Despite its leading position in the unlimited prepaid segment, MetroPCS is struggling with customer retention. The company has been increasingly challenged by the aggressive roll-out of competitive discounted service plans by rival Leap Wireless (LEAP) and some of its larger peers such as Sprint Nextel (S) and America Movil’s (AMX) Tracfone.

Subscriber Trends

Net subscriber additions in the quarter were 66,157, down from 205,585 customers added in the previous quarter and 249,265 additions registered in the year-ago quarter. The company lost 54,441 customers in its Core Markets while adding 120,598 customers in the Northeast markets.

Consolidated penetration of covered population in the quarter was 7.1%, compared to 7.9% in the prior-year quarter. MetroPCS’ unlimited nationwide services are now available in more than 11,000 cities and towns across the U.S. At the end of the quarter, the company served approximately 6.3 million customers.

Financial Condition

The balance sheet remains leveraged for MetroPCS, as total debt of approximately $3.6 billion represents an increase from roughly $3.1 billion reported at the end of 2008. The company exited the quarter with consolidated cash and marketable securities of approximately $1.2 billion.

MetroPCS generated positive free cash flow (cash flow from operations less capital expenditure) of approximately $143 million for the first nine months of 2009, compared to a negative free cash flow of $133 million registered for the same period a year-ago.

Outlook

MetroPCS has updated its financial and operational guidance for 2009. The company now expects consolidated net subscriber additions for the year to be in the range of 1 million to 1.2 million, down from 1.4 million to 1.7 million as per previous guidance. Consolidated adjusted EBITDA is projected to be within the range of $850 million to $950 million, also a decline from the earlier forecast of $0.9 billion to $1.1 billion.

However, the company continues to project consolidated capital expenditures in the range of $0.7 billion to $0.9 billion and expects to generate positive free cash flow in 2009.

MetroPCS is increasingly focused on strengthening its position in the unlimited prepaid market by broadening its portfolio of discounted service plans. Moreover, the company continues expand its footprint in the lucrative Northeast markets.

However, MetroPCS is expected to remain challenged by subscriber retention problems as Tier-1 national carriers such as AT&T (T) and Verizon (VZ) continue to attract customers with better product/service offerings. While expansion into Northeastern US markets may drive future growth, we feel that associated expenditures may strain balance sheet conditions moving forward.
Read the full analyst report on "PCS"
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Zacks Investment Research

AMX Tops, Subscriber Growth Dips – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 16:45:00 +0000

America Movil (AMX) reported results for third-quarter 2009 with earnings per ADS of 86 cents edging past the Zacks Consensus Estimates of 85 cents while increasing 22.6% from the year-ago earnings per ADS of 70 cents. Net profit surged 50.6% year over year to 18.7 billion pesos (US$1.4 billion) or 0.57 pesos per share. This healthy growth was fuelled by higher revenue and lower financing costs which fell 82.5% year over year due to gains stemming from favorable exchange rate swings.

Revenue & EBITDA Latin America’s largest wireless carrier continues to register a double-digit revenue growth as evident from the 16.9% year over year increase in consolidated revenue in the quarter to 99.8 billion pesos (US$7.5 billion), driven by 19.5% growth in service revenue. Revenue growth was supported by healthy business momentum across 3G wireless and broadband Internet businesses.

Consolidated EBITDA for the quarter was 40.4 billion pesos (US$3.1 billion), up 15.9% year-over-year, while EBITDA margin equated to 40.5%, stable year over year. Subscriber Trend Healthy earnings for the quarter was partially offset by a deceleration in subscriber growth, especially due to lackluster contribution from the core Mexican operation as overall economic conditions remain challenging.

The company registered 4 million new wireless subscriber additions in the quarter, reflecting a sharp decline from 7.3 million reported the year-ago quarter. Total wireless subscriber base increased to 194.3 million (up 12.6% year over year) with the Brazilian and US operations being the major contributors. Brazil continues to lead the growth with 1.8 million net additions followed by US with 712,000 and Mexico with 280,000 additions.

The economic recovery in Brazil boosted strong subscriber accretion in the quarter. Fixed-line customer base reached 3.8 million. Results by Key Markets Mexico, America Movil’s largest market, posted 5.2% year over year growth in revenues that reached 35.6 billion pesos (US$2.7 billion) driven by strong data revenue growth. Mexican ARPU (average revenue per user) declined marginally year over year while churn (customer switch) remained flat.

Revenue from the Brazilian operation, the other major market, increased 4.6% year over year while churn increased from the year-ago quarter. Brazilian ARPU fell 10.1% year over year. Revenue for the Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay cluster increased 18.4% year over year while ARPU and churn both increased from the year ago quarter. The company’s US operation (Tracfone) posted 13.8% year over year revenue growth while churn increased from the prior year quarter.

Revenue increased year over year across Chile , Ecuador and Peru while declining in Columbia and Panama cluster. Opportunities & Challenges America Movil remains committed to improve service offerings to its customers as the company continues to invest aggressively to expand its GSM based cellular networks in Latin America.

Momentum is also building up for 3G services as increased penetration of 3G data services catapulted data revenue growth by 58% in the third quarter. The company’s 3G services now cover 70% of the population in its coverage markets in Latin America . Leveraging its 3G network, the company launched iPhone 3GS in July 2009 in six countries across Central and South America.

America Movil’s 3G network has already covered 16 major Mexican cities with 60% penetration of the population expected through 2009. America Movil’s prospects in wireless are also likely to be boosted by its low priced prepaid wireless services (“Straight Talk") which is being sold through Wal-Mart (WMT) in the US.

The company’s Tracfone US subsidiary is currently offering a $45 monthly unlimited calling plan which is aggressively positioned against the plans offered by other major low-cost carriers such as MetroPCS (PCS), Leap Wireless (LEAP) and Sprint (S). Although America Movil has a commanding position in the Mexican wireless market, it is gradually losing market share due to stiff competition from the Spanish telecom giant Telefonica (TEF).

Additionally, America Movil remains significantly challenged by the intensely competitive Brazilian wireless market. While we remain encouraged by the company’s sustainable earnings power, consistent revenue growth and increased penetration of 3G data services, we are concerned about the competitive and regulatory issues across Latin America which may continue to constrict subscriber growth levels moving forward.
Read the full analyst report on "AMX"
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Read the full analyst report on "WMT"
Zacks Investment Research

T-mobile Unveils New Service Plan – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 21:39:21 +0000

T-Mobile USA, the US subsidiary of German telecom giant Deutsche Telekom (DT), has reportedly introduced a new unlimited wireless service plan that comes without any annual service contract. This move represents the company’s latest initiative to counter strong competition from its larger peers in the domestic wireless market.

Under the new service plan, customers can enjoy unlimited voice, text and Web access services for $79.99 per month without entering into any long-term contract. This represents a $20 discount on the company’s standard $99.99 unlimited monthly rate plan for a two-year service contract. Subscribers to the $79.99 monthly plan, however, have to pay more for their cellphone handsets than the regular contract-bound customers.

T-Mobile USA is the fourth largest US wireless carrier with 33.5 million subscribers. However, the company is contending in an increasingly consolidating industry. Verizon (VZ) has emerged as the largest wireless provider in the US following its acquisition of Alltel Corp while AT&T (T) is set to acquire the regional telecom operator Centennial Communications (CYCL). As such, T-Mobile USA is becoming increasingly isolated.

Due to their size and scale of operations, T-Mobile USA’s larger competitors are able to deliver services in a more cost-efficient manner, which is affecting the company’s position in the market. Moreover, T-Mobile USA is also losing customers to smaller rivals such as prominent unlimited service providers MetroPCS Communications (PCS) and Leap Wireless (LEAP).

The newly launched service plan (bundling voice, text and data) offers more flexibility to the customers than those offered by T-mobile USA’s larger peers. Both AT&T and Verizon market $99.99 per month unlimited voice plans with additional charges levied on data and text services. To facilitate the adoption of the $79.99 monthly plan, T-mobile USA is offering the customer an option to buy new mobile handsets in installments.

While T-mobile USA’s new initiative to boost customer retention may eventually prove successful, it is likely to reignite price competition among the incumbent wireless carriers as they aggressively attempt to protect their respective customer bases.
Read the full analyst report on "DT"
Read the full analyst report on "T"
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Read the full analyst report on "PCS"
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Zacks Investment Research

Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: AT&T, Sprint Nextel, Deutsche Telecom, MetroPCS and Leap Wireless – Press Releases

Zacks Market Commentaries — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 12:13:57 +0000

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – October 13, 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: AT&T (T), Sprint Nextel (S), Deutsche Telecom (DT), MetroPCS (PCS) and Leap Wireless (LEAP).

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Here are highlights from Monday’s Analyst Blog:

AT&T Unveils Pre-Paid Plan

Apart from the U.S., the new unlimited plan covers Mexico, Canada and over 100 countries worldwide. Roaming within the U.S. is free of cost. This prepaid rate plan is about 50% lower than the company’s regular postpaid unlimited (voice and text) service plan.

AT&T offers its prepaid services under the "GoPhone" brand, which does not require the customer to sign long-term contracts and keep a minimum deposit. While the company remains a dominant player in the postpaid market (representing 86% of the company’s total net customer additions), it is struggling to retain customers in the prepaid segment due to more attractive service plans offered by its competition.

The U.S. prepaid unlimited market is characterized by intense price competition as the incumbent players battle to win new customers while retaining the existing accounts. The rationale behind AT&T’s latest move is to respond to the aggressive price plans of its major competitors in this segment.

Sprint Nextel (S) is currently enjoying meaningful traction for its $50 per month unlimited plan (voice, text, data), which was launched in early 2009 by the company’s Boost Mobile prepaid subsidiary. Smaller wireless carriers, such as Deutsche Telecom’s (DT) T-Mobile USA, MetroPCS (PCS) and Leap Wireless (LEAP) are also offering unlimited voice and data plans at cost-effective price points.

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Zacks Investment Research

AT&T Unveils New Pre-Paid Plan – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 21:34:10 +0000

AT&T (T) has introduced a new unlimited monthly calling plan for the prepaid wireless market. Starting today, customers subscribing to the company prepaid wireless services receive unlimited voice calls, instant messaging as well as text, picture and video messaging for just $60 a month. However, the plan does not cover iPhone users.

Apart from the U.S., the new unlimited plan covers Mexico, Canada and over 100 countries worldwide. Roaming within the U.S. is free of cost. This prepaid rate plan is about 50% lower than the company’s regular postpaid unlimited (voice and text) service plan.

AT&T offers its prepaid services under the "GoPhone" brand, which does not require the customer to sign long-term contracts and keep a minimum deposit. While the company remains a dominant player in the postpaid market (representing 86% of the company’s total net customer additions), it is struggling to retain customers in the prepaid segment due to more attractive service plans offered by its competition.

The U.S. prepaid unlimited market is characterized by intense price competition as the incumbent players battle to win new customers while retaining the existing accounts. The rationale behind AT&T’s latest move is to respond to the aggressive price plans of its major competitors in this segment.

Sprint Nextel (S) is currently enjoying meaningful traction for its $50 per month unlimited plan (voice, text, data), which was launched in early 2009 by the company’s Boost Mobile prepaid subsidiary. Smaller wireless carriers, such as Deutsche Telecom’s (DT) T-Mobile USA, MetroPCS (PCS) and Leap Wireless (LEAP) are also offering unlimited voice and data plans at cost-effective price points.

MetroPCS continues to be a leading player in the U.S. unlimited prepaid segment with cheap service plans that start as low as $30 per month. Moreover, America Movil’s (AMX) U.S. wireless subsidiary TracFone recently launched a $45 per month unlimited prepaid plan.

The $60 service plan represents a significant discount to AT&T’s current $90 ($3 a day) prepaid monthly unlimited plan, which is more expensive than the competition. While the company’s new unlimited plan is expected to boost opportunities in prepaid, its impact in this price-sensitive market is not expected to be huge given the presence of cheaper and more established competitive price plans.
Read the full analyst report on "T"
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Zacks Investment Research

Company News for September 3, 2009 – Corporate Summary

Zacks Market Commentaries — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 14:19:38 +0000

• MetLife (NYSE:MET) shares fell 7.4% after the shares were downgraded by Raymond James Financial on valuation concerns

• Sepracor (NASDAQ:SEPR) shares jumped 26.5% on reports that Japanese firm Dainippon has agreed to acquire the company in a $2.7 billion deal

• Credit Suisse raised its ratings on Research in Motion (NASDAQ:RIMM) and Motorola (NYSE:MOT), expecting benefits from the under-served corporate market, with both likely to benefit from cost cutting measures

• Some reports say AT&T (NYSE:T) is planning an offer to acquire Leap Wireless (NASDAQ:LEAP)

• Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) was ordered to pay a $2.3 billion civil settlement regarding its withdrawn pain medication Bextra and other drugs

• Hovnanian (NYSE:HOV) reported a wider-than-expected fiscal third quarter loss of $2.16 a share, versus Zacks estimates of a $1.60 per share loss as revenues of $387.1 million, were slightly above Zacks estimates of $385 million

• Ciena (NASDAQ:CIEN) reported a narrower than expected fiscal third quarter loss of five cents a share, versus Zacks estimates for a loss of 21 cents a share, on revenues of $164.8 million, compared with estimates of $152 million

Zacks Investment Research

FTC OKs Sprint-Virgin Merger – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 17:30:45 +0000

Sprint Nextel (S) reportedly received approval from the Federal Trade Commission for its acquisition of Virgin Mobile USA (VM). With this antitrust clearance, the company has successfully crossed the first major hurdle in taking over the prepaid wireless reseller. The deal, now subject to consent of Virgin shareholders and other regulatory sanctions, is expected to close in late 2009 or early 2010.

Last month, Sprint announced the acquisition for $483 million and committed to retire all outstanding debt of Virgin on a successful closure of the transaction. Sprint currently owns 13.1% stake in Virgin Mobile USA (a joint venture between UK’s Virgin Group and Sprint), which uses the company’s network to offer prepaid wireless services to roughly 5.2 million subscribers in the U.S.

Sprint remains significantly challenged by the dismal economic environment which has contributed to the precipitous decline in subscriber base and associated revenue. In contrast, its larger peers Verizon (VZ) and AT&T (T) have succeeded in expanding their customer bases. Sprint’s core post-paid business continues to shrink after a net loss of about 2.2 million customers in the first half of 2009. However, this is being partially offset by healthy growth in the prepaid subscriber base.

The company currently offers prepaid services to approximately 5 million customers through its Boost Mobile prepaid subsidiary. Sprint’s $50 monthly unlimited prepaid plan is gaining significant traction, facilitating subscriber retention and superior average revenue per user in the prepaid segment. In order to improve subscriber retention, the company has recently expanded this service plan across its existing wireless network platforms.

Moving forward, we feel that the prepaid mobile market will continue to serve as a significant catalyst for Sprint. The Virgin deal will strengthen the company’s foothold in this rapidly growing market as it leverages two complementary brands (Boost and Virgin) to target various customer demographics with distinctive service offerings. This will also help Sprint to compete with other prominent unlimited prepaid players such as MetroPCS (PCS) and Leap Wireless (LEAP).

Read the full analyst report on "S"
Read the full analyst report on "VM"
Read the full analyst report on "T"
Read the full analyst report on "VZ"
Read the full analyst report on "PCS"
Read the full analyst report on "LEAP"
Zacks Investment Research

Key Telecom Trends: Part 2

Bullish Bankers — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 11:00:55 +0000

This is part 2 of my Key Telecom Trends article. Part 1 can be read by clicking here. Two other trends in Telecommunications over the past few years that should have a significant impact in the future are: Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) emerged on the commercial scene in 2004 harnessing the power of broadband [...]

Harbinger Capital | 13F Hedge Fund Holdings Analysis

Richard C. Wilson — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 14:12:42 +0000

Harbinger Capital

Harbinger Capital | 13F Hedge Fund Holdings

This post is being written as part of HedgeFundBlogger.com's Investment Securities Tool which analyzes the holdings of hedge fund managers.

Harbinger Capital is a $13.8 Billion firm ran by Philip Falcone. Taken from StreetInsider, Harbinger is "a disciplined, value investor with an emphasis on intensive credit research. Its focus is on middle market companies that tend to be misunderstood or under-researched by the market. Investment approaches include:

Restructuring/Bankruptcy, Turnaround, Liquidation, Event Driven, Capital Structure Arbitrage, Short Sale and Special Situations." At one point during this year, they were up as much as 42% (more on that below).

So, now that we've got a background on Harbinger Capital, let's take a quick look at their portfolio highlights. Keep in mind that this is merely a brief summary of their top holdings. Due to the time sensitive nature of the 13F material, I wanted to get this information posted before the next set of filings come out in November.

Top 20 Holdings by % of Portfolio
1. Freeport McMoran (FCX) - Added to position by 4.3%
2. Cleveland Cliffs (CLF) - Boosted stake by 127%
3. AK Steel (AKS) - Added to position by 12%
4. Mirant (MIR) - Added to stake by 7.5%
5. Sprint Nextel (S) - New position
6. Ultrashort Financials (SKF) - Decreased stake by 10%
7. Atlas Air Worldwide (AAWW) - Barely moved stake, literally only sold 4 shares
8. Leap Wireless (LEAP) - No change in position
9. Ashland (ASH) - Increased position by 17.4%
10. New York Times (NYT) - Sold literally only 12 shares
11. Owens Corning (OC) - Boosted stake by 4.8%
12. Cablevision (CVC) - New position
13. Corn Products International (CPO) - Increased stake by 168%
14. Williams Sonoma (WSM) - Sold literally only 3 shares
15. Yahoo (YHOO) - New position
16. TerreStar Corp (TSTR) - Boosted stake by 2.7%
17. Peabody Energy (BTU) - New position
18. RTI International Metals (RTI) - No change in position
19. Northwest Airlines (NWA) - Added only 46 shares
20. Hughes Communication (HUGH) - No change in position

Harbinger's top 3 holdings have undoubtedly increased the volatility in their portfolio. Those three stocks have been on a downward spiral to hell. Freeport McMoran (FCX), Harbinger's top holding, traded around $110-120 at the time of this SEC filing. Since then, FCX has sold off hard and currently trades around $53. Additionally, their position in Cleveland Cliffs (CLF), which they increased by 127% last quarter, has played out in similar fashion. (They basically bought additional CLF at the top). CLF traded around $120 at the time they disclosed their positions. Now, CLF trades around $48. How about some more? Let's move on to AK Steel (AKS), which traded around $70 at the time of this filing. Now, it trades around $23. Undoubtedly, you get the picture. Harbinger's metals and natural resource plays have really been a thorn in their side. And, if there is one 13F filing I am most looking forward to come November, Harbinger's would be it. Because, in that next filing, we will get to see their updated portfolio to see if they were "buying the dip" in these names, or whether they were puking them up with the rest of the market. Harbinger has massive positions in these names, as they are their top 3 largest portfolio holdings.

So, how much pain did those positions (among others) cause Harbinger? Well, a lot, as I recently noted in my performance update on Harbinger. Earlier in the year, they were up as much as 42%. And, nowadays, they find themselves up only 2% for the year. How's that for a swing? This is why I say that their next filing will be very interesting, because many of their top holdings have seen wild volatility.

Other notable portfolio news includes new positions in Sprint Nextel (S), Cablevision (CVC), Peabody Energy (BTU), and Yahoo (YHOO). These are positions that Harbinger did not hold in the prior quarter and thus are new holdings. And, they were sinking a lot of money into these positions, as they brought all of these holdings all the way up to top 20 holdings in their portfolio.

One last thing I want to mention is their position in Corn Products International (CPO). Over the past quarter, they boosted their position in this company by 168%, bringing it up to their 13th largest holding. So, on one hand, you can highlight that they were buying with conviction and that maybe it's a name we should be paying attention to. On the other hand, they added to CLF with conviction and look where that got them. Point being, they were heavily adding to this name.

Also, since this 13F filing, we have seen additional activity by Harbinger. In a recent 13G filed with the SEC, Harbinger has disclosed a 6% ownership stake in Ashland (ASH). They now own 3,789,266 shares. Curiously enough, in the 13F detailed above, Harbinger held 5,871,426 shares of ASH. So, they've decreased their position substantially recently. A 13G filing signifies a passive investment in a company. But, as we are all too familiar with Harbinger's activist exploits in the coal/steel arena, there's always the option they could shift this position from a passive investment, to an activist one (which would require a 13D filing). But, for now, they've maintained it as a passive investment while decreasing their stake.

That sums up the details of Harbinger's filing. Overall, it's been the worst year for hedge funds in a long time, and Harbinger is a perfect example of such volatility.

You can view Harbinger's entire 13F filing over at the SEC.

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Maverick Capital Management 13F | Lee Ainslie Hedge Fund Holdings Analysis

Richard C. Wilson — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 12:41:00 +0000

Maverick Capital

Maverick Capital Management Holdings Analysis

This post is being written as part of HedgeFundBlogger.com's Investment Securities Tool which analyzes the holdings of hedge fund managers.

Lee Ainslie started Maverick Capital back in 1993 with $38 million. Nowadays, the fund is worth $10 billion. Ainslie, like many of the other fund managers I've profiled, has a background rooted in learning from legendary great Julian Robertson at Tiger Management. So, due to the fact that these proteges learned from the best and have had great success running their own hedge funds, I continually try to find a reason not to follow these funds. And, needless to say I'm never successful. Some contacts over at Maverick have explained that their hedge fund strategy is straight up stock picking, both long and short. They made it clear though, that they do not employ pairs trades. Although, some of their long/short setups might be in the same sector. They try to hedge their positions like a true hedge fund by picking out the shining stars in certain sectors, as well as identifying the pieces of garbage. Now, of course, this presents us with a problem in that the 13F filings only show long positions (unless they're holding puts on a name, we can see those). So, a good amount of Maverick's portfolio (the entire short side) is unbeknownst to us, because they have reported zero put positions. But, let's look on the bright side in that we can see all their long positions. Maverick uses a value approach (obviously learned from Julian) and one of their most popular metrics is finding companies and comparing their enterprise value to sustainable free cash flow.

So, now that we've got a little background on Maverick, let's see what they were up to. The following are Maverick Capital's current holdings as of June 30th 2008, as released in their most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The positions in this most recent 13F were compared to last quarter's 13F and here are the changes made to their portfolio:

New Positions:
First Solar (FSLR): 1,202,118 shares. This position is 2.93% of Maverick's portfolio.
Lorillard (LO): 3,820,856 shares. This position is 2.36% of Maverick's portfolio.
CVS Caremark (CVS): 5,912,073 shares. This position is 2.09% of Maverick's portfolio.
Netapp (NTAP): 9,331,862 shares. This position is 1.81% of Maverick's portfolio.
ITT Educational Services (ESI): 2,422,090 shares. This position is 1.79% of Maverick's portfolio.
Macy's (M): 9,008,174 shares. This position is 1.56% of Maverick's portfolio.
Hansen Natural (HANS): 5,712,952 shares. This position is 1.47% of Maverick's portfolio.
Polo Ralph Lauren (RL): 2,431,244 shares. This position is 1.36% of Maverick's portfolio.
Dicks Sporting Goods (DKS): 7,589,473 shares. This position is 1.20% of Maverick's portfolio.
Cigna Corp (CI): 2,931,045 shares. This position is 0.93% of Maverick's portfolio.
Digital River Inc (DRIV): 1,974,144 shares. This position is 0.68% of Maverick's portfolio.
Viacom Inc (VIA): 2,442,500 shares. This position is 0.67% of Maverick's portfolio.
Forest Labs (FRX): 1,789,900 shares. This position is 0.56% of Maverick's portfolio.
Lamar Advertising (LAMR): 1,542,918 shares. This position is 0.50% of Maverick's portfolio.
Visa (V): 565,005 shares. This position is 0.41% of Maverick's portfolio.
South Financial Group (TSFG): 50,000 shares. This position is 0.38% of Maverick's portfolio.
Athena Health (ATHN): 1,245,819 shares. This position is 0.34% of Maverick's portfolio.
National City Corp (NCC): 6,625,176 shares. This position is 0.28% of Maverick's portfolio.
Sohu.com Inc (SOHU): 170,485 shares. This position is 0.11% of Maverick's portfolio.
MSCI Inc (MXB): 287,186 shares. This position is 0.09% of Maverick's portfolio.
Universal American (UAM): 1,004,391 shares. This position is 0.09% of Maverick's portfolio.
Comscore (SCOR): 436,640 shares. This position is 0.09% of Maverick's portfolio.
Citizens Republic Bancorp (CRBC): 937,500 shares. This position is 0.02% of Maverick's portfolio.

Added to:
Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B): Increased position by 1412%. Position is now 0.45% of their portfolio.
Gmarket (GMKT): Increased position by 317%. Position is now 0.19% of their portfolio.
Infinera (INFN): Increased position by 171%. Position is now 0.54% of their portfolio.
American Capital (ACAS): Increased position by 141%. Position is now 0.30% of their portfolio.
Nordstrom (JWN): Increased position by 136.61%. Position is now 2.79% of their portfolio.
America Movil (AMX): Increased position by 129.88%. Position is now 3.91% of their portfolio.
Lexmark (LXK): Increased position by 109.39%. Position is now 1.42% of their portfolio.
Citrix (CTXS): Increased position by 109.36%. Position is now 2.20% of their portfolio.
Bank of New York Mellon (BK): Increased position by 55.42%. Position is now 3.15% of their portfolio.
Baxter Intl (BAX): Increased position by 51.69%. Position is now 2.90% of their portfolio.
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD): Increased position by 45.89%. Position is now 2.87% of their portfolio.
Raytheon (RTN): Increased position by 41.72%. Position is now 2.58% of their portfolio.
Fidelity National Info (FIS): Increased position by 40.56%. Position is now 2.05% of their portfolio.
Covidien (COV): Increased position by 32.99%. Position is now 2.32% of their portfolio.
Liberty Media Corp (LMDIA): Increased position by 28.09%. Position is now 1.59% of their portfolio.
Resmed (RMD): Increased position by 26.46%. Position is now 0.74% of their portfolio.
Burlington Northern (BNI): Increased position by 22.73%. Position is now 1.83% of their portfolio.
Google (GOOG): Increased position by 22.27%. Position is now 1.72% of their portfolio.
Genentech (DNA): Increased position by 21.38%. Position is now 1.40% of their portfolio.
Zimmer Holdings (ZMH): Increased position by 20.28%. Position is now 1.73% of their portfolio.
Cypress Bioscience (CYPB): Increased position by 19.98%. Position is now 0.20% of their portfolio.
Apple (AAPL): Increased position by 19.45%. Position is now 4.09% of their portfolio.
Research in Motion (RIMM): Increased position by 15.41%. Position is now 4.08% of their portfolio.
MetroPCS Comm (PCS): Increased position by 13.6%. Position is now 0.77% of their portfolio.
Home Inns & Hotels (HMIN): Increased position by 7.72%. Position is now 0.54% of their portfolio.
Gilead Sciences (GILD): Increased position by 6.66%. Position is now 2.37% of their portfolio.
Marvell Technology (MRVL): Increased position by 5.24%. Position is now 3.08% of their portfolio.
Newstar Financial (NEWS): Increased position by 5.21%. Position is now 0.14% of their portfolio.
Cardinal Health (CAH): Increased position by 3.33%. Position is now 1.56% of their portfolio.
Amylin Pharma (AMLN): Increased position by 2.84%. Position is now 0.58% of their portfolio.
Discovery Holding (DISCA): Increased position by 1.74%. Position is now 1.21% of their portfolio.
Palm (PALM): Increased position by 1.40%. Position is now 0.51% of their portfolio.
Lumber Liquidators (LL): Increased position by 1.14%. Position is now 0.26% of their portfolio.
China Nepstar (NPD): Increased position by 0.75%. Position is now 0.18% of their portfolio.
First Advantage (FADV): Increased position by 0.65%. Position is now 0.15% of their portfolio.
Under Armour (UA): Increased position by 0.17%. Position is now 0.83% of their portfolio.
Mylan Inc (MYL): Increased position by 0.06%. Position is now 1.09% of their portfolio.
Monsanto (MON): Increased position by 0.04%. Position is now 1.68% of their portfolio.
Potash (POT): Increased position by 0.03%. Position is now 2% of their portfolio.

Reduced positions:
Thermo Fisher (TMO): Reduced their position by 4.91%. Position is now 1.68% of their portfolio.
Western Union (WU): Reduced their position by 10.2%. Position is now 2.08% of their portfolio.
Marsh & Mclennan (MMC): Reduced their position by 12%. Position is now 1.55% of their portfolio.
Textron Inc (TXT): Reduced their position by 18.93%. Position is now 1.44% of their portfolio.
Wyeth (WYE): Reduced their position by 20.6%. Position is now 1.46% of their portfolio.
Leap Wireless (LEAP): Reduced their position by 23.40%. Position is now 0.39% of their portfolio.
Trubion Pharma (TRBN): Reduced their position by 24.38%. Position is now 0.04% of their portfolio.
Dish Network (DISH): Reduced their position by 27.75%. Position is now 1.13% of their portfolio.
Avon Products (AVP): Reduced their position by 33.23%. Position is now 1.36% of their portfolio.
JP Morgan Chase (JPM): Reduced their position by 38.68%. Position is now 0.89% of their portfolio.
Cognizant (CTSH): Reduced their position by 42.97%. Position is now 0.85% of their portfolio.
DirecTV (DTV): Reduced their position by 49.69%. Position is now 0.83% of their portfolio.
Suntrust Banks (STI): Reduced their position by 50%. Position is now 0.16% of their portfolio.
Gamestop (GME): Reduced their position by 51.64%. Position is now 0.81% of their portfolio.
Corcept (CORT): Reduced their position by 57.49%. Position is now 0.01% of their portfolio.
Bluefly (BFLY): Reduced their position by 90%. Position is now 0.11% of their portfolio.
Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A): Reduced their position by 95%. Position is now 0.66% of their portfolio.

Removed Positions (Positions Maverick sold out of completely):
Hanesbrands (HBI)
Autozone (AZO)
Bankrate (RATE)
CNET (CNET)
Crocs (CROX)
Cumulus Media (CMLS)
Harmonic (HLIT)
Loews (L)
Move Inc (MOVE)
Nucor (NUE)
OfficeMax (OMX)
Qualcomm (QCOM)
Salesforce (CRM)
Sandisk (SNDK)
Sears (SHLD)
Starbucks (SBUX)
UnitedHealth (UNH)

Positions with no change:
VMWare (VMW). Position is 0.59% of their portfolio.
BPW Acquisition (BPW). Position is 0.18% of their portfolio.
FIrst Marblehead (FMD). Position is 0.05% of their portfolio.
Ultra Clean Holdings (UCTT). Position is 0.01% of their portfolio.
Vivus (VVUS). Position is 0.01% of their portfolio.

Top 20 holdings by % of portfolio:
1. Apple (AAPL): 4.09% of the portfolio
2. Research in Motion (RIMM): 4.08% of the portfolio
3. America Movil (AMX): 3.91% of the portfolio
4. Bank of New York Mellon (BK): 3.15% of the portfolio
5. Marvell Tech (MRVL): 3.08% of the portfolio
6. First Solar (FSLR): 2.93% of the portfolio
7. Baxter Intl (BAX): 2.90% of the portfolio
8. Advanced Micro (AMD): 2.87% of the portfolio
9. Nordstrom (JWN): 2.79% of the portfolio
10. Raytheon (RTN): 2.58% of the portfolio
11. Gilead (GILD): 2.37% of the portfolio
12. Lorillard (LO): 2.36% of the portfolio
13. Covidien (COV): 2.32% of the portfolio
14. Citrix (CTXS): 2.20% of the portfolio
15. CVS Caremark (CVS): 2.09% of the portfolio
16. Western Union (WU): 2.08% of the portfolio
17. Fidelity National Info (FIS): 2.05% of the portfolio
18. Potash (POT): 2.00% of the portfolio
19. Burlington Northern (BNI): 1.83% of the portfolio
20. Netapp (NTAP): 1.81% of the portfolio

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Breakdown: Maverick changed up their portfolio a decent amount over the past quarter. Most notable are their changes within their top 10 holdings. Hedge fund favorite Qualcomm (QCOM) was Maverick's 3rd largest holding last filing. This filing, they no longer even hold a position. Additionally, they were selling off chunks of other top 10 holdings from last quarter. They sold off 33% of their position in Avon Products (AVP), which was their 4th largest holding just one quarter ago. They also sold over 51% of their Gamestop (GME) position, which last quarter was their 7th largest holding. With those positions vacating their place in the top 10 holdings of Maverick's portfolio, new holdings obviously took their place. America Movil (AMX), another hedge fund favorite, was Maverick's 9th largest holding last time. This time, they increased their position by 129% and it is now their 3rd largest holding. They obviously used the weakness in this name to add to their position, just like fellow 'Tiger Cub' fund Lone Pine Capital. Maverick also added heavily to Nordstrom (JWN), increasing their position by 136% and making it now their 9th largest holding.

Maverick was out adding to tech across the board. Apple (AAPL) and Research in Motion (RIMM) are their top 2 largest holdings respectively, as they boosted their positions in both by over 14% each. Additionally, they added to their Marvell (MRVL) position, bringing it up to the fund's 5th largest position now. Maverick also continues to build a position in Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), as it now is their 8th largest holding.

Among their new positions this quarter are First Solar (FSLR), Lorillard (LO), and CVS Caremark (CVS). I highlight these three in particular because Maverick started large, new positions in all three names. First Solar (FSLR) was brought up all the way to the fund's 6th largest holding after not even owning shares last quarter. They started a new position in CVS Caremark (CVS) and brought it up to the fund's 15th largest holding. Also, they added heavily to Lorillard (LO) as well, making this new position their 12th largest holding. This position is interesting because we also saw Lone Pine Capital (ran by Stephen Mandel Jr.) start a new position in this exact same name. And, actually, this is not the only position that both Maverick and Lone Pine both started together. In this 13F filing, we see that Maverick started a position in Hansen Natural (HANS). And, Lone Pine recently disclosed that they have a 7.8% stake in HANS. It's definitely common to see many similar positions within the portfolios of various 'Tiger Cub' managers who now run their own funds because they all undoubtedly keep in touch and come from the same school of thought.

One last thing I would like to point out is Maverick selling completely out of various consumer related names. They sold completely out of their positions in Autozone (AZO), Hanesbrands (HBI), Sears (SHLD), Starbucks (SBUX), Crocs (CROX), and OfficeMax (OMX).

You can view their most recent 13F as filed with the SEC here.

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