Stock Market News & Stocks to Watch from StraightStocks » Viacom Inc

Zacks #1 Rank Additions for Thursday – Zacks Tale of the Tape

Zacks Market Commentaries — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 12:05:14 +0000

Here are the stocks added to the Zacks #1 Rank ("strong buy") List today:

American Apparel Inc (APP)
Amerco Inc (UHAL)
Ameriprise Financial Inc (AMP)
ArvinMeritor Inc (ARM)
Atlantic Tele-Network Inc (ATNI)
Audiovox Corp (VOXX)
Balchem Corp (BCPC)
Banco de Chile (BCH)
Bancorp Inc (TBBK)
Bell Microproducts Inc (BELM)
Cadbury Plc (CBY)
Cantel Medical Corp (CMN)
CareFusion Corp (CFN)
Compellent Technologies Inc (CML)
Diamond Foods Inc (DMND)
Domtar Corp (UFS)
Expedia Inc (EXPE)
Fossil Inc (FOSL)
Fuqi International Inc (FUQI)
Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes SA (GOL)
Hawk Corp (HWK)
Healthspring Inc (HS)
Hercules Technology Growth Capital Inc (HTGC)
International Bancshares Corp (IBOC)
iRobot Corp (IRBT)
Komatsu Ltd (KMTUY)
Lincoln Educational Services Corp (LINC)
Micrus Endovascular Corp (MEND)
Neenah Paper Inc (NP)
Perfect World Co Ltd (PWRD)
Porter Bancorp Inc (PBIB)
Priceline.com Inc (PCLN)
Quidel Corp (QDEL)
Rentech Inc (RTK)
Rodman & Renshaw Capital Group Inc (RODM)
Systemax Inc (SYX)
Vantage Drilling Co (VTG)
Viacom Inc (VIA.B)
Vonage Holdings Corp (VG)

Viacom Ahead of Zacks Estimate – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:10:24 +0000

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 equivalent and $8002 million of outstanding debt at the end of the prior-year quarter.

Media Networks Segment

Revenues of $2,124 million were essentially flat year over year. Within this segment, solid growth in affiliate sales was offset by lower advertising and ancillary revenues. Worldwide affiliate revenues grew 10% in the reported quarter. Domestic advertising revenues were down 4% year over year, but marked an improvement of 2% sequentially. Worldwide advertising revenues declined 5%. Strong sales of the video game “The Beatles: Rock Band" were offset by lower home entertainment and consumer products revenues, resulting in a 3% decrease in worldwide ancillary revenues. Quarterly operating profit was $773 million, up 2% year-over-year.

Filmed Entertainment Segment

Revenues of $1,224 were down 6% year over year. Ongoing weakness in home entertainment sales more than offset solid growth in theatrical revenues. “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" and “G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra" resulted in 16% year-over-year increase in worldwide theatrical revenues. However, worldwide home entertainment revenues decreased 21% year over year. Television license fees were also down 8% year over- year. In the reported quarter, this segment swung from a loss in the prior-year quarter to a $69 million operating profit.
Read the full analyst report on "VIA.B"
Zacks Investment Research

CBS Re-affirms Operating Guidance – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 17:15:37 +0000

CBS Corporation (CBS), the media conglomerate, recently asserted that it still expects its full year 2009 operating income before depreciation and amortization (OIBDA) in the range of $1.725 billion to $1.925 billion.

The uptrend seen in the second-quarter 2009 revenue has made management optimistic and forecasted better results in the third and fourth quarters compared to the earlier quarters in 2009. The company also indicated some signs of revival in advertising demand in core categories like retail, telecom, pharmaceuticals and quick service restaurants.

Although the sluggish advertising market continues to hurt total revenue, which declined 11% to $3,006.3 million in the second-quarter 2009, but CBS saw a 3% improvement in quarterly revenue compared with a 14% drop in the first-quarter 2009.

In a separate story, National Amusement Inc., the holding company of media tycoon Sumner Redstone plans to sell its stake in CBS Corporation and Viacom Inc. (VIA), and also 35 movie theaters to pay back its debts.

The privately held theater chain has a controlling stake in both CBS and Viacom, and plans to raise $343.7 million and $602.3 million, respectively by offloading part of its stake. Even after the sale, National Amusements will have more than 79% interest in both CBS and Viacom.

National Amusement will sell nearly 26 million shares of CBS Class B common shares at $12 each, with an underwriting option of 2.6 million more shares, and about 19.4 million shares of Viacom Class B common shares at $28.25 with an underwriting option of 1.9 million more shares.
Read the full analyst report on "CBS"
Zacks Investment Research

More Empty Houses in America

Bill Bonner — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 17:30:51 +0000

pIs it time to buy a house? Depends#8230; /p pIf you need a place to live and want to own a house, why not? Prices in some areas are fairly reasonable. But if you’re speculating, our guess is that you’ll get a better deal if you wait./p pWhy? For the many reasons we have given you in these Daily Reckonings. House prices may be firming in some areas – that’s what the Case-Shiller numbers seem to show. But nationwide, they are probably headed down for quite a while longer./p pHerewith, four reasons why:/p pFirst, as you know, this is a depression. It will probably be long. And deep. You wouldn’t know it from looking at the stock market or reading the news. The Dow#8230;/p

Marvel: Licensing Upside in 1Q09 – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Tue, 05 May 2009 21:04:37 +0000

Highlights include Marvel Entertainment, Inc. (MVL), The Walt Disney Company (DIS), Time Warner, Inc. (TWX), News Corporation (NWS) and Viacom, Inc. (VIA).

Marvel Entertainment's (MVL) characters are demonstrating super-human resiliency to the recession. The comic book publisher reported 1Q09 EPS of $0.57, trouncing the Zacks estimate ($0.35) and the consensus ($0.36), driven largely by the timing of film revenue recognition, but also by better-than-expected licensing and film production results.

EPS in the year-ago quarter was $0.58, benefiting from the release of two self-produced films. No films were released in 1Q09.

Because most of the 1Q09 earnings beat came from earlier-than-expected recognition of film production revenue, management raised the lower end of its 2009 EPS guidance by just $0.10 -- reflecting stronger licensing and film production revenue, and a lower effective tax rate.

Though no new films were released in 1Q09, Marvel's first two self-produced films from 2008 -- Iron Man and Incredible Hulk -- generated strong DVD revenues, slightly surpassing estimates.

The high-margin licensing business, which is tied to the timing of movie releases, also topped estimates. Revenue slid just 4.5% -- impressive for a quarter with no new film openings -- driven by strong royalties from interactive games and other licensed merchandise.

We are boosting our 2009 EPS estimate by $0.10 and raising our rating on Marvel shares to Buy from Hold on the resiliency of its licensing business in the face of a recession-induced slowdown in consumer spending.

Marvel's business model of leveraging its library of more than 5,000 trademarked and often ubiquitous characters across 3 businesses -- comic books, toys and films -- while putting little capital at risk continues to prove lucrative, generating ROE averaging roughly 40% from 2003 to the present. The company's more diversified competitors -- Walt Disney Co (DIS), Time Warner, Inc (TWX) and News Corporation (NWS) can't come close to that level of profitability.

The newly-launched film production unit has performed very well thus far, producing two high grossing films in 2008 and raising Marvel's potential upside profits, albeit with higher risk. Marvel's early success has enabled it to negotiate better terms with its distributor, Paramount, a subsidiary of Viacom Inc (VIA).

Two films a year are planned for 2010 and beyond, which we think can contribute to high-teens average EPS growth over the long-term.

In the meantime, MVL appears relatively resilient to the recession, with expected 2009 revenue declines in the licensing division tied to the timing of the film slate, while the film segment's earnings will hinge more on the popularity of its releases than on the economy, as movies are inexpensive entertainment.
Read the full analyst report on "MVL"
Read the full analyst report on "NWS"
Zacks Investment Research

Viacom Up 2% on Q1 Beat – Zacks Tale of the Tape

Zacks Market Commentaries — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 16:22:13 +0000

Viacom Inc. (VIA.B) today reported first-quarter earnings of 29 cents per share, which came ahead of the reduced consensus by 3 cents.

The owner of MTV Networks, Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon witnessed a tough quarter as revenues declined 7% year over year to $2.9 billion, as lower advertising income and a stronger dollar affected performance.

Eight analysts lowered full-year expectations over the past month, while 1 analyst raised the expectation. The consensus estimate has declined by 2 cents during this period to $2.04 per share.

Meanwhile, rival Time Warner Inc. (TWX) reported first-quarter earnings of 45 cents per share yesterday, topping the consensus by 2 cents. The owner of Turner Broadcasting and HBO also said it was planning to spin-off struggling internet unit AOL.

VIA.B, a Zacks #3 Rank ("Hold") stock, is up about 2% on volume of approximately 1.7 million, compared to average volume of about 3.8 million.

"VIA.B" Free Stock Analysis: Buy? Sell? Hold?
Zacks Investment Research

Finding Opportunity in Liberty Media’s Complex Structure

Bullish Bankers — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 11:00:11 +0000

Liberty Media [LMDIA: 17.34, +0.15 (+0.87%)] has been in the news a lot lately, due to CEO John Malone’s recent bailout of Sirius XM Radio [SIRI: 0.2476, +0.0126 (+5.36%)]. This article is not about that deal, however. This article is an attempt to explain the structure of Liberty Media, which is sure to confuse most amateur [...]

Zacks #1 Rank Additions for Monday – Zacks Tale of the Tape

Zacks Market Commentaries — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 07:33:49 +0000

Here are the stocks added to the Zacks #1 Rank ("strong buy") List today:

Aaron Rents Inc (RNT)
ADA-ES Inc (ADES)
Ajinomoto Co Inc (AJINY)
Alleghany Corp (Y)
Apollo Group Inc (APOL)
Atmos Energy Corp (ATO)
Bio-Imaging Technologies Inc (BITI)
Calumet Specialty Products Partners LP (CLMT)
CARBO Ceramics Inc (CRR)
Care Investment Trust Inc (CRE)
Cell Therapeutics Inc (CTIC)
China Agritech Inc (CAGC)
China Information Security Tech Inc (CPBY)
Church & Dwight Co Inc (CHD)
CTI Industries Corp (CTIB)
DXP Enterprises Inc (DXPE)
ev3 Inc (EVVV)
Hellenic Telecom Organization SA (OTE)
ICT Group Inc (ICTG)
Ikanos Communications Inc (IKAN)
Integra LifeSciences Holdings Corp (IART)
James Hardie Industries NV (JHX)
La Jolla Pharmaceutical Co (LJPC)
Labopharm Inc (DDSS)
Lincoln Educational Services Corp (LINC)
Macrovision Solutions Corp (MVSN)
Palatin Technologies Inc (PTN)
Particle Drilling Technologies Inc (PDRT)
Pressure BioSciences Inc (PBIO)
Radiant Logistics Inc (RLGT)
Rentech Inc (RTK)
RRSat Global Communications Network Ltd (RRST)
The JM Smucker Co (SJM)
Sutor Technology Group Ltd (SUTR)
Synchronoss Technologies Inc (SNCR)
Tata Communications Ltd (TCL)
TranSwitch Corp (TXCC)
UAL Corp (UAUA)
Viacom Inc (VIA.B)
Vical Inc (VICL)
Virgin Mobile USA Inc (VM)
Wave Systems Corp (WAVX)

View the entire Zacks #1 Rank List.

Zacks Investment Research

Technical Analysis: DMND & VIA.B – Zacks Tale of the Tape

Zacks Market Commentaries — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 13:42:54 +0000

Diamond Foods Inc. (DMND) shares are trading on an unusually high volume. The food company's stock registered a 12% gain this afternoon.

Viacom Inc. (VIA.B) stock is experiencing unusually low trading volume. Shares declined nearly 3% today.

"DMND" Free Stock Analysis: Buy? Sell? Hold?
"VIA.B" Free Stock Analysis: Buy? Sell? Hold?
Zacks Investment Research

Zacks #1 Rank Additions for Thursday – Zacks Tale of the Tape

Zacks Market Commentaries — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 07:26:13 +0000

Here are the stocks added to the Zacks #1 Rank ("strong buy") List today:

Amtrust Financial Services Inc (AFSI)
Antares Pharma Inc (AIS)
AsiaInfo Holdings Inc (ASIA)
AtriCure Inc (ATRC)
Bayer AG (BAYRY)
CBIZ Inc (CBZ)
Command Security Corp (MOC)
Continucare Corp (CNU)
CSG Systems International Inc (CSGS)
Daimler AG (DAI)
Dolby Laboratories Inc (DLB)
Elbit Systems Ltd (ESLT)
Helicos BioSciences Corp (HLCS)
HMS Holdings Corp (HMSY)
Human Genome Sciences (HGSI)
I-Many Inc (IMNY)
Ikanos Communications Inc (IKAN)
Immunomedics Inc (IMMU)
Incyte Corp (INCY)
James Hardie Industries NV (JHX)
Kirkland's Inc (KIRK)
Landry's Restaurants Inc (LNY)
MAKO Surgical Corp (MAKO)
MAP Pharmaceuticals Inc (MAPP)
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc (MTU)
National Beverage Corp (FIZZ)
NorthWestern Corp (NWE)
Novartis AG (NVS)
Novavax Inc (NVAX)
Quest Energy Partners LP (QELP)
Radiant Logistics Inc (RLGT)
Ryanair Holdings plc (RYAAY)
SuccessFactors Inc (SFSF)
Super Micro Computer Inc (SMCI)
Syngenta AG (SYT)
Teekay Offshore Partners LP (TOO)
TranSwitch Corp (TXCC)
Tree.com Inc (TREE)
Viacom Inc (VIA.B)

View the entire Zacks #1 Rank List.

Zacks Investment Research

Zacks #1 Rank Additions for Tuesday – Zacks Tale of the Tape

Zacks Market Commentaries — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 08:45:22 +0000

Here are the stocks added to the Zacks #1 Rank ("strong buy") List today:

Alexza Pharmaceuticals Inc (ALXA)
American River Bankshares (AMRB)
Anesiva Inc (ANSV)
Aon Corp (AOC)
Arena Pharmaceuticals Inc (ARNA)
Ariad Pharmaceuticals Inc (ARIA)
Array BioPharma Inc (ARRY)
athenahealth Inc (ATHN)
Barloworld Ltd (BRRAY)
Bio-Reference Laboratories Inc (BRLI)
British Airways plc (BAIRY)
CARBO Ceramics Inc (CRR)
Cell Therapeutics Inc (CTIC)
Chemed Corp (CHE)
Corinthian Colleges Inc (COCO)
Danaos Corp (DAC)
Dialysis Corporation of America (DCAI)
Diamond Mgt & Technology Consultants In (DTPI)
Discovery Communications Inc (DISCB)
DXP Enterprises Inc (DXPE)
EarthLink Inc (ELNK)
eDiets.com Inc (DIET)
Elbit Systems Ltd (ESLT)
Endo Pharmaceuticals (ENDP)
Enterprise GP Holdings LP (EPE)
ev3 Inc (EVVV)
FiberTower Corp (FTWR)
Flanders Corp (FLDR)
GTx Inc (GTXI)
HEALTHSOUTH Corp (HLS)
Hellenic Telecom Organization SA (OTE)
InterNAP Network Services (INAP)
Investors Bancorp Inc (ISBC)
Jackson Hewitt Tax Service Inc (JTX)
Keryx Biopharmaceuticals (KERX)
Komatsu Ltd (KMTUY)
LeapFrog Enterprises Inc (LF)
Lincoln Educational Services Corp (LINC)
Medco Health Solutions Inc (MHS)
Meridian Bioscience Inc (VIVO)
Metabasis Therapeutics Inc (MBRX)
Myriad Genetics Inc (MYGN)
NetEase.com Inc (NTES)
Neurogen Corp (NRGN)
NTELOS Holdings Corp (NTLS)
Orthofix International NV (OFIX)
Pactiv Corp (PTV)
Pinnacle West Capital Corp (PNW)
Rentech Inc (RTK)
Ryanair Holdings plc (RYAAY)
S1 Corp (SONE)
Sanofi-Aventis SA (SNY)
Seattle Genetics Inc (SGEN)
Spartan Stores Inc (SPTN)
Steven Madden Ltd (SHOO)
SXC Health Solutions Corp (SXCI)
Teledyne Technologies Inc (TDY)
Tim Hortons Inc (THI)
TranSwitch Corp (TXCC)
Triumph Group Inc (TGI)
Viacom Inc (VIA.B)
Vivo Participacoes SA (VIV)
Vocus Inc (VOCS)

View the entire Zacks #1 Rank List.

Zacks Investment Research

Tribune Company Goes Broke – Zacks Tale of the Tape

Zacks Market Commentaries — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 15:19:08 +0000

Chicago-based news media stalwart Tribune Company today announced it is filing for bankruptcy protection, less than 2 years after billionaire real estate mogul Sam Zell took the company private. Geez...and here we thought Zell had the magic touch based on the fact that he sold Equity Office Partners at the peak of the market a couple years back.

The Tribune is "America's largest employee-owned media company," according to the Tribune's website. It owns the Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, Baltimore Sun and Orlando Sentinel newspapers, to name but a few, as well as television stations across the country. The Tribune is also the owner of the Chicago Cubs baseball team, which is reportedly not being included in the Chapter 11 filing.

This news comes on a day when many of the financial institutions involved with the Tribune deal -- such as JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) and Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (GS) -- are up 10% or more on the day. However, all of the publicly traded companies with a hand in the Tribune buyout -- which was itself cited as costly and time-consuming; understandable in retrospect: a $13 billion company taken private just as the recession in the U.S. began -- are facing severe downward earnings pressure and continually lowered estimate revisions.

Media conglomerates have shown signs of struggle recently, as well, with massive layoffs at Viacom, Inc. (VIA) and General Electric's (GE) NBC Universal announced only days ago. To what extent will Tribune's bankruptcy status add to the growing totals of America's unemployed?

"JPM" Free Stock Analysis: Buy? Sell? Hold?
"GS" Free Stock Analysis: Buy? Sell? Hold?
"VIA" Free Stock Analysis: Buy? Sell? Hold?
"GE" Free Stock Analysis: Buy? Sell? Hold?
Zacks Investment Research

Viacom, NBC Cut Media Jobs – Zacks Tale of the Tape

Zacks Market Commentaries — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 16:57:18 +0000

A full 7% of the Viacom, Inc. (VIA) workforce -- 850 jobs -- is to be terminated by the media conglomerate. And 500 more media industry workers' jobs will be cut at NBC Universal, the media wing of General Electric Company (GE), amounting to 3% of that company's workforce. This comes at a time of slowing box office sales for some film studio businesses, not to mention a pending Screen Actors Guild (SAG) strike.

Who says the entertainment industry is recession-proof? While these hundreds of jobs lost do not match the thousands and tens of thousands being lost in other industries amid the broad U.S. economic downturn, they do illustrate that the economy is worsening for just about all facets of the American workforce -- even those formerly considered "safe" and far removed from the mortgage-led credit crisis that got this downhill ball rolling.

Analysts have been dormant for the past month on earnings estimate revisions for Viacom -- which owns entertainment mainstays such as MTV, Paramount, DreamWorks and BET -- and, in fact, the Zacks consensus estimate for the December quarter has actually gone up 10% over the past 90 days -- 90 cents to 99 cents. Do these layoffs signify unforeseen difficulties with the media giant, or is this simply the latest necessary step taken by a company duly keeping its house in order?

We shall keep an eye on where analyst revisions go from here. Viacom, Inc. is currently a Zacks Rank #3 ("hold") stock.

"VIA" Free Stock Analysis: Buy? Sell? Hold?
"GE" Free Stock Analysis: Buy? Sell? Hold?
Zacks Investment Research

Cheap on the Lows – Analyst Blog

Dirk Van Dijk — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 15:46:50 +0000

As the economy deteriorates, one of the first casualties will be corporate profits. Earnings estimates have been falling very fast for 2009. Recently estimate cuts for 2009 have been running at about 8x the number of estimate increases. P/E-based valuations become tricky in such an environment -- you are shooting at a moving target. One way around this is to focus on the low (or most pessimistic) estimate, rather than on the mean estimate. Assume that everyone else will move to where the biggest pessimist is now. This is not to say that the most pessimistic analyst today can't be too optimistic, but at least he will be closer than most. On this basis, there are some very compelling values out there.

Below we present a list of the cheapest S&P 500 companies based on 2009 low estimates. Since I simply do not trust the numbers, I have excluded from the list all firms from the financial sector. However, I would note that we classify the health insurance companies under health care, and not among the financials. I kept those names on the list, however there is substantial reason to be worried that their portfolios have lots of toxic assets in them just as life or P&C insurance companies. Use this list as a starting point to scout for values, not as a blind buy list.

We have eliminated all firms with Zacks ranks of 4 or 5 ("sell" or "strong sell"). The change in estimate column refers to the mean estimate, not the low estimate, but as you can see the estimates have been coming down for most of these firms, often falling quite sharply.

Still if the low estimate holds, these firms look like fairly compelling values. All have P/E's based on their low estimates of below 8, and several provide very nice dividend yields to reward you while you wait for economic conditions to improve.

Company	Ticker	Stock Price	Low EPS Estimate	2009 P/E Low Est	Zacks Rank	Div Yield
Manitowoc Inc	MTW	$8.70	$2.30	3.78	3	0.92%
Massey Egy Cpy	MEE	$18.14	$4.45	4.08	3	1.10%
Noble Corp	NE	$28.32	$5.75	4.93	3	0.56%
Memc Elec Matrl	WFR	$17.74	$3.43	5.17	3	0.00%
Rowan Cos Inc	RDC	$18.00	$3.43	5.25	3	2.22%
Transocean Inc	RIG	$75.85	$14.30	5.3	3	0.00%
Ensco Intl Inc	ESV	$34.50	$6.00	5.75	3	0.29%
Rockwell Automt	ROK	$24.65	$4.00	6.16	3	4.71%
Peabody Energy	BTU	$27.83	$4.50	6.18	3	0.86%
Humana Inc New	HUM	$34.93	$5.60	6.24	3	0.00%
Harman Intl Ind	HAR	$17.06	$2.65	6.44	3	0.29%
Natl Oilwell Vr	NOV	$27.72	$4.25	6.52	3	0.00%
Tyco Intl Ltd	TYC	$23.95	$3.65	6.56	3	3.34%
Nabors Ind	NBR	$14.92	$2.25	6.63	3	0.00%
Nucor Corp	NUE	$32.92	$4.85	6.79	3	3.89%
Pfizer Inc	PFE	$16.37	$2.40	6.82	3	7.82%
Wellpoint Inc	WLP	$38.02	$5.55	6.85	3	0.00%
Valero Energy	VLO	$18.66	$2.67	6.99	3	3.22%
Forest Labs A	FRX	$23.38	$3.33	7.02	3	0.00%
Precision Castp	PCP	$55.12	$7.85	7.02	3	0.22%
Embarq	EQ	$30.20	$4.28	7.06	3	9.11%
Flowserve Corp	FLS	$51.25	$7.25	7.07	3	1.95%
Utd States Stl	X	$32.21	$4.50	7.16	3	3.73%
Constellatn Brd	STZ	$12.48	$1.74	7.17	3	0.00%
Aes Corp	AES	$6.61	$0.90	7.34	3	0.00%
Hewlett Packard	HPQ	$33.64	$4.55	7.39	3	0.95%
Darden Restrnt	DRI	$20.35	$2.68	7.59	3	3.93%
Unitedhealth Gp	UNH	$22.16	$2.90	7.64	3	0.14%
Limited Inc	LTD	$10.41	$1.35	7.71	3	5.76%
Marathon Oil Cp	MRO	$28.02	$3.60	7.78	3	3.43%
Viacom Inc Cl B	VIA.B	$18.56	$2.35	7.9	3	0.00%
Lilly Eli & Co	LLY	$32.87	$4.15	7.92	2	5.72%

Zacks Investment Research

Global Investing Roundups Tuesday, November 4th, 2008

Contrarian Profits — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 12:58:07 +0000

South Korea Plans $10.8 billion Stimulus; KKR IPO Delayed Again; DryShips Posts 71% Profit Growth; Oil Slides Below $64; Manufacturing Hits 26-year Low; Viacom Profit Down 37%; Cars Sales Plummet

South Korea’s government announced plans for a 14 trillion won ($10.8 billion) economic stimulus aimed to create an extra 200,000 jobs, extend tax breaks for factory investments and increase infrastructure spending and development. Relief measures announced this year now total 33 trillion won, according to the finance ministry, Bloomberg reported.

Initial public offering plans for buyout firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. have again been delayed, this time because its Amsterdam-listed affiliate suffered big investment losses. With KKR’s delay, there hasn’t been a U.S. IPO in nearly three months, Reuters reported.

DryShips Inc. (DRYS), Greece-based…

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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