CBS (NYSE:CBS) and Sirius XM (NYSE:SIRI) pose the greatest investment risks among media companies based on a forensic measure of their transparency and the statistical reliability of their financial reporting and governance practices, according to new data from Audit Integrity. The probability for bankruptcy for Sirius is 8.5% and 4.6% for CBS. Both numbers are remarkably low, but still high for major US companies. Audit Integrity’s bankruptcy model achieved 90.9% accuracy in 2008 and 93.8% in 2009.
The safest companies for investors, based on the same measurement are Disney (NYSE:DIS) and DirecTV (NYSE:DTV). The rest of the firms in the analysis are Time Warner (NYSE:TWX), Viacom (NYSE:VIA), Comcast (NYSE:CMCSA), Cablevision, (NYSE:CVC), GE (NYSE:GE), and Time Warner Cable (NYSE:TWC).
The Audit integrity analysis.
| Company | Ticker | Market Cap | Industry | AGR score | AGR Rating | Bankruptcy Probability |
Bankruptcy Percentile |
|
| Sirius XM Radio Inc. | SIRI | 2,299.46 | Broadcasting & Cable TV | 6 | Very Aggressive | 8.54% | 5 | |
| CBS Corporation | CBS | 8,080.33 | Broadcasting & Cable TV | 29 | Aggressive | 4.60% | 9 | |
| General Electric Company | GE | 161,528.00 | Conglomerates | 1 | Very Aggressive | 4.46% | 10 | |
| Time Warner Cable Inc. | TWC | 14,531.39 | Broadcasting & Cable TV | 28 | Aggressive | 2.65% | 14 | |
| Cablevision Systems Corporation | CVC | 7,080.64 | Broadcasting & Cable TV | 15 | Aggressive | 2.03% | 16 | |
| Comcast Corporation | CMCSA | 31,039.88 | Broadcasting & Cable TV | 35 | Aggressive | 0.78% | 27 | |
| Time Warner Inc. | TWX | 36,493.15 | Broadcasting & Cable TV | 28 | Aggressive | 0.55% | 31 | |
| Viacom, Inc. | VIA.B | 15,584.26 | Broadcasting & Cable TV | 20 | Aggressive | 0.13% | 46 | |
| The Walt Disney Company | DIS | 53,693.70 | Broadcasting & Cable TV | 44 | Average | 0.02% | 67 | |
| The DIRECTV Group, Inc. | DTV | 25,819.84 | Broadcasting & Cable TV | 50 | Average | 0.00% | 82 | |
Douglas A. McIntyre
