24/7 Wall St. » SNI

As Facebook Ad Share Surges, Smaller Sites in Danger

247wallst — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 11:45:57 +0000

New data from online research firm Comscore shows Facebook had 27.9% of the U.S. display advertising market, up from 21% in 2010. Yahoo!’s (NASDAQ: YHOO) share was 11%. Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) had 5% each. That leaves the balance of the market with a little over 51%. Given Facebook’s advance over the past three years, small and modest-sized websites may be hurt even more than their larger competitors, despite the fact that the dollar value of display advertising advances every year.

The analysis of display advertising market share rarely mentions the tier of sites below the largest ones by audience. Those most likely to be hurt badly, if they have not already been, are the online sites of old-line media companies. The New York Times (NYSE: NYT) has had trouble with its very modest online ad growth. Among sites measure by Comscore, it had 76.4 million unique visitors in December to Facebook’s 152.5 million. And Facebook’s audience continues to grow quickly. The New York Times’ does not. Gannett (NYSE: GCI), which announced earnings yesterday, has confronted the same challenge. Its increase in internet ad revenue last quarter was depressing and hardly enough to offset drops in traditional print advertising. It had 44.1 million unique visitors in December, despite the fact that it owns the giant national newspaper USA Today. Scripps Networks (NYSE: SNI) and the Washington Post (NYSE: WPO) are in a position that is just as difficult.

Facebook has not only started to squeeze out the major portals. It takes an ongoing piece of a market that has thousands of websites in it. This display advertising market, which appeared so promising just a few years ago, is hardly promising at all.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Media, Old Media Tagged: GCI, GOOG, MSFT, NYT, SNI, WPO, YHOO

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (ALU, ABX, BSX, C. CLX, EBAY, GNW, HBAN, JDSU, LNKD, ERIC, NFLX, NXPI, RJET, SNI, SBNY, SKYW, SPWRA, LCC)

Administrator — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 12:30:02 +0000

These are some of the top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen from Wall Street research calls this Monday morning.

Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) Maintained Underperform but raised estimates at Credit Suisse.
Barrick Gold Corporation (NYSE: ABX) Reiterated Strong Buy as Value at Zacks.
Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE: BSX) Cut to Underweight at Barclays.
Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) maintained Buy with $53 target but slightly cut estimates at BofA/ML; Reiterated Sell at Argus.
Clorox Corporation (NYSE: CLX) Cut to Perform at Oppenheimer; Raised to Market Perform at Bernstein.
eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) Staretd as Buy with $40 target at Argus.
Genworth Financial Inc. (NYSE: GNW) Cut to Underperform as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Huntington Bancshares Inc. (NASDAQ: HBAN) Raised to Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
JDS Uniphase Corporation (NASDAQ: JDSU) Maintained Neutral but cut target to $15.50 at Credit Suisse.
LinkedIn Corporation (NYSE: LNKD) Cut to Neutral from Overweight at JPMorgan.
LM Ericsson Telephone Co. (NASDAQ: ERIC) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) Cut to Sector Perform at Pacific Crest.
NXP Semiconductors NV (NASDAQ: NXPI) Started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Republic Airways Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: RJET) Cut to Underperform at BofA/ML.
Scripps Networks Interactive (NYSE: SNI) Cut to Equal-Weight at Morgan Stanley.
Signature Bank (NASDAQ: SBNY) Started as Buy with $64 target at BofA/ML.
SkyWest Inc. (NASDAQ: SKYW) Reiterated Underperform and cut target to $10 at BofA/ML.
SunPower Corporation (NASDAQ: SPWRA) Cut to Sell at Collins Stewart; Reiterated Underperform at BofA/ML.
US Airways Group, Inc. (NYSE: LCC) Cut to Neutral at BofA/ML.

You are invited to join our free daily email distribution list to hear more about analyst upgrades and downgrades, top day trader and active trader alerts, dividend trends, news on Buffett and other investment gurus, IPOs, secondary offerings, private equity, and more.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: ABX, ALU, BSX, C. CLX, EBAY, ERIC, GNW, HBAN, JDSU, LCC, LNKD, NFLX, NXPI, RJET, SBNY, SKYW, SNI, SPWRA

The Weeks Stock Market Winners: Eli Lilly, Goodyear, General Mills, and More

247wallst — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 12:02:36 +0000

The number of stocks that made substantial gains for the week was limited. The great exception to that rule was Petrohawk Energy Corporation Co (NYSE: HK) which jumped 62.5% on Friday after a buyout bid from BHP Billiton Ltd (NYSE: BHP). Another stock that jumped on the last day of the week was Clorox Corp (NYSE: CLX) which received a takeover offer from Carl Icahn.

Two food companies showed modest gains: General Mills Inc. (NYSE: GIS) and YUM! Brands Inc. (NYSE: YUM). And, two retailer moved higher, but with little conviction: Kohl’s Corp (NYSE: KSS) and Safeway Inc (NYSE: SWI)

S&P 500 WEEK TOP 10 (08 JUL – 14 JUL)	Ticker	Weekly Price Change (%)	Close Price 14Jul11	Close Price 8Jul11	Market Cap ($Mil)
Newmont Mining Corp	NEM	3.6	56.75	54.76	27993.0
Eli Lilly and Co	LLY	1.9	38.41	37.71	44466.0
Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co	GT	1.6	17.50	17.23	4272.5
General Mills Inc.	GIS	1.5	37.36	36.81	23850.8
Kohl’s Corp	KSS	1.4	55.97	55.18	15732.6
Safeway Inc	SWY	1.4	23.79	23.46	8424.0
YUM! Brands Inc.	YUM	1.4	56.37	55.61	26244.0
CONSOL Energy Inc.	CNX	1.3	50.89	50.25	11533.6
Scripps Networks Interactive Inc	SNI	0.7	47.70	47.39	6380.1
First Horizon National Corp	FHN	0.6	9.48	9.42	2496.4
Source: Capital IQ

Filed under: Research Tagged: BHP, CLX, CNX, FHN, GIS, GT, HW, KSS, LLY, NEM, SNI, SWI, YUM

52-Week High Club (AA, CVX, MMR, EXXI, SNI)

247wallst — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 21:00:20 +0000

Aluminum Corp. of China Limited (NYSE: ACH) rose over 5.7% to a yearly high of $34.27 after the company rose alumina prices for the second time in a week. Alcoa Inc. (NYSE: AA) rose over 3.4% to a yearly high of $17.60 ahead of the their earnings report this evening.

Chevron Corporation (NYSE: CVX) rosve over 2% to a yearly high of $81.09 after the Citigroup upgraded the energy producer on the grounds of an increasingly bullish oil outlook.

McMorRan Exploration Co. (NYSE: MMR) and Energy XXI Ltd. (NASDAQ: EXXI) both surged to 52-week highs after announcing they have made one of the biggest oil and gas discoveries in the Gulf of Mexico. They rose 53.2% and 38.7% respectively.

Scripps Networks Interactive Inc. (NYSE: SNI) rose over 5.1% to a yearly high of $46.01 after the owner of cable-television networks was upgraded by analysts at UBS.

Garrett W. McIntyre

Posted in Earnings, Media, Metals, Oil & Gas Tagged: AA, ACH, CVX, EXXI, MMR, SNI

Today’s Best Market Rumors (10/29/2009) (SNI)(NWS)(YHOO)

247wallst — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 13:15:38 +0000

Updated throughout the day.

Updated 10.45 AM EST There is not as much cash on the sidelines as most investors expect. (Reuters)

Yahoo! (NASDAQ:YHOO) has frozen hiring on the team evaluating integration with the Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Bing search platform (BusinessInsider)

GMAC’s request for more bailout money may hurt the chances of its CEO, Al de Molina, getting the top job at Bank of America (NYSE:BAC)

Galleon may have paid millions of dollars to Wall St. firms for market information. (FT)

Former NBC CEO Bob Wright thinks an IPO of the unit as a means to get it out of GE (NYSE:GE) are very small. (PaidContent)

The dollar will rally in coming months. (Forbes)

News Corp (NYSE:NWS) and Scripps Networks Interactive (NYSE:SNI) have made $800 million offers for 65% of the Travel Channel. (The Deal)

Holiday shopping may drop more than expected this year. (CNBC)

Douglas A. McIntyre

Posted in Rumors Tagged: BAC, GE, MSFT, NWS, SNI, YHOO

Today’s Best Market Rumors (10/13/2009) (STIC)(LVLT)(LVS)(ENER)(GE)(SNI)

247wallst — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 12:06:15 +0000

Updated throughout the day.

Updated 3.14 PM EST: STIC (NASDAQ:STIC) dropping on rumors that Sun (NASDAQ:JAVA) database applications may hurt STIC sales (Barron’s)

Updated 3.11 PM EST: Level 3 (NASDAQ:LVLT) is surging on heavy volume on buy-out rumors. (various)

Updated 12:30 PM EST: ITT options trading is active on trader talk of takeover rumors. Shares are up 3% at $53.02.

Updated 10.40 AM EST “Capmark Financial Group Inc., the commercial real estate company created through a 2006 leveraged buyout of certain GMAC assets, is preparing to file for bankruptcy possibly by the end of next week.” (Reuters)

Update 8.15 AM EST Scripps Interactive (NYSE:SNI) may be a buy-out target (PaidContent)

The four biggest US banks by assets may have to take on $55 billion of mortgage-collection contracts after marking them up by $11 billion in the second quarter, casting a shadow over earnings. (NYPost) Bank of America (NYSE:BAC), JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM), Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC), and Citigroup (NYSE:C).

CIT (NYSE:CIT) may be closer to a bankruptcy (Reuters)

Energy Conversion Devices (NASDAQ:ENER) may be a buy-out target with Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) as the possible bidder.

Users of Apples (NASDAQ:AAPL) Snow Leopard software have been losing personal data. (CNET)

GE (NYSE:GE) may eventually get rid of its entire stake in NBC Universal and Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) may have to spend billions of dollars to effect that. (AP)

Macau may curb growth of the gambling industry which would hurt prospects for Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) and Wynn (NASDAQ:WYNN) (Reuters)

You can join our open email distribution list to get updates each morning on analyst upgrades and downgrades, top day trader alerts, IPO’s and secondary offerings, Warren Buffett and other guru activity, M&A and more.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Posted in Rumors Tagged: AAPL, AMAT, BAC, C, CMCSA, EREN, GE, JPM, LVLT, LVS, SNI, STIC, WFC, WYNN

Comcast Should Buy Viacom, Time Warner, Or Scripps

247wallst — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 09:47:32 +0000

One of the leading media investing firms in the US, Gabelli & Co. wants cable outfit Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) to stop its pursuit of GE’s (NYSE:GE) NBCU and turn its focus on better run media companies with stronger assets. That would include, in Gabelli’s opinion Viacom (NYSE:VIA), Time Warner (NYSE:TWX), Scripps Interactive (NYSE:SNI)

Gabelli & Co. analyst Chris Marangi said. “Viacom has everything Comcast wants and none of what it doesn’t want.”

Gabelli is right. The buy-out of NBCU is going to be a complex transaction that will involve purchasing the 20% of NBCU that Vivendi owns. According to sources, it would also involve GE and Comcast contributing assets and cash in a deal under which the cable company would own 51% of the new venture and the conglomerate 49%. NBCU has a TV network which is considered a dinosaur in the current media landscape.

Viacom, Time Warner, and Scripps have a larger part of their assets in cable programming which has turned out to be one of the most profitable segments of the media business. Each also has important online assets while NBCU’s presence in that part of the market is weaker.

Comcast faces an uphill battle to convince its shareholders that a complicated deal with GE will be financially successful. Viacom Chairman Sumner Redstone, who also control CBS (NYSE:CBS) is in his eighties. Redstone may want to cash out and Comcast has the financial resources to help him

Douglas A. McIntyre

Posted in Cable Companies, Old Media Tagged: CBS, DMCSA, GE, SNI, TWX, VIA

Stocks Which Doubled Market Performance (ATI, CMCSA, COH, FMCN, HPC, IPG, MICC, NEM, SNI, TIE, VMED)

247wallst — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 16:22:14 +0000

As you will see today’s gains of 10% and more on both the DJIA and the S&P 500 Index, we wanted to explore which stocks greatly outperformed the markets today. We’d note that it is rather odd to see that technology stocks measured by the NASDAQ were actually lagging the overall market today.

DJIA             9,065.12 (+889.35; +10.88%)
S&P500       940.51 (+91.59; +10.79%)
NASDAQ    1,649.47 (+143.57; +9.53%)

Below is a list of the stocks which outperformed by roughly double over the major index gains of the DJIA, S&P 500, and NASDAQ 100. These stocks posted gains of 20% or more on the day, and we’d note that this list would actually be much larger if we included the financial stocks and REIT Stocks which we backed out for obvious reasons:

STOCK & TICKER                                              CLOSE    CHANGE          Comment
ALLEGHENY TECH (NYSE: ATI)                      $23.36 +$4.78 (25.73%) Metals
COMCAST CORP (NASDAQ: CMCSA)             $16.96 +$3.34 (24.52%) Cable
COACH INC (NYSE: COH)                               $19.38 +$3.29 (20.45%) Apparel
FOCUS MEDIA HOLDING (NASDAQ: FMCN) $14.98 +$2.77 (22.69%) Advertising
HERCULES INC (NYSE: HPC)                         $16.98 +$3.62 (27.10%) Chemicals
INTERPUBLIC GROUP (NYSE: IPG)                $5.54 +$1.44 (35.12%) Advertising
MILLICOM INTL CELL (NASDAQ: MICC)       $32.23 +$5.72 (21.58%) Int’l Wireless
NEWMONT MINING (NYSE: NEM)                   $26.47 +$4.93 (22.89%) Metals (Gold)
SCRIPPS NETWORKS (NYSE: SNI)                $26.16 +$4.75 (22.19%) Media
TITANIUM METALS CORP (NYSE: TIE)          $8.14 +$1.42 (21.13%) Metals
VIRGIN MEDIA INC (NASDAQ: VMED)             $5.25 +$1.26 (31.58%) UK Cable/Telecom

Jon C. Ogg
October 28, 2008

Posted in HI/LOW, Index Tagged: ATI, CMCSA, COH, FMCN, HPC, IPG, MICC, NEM, SNI, TIE, VMED