Cablevision Turnaround Back on Track… Updated (CVC)

Cablevision Systems Corporation (NYSE: CVC) is one of our long-term stock picks as a turnaround candidate which has just not managed to turn around.  This was part of the 7 Undervalued Stocks Poised For Recovery. If the company’s earnings report is any indication, that may be about to change.  The net income fell by 47% due to comparing discontinued operations in the headline data.  On an apples to apples basis, Cablevision sales rose more than 7% to $1.69 billion and earnings were reported as $0.22 EPS.  Cablevision also repurchased about 4.6 million shares of its common stock at a price of about $67.4 million for an average share price of $14.65 in the stock.  Whether you like the report or not, it may be just a scenario where “being just good enough is great.”

Shares of Cablevision are up over 4% at $16.29 on more than 1.2 million shares in less than the first 30 minutes of trading.  The 52-week trading range is $11.57 to $37.19.

UPDATE 10:31 AM EST:  As always, this is why without guidance from a conference call can make earnings reports so incomplete.  Guidance was a bit muted, 2012 is being portrayed as a year of investing (rather than recovering), and the price hikes are a disappointment.  Shares had been Up 4%, but now shares are down 7% at $14.44.  This is where the blackjack dealer at the casino cleans you out and says “Thanks for playing!”