Time Warner Leads Off Media Earnings (TWX, SNE, DIS, CBS, CMCSA, NFLX, AMZN)

Media producer Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX) this morning posted adjusted EPS of $0.79 on $7.07 billion in revenues. Consensus estimates called for EPS of $0.76 on revenues of $6.97 billion. The company also said that its full-year adjusted EPS would be 15%-19% higher than the $2.41 the company reported in 2010. The consensus estimate has been for a 15% increase this year, to $2.78.

Other media companies reporting earnings this morning include Sony Corp. (NYSE: SNE) and Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ: CMCSA). CBS Corp. (NYSE: CBS) reports earnings tomorrow, and Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) reports earnings next week.

By way of contrast to Time Warner’s showing, Sony Corp. (NYSE: SNE) reported a quarterly loss this morning of $347 million, and forecast a loss of about $1.15 billion in is current fiscal year ending in March 2012. The company’s has seen its sales of TVs fall off the table, and now it seems that it is going to pin its hopes on smartphones. It may even try to sell its Sony/Columbia Pictures unit to raise cash.

Comcast this morning reported a 51% jump in quarterly revenue and a 4.7% rise in net profit. Revenue came in at $14.34 billion and adjusted EPS totaled $0.36. The consensus estimate called for revenue of $14.24 billion and EPS of $0.39. The revenue driver was 261,000 new high-speed internet subscribers. Comcast lost 165,000 subscribers to its cable subscription services, fewer than it lost in the same period a year ago, which the company says proves that customers are not cutting the cable in favor of internet streaming.

Since taking over NBCUniversal earlier this year, Comcast has had mixed success with the unit. The cable channels increased revenue in the quarter, but the broadcast network lost money and Universal’s movie business also lost money.

CBS goes into tomorrow’s earnings release with consensus estimates of $0.46 EPS on $3.43 billion in revenue. The revenue estimate is slightly higher than a year ago, but about $200 million lower sequentially. For the fiscal year ending in December, analysts expect CBS to post EPS of $1.86. At NBC, network TV advertising was flat, and there’s little reason to expect CBS to do much better.

At Disney, analysts expect EPS of $0.54 on revenue of $10.56 billion when the company reports earnings on November 10th. Earlier this week Disney’s ABC television group signed two licensing deals, one an extension to its existing agreement with Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX), and the other a new deal with Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN). Both agreements license the companies to stream certain ABC television programming.

In the pre-market this morning, Sony shares are down nearly -6%, at $18.58, inching close to a new low for its current range of $18.10-$36.97. Comcast shares are up more than 2%, at $23.50, in a 52-week range of $19.19-$27.16. Time Warner shares are up nearly 2%, at $34.51, in a 52-week range of $27.62-$38.62.

Paul Ausick