Latest in Big Media Earnings

Netflix was the clear winner and Twitter an equally clear loser in what was generally a pretty good earnings season for media companies based on the market reactions to execs’ quarterly reports and commentaries. Among 25 of the biggest or most interesting companies that I track, 17 beat the overall market in the…

Investors already know each company’s particular problems — and they’re more interested in what CEOs will forecast for 2013 — Wells Fargo Securities’ Marci Ryvicker says this morning as she lowered her Q4 earnings estimates for CBS, News Corp, and Viacom. “Our gut tells us that investors are already looking past the…

Bernstein Research’s Todd Juenger raises that possibility this morning as he and other analysts tweak their forecasts (mostly down) ahead of the barrage of Big Media reports due to be released beginning next week. The strategy — which companies virtually never acknowledge publicly — is called a “kitchen sink” because…

That word — “uninspiring” — is how Wells Fargo’s Marci Ryvicker characterizes the likely results from Q3 financial reports due at the end of October and beginning of November as she joined the ranks of analysts warning that investors may be let down. Anticipating softer-than-expected ad sales, she tweaked — mostly…

Nomura Equity Research’s Michael Nathanson underscored his concern about the upcoming earnings reports by cutting his Q3 estimates across the board this morning. He dropped CBS by 5.2% (to 60 cents in Q3 earnings per share), News Corp by 4.6% (to 40 cents), Disney by 4.5% (to 69 cents), Discovery by 3.2% (to 63 cents)…

There’s a little hyperbole in Nomura Securities analyst Michael Nathanson’s observation that the Q2 Big Media earnings season that wrapped up last week was “one of the most unusual periods [for the industry] in recent memory.” But he’s basically on target. Most companies had something worrisome to report — including…

Nomura Securities’ Michael Nathanson fires the warning shot this morning as he lowered his Q2 earnings per share estimates for Viacom, News Corp, Time Warner, and Scripps Networks — but raised for Disney and Cinemark. (He left CBS, Discovery, and Regal unchanged.) Nathanson says that investors may be surprised after…

Big Media companies in the Q1 earnings season that wrapped this week reminded me of Garrison Keilor’s description of the kids in Lake Woebegon: Virtually everybody was above average, at least when measured against analysts’ expectations. Media stocks began to trade ahead of the overall market as Q1 reports spread…

By the end of this week we’ll know how nearly all of the Big Media companies performed in Q4. But Nomura Securities’ Michael Nathanson already has some qualms about the industry based on the ones that have reported so far –Disney, News Corp., Scripps Networks, Time Warner, and Viacom — even though most exceeded the…

YEARENDER: Wall Street throughout 2011 became starry eyed when they talked about tech stocks. But they still had a soft spot in their hearts for traditional media companies all year long. Five of the seven companies in the Big Media group beat the Dow Jones Industrial Average’s 5.5% increase (through December 30th)…

Three months ago, when Big Media CEOs wrapped up their 2Q earnings, they were still relentlessly upbeat about the business. Any worries about the economy? Not then. But the messages they delivered over the past few weeks, as they discussed 3Q, were different. Although they’re still optimistic — remember, they’re paid…

Now that Big Media’s 2Q earnings season is over, the big question on Wall Street is: Did it give us any insight into the future? CEOs’ cheery talk about strong ad sales in TV’s upfront market, the expected bump next year from political ads, and the revenues coming in from online streaming services may be irrelevant if…