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Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Time Warner lifts curtain on HBO growth, readies Time spinoff, (NASDAQ: NFLX), (NYSE: TWX)

Time Warner Inc broke out the financials for its premium movie network HBO on Wednesday for the first time, giving investors a better picture of how the unit stacks up against video streaming service Netflix Inc .Netflix was one of the best-performing stocks last year and analysts said Time Warner wants more recognition from investors for the strength of HBO and its streaming product, HBO Go, which has a similar feel to Netflix. The effort to highlight the digital aspect of its business comes as the company prepares to spin off its slow-growth magazine publishing business Time Inc."Perhaps the Street should put a higher multiple on the HBO business. It's the largest potential competitor to Netflix, which is trading at such a high multiple," said Gabelli & Co analyst Brett Harriss, adding HBO's performance last year was in line with his estimates.HBO, which said adjusted operating income rose 8 percent to $1.7 billion last year, is much more profitable than Netflix, but it has also been around much longer and is growing more slowly. Netflix posted $112.4 million in net income last year.

Netflix, Inc. is an Internet television network with more than 33 million members in over 40 countries. Shares of NFLX fell by 0.37% or $-1.49/share to $404.42. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $159.00 and as high as $412.40. On average, 2883770 shares of NFLX exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 2394056.

Time Warner Inc. (Time Warner) is a media and entertainment company. Shares of TWX traded higher by 1.11% or $0.69/share to $63.09. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $50.70 and as high as $70.77. On average, 4975510 shares of TWX exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 9899861.



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