Tag Archives: amzn

Comcast Buys DreamWorks, Content Provider To Netflix, Amazon

Comcast ( CMCSA ) on Thursday agreed to buy movie studio DreamWorks Animation ( DWA ) for $3.8 billion in cash, or $41 per share, adding to its NBCU Universal media and entertainment properties. DreamWorks Animation stockholders will receive $41 in cash per share. DreamWorks stock spiked on Wednesday after multiple reports of Comcast’s interest surfaced. The deal will boost Comcast-NBCU’s presence in China. Comcast will also retain control of DreamWorks’ AwesomenessTV, which develops short-form video for millennials, those ages 18 to 34. Verizon Communications and Hearst in early April acquired a 24.5% stake in AwesomenessTV for $159 million. DreamWorks CEO and co-founder Jeffrey Katzenberg will become chairman of DreamWorks New Media, which will include Awesomeness TV and Nova, a 3D visualization technology startup. The acquisition is expected to close by year-end, said Comcast. Comcast stock was up a fraction in the stock market today , near 61.50. DreamWorks stock was up 24%, near 40. “The biggest reason (for Comcast) to buy DreanWorks is to secure content supply,” said Evan Wingren, an analyst at Pacific Crest Securities, in a research report. “Comcast has a dominant position in live video distribution, but has fallen behind Netflix ( NFLX ) and Amazon ( AMZN ) in on-demand. By securing a pipeline of children’s television content and library films, it could bolsters its on-demand catalog in an effort to compete with Netflix.” DreamWorks has developed TV shows for Netflix and Amazon.com’s Prime streaming service. Comcast acquired NBCU from General Electric ( GE ) in 2011. Aside from Universal Films, Comcast owns Focus Features and Illumination Entertainment, the latter of which developed the “Minions” movies. DreamWorks’ most popular movie franchises include “Shrek,” “Madagascar,” “Kung Fu Panda ”  and  “ How to Train Your Dragon.” There’s optimism, analysts say, for the upcoming “Despicable Me 3” and “The Secret Life of Pets.” Theme parks have become a key part of Comcast’s overall growth. In a research note, Bryan Kraft, an analyst at Deutsche Bank, said the Dreamworks acquisition “expands NBCU into animation in a more meaningful way, increases the intellectual property pipeline for  theme parks and consumer products, and increases Universal Studios’ exposure to tent pole global film franchises. It also diversifies Comcast away from a more mature U.S. media/television industry.” Comcast-NBCU is building a $3.3 billion theme park in Beijing with local investors. It’s slated to open in 2019. The Oriental DreamWorks movie studio, meanwhile, is building a headquarters and entertainment center in Shanghai with local partners.

Fortinet Crushes Q1 Model; Faces Palo Alto, Cisco With Platform Bet

Fortinet ( FTNT ) topped Wall Street’s Q1 views late Tuesday and threw down a platform gauntlet with a “Security Fabric” that could challenge Palo Alto Networks ( PANW ) and Cisco Systems ( CSCO ), a Dougherty analyst said Wednesday. In afternoon trading on the stock market today , Fortinet stock was up 7.5%, at a four-month high above 33. Shares of fellow cybersecurity firm Barracuda Networks ( CUDA ), meanwhile, were up 17%, at a three-month high near 18, after that company late Tuesday posted a fiscal Q4 and fiscal 2016 beat. But Summit Research analyst Srini Nandury says Barracuda has “too many moving parts” and won’t survive a mass small- and medium-business exodus to cloud products from the likes of Microsoft ( MSFT ) and Amazon.com ’s ( AMZN ) Amazon Web Services. Fortinet Tops On Service Revenue For Q1 ended March 31, Fortinet reported $284.6 million in sales and 12 cents earnings per share minus items, up a respective 34% and 50%, vs. the year-earlier quarter, and topping the consensus for $273.4 million and 9 cents. Billings flew 30% to $330.5 million, above Fortinet’s earlier guidance for $315 million to $322 million. Dougherty analyst Catharine Trebnick credited Fortinet’s sales beat to $160 million in service sales vs. expectations for $150.3 million. Billings from FortiSandbox, which offers advanced threat protection and virtual software, jumped 270% year over year. Bundling also helped drive outperformance, Trebnick wrote in a research report. Fortinet is pushing its “Security Fabric,” which attempts to holistically combine Fortinet’s products under “a single pane of glass.” “We believe this strategy could help incrementally improve margins and would generate more sticky revenue for the company from their SaaS components,” she wrote. “It remains to be seen whether they can outperform competitors such as Palo Alto Networks and Cisco Systems.” Trebnick boosted her price target on Fortinet stock to 40 from 38 and reiterated a buy rating. For Q2, Fortinet guided to sales of $301 million to $306 million, up 27% at the midpoint, and EPS ex items of 14 cents. Billings guidance for $365 million to $370 million would be up 24% at the midpoint. The consensus of 33 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters called for $300.8 million in sales and 15 cents EPS ex items. Barracuda SMB Customers ‘Hijacked’ Barracuda topped Wall Street’s billings and sales views for the first time in four quarters, William Blair analyst Jonathan Ho noted in a report. He reiterated his market perform rating on Barracuda stock, but questioned whether the company could survive the cloud transition. “The Barracuda story looks to have fundamentally changed, with the core value proposition of delivering IT solutions at low cost and complexity to SMB customers being hijacked by public cloud providers,” he wrote. For fiscal Q4 ended Feb. 29, Barracuda reported $83.7 million in sales and 15 cents EPS minus items, up a respective 16% and 114% vs. the year-earlier period, beating the consensus for $80.9 million and 8 cents. Billings were flat at $95.8 million. The company wrapped fiscal 2016 with $320.2 million in sales, 42 cents EPS minus items and $377.5 million in billings, up 15%, 50% and 4%, respectively. Sales and EPS flew past the consensus model of 16 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters for $317.3 million and 35 cents. But fiscal Q1 is expected to decelerate markedly on a year-over-year basis. For the current quarter, Barracuda guided to $83 million to $85 million in sales, 10-11 cents EPS minus items and $94 million to $96 million in billings, up 8%, 2% and 1%, respectively, at the midpoints.

Why Comcast May Covet DreamWorks For China, Millennial TV Content

Comcast ’s ( CMCSA ) interest in acquiring DreamWorks Animation ( DWA ) likely goes beyond movies and stretches to content for Web TV streaming services, especially programming targeted at millennials. In addition, both DreamWorks and Comcast, which owns NBCUniversal, have been expanding in China. Comcast has been racing against  Verizon Communications ( VZ ) to make investments in original content for millennials, aged 18 to 34. Millennials spend more time watching Netflix ( NFLX ), Alphabet ‘s ( GOOGL )  YouTube and social video on Facebook ( FB ) than they do viewing traditional TV, according to studies. DreamWorks stock surged 18% to 32, hitting a two-year high, in midday trading in the stock market today on reports that Comcast is in talks to acquire the movie studio. Comcast did not directly comment on the DreamWorks speculation during its Q1 earnings conference call early Wednesday. “DreamWorks has a robust TV business, owns (millennial-focused) AwesomenessTV and has access to China via DreamWorks Oriental,” said Stan Meyers, a Piper Jaffray analyst, in a research report. “Comcast management has discussed launching a number of (Internet video) services, so we believe teaming up with DreamWorks would provide access to exclusive content.” Verizon in early April acquired a 24.5% stake in DreamWorks’ AwesomenessTV for $159 million. Both Comcast and Verizon have been pursuing original content for millennials, a demographic coveted by advertisers. Benjamin Mogil, an analyst at Stifel, says Comcast is likely eyeing a few DreamWorks assets. “China operations, which Universal could likely expand, is likely one area of focus,” wrote Mogil in a report. “On the Awesomeness TV front, we see the ability to carve out a window outside of Verizon’s mobile window for such content on a cable video-on-demand service, which would be attractive for Comcast.” DreamWorks’ current films include “Kung Fu Panda 3,” while its earlier box office hits include “Shrek” and “How to Train Your Dragon.” DreamWorks has also been developing TV shows for video streaming services. Customers include Netflix and Amazon.com ( AMZN ). NBCU owns cable channels including USA Network, SyFy and Bravo. Amid falling audience ratings, the cable channels also need better original content to compete with Web streaming services, analysts say. Aside from Universal Films, Comcast owns Focus Features and Illumination Entertainment, the latter of which developed the “Minions” movies. NBCU’s filmed entertainment revenue jumped 46% to $7.3 billion in 2015, thanks to the box office success of “Minions,” “Jurassic World,” “Furious 7” and “Fifty Shades of Grey.” NBCU’s film and entertainment revenue, however, fell 4.3% in Q1, to $1.38 billion.