Comcast Corp (CMCSA)

They're about to finish acquring Sky in the UK. A very promising company. They know this business, and there's a lot of synergy in this deal. Sky has an outstanding user interface which has eluded North American systems and encouraged cord-cutting here. Comcast is levering a little, but generating strong free cash flow. They won't buy back stocks, but overall the Sky deal is a great move.

He is wondering what their strategy is going to be over the next five years. The business is very mature and he thinks it will require another capex cycle. He wouldn’t step in right now. He would keep watching it for now.

They provide internet service and has been in the news about adding content internationally. They are going after SKY in Europe. It trades at 13 times earnings and the dividend is growing by over 10% per year. Yield 2.3%. (Analysts’ price target is $43.26)

A real innovator delivering cable TV. They wanted to go outside US because they want to growth like everybody else in a no-growth industry. If Comcast does pay up for purchasing Fox a big acquisition they will have to take on more debt than they have. And that has put pressure on the stock. He thinks that eventually Walt Disney (DIS-N) is going to buy Fox so the stock could go up out of relief.

He owns a large position in Comcast, which is causing him grief. Comcast and Disney are aggressively bidding on Sky News, because Sky is the UK leader in subscriptions, and Comcast and Disney ultimately want compete with Netflix. He's taken a step back from Disney and Comcast. He'd rather just own Netflix.

(A Top Pick Jan 26/17. Up 14%.) This went through a little weakness over the last 3 months. All the video subscriber results were down, and competitive threats from DirecTV. He continues to be very happy with this.

In the news right now because there is a lot of movement with Fox, Disney and Comcast trying to buy some of the properties. It had a breakdown in the summer and into the fall when the CFO made some negative comments on some subscriber additions, but it has rallied nicely in the last 3 weeks. The company is a beneficiary of the tax break, and in addition, they are striving to become more than just an internet mobile wireless company.

Disney (DIS-N) or Comcast (CMCSA-Q)? Both fall into the media space, which is particularly challenged right now. The sector is fighting headwinds. He is more positive on Disney, but it has been struggling. With cord cutting, re-bundling, etc. you are fighting the tide, so he would prefer this. However, in the space as a whole, he would prefer not to fight the headwinds.

(A Top Pick April 27/16. Up 31.31%.) Going back 5-6 years, this is a dream stock to own. They bought NBC and Universal in 2011, and are now believes they are right at the top of the box office. They beat earnings substantially this morning.

A complicated company. It is family owned. He prefers Disney (DIS-N), because they don’t have ownership of cable TV stations. Feels Netflix is too much of a threat to TV stations. He likes part of this company, but doesn’t like the stock.

(A Top Pick April 27/16. Up 24%.) This just did a 2 for 1 stock split last week, and continues to have huge market leadership. They continue to roll out the X1 Infinity Operating system. This has a pretty captive audience and a really good subscriber rate. It should be part of everybody’s portfolio. Still a buy.

For the 1^st time in 10 years, they grew their cable subscribers. 161,000 new cable subscribers brings them to 23 million. The Internet is still growing. 1.5 million additional users last year. This is a Trump safe play by all definitions. They acquired DreamWorks. Their NBC entertainment division is kicking and firing on all cylinders. Dividend yield of 1.67%. A 2 for 1 stock split is coming up as well. (Analysts’ price target is $79.84.)

A phenomenal company. The largest cableco in the US. Very stable. It owns NBC Universal. Has a huge inventory of programming, intellectual capital and media content. He is seeing growth in cable and broadband. Broadcast isn’t growing, but cable is. One of the best managed companies in that space. Yields about 1.64%.

(A Top Pick June 4/15. Up 9.11%.) The big news is that they have recently bought DreamWorks. The largest cable operator in the US. They are upgrading all of their regions. Low volatility.

Had great earnings last night and the stock popped. They continue to deliver incredibly good growth rates. The Universal Pictures division has a great slate of movies coming up. Has low volatility combined with a pretty good dividend of 1.79%. There was news that they might be trying to acquire DreamWorks for $3 billion, about 2% of Comcast’s market cap.