CHICAGO, Aug. 8, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Zacks.com announces
the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the
Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events
impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently
featured in the blog include: American International Group
Inc. (NYSE: AIG), MetLife Inc. (NYSE: MET),
Prudential Financial Inc. (NYSE: PRU), The
Washington Post Company (NYSE: WPO) and The New York
Times Company (NYSE: NYT).
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Here are highlights from Friday's Analyst Blog:
AIG Misses, Rebound to Come
American International Group Inc. (NYSE: AIG) reported
second quarter operating earnings of 69
cents per share that lagged both the Zacks Consensus
Estimate of $1.15 per share and
$1.18 per share reported in the
year-ago quarter, due to an additional 1.655 billion shares issued
to the U.S. Treasury Department on January
14, 2011.
However, operating income of $1.3
billion increased 60.9% from $793
million in the year-ago quarter.
On a GAAP basis, AIG reported a net income of $1.8 million or $1.00 per share as compared with net loss of
$2.7 billion or $19.57 per share in the year-ago quarter.
The reported quarter included realized capital gains of
$6 million against loss of
$360 million the year-ago quarter,
along with loss from divested operations of $1.0 million against gain of $36 million in the prior-year period and net
income from divested operations of $10
million versus $467 million in
the year-ago period.
Additionally net loss from discontinued operations was recorded
at $49 million versus $2.62 billion in the year-ago quarter. It also
included non-qualifying derivative hedging gains of $28 million compared with loss of $96 million in the year-ago quarter and deferred
income tax valuation allowance release of $570 million against related charges of
$576 million in the year-ago
quarter.
AIG had also recorded amortization charge on the Federal Reserve
Bank of New York (FRBNY) credit
facility of $353 million in the
year-ago quarter.
Results reflected retention of stability through American
International Assurance Co. Ltd (AIA) coupled with its insurance
operations managed to drive the premiums, pro forma book value per
share and ROE during the quarter. These were, however, offset by
higher catastrophe losses, underwriting losses and other unrealized
losses amid the ongoing business restructuring process.
Peer Take
Last week, MetLife Inc. (NYSE: MET) reported second
quarter operating earnings per share of $1.24, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of
$1.11 per share and $1.10 per share in the year-ago quarter.
Operating earnings jumped 45% year over year to $1.33 billion from $914
million in the year-ago period, driven by robust growth from
ALICO – acquired from AIG last year.
On Wednesday, Prudential Financial Inc. (NYSE: PRU)
reported second quarter earnings of $1.71 per share that topped the Zacks Consensus
Estimate of $1.55 as well as the
prior-year quarter's earnings of 88
cents. Results were aided by solid performance in the
company's U.S. annuities and asset management businesses as well as
its international insurance operations that drove the top- and
bottom-line significantly. As a result, the company has also hiked
its dividend by 20%.
Washington Posts Beats Estimate
The Washington Post Company (NYSE: WPO) recently
posted second-quarter 2011 results. The quarterly earnings of
$5.92 per share marked a substantial
decrease from $11.04 delivered in the
prior-year quarter due to sluggishness witnessed in the students'
enrollment and weak advertising demand.
However, the quarterly earnings surpassed the Zacks Consensus
Earnings Estimate of $5.87 per
share.
On a reported basis, including one-time items, quarterly
earnings came in at $5.74 per share,
reflecting a sharp decline from $10
posted in the year-ago quarter.
Revenue for the quarter dropped 10.4% to $1,073 million from the prior-year quarter,
reflecting sluggish performance in the Education and Newspaper
Publishing division. However, the quarterly revenue came ahead of
the Zacks Consensus Revenue Estimate of $1,064 million.
Education division's revenue went down 15.4% to
$628.7 million, reflecting 28.6%
decrease in Higher Education revenue partially offset by 20.9% rise
in Kaplan International revenue and 29.8% rise in Kaplan Ventures
revenue. Total operating income for the division plunged 81.8% to
$20.5 million.
Due to lower student enrollments total Kaplan Higher Education
enrollments plunged 30% to 78,534 as of June
30, 2011, excluding the Kaplan University School of
Continuing and Professional Education.
Moving ahead, the company expects the operating income in Higher
Education segment to continue to decline significantly in the
current fiscal due to lingering lower student enrollments and
additional restructuring costs.
Kaplan Higher Education launched a new program called 'Kaplan
Commitment', under which, the students of Kaplan University,
Kaplan College and other Kaplan
Higher Education schools may register to undergo classes to
evaluate whether their educational experience commensurate with
their needs before incurring a financial obligation. Kaplan will
also carry out academic evaluation in order to gauge the
probability of the student's success in the chosen field of
study.
The company also notified that those students who wish to
withdraw from the program during the stipulated period, defined as
risk-free period, and students who do not clear the academic
assessments will not be required to pay for the coursework.
New student enrolments dropped 47% during the quarter,
negatively impacted by number of students that chose to discontinue
after the risk-free period along with sluggish demand.
Television Broadcasting revenue inched up 2.9% to
$84.9 million during the quarter,
whereas operating income increased 9.4% to $32.6 million, reflecting better advertising
demand. However, Political advertising revenue also went down
$2.5 million during the quarter.
Cable division revenue saw a marginal increase of 0.3% to
$191.2 million from $190.6 million in the year-ago quarter,
reflecting revenue growth in the Internet and telephone offset by
the rise in promotional money offs. The division's operating income
was $40.4 million, down 7.8% compared
with the previous-year quarter.
Newspaper Publishing revenue came in at $162.8 million, down 5.7% from $172.7 million in the year-ago quarter. Print
advertising revenue at The Washington Post declined 11.4% to
$66.6 million, reflecting a fall in
classified and general advertising.
Revenue from newspaper online publishing activities, principally
washingtonpost.com and Slate, came down 13% to $23.4 million, whereas display online advertising
revenue decreased 16%. Online classified advertising revenue on
washingtonpost.com inched down 2%.
During the first six months, the company marked a 4.5% decrease
in daily circulation coupled with a 4.1% decrease in its Sunday
circulation year over year.
The Newspaper divisions operating loss stood at $2.9 million, reflecting a sharp improvement from
an operating loss of $14.3 million
witnessed in the prior-year quarter.
Currently we maintain our long-term 'Neutral' recommendation on
the stock. Moreover, The Washington Post, which faces stiff
competition from The New York Times Company (NYSE: NYT),
holds a Zacks #2 Rank, which translates into a short-term Buy
rating.
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