Aktien und deren Bewertung:
Time To Go To Movie Stocks? Posted: Oct 13, 2010 11:03 AM by Sham Gad
Share Email AnalysisPrint Filed Under: Stock Analysis,Stocks Tickers in this Article: CKE, CNK, CSTR, IMAX, NFLX, RGC Considering today's economy, it seems unlikely that many Americans would be prepared to drop $10 to $15 for a movie ticket. However, with blockbuster ticket sales for films such as Avatar, it seems Americans continue to enjoy their local cinema. And with the increased popularity of 3-D movies, the outlook may not be that dim for the movie theater business. With that in mind, investors may want to consider paying a visit to theater operator stocks.
Get Free Stock Analysis By Email IN PICTURES: 10 Tips For The Successful Long-Term Investor
Movie Ticket Cash Cinemark Holdings (NYSE:CNK), the nation's largest publicly traded movie theater company, currently sports a market cap of over $1.9 billion. Shares trade at a digestible 14 times earnings and yield over 4% in dividend payouts. Cash is also healthy and relatively stable (no surprise, considering the high profit margin sales of snacks and refreshments). Regal Entertainment (NYSE:RGC), the second largest chain after Cinemark, yields an even higher 5.2%, but the shares aren't cheap on a trailing earnings basis of nearly 40 times. Given the company's nearly 10% cash flow yield, the dividend yield looks quite secure, but a dividend provides little comfort if the stock price starts tumbling.
Viva Cinema Another reason for Regal's higher yield is the market's greater belief in the growth of Cinemark. Movies have been popular for a long time in the U.S., which has created a very stable movie market. But thanks to businesses like Netflix (Nasdaq:NFLX) and Coinstar's (Nasdaq:CSTR) rapidly growing Redbox $1 DVD kiosks, renting movies is cheaper and easier than ever. This convenience has encouraged many people to pass on the theater and wait for the DVD release.
Cinemark buffers this problem with its Latin American theater division, which represents 25% of the company's revenue and is growing rapidly. According to Barron's, in the first half of 2010, revenues in Latin America were up by 40%. And Regal recently announced an expansion plan with Imax (Nasdaq:IMAX) to roll out up to 25 more of the popular IMAX movie theaters in hopes of taking back from the lucrative DVD movie market. Regardless of the initiatives, movie theater operators face stiff competition, not to mention that the quality of their product is entirely in the hands of the movie studios. While the big players in movie theaters are manging well, smaller operators, like Carmike Cinema's (NYSE:CKE), are still struggling to regain profitability.
To Be Continued Despite the trend of movie studios rushing out DVDs, thus shortening the time a movie plays in theaters, movie studios still rely heavily on success at the box office. Movie theaters provide great exposure and marketing for films. And, for now, movie theater companies can count on Americans to continue the tradition of enjoying a night at the movies. But the constantly evolving media options pose a huge threat, and the movie theater business has to continually stay one half step ahead. (For related reading, take a look at Top 10 Successful Movie Franchises) ----------- "Drei Dinge treiben den Menschen zum Wahnsinn. Die Liebe, die Eifersucht und das Studium der Börsenkurse." John Maynard Keynes
|