Changes in the media industry and company earnings have resulted
in a number of upgrades and downgrades to newspaper, broadcast and
internet communication stocks this week. Stock upgrades include
Sirius XM Radio
(
SIRI
),
Scripps Networks Interactive
(
SNI
),
Time Warner
(
TWX
),
Grupo Televisa
(
TV
) and
Cablevision Systens
(
CVC
). Stock downgrades include
British Sky Broadcasting Group
(
BSY
),
Interpublic Group
(
IPG
) and
Morningstar
(
MORN
).
Here's a complete breakdown of the media stocks upgraded or
downgraded last week in Louis Navellier's proprietary stock ranking
database, Portfolio Grader. Portfolio Grader uses a simple
letter-based system for stock upgrades and downgrades, where A is
"strong buy" and F is "strong sell." All of these stock upgrades
and stock downgrades are current as of May 3, 2010:
Stock Upgrades - CVC, CJR, GSOL, TV, JRN, LAMR, MEG, SNI, SIRI, TWX
Symbol
Company Name
Market Cap (
B
)
Grade This Week
Grade Last Week
CVC Cablevision Systems Corp. $8.3 A - Strong Buy B - Buy CJR Corus
Entertainment Inc. $1.6 B - Buy C - Hold GSOL Global Sources Ltd.
$0.3 C - Hold D - Sell TV Grupo Televisa $11.7 C - Hold D - Sell
JRN Journal Communications Inc. $0.3 B - Buy C - Hold LAMR Lamar
Advertising Co. $3.4 C - Hold D - Sell MEG Media General Inc. $0.3
B - Buy C - Hold SNI Scripps Networks Interactive $7.5 B - Buy C -
Hold SIRI Sirius XM Radio Inc. $4.6 A - Strong Buy B - Buy TWX Time
Warner Inc. $38.3 B - Buy C - Hold
Sirius XM Radio
(
SIRI
) was upgraded from a B grade or a "Buy" in Portfolio Grader last
week to an A grade or "Strong Buy" this week in anticipation of its
May 4 earnings report. Sirius XM is a satellite radio provider that
has seen its SIRI stock soar about 50% since April 1. With analysts
expecting earnings to pretty much break even, a small profit from
SIRI stock this week could bode well for the stock's performance
after earnings.
Time Warner Inc.
(
TWX
) was upgraded from a C grade or "Hold" last week to a B grade or
"Buy" this week in Louis Navellier's stock database. TWX stock is
also set to report earnings this week, on Wednesday May 5. Time
Warner has seen at least 7 upwards revisions to earnings estimates
in the last month, resulting in the stock upgrade.
Grupo Televisa
(
TV
), together with its subsidiaries, operates as a media company in
Mexico and elsewhere internationally with a focus on Spanish
language television. TV stock was upgraded this week to a C grade
or "Hold" from a D grade or "Sell" last week.
Cablevision
(
CVC
), a regional television provider that serves 5 million households
and businesses in the New York metropolitan area, saw its CVC stock
upgraded this week from a B grade or a "Buy" in Portfolio Grader
last week to an A grade or "Strong Buy" this week in anticipation
of earnings. Cablevision reports earnings on Thursday, May 6.
Scripps Network Interactive
(
SNI
) was upgraded from a C grade or "Hold" last week to a B grade or
"Buy" this week in Louis Navellier's stock database. in The SNI
stock upgrade was in anticipation of earnings. Scripps Network
Interactive also reports earnings on Thursday, May 6.
Stock Downgrades - ASCMA, BSY, IPG, MORN, WPPGY
Symbol
Company Name
Market Cap (
B
)
This Week
Last Week
ASCMA Ascent Media Corp. $0.4 D - Sell C - Hold BSY British Sky
Broadcasting Group $16.4 C - Hold B - Buy IPG Interpublic Group Of
Cos. $4.3 D - Sell C - Hold MORN Morningstar Inc. $2.3 F - Strong
Sell C - Hold WPPGY WPP Plc ADR $13.3 C - Hold B - Buy
Morningstar Inc
. (
MORN
) was downgraded from a C grade or "Hold" to the worst grade in
Portfolio Grader this week - F, or "Strong Sell." Morningstar Inc.
provides investment research. Market uncertainty in the wake of the
Goldman Sachs scandal and oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is
weighing on retail investors and on MORN stock. This is why
Morningstar was downgraded.
British Sky Broadcasting
(
BSY
) provides pay television broadcast services in the United Kingdom
and Ireland. BSY stock was downgraded this week to a C grade or
"Hold" from a B grade or "Buy" last week.
Interpublic Group
(
IPG
) provides advertising and marketing services worldwide. IPG stock
reported poor earnings last week and was subsequently downgraded in
Louis Navellier's stock ranking database. The company fell from a C
grade or "Hold" last week to a D grade or "Sell."
About Portfolio Grader: Every Sunday, renowned growth stock
adviser Louis Navellier runs a fundamental analysis on the top
5,000 Wall Street companies. Armed with this research, Navellier
offers a rating for each company reflected as a simple letter
grade, with A being "strong buy" and F being "strong sell."
Portfolio Grader's stock data is free and open to
the public, and can be accessed online here
.