The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: Sony, Time Warner, Walt Disney and Twenty-First Century Fox

The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: Sony, Time Warner, Walt Disney and Twenty-First Century Fox



CHICAGO, March 3, 2014 /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 includethe Sony Corporation (NYSE:SNE-Free Report), Time Warner Inc. (NYSE:TWX-Free Report), Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS-Free Report) and Twenty-First Century Fox, Inc. (Nasdaq:FOX-Free Report).

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Here are highlights from Friday's Analyst Blog:

Oscar Winners: A Boon for Your Portfolio?



We are done with the Golden Globe and BAFTA awards already and the biggest one is left now - the Oscars. What interests us is how the winners' list will affect the stocks of the big ticket studio stocks.



Box Office collection gets a big boost following Oscar nominations - obviously adding to the revenues. The winner's trophy further adds to the uptick with higher sales of DVD, streaming or satellite rights. So this is the right time to top up your portfolio with such stocks.



Sony Corporation (NYSE:SNE-Free Report) and Time Warner Inc. (NYSE:TWX-Free Report) have received 21 nominations each. That may not translate into higher chance of winning the coveted award, but it gets the studios bigger publicity and larger turnout at the theaters.



One stock doesn't appear on this chart is media behemoth The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS-Free Report) has also been nominated for Frozen. This is for the animated feature category. Running for 97 days now, the film has garnered worldwide gross revenue of $9.8 billion.



How Nominations Translate into Higher Revenues



The validation stamp of an Oscar nomination makes movie buffs more interested in the film. Understandably, the increased interests will make the producers look for best avenues to capture the higher demand opportunity. Releasing the movie in a higher number of theaters is one of the best ways to tap into that opportunity.



A report from Australian research company IBISWorld shows that winners of Best Picture categories from 2007 to 2011 "earned $35.3 million in box-office revenue before the Oscar nominees were announced, $29.4 million once they were nominated and $17.9 million after winning the Oscar."



Last year, ticket sales for Warner Brother's Argo had jumped 59% a weekend after it was nominated for the best film (among other categories). The Weinstein Company had released The Artist in another 235 theaters after it won an Oscar nomination last year. In fact, nominations provide new life to movies that had departed from theaters and are now headed for the DVD collection.



Thus, the studios jumped to bank on the opportunity this year as well and they bolstered their theater presence.



Warner Brother's Her was released in just 6 theaters, but the count reportedly soared to 1,700 theaters following the nominations. Also, its space thriller 'Gravity' was screened at 944 theaters a weekend after the nominations. Twenty-First Century Fox, Inc.'s (Nasdaq:FOX-Free Report) 12 Years a Slave was screened at 647 more theaters following its nominations. Moreover, National School Boards Association has decided to distribute copies of the film to public high school students in the nation.



Today, Zacks is promoting its ''Buy'' stock recommendations. Get #1Stock of the Day pick for free.

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Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss. This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit http://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.

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