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Opening Segment #3: |
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'The
Reel Deal' |
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Thursday,
February 5, 2009 |
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Jim's
rating on
this stock |
STOCK
SYMBOL |
Closing
price that
day |
Full Company Name |
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NFLX |
37.47 |
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I did my homework on
the DVD biz and may
have found an Oscar
worthy play...
Jim:
Where did all the
DVD players… the
buyers go… the
people that bought
DVD’s… I mean
believe me… figuring
out the answer to
this question could
make you a lot of
money… the other day
Disney reported a
not so hot quarter…
in part because of
an extremely
disappointing DVD
sales number… when
asked about the DVD
short fall and
whether it was
permanent… nobody
wants to buy them
anymore… or
temporary and will
get better when the
economy improves… in
other words whether
it is secular growth
in a downturn, or a
cyclical downturn…
Disney’s CEO Bob
Iger said, and I
quote… “I think it
is clear that the
economy has had an
impact on DVD sales.
And if you would
look at sales for
the year, they
worsened in the 4th
calendar quarter, or
our first quarter
significantly.”… he
was suggesting that
maybe there was a
direct correlation
between what he
called the
cataclysmic events
that occurred around
the beginning of the
quarter… you know
thinking about the
collapse of Lehman
and the economy
taking a nose dive…
but then he said
something else…
right after… and it
gave me a brand new
thesis… and led me
to a great new stock
to buy now that the
era of owning DVD’s
seems to be coming
to a close… Iger
told us, again I
quote… “The average
U.S. DVD household
owns about 80 DVD’s
already. And the
avid movie buyer, or
user at home that
has a DVD player,
owns somewhere in
the neighborhood of
135 to 140“.… we
believe that there
are some secular
changes that are
affecting that
business... he
continued in his
quote “ We can’t
quantify it. We
can’t point to just
shelf space
issues.”… in other
words, it was a head
scratcher for
Iger... |
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See comments continued below...
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Thursday,
February 5, 2009
(Cont'd from
above)...
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Jim:
Head scratcher
for Iger.. that
sounds like a
great challenge
for me… so I
decided it was
my mission to
try to solve
this conundrum…
this puzzle…
where did the
DVD buyers go…
and the answer
from what I can
tell from the
simultaneous
explosion upward
in
Netflix, Inc. (NFLX)
demand… is that
they have
switched to be
buyers of DVD’s
to be renters of
DVD’s… people
just don’t feel
the need to own
the movies
anymore… they
want to rent
them… I think
the American
public has
decided to buy a
DVD for $14 in
this tough
economy… is no
longer
considered a
bargain… and
they are getting
hooked on other
ways… people may
want to own
songs… Iger made
this point…
because they can
play them over
and over and
over again… but
they don’t want
to own movies
anymore… Disney
is probably the
last to see
this… as their
movies are the
kind that you
play over and
over and over
again…. because
sometimes you
need a DVD just
so the kids
don’t drive you
nuts… and
sometimes they
just like to see
them so much
that they keep
asking for them…
how do I know
this… I have
personally seen
Snow White and
the Seven Dwarfs
753 times… I
have also
watched Bedknobs
and Broomsticks
387 times… just
to watch Angela
Lansbury
alienate the
Nazis… even
though I liked
here much more
as the homicidal
communist
programming
mother in the
Mentoring
Candidate.
Now, before I
can come out and
recommend
Netflix…you need
to know that
this stock is a
war zone between
the longs and
the shorts… it
is the stock
market version
of Verdon, or
Caralon, if you
want a bloody US
one… and Netflix
is also a stock
that I have
gotten wrong
endlessly… the
last time I said
something about
it was on
October 23rd
during the
Lightning Round
when the stock
was at $20.79...
I was very
negative on
Netflix… and
since then
Netflix is up
80%… so tonight
I am going to do
what I used to
do at my old
hedge fund.. I
am going to put
the sticky note
on my forehead…
that is right… I
am going to own
up to my
numerous whiffs
on this stock…
and tell you …
to eat a whole
lot of crow… and
tell you, yes I
like Netflix…
but I think you
want the
pullback before
you buy… there
is a strong
correlation
between the
strength of
Netflix and the
weakness of
Disney… Netflix
appeals to those
who want to stay
at home during
in this weak
economy… instead
of leaving their
home and having
to pay for gas,
and parking, and
a $12 movie
ticket to
boot…why would
people do that
when they can
pay Netflix
$8.99 a month to
access unlimited
movies… and
unlimited
streaming movies
too… you can get
30 Disney DVDs a
month for less
than $10... and
you can also
watch movies and
TV shows online…
this may be the
ultimate
recession play…
when I didn’t
like it at
$20... I didn’t
see the
recession play
coming… which is
why I have got
to eat a little
crow… tasted
better last
time… last time
I had it with a
little mustard…
I think it was
the mustard that
made it taste
better.
That is the
other side of
Netflix… it is
not just people
going for the
most convenient
form of DVD
rental… it is
also people
moving beyond
DVDs and
switching to
streaming movies
online…as part
of that $8.99
plan… Netflix
gives you
unlimited
streaming movies
that you can
either watch on
your computer or
on certain
devices that
connect to your
TV to the
internet… for
example, the one
that a lot of
people are using
is Microsoft’s
Xbox 360... that
lets Xbox owners
watch Netflix
movies thru
their game
console… Netflix
just reached 1
million members
on that service
alone… that is a
huge driver of
traffic… I don’t
know why
Microsoft
doesn’t buy
Netflix… right
now this is the
only company
offering this
subscription
based streaming
video service…
it has been a
major
contributor to
Netflix’s sales
growth… you have
probably read a
lot about it in
the last day or
two… Netflix
expects physical
disk shipments
to peak in 5 to
10 years… and
they are ready
for it now…
contrast that
with Disney,
which is still
trying to figure
out why people
are renting DVDs
instead of
buying them… the
whole format is
going to
disappear.
Now, there is
still a lot of
people who think
Netflix
shouldn’t work…
I love to point
the negatives
out because I
was under their
spell… many
investors
believe that the
stock has
already had its
run… of the 17
brokers who
cover the stock
only 4 have
buys, 3 have
sells, 10 have
holds… the
Yogi’s and
BooBoo’s say it
is too
expensive…
Netflix is
trading at 20
time earnings…
which does, yea
that is
expensive… but
given that their
growth rate is
15%… and the
momentum and
growth money
managers have
been willing to
pay up to 2
times the growth
rate for the
stocks… like
this one… well
that would put
Netflix's
ceiling at about
30 times
earnings… that
is a risk that I
am willing to
take here.. some
analysts are
worried that
people are going
to be renting
fewer DVDs per
month… and there
is going to be
increased
competition when
it comes to
delivering
subscription
streaming video…
I don’t want to
leave any of
these flies.. I
don’t want to
leave out any of
the flies, okay…
because it is
important that
you know the
positives and
the negatives…
but I think the
positives
outweigh the
negatives.
Another one, I
am trying not to
contrast… hey
look, there are
some stocks that
have this
profile I would
not like them…
especially cause
insiders have
been selling…
but then again
the stock is up
80% in 4 months…
so of course
they are taking
something off
the table… that
would be
prudent… but it
does tell me to
please wait
until a pullback
before you buy…
does that mean
you can go out
and buy Netflix
tonight or
tomorrow… no,
exactly the
opposite… you
need to wait for
a pullback
before you buy.
Here is the
bottom line….
The
Bottom Line!:
Whether we are
talking about DVD
rentals over DVD
purchase… or
subscription
screaming video…
Netflix, Inc. (NFLX)
is both the present
and the future… the
way I see it this
one is worth owning…
and perhaps a bigger
moral… you can
listen and learn a
ton on other
companies conference
calls as a starting
point… and the
knowledge is never
limited to the
company running the
call… we stumbled on
Netflix thru the
back door… and we
are glad that we
did… even as it is
totally mortifying
given the fact that
I have been wrong
and negative on
NFLX.
With DVD sales on
the decline, NFLX
could be poised to
go higher - consider
it a buy...
[verbatim recap]
[end of segment]
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