- Saying "content is king," Credit Suisse's Nick Bertolotti picked out three media names with long-term growth potential: UK station holder ITV (ITV +0.9%), game maker NetEase (NASDAQ:NTES +1.4%) and media giant Time Warner (TWX -0.5%).
- ITV could see ad revenues up as the UK economy strengthens, he writes, and the company's been active in M&A (with potential baked in after Liberty Global increased its stake). The stock looks inexpensive to him, at a 14.4 P/E compared with peers at up to 21.
- China's NetEase, meanwhile, could surprise the Street with "resilient" PC games and promising mobile games. He sees 53% Y/Y growth in its Q3 revenue.
- Time Warner may have some immunity from affiliate-fee worries at Turner, he says, and stripping out HBO at a $30B-$35B valuation means the rest of Time Warner is trading at a "significant" discount to peers (2016 P/E of 8.3 to 10).
- He has all three stocks at Outperform, and a price target of 290p on ITV (16.5% upside from current price), $164 for NTES (41% upside), and $100 for TWX (44% upside).