Market Currents

• Tuesday, December 8, 2009

• 10:54 AM A rare ray of hope for newspapers from McClatchy (MNI) at USB's media conference this morning. Management says it expects the ad revenue improvement that began in Q3 to continue through Q4, while expenses are still declining amid heavy cost cutting. MNI +9.6%. GCI +5.4%. NYT +2.7%. Comment!

• Thursday, October 15, 2009

• 09:15 AM Fantastically strong manufacturing data and a nine-month low in jobless claims fail to lift futures, which turned lower after Goldman Sachs (GS) blew out earnings estimates by less than the most optimistic whisper numbers. Nokia (NOK), Citigroup (C), Harley-Davidson (HOG) and McClatchy (MNI) also lower on Q3 results. Benchmark S&P futures -0.4% at 1083. 1 Comment
• 09:00 AM Premarket gainers: ACOR +51%. CIT +11%. PLX +7%. HEB +4%. TSEM +4%.
  Losers: MNI -15%. NOK -8%. GNBT -7%. AIB -5%. AIXG -5%. COF -5%. IRE -4%. LVS -4%. GFI -4%. HOG -4%. Comment!
• 08:54 AM McClatchy (MNI): Q3 EPS of $0.13 misses by $0.01. Revenue of $347M (-23.1%) vs. $354M. Shares -16% premarket. (PR) Comment!
• 00:05 AM Notable pre-market earnings: APH, BAX, SCHW, C, CY, FCS, GS, HOG, LUV, MNI, NOK, OMTR, PPG, SWY, WGO Comment!

• Tuesday, October 13, 2009

• 10:26 AM Keeping an eye on McClatchy (MNI +9.5%), which just ratcheted higher. Desk talk of a partnership deal with Google (GOOG). Comment!

• Tuesday, September 29, 2009

• 09:40 AM Newspaper stocks catch a bid on the heels of Gannett's (GCI) rosy outlook. While ad revenues remain under pressure, bottom line numbers were well ahead of expectations due to significantly lower newsprint expenses. Early on: GCI +14%. NYT +9%. MNI +11%. LEE +27%. WPO +3%. Comment!
• 09:00 AM Premarket gainers: GCI +25%. MNI +15%. CIT +14%. WAG +10%. NYT +9%. CVS +5%.
  Losers: SQNM -41%. MBI -9%. Comment!

• Friday, July 24, 2009

• 09:12 AM Continuing a trend seen recently in McClatchy's (MNI) Q2 earnings, New York Times' (NYT) one growth area was - surprise - circulation revenue, which will soon overtake ad revenue for the first time ever. Ryan Chittum thinks the development has significant implications in the free vs. fee content debate. 1 Comment

• Tuesday, July 21, 2009

• 11:12 AM That's for lining cabinets, right? Amazingly, McClatchy's (MNI +40%) ad revenues ($284M) were down 30.2% from 2008, but circulation revenues rose 5% to $69.4M. Comment!
• 09:48 AM McClatchy (MNI): Q2 EPS of $0.30 beats by $0.38. Revenue of $365M (-25.4%) vs. $369M. Says it will not violate debt covenants this year even if ad sales don't improve. Shares +57% to $0.85. (PR) Comment!

• Thursday, April 23, 2009

• 09:12 AM McClatchy (MNI): Q1 EPS of -$0.28 misses by $0.17. Revenue of $366M vs. $391M. (PR) Comment!

• Monday, March 9, 2009

• 10:25 AM The McClatchy Company (MNI) will cut 1,600 jobs, or roughly 15% of its workforce, as the newspaper publisher struggles with plunging ad sales. McClatchy publishes 30 dailies, including The Miami Herald. Shares -25%. Comment!

• Thursday, February 5, 2009

• 09:06 AM McClatchy (MNI): Q4 EPS of $0.26 misses by $0.04. Revenue of $471M (-17.9%) in-line. Duration and depth of the economic recession have taken a severe toll on its ad revenues. Will look to cut costs by an additional $100-110M. (PR) Comment!

• Monday, November 24, 2008

• 09:42 AM As unemployment continues to rise, rivals Monster Worldwide (MNST) and CareerBuilder.com (GCI, TRB, MNI) prepare to face off at this year's Super Bowl. Comment!

• Tuesday, September 9, 2008

• 15:49 PM "McClatchy (MNI -4.6%) CEO Gary Pruitt's decision to quit as a trustee of the McClatchy family trusts is an ominous sign for shareholders," Martin Peers says. It won't be long before the newspaper publisher's earnings won't cover the interest bill for its $2.1B in debt. Comment!