PRAGUE ��Totalitarianism often leads to capitalism.
Consider the ominous-sounding Research Institute for Mathematical Machines where, in 1988, researchers Eduard Kucera and Pavel Baudis toiled while Czechoslovakia was a satellite of the Soviet Union.
Kucera had no future in physics because he refused to join the Communist Party. Baudis was no better off, examining strange code on a floppy disk that turned out to be the Vienna virus.
"I was prohibited by the Communists to study physics, so I did (information technology)," Kucera says from a penthouse office overlooking Prague. "It was the reason for our success. With Communism, there are no successful companies."
Little did Kucera and Baudis realize that a quarter-century later, their modest cooperative ��then called ALWIL ��would blossom into Avast Software, a full-fledged international phenomenon. With nearly 200 million customers in 43 languages ��a staggering 1 million users in 38 different countries ��it is used by more people than rivals AVG Technologies, Symantec and McAfee combined.
Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, Inc., incorporated in August 1995, provides clients with advertising opportunities through billboards, street furniture displays, transit displays and other out-of-home advertising displays, such as wallscapes, spectaculars, neons and mall displays, which it owns or operates in global markets. As of December 31, 2011, the Company owned or operated more than 750,000 advertising displays globally. During the year ended December 31, 2011, the Company operated in two business segments: Americas outdoor advertising (Americas) and International outdoor advertising (International), which represented 44% and 56% of its revenue, respectively.
Americas Outdoor Advertising
The Company is an outdoor advertising company in the Americas, which includes the United States, Canada and Latin America. As of December 31, 2011, the Company owned or operated approximately 125,000 display structures in its Americas segment with operations in 48 markets in the United States. Its Americas assets consist of billboards, street furniture and transit displays, airport displays, mall displays, and wallscapes and other spectaculars, which it owns or operates under lease management agreements.
Americas revenue is derived from the sale of advertising copy placed on its digital displays and its traditional displays. Its display inventory consists of billboards, street furniture displays and transit displays. During 2011, billboards consisted approximately 66% of its display revenues. Its Americas segment generates revenues from local, regional and national sales. Its billboard inventory includes bulletins and posters. Digital bulletins display static messages, which resemble standard printed bulletins when viewed, but also allow advertisers to change messages throughout the course of a day. Our electronic displays are linked through centralized computer systems to instantaneously and simultaneously change advertising copy as needed.
The Company�� ! street furniture displays include advertising surfaces on bus shelters, information kiosks, freestanding units and other public structures, are available in both traditional and digital formats, and are located in metropolitan areas and along commuting routes. The Company owns the street furniture structures and are responsible for their construction and maintenance. Its transit displays are advertising surfaces on various types of vehicles or within transit systems, including on the interior and exterior sides of buses, trains, trams, and within the common areas of rail stations and airports, and are available in both traditional and digital formats. The balance of its display inventory consists of spectaculars, wallscapes and mall displays. Spectaculars are customized display structures, which often incorporate video, multidimensional lettering and figures, mechanical devices and moving parts and other embellishments to create special effects. Its spectaculars are located in Times Square in New York City, Dundas Square and the Gardiner Expressway in Toronto, Fashion Show Mall in Las Vegas, Miracle Mile Shops in Las Vegas and across from the Target Center in Minneapolis.
As of December 31, 2011, the Company owned or operated approximately 125,000 display structures in its Americas segment with operations in 48 markets in the United States. Its displays are located on owned land, leased land or land, for which it have acquired permanent easements. The Company owns the physical structures on which its clients��advertising copy is displayed.
The Company competes with CBS and Lamar Advertising Company.
International Outdoor Advertising
The Company�� International segment includes its operations in Asia, Australia and Europe. As of December 31, 2011, the Company owned or operated more than 630,000 displays across 30 countries. Its International assets consist of street furniture and transit displays, billboards, mall displays, Smartbike schemes, walls! capes and! other spectaculars, which it owns or operates under lease agreements.
International revenue is derived from the sale of traditional advertising copy placed on its display inventory and electronic displays which are part of its network of digital displays. Its International display inventory consists of street furniture displays, billboards, transit displays and other out-of-home advertising displays, such as neon displays. Its International segment generates revenues globally from local, regional and national sales. Its International street furniture displays, available in traditional and digital formats, include bus shelters, freestanding units, various types of kiosks, benches and other public structures. Its International street furniture is sold to clients as network packages of multiple street furniture displays, with contract terms ranging from one to two weeks. Client contracts are also available with terms of up to one year.
The Company�� International billboards are sold to clients as network packages with contract terms ranging from one to two weeks. Long-term client contracts are also available and typically have terms of up to one year. It leases its billboard sites from private landowners. Billboards include posters and its neon displays, and are available in traditional and digital formats. Defi Group SAS, its International neon subsidiary, is a global provider of neon signs with approximately 296 displays in 16 countries globally.
The Company�� client contracts for transit displays, either traditional or digital, have terms ranging from one week to one year, or longer. The balance of its revenue from its International segment consists of advertising revenue from mall displays, other small displays and non-advertising revenue from sales of street furniture equipment, cleaning and maintenance services and production revenue. Its contracts with mall operators have terms ranging from 5 to 10 years and client contracts for mall displays generally ha! ve terms ! ranging from one to two weeks. Its International inventory includes other small displays, which are counted as separate displays. It also has a Smartbike bicycle rental program, which provides bicycles for rent to the general public in several municipalities. In exchange for providing the bike rental program, it derives revenue from advertising rights to the bikes, bike stations, additional street furniture displays, or fees from the local municipalities. It sells equipment or provides cleaning and maintenance services as part of a billboard or street furniture contract with a municipality. As of December 31, 2011, the Company owned or operated more than 630,000 displays in its International segment, with operations across 30 countries. Its International display count includes display faces, which may include multiple faces on a single structure.
The Company competes with JCDecaux and CBS.
Advisors' Opinion: - [By Paul Hodgson]
Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings (NYSE: CCO ) has just renewed CEO Robert Pittman's employment agreement. And that in itself is a little odd. The company's share price has shown no real net gain at all since his appointment in October 2011, but perhaps it's early days.
- [By Seth Jayson]
Calling all cash flows
When you are trying to buy the market's best stocks, it's worth checking up on your companies' free cash flow once a quarter or so, to see whether it bears any relationship to the net income in the headlines. That's what we do with this series. Today, we're checking in on Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings (NYSE: CCO ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.
- [By Paul Ausick]
CBS Outdoor Americas Inc. is currently a wholly owned subsidiary of CBS Corp. (NYSE: CBS) which will offer 20 million shares in an anticipated price range of $26 to $28 a share. Following the tax-free spin-off, CBS Outdoor will become a REIT. CBS first announced plans for the spin-off in January 2013. Since then, share prices for outdoor advertising firms Lamar Advertising Co. (NASDAQ: LAMR) and Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings Inc. (NYSE: CCO) have risen about 30%.
5 Best Managed Healthcare Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Puget Technologies Inc (PUGE)
PUGET TECHNOLOGIES, INC., incorporated on March 17, 2010, is a development-stage company. The Company is engaged in the distribution of luxury wool bedding sets produced in Germany. The Company�� product includes Lama Wool, Camel Wool, Cashmere Wool and Merino Wool.
The Company�� Lama Wool is consists of 50% Lama Wool hair, and 50% Merino wool hair. The Camel wool is consists of 50% Camel wool hair, and 50% Merino wool hair. The Cashmere wool is blended with Merino wool.
Advisors' Opinion: - [By Peter Graham]
Small cap stocks Inscor, Inc (OTCMKTS: IOGA), Puget Technologies Inc (OTCBB: PUGE) and PTA Holdings Inc (OTCMKTS: PTAH) have all been getting some attention lately in various investment newsletters or investor alerts. However, two of these small caps have been the subject of paid promotions while the third is getting attention largely because its in the growing marijuana or cannabis business. With that in mind, are these stocks really all that hot or not? Here is a quick reality check:
5 Best Managed Healthcare Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Steiner Leisure Limited(STNR)
Steiner Leisure Limited provides spa services and personal care products for men, women, and teenagers worldwide. The company offers beauty care products, including cleansers, toners, moisturizers, lotions, waxing products, cleansing accessories, and other skin care and body products, as well as aromatherapy oils and beauty tools; and hair care products, such as shampoos, conditioners, styling products, and related items. Its services include massages, facials, microdermabrasion, waxing, aromatherapy treatments, seaweed wraps, aerobic exercise, yoga, pilates, hair styling, manicures, pedicures, and teeth whitening, as well as various other beauty and body treatments and services; acupuncture; and medi-spa services comprising BOTOX Cosmetic, Dysport, Restylane, and Perlane. In addition, the company operates approximately 12 post-secondary schools, which provide education in massage therapy, beauty, skin care, and related areas at 30 campuses in 14 states. Further, it provid es procedures for the removal of unwanted facial and body hair in a clinical setting. The company offers its products and services under the Elemis, La Th�apie, Bliss, Rem�e, Laboratoire Rem�e, Mandara Spa, Mandara, Jou, and Chavana brands through department stores; third party retail outlets; distributors; salons; mail orders; and company owned Websites, including www.timetospa.com, www.timetospa.co.uk, www.blissworld.com, www.blisslondon.co.uk, and www.bodyworkmall.com, as well as through the QVC home shopping television channel. As of February 13, 2012, it served 152 cruise ships representing 19 cruise lines; and operated 54 resort spas, 11 urban hotel spas, 6 day spas, and 59 ideal image laser hair removal centers. Steiner Leisure Limited was founded in 1934 and is based in Nassau, the Bahamas.
Advisors' Opinion: - [By Rick Munarriz]
Royal Caribbean,�NCL (NYSE: NCL ) , and ship spa services provider Steiner Leisure (NASDAQ: STNR ) all hit new 52-week highs earlier this month. Unlike Carnival (NYSE: CCL ) -- which has been sluggish in light of several mishaps at sea since last year -- everyone seemed to view the negative instances as Carnival-specific events. Now Royal Caribbean's fire may lead folks to question booking on any cruise line in the near future.
5 Best Managed Healthcare Stocks To Invest In Right Now: InterXion Holding N.V. (INXN)
InterXion Holding N.V. provides carrier-neutral colocation data center services in Europe. It enables its customers to connect to a range of telecommunications carriers, Internet service providers, and other customers. The company�s data centers act as content and connectivity hubs that facilitate the processing, storage, sharing, and distribution of data, content, applications, and media among carriers and customers. The company offers colocation services, including space and power to enable customers to deploy IT infrastructure in its data centers; connectivity services; cross connect services; and monitoring services. It also provides managed services comprising systems monitoring, systems management, engineering support services, data back-up, and storage services. The company serves the digital media and distribution sector, enterprises, the financial services sector, managed services providers, and network providers. It serves 1,200 customers through 31 data centers in 11 countries. The company was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in Schiphol Rijk, the Netherlands.
Advisors' Opinion: - [By Jon C. Ogg]
Interxion Holding N.V. (NASDAQ: INXN) was downgraded to Perform from outperform at Oppenheimer.
M&T Bank Corp. (NYSE: MTB) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform by Credit Suisse.
- [By Lee Jackson]
Interxion Holding N.V. (NYSE: INXN) provides data colocation services through its 34 data centers in 11 European countries. In 2012, the company generated approximately 62% of its total revenues from France, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, which represents Interxion’s “Big 4″ markets. The remaining 38% revenue came from seven other European countries. The company�� data centers act as content and connectivity hubs that facilitate processing, storage, sharing and distribution of data, content and applications. The consensus price target for the stock is $20.78. Interxion closed at $22.52.
- [By Damian Illia]
The company has a current ratio of 11.8% which is higher than the one registered by Facebook (FB), InterXion Holding N.V. (INXN) and AOL Inc. (AOL). But for investors looking for a higher ROE, Tencent Holdings Ltd. (TCEHY) could be the option.
