Time Warner Inc (TWX), The Boeing Company (BA), Comcast Corporation (CMCSA): This Tiger Cub Gets Bullish

Page 1 of 2
Andreas HalvorsenAndreas Halvorsen is one of the most successful Tiger cubs. The host of Tiger cubs include various hedge fund mangers that worked for billionaire Julian Robertson’s Tiger Management. Halvorsen founded his Viking Global hedge fund in 1999, and the fund takes a bottom-up stock picking approach. It was snatching up a number of stocks last quarter, while also upping its stake in others. Outlined below are some of the hedge fund’s moves I found most interesting (check out Viking’s high upside picks).
Top pick
Viking’s top stock remained Time Warner Inc (NYSE:TWX), representing 7.7% of its 13F portfolio. Time Warner Inc (NYSE:TWX) operates with a diverse geographical footprint, operating in the U.S., U.K., Germany, Canada, France and Japan. This in part has helped the company navigate a tough economic environment, with the company managing to post first-quarter 2013 EPS of $0.82 per share, beating consensus and growing 22% from the $0.67 earned in the prior-year quarter.

One of Time Warner Inc (NYSE:TWX)’s recent initiatives includes agreements with Time Warner Cable Inc (NYSE:TWC) and Cablevision Systems Corporation (NYSE:CVC), which will bring HBO GO and MAX GO to HBO’s entire domestic subscriber base. HBO GO is now available on the Xbox, Samsung TV, the Kindle Fire and Android tablets. Time Warner Inc (NYSE:TWX) has also launched HBO Netherlands, and will introduce HBO Nordic and its first premium network in India.

These are the company’s latest initiatives to help combat the rising competition from Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) and Hulu. Netflix is now competing more directly with Time Warner Inc (NYSE:TWX)’s HBO by offering original content, including “House of Cards” and “Arrested Development.” Also, Hulu has seen an influx of buyout interest, with Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO), Time Warner Cable and DIRECTV (NASDAQ:DTV) all making bids for the company. The purchase of Hulu by any of these companies could lead to further competition for Time Warner.

The other headwind for the stock is its 18.7 times P/E, which puts Time Warner trading inline with some of its major peers, including Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) (17.8 times) and Viacom, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIAB) (17 times). Thus, with the streaming content competition and valuation, it might be worth waiting for a pull back before jumping into the stock.

Flying high
Viking snatched up The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA) after the company saw overhang from the grounding of its 787 Dreamliner. Many investors took this as a buying opportunity, including Viking. Boeing is now Viking’s second-largest stock holding and makes up 6.3% of its portfolio. The Dreamliner is now flying high and completed its first flight carrying passengers in the U.S. (from Houston to Chicago) last week.

The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA) remains the largest aircraft manufacturer in the world in terms of revenue, orders and deliveries. Last month, the aircraft company managed to report stellar 1Q 2013 results, with EPS coming in at $1.73, beating consensus by 17% and seeing 24% growth from prior-year quarter’s EPS.

Page 1 of 2