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

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One overhang for The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA) is the fact that its defense business accounts for around 50% of revenue. The defense budget cuts could have a negative impact on the company. However, the company has a strong defense business backlog, with a $392 billion backlog at the end of 1Q. Despite its exposure to the defense budget, Boeing could still provide upside for investors.

The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA)’s revenue is generated across more than 90 countries and the company should perform nicely on the back of a rebounding global economy. Boeing also expects U.S. and Canadian airliners to invest about $700 billion for fleet extensions over the next 20 years. The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA) had four hedge funds with the stock as one of its top-10 holdings last quarter, in addition to Viking, another big Boeing supporter was Seminole Capital (check out Seminole’s against the grain picks).

Big media bet
One of Viking’s big increases was Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA). Viking increased its shares owned by 256% in Comcast, the stock now makes up the ninth-largest positions in Viking’s portfolio.
Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) is the media company that now owns all of NBC Universal after buying out GE’s 49% stake earlier this year. Although the rise of streaming video companies is also threatening Comcast, the company made a big bet on conventional paid TV with its purchase of NBC.
However, the company has various other initiatives that should help it differentiate itself with respect to the likes of Netflix. Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) has a partnership with Skype for high-definition video chat from TV sets using a special hardware kit. This will allow customer the ability to make calls and send instant messages through Skype while watching TV.

The company has also been refocusing its operations by selling off other assets. Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) sold the wireless spectrum it horded through the SpectrumCo venture to Verizon Wireless for approximately $2.3 billion. As part of the agreement, Comcast will still be able to offer the 4G LTE services, which eliminates the need to install a wireless network of its own.

Fellow Tiger cub, billionaire John Griffin’s Blue Ridge Capital, was also snatching up Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) shares last quarter (check out Griffin’s latest moves).

Betting on change

Another one of Viking’s newest additions was Adobe Systems Incorporated (NASDAQ:ADBE). Adobe’s key segment, making up 70% of revenue, is its digital-media segment, which enables small businesses and enterprises to create content and deliver it across diverse media. Its key customers include traditional content creators, web application developers, digital media professionals and user interface designers/developers and writers.

However, one of the big changes that Adobe is making is a move from licensing to a cloud-based subscription model. Its Creative Cloud service will allow consumers to pay a monthly fee to subscribe to various Creative Suite applications like Photoshop, Illustrator and Dreamweaver.
Management has high hopes for the upcoming quarter, expecting revenue to be up 110% sequentially at the mid-point. However, showing downside will be its digital-media segment, attributed to the migration to the Creative Cloud subscription model. Management expects Adobe Marketing Cloud revenue to increase 20% year-over-year.

From a valuation perspective, Adobe is trading at a deep discount to its peers. Trading at roughly 28 times earnings, Adobe is well below the industry average of around 49 times.

Bottom line

Tiger cub Halvorsen has Time Warner Inc (NYSE:TWX) as its top pick, with The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA) in second. I believe that Time Warner is a leading media company, but it appears fairly valued. As well, the cable company will likely continue to see pressure from Netflix and Hulu.
It appears that Boeing’s Dreamliner grounding and defense budget cuts have had little impact on the company’s earnings, and so the company appears to be a buy with a strong order backlog that should help the company grow going forward.
Comcast’s recent moves, including the purchase of NBC, should help drive the longer-term growth of the stock, making it a long-term buy. Also, Adobe’s positive outlook by management and its move to the cloud is a buy signal.

The article This Tiger Cub Gets Bullish originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Marshall Hargrave.

Marshall is a member of The Motley Fool Blog Network — entries represent the personal opinion of the blogger and are not formally edited.

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