Stocks For Dad
TMF Style's Stock For
Dad
Playboy Enterprises, Inc. <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: PLA)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: PLA)") end if %>
680 N. Lake Shore Dr.
Chicago, IL 60611
(312)
751-8000
Company
Snapshot
Daddy dearest,
Going through a pile of pictures, I found me in a "Carmen Miranda" costume,
doing the mambo for a Brownie talent show in Brooklyn. Remember me shaking
my hips to that Latin Beat, and wearing fruit on my head? When the show was
over, you said "With those moves, Risa, you should be a Playboy bunny."
Maybe it was my calling, Dad, but girls of my generation went to law school.
Looking back, I am a little disappointed I never got to wear the pink ears
or the fuzzy tail, however, I was thinking that PLAYBOY ENTERPRISES
<% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: PLA)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: PLA)") end if %> may be a stock worth looking at, even without a centerfold.
Here's What We're Hopping (OOPS HOPING) For: Christie Hefner has done
a fantastic job, continuing the reins of her partying father, Hugh. Understanding
that casinos and bunny clubs were a thing of the past, she realized where
the future of adult entertainment was headed. She dismissed the real-life
bunnies and closed the out-of-date Playboy Clubs, and sought new areas of
revenues, by re-creating Playboy into a global publishing, entertainment,
and licensing corporation.
These revenues are generated from a combination of increased sales in the
magazine Playboy, Playboy On-Line, international publishing, news-stand specials,
videos, apparel, CD-ROMs, direct marketing, and Playboy TV. This pay-per-view
adult programming network is shown throughout Japan, the United Kingdom,
Latin America and the United States.
The company's revenues for fiscal 1996 exceeded $276.6 million, with earnings
of $4.3 million. Actual earnings came in at$0.21 per share. Revenues for
the third quarter were $73 million and after-tax earnings were $2.5 million.
If these numbers hold up, the earnings in fiscal 1997 should meet the estimate
of $0.41 a share. The earnings estimate for fiscal 1998 is $0.58 a share.
Here's What To Look Out For: In the world of media, the key is to
sell advertising. About three-quarters of the company's revenues come from
the publishing sector. Playboy expects a 13% increase in advertising pages
for the first half of calendar 1997, including a 17% ad page increase for
Playboy's fiscal fourth quarter ending in June. Advertisers are taking a
new look at the Playboy package, which continues to maintain its position
as the # 1 best selling magazine for men in the world with 3 million subscribers.
Not to be left out of the cyberworld, the company launched Playboy Online,
which includes a free Web site, and the about-to-be launched pay site, Playboy
Cyber Club. The site will offer more than 500 individual Playmate Home Pages,
collections from Playboy magazine's 9 million-image photo library, continuously
updated sports scores, and live chat.
Lastly, the video sales are booming. In Billboard's weekly charts for the
Nation's Twenty Most Popular Videos sold, # 6, # 8, and # 11 were produced
and distributed by Playboy.
I can't get you an invite to the Playboy mansion for one of those bunny parties,
and Mom would kill me if I bought you a Playboy video, but I can buy you
a smoking jacket ala Hugh Hefner (and if you buy the stock you can get the
Annual Report and look at the pictures).
Happy Hunting,
Risa
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