Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: The DIRECTV Group, Inc., AT&T, Comcast Corporation, Dish Network Corp. and Time Warner Cable Inc.

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CHICAGO--(Business Wire)--
Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day
the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting
stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include:
The DIRECTV Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: DTV), AT&T (NYSE: T), Comcast Corporation
(Nasdaq: CMCSA), Dish Network Corp. (Nasdaq: DISH) and Time Warner Cable Inc.
(NYSE: TWC).

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the Pros newsletter: http://at.zacks.com/?id=4579

Here are highlights from Thursday`s Analyst Blog:

DIRECTV Falls Short of Estimates

The DIRECTV Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: DTV) reported revenues of $5.47 billion in the
third quarter of 2009.

On a geographical basis, revenues from United States grew 9% to $4.7 billion due
to solid subscriber and average revenue per unit (ARPU) growth. The company
added 136,000 net subscribers to its customer base in the United States
primarily due to the addition of AT&T (NYSE: T) as a marketing partner and
record demand for company`s premium services. ARPU of $85.32 increased 2.1% as
programming package price increases, as well as higher service fees for certain
services, were partially offset by more competitive promotions for both new and
existing customers.

The company`s business in Latin America also demonstrated solid performance,
posting a 16% increase in revenues and expanding its customer base to 162,000.
This was driven by continued subscriber growth throughout the region, which more
than offset the unfavorable impact related to weaker currencies in countries
such as Brazil and Argentina.

Operating margin came in at 12.5% compared to 13.2% in the year-ago quarter. Net
income came in at $366 million, essentially flat with the year-ago quarter.
Earnings per share (EPS) came in at 37 cents, falling short of the Zacks
Consensus Estimate of 39 cents, but up from 33 cents reported in the year-ago
quarter due to a 12% reduction in average shares outstanding. These were the
result of share repurchases made over the last year.

During the quarter, the company repurchased shares worth $943 million. The
company also issued $2 billion of additional debt after retiring $583 million of
existing debt and paying down $30 million under DIRECTV`s senior secured credit
facility. The remaining outstanding $327 million of senior notes was repurchased
in October 2009.

The company generated cash $1.1 billion of cash from operations. Free cash flow
came in at $643 million. As of September 30, 2009, the company has cash and
equivalents of $3.3 billion and long-term debt of $7.1 billion.

The DIRECTV Group is the world`s leading provider of digital television
entertainment services. The company provides digital television service to more
than 18.4 million customers in the United States and over 6.1 million customers
in Latin America. DirecTV has subsidiaries in Brazil, Mexico and other countries
in Latin America. Primary competitors for the company include Comcast
Corporation (Nasdaq: CMCSA), Dish Network Corp. (Nasdaq: DISH) and Time Warner
Cable Inc. (NYSE: TWC).

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