That’s as in lighter-than-expected guidance – the television/magazine hybrid closed out its fiscal year well, partly on the strength of recent acquisitions, but is starting to face headwinds.
Wells Fargo Securities analyst Eric Katz says analysts were expecting better from the company.
Katz said the results the company reported were completely in line with expectations.
However, WFS thinks Meredith’s stated target earnings-per-share target is very much on the low side of the consensus target.
Meredith says it’s aiming for EPS of $2.90 to $3.25 – and that puts a mid-range gain well below the consensus target of $3.21 EPS.
The problem at broadcast is the standard odd-year problem – tough political comps. Katz believes this year’s upcoming fiscal Q1 take will amount to about $500K, far below last year’s $13M.
On the magazine side, the headwinds are in the form of lack of inventory due to the fact that two titles – Shape and Martha Stewart – only put out ten issues per year.
