Avatar Unlikely To Offer Upside To NWS’ Stock

Analysts at Cowen & Co maintained their "underperform" rating on News Corporation (NYSE: NWS).

According to Cowen & Co, the recent release of the film Avatar is unlikely to drive meaningful upside to the consensus estimates. Although the film has witnessed a solid opening, the results were not spectacular when compared to the expectations, the analysts say. News Corporation is likely to witness sluggish advertising growth during 2010 due to weak consumer spending. The secularly challenged segments of NWS, including broadcast TV and newspapers, are likely to lag overall ad performance during the year, the analysts add.

Avatar has earned $73 million in domestic box office collections, with worldwide collections of $232 million during the opening weekend. The film needs to do more than $750 million in worldwide box office collections to raise the estimates meaningfully, the analysts add.