5/15/2013

Sony has multiple business units under three main departments: electronics, entertainment and financial services. While some of these business units have always been profitable for the company, others have been losing money for years. The business units under electronics department have suffered the most lost for the company. Last year, Sony came up with a new strategy called "One Sony" which is similar to Ford's (F) "One Ford". With this strategy, Sony attempted to reduce the amount of layers in management in order to reduce bureaucracy and allow for more efficiency in making decisions. Many of Sony's business units were brought together under the same umbrella and some of the products were discontinued in order to keep the company's focus in more successful products. Now Sony is more united and more determined than ever to target many of the challenges that drove the company almost into bankruptcy last year.

Sony is also in the process of entering and growing in new business areas that it didn't have much presence before. The company recently started to move into the healthcare business where it will offer products and services utilizing Sony's deep expertise in technology. Moving forward, the company will see a lot of growth through its medical equipment and medical diagnostic businesses.

A couple of days ago, Sony announced its earnings for the quarter and the full year. This was the first time in five years that Sony printed its earnings. This is somewhat encouraging but there is still a lot of work to do and a lot of road to travel. Sony's good results were a result of asset sales, including the company's headquarters in Manhattan, which it was able to sell for $1.1 billion. The share price has also appreciated 95% since December.

4/25/2013

Time Warner (TWX) has experienced a 5% rise in their earnings. The company reported a first quarter net income of $410 million this is comparable to $1.34 per share. Time Warner is up $19 million from $382 million a year ago. The income in the company also rose to $420 million up from $414 million same time this year. Revenue is also up from $5.13 billion to $5.48 billion. During last quarter the company generated a free cash flow of $ 900 million. Much of Time Warner’s free cash was given back to shareholders through dividend and share purchases.

There has been a pattern of positive earnings per share which has been consistent for the past two years. The company has been progressive because they have expanded their digital presence. Consumers have been able to access the company’s services through various devices and platforms. The distribution deal with Netflix (NFLX) has had a positive impact on Warner’s multichannel subscription.