By
Rick Aristotle Munarriz
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October 29, 2011
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The week began with Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX ) warning of deeper defections resulting from its ill-advised rate increase this summer, yet it surprisingly ended with Coinstar (Nasdaq: CSTR ) announcing that it would be raising its DVD-rental rates by 20%.
Why would Coinstar do this to its Redbox kiosks at a time when it was looking like a no-brainer beneficiary of Netflix's brand implosion?
Earnings continue to grow faster than revenue for Coinstar's DVD-rental business, so it's not as if the move was really necessary from a money-making perspective. Even if this deal hints that Coinstar will nix deals with some movie studios that have delayed DVD availability by four weeks, it's still an insensitive move.
"First Netflix raises prices, now Redbox has you seeing red again," rival Blockbuster shrewdly Tweeted on Thursday night.
It's not an accurate claim, since Netflix actually lowered the price of its unlimited DVD plans by $2 a month this summer, but who needs to be truthful when it's so easy to kick Netflix while it's down?
Briefly in the news
And now let's take a quick look at some of the other stories that shaped our week.
- Badiu (Nasdaq: BIDU ) has once again blown past Wall Street's profit targets. China's leading search engine -- growing its revenue at a scintillating 85% clip -- has now beaten analyst income estimates for 10 straight quarters.
- Standard & Poor's is boosting Sirius XM Radio's (Nasdaq: SIRI ) credit rating, from BB- to Baba Booey-worthy BB.
- Akamai (Nasdaq: AKAM ) shares surged after posting strong quarterly results and providing reasonably comforting guidance.
- First Solar (Nasdaq: FSLR ) tanked after its CEO announced his resignation, but it bounced back the next day. I guess it's true what Annie said about the sun coming out tomorrow. She even bet her bottom dollar on it.
Until next week, I remain,
Rick Munarriz
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