CBS' Radio Blues: Fool by Numbers

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On Feb. 27, media giant CBS Corporation (NYSE: CBS) released fourth-quarter earnings for the period ended Dec. 31.

• Revenue growth was stunted by declines in the radio segment. Programming changes and a challenging advertising market dropped radio sales 8%.
• Television operating income reported robust 20% growth, helped by the cable sale of "Star Trek: Voyager."
• Fourth-quarter free cash flow was in the red because of a $200 million discretionary contribution to pre-fund one of the company's qualified pension plans.
• CBS carries a three-star rating in Motley Fool CAPS, while former parent company Viacom (NYSE: VIA) has a four-star rating.

(Figures in millions, except per-share data)

Income Statement Highlights

	Q4 2006	Q4 2005	Change
Sales	$3,882.9	$3,788.9	2.5%
Net Profit*	$335.0	($9,232.0)	N/A
EPS	$0.43	($12.12)	N/A
Diluted Shares	776.4	761.6	1.9%

*Net income from continuing operations.

Get back to basics with a look at the income statement.

Margin Checkup

	Q4 2006	Q4 2005	Change*
Operating Margin	17.6%	(233.0%)	250.5
Net Margin	8.6%	(243.7%)	252.3

*Expressed in percentage points.

Margins are the earnings engine. See how they work.

Balance Sheet Highlights

Assets	Q4 2006	Q4 2005	Change
Cash + ST Invest.	$3,074.6	$1,655.3	85.7%
Accounts Rec.	$2,824.0	$2,726.1	3.6%
Inventory	$982.9	$970.0	1.3%

Liabilities	Q4 2006	Q4 2005	Change
Accounts Payable	$502.3	$588.6	(14.7%)
Long-Term Debt	$7,027.3	$7,153.2	(1.8%)

Learn the ways of the balance sheet.

Cash Flow Highlights

	YTD 2006	YTD 2005	Change
Cash From Ops.	$1,888.4	$3,537.0	(46.6%)
Capital Expenditures	$394.1	$327.0	20.5%
Free Cash Flow	$1,494.3	$3,210.0	(53.4%)

Find out why Fools always follow the money.

Related Foolishness:

• CBS' Ship Comes In
• CBS Sells Seashells to See More
• CBS Digs DVDs

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Fool by Numbers is designed to give you the raw earnings information in a timely fashion, putting all the numbers you need in one easy-to-read place. But at The Motley Fool, we believe numbers tell only part of the story, so check Fool.com for more of our in-depth discussion of what the numbers mean. This data has been provided by Netscribes. To provide feedback on this article, please click on the "feedback" button below.