You'll see tickers fly as we kick off another week that is rich in companies you know announcing their quarterly earnings. From consumer brand staples such as Gillette
However, the one report that I can't wait to hear will come from Time Warner
On the celluloid front, the Lord of the Rings trilogy and the Harry Potter series couldn't have fared much better. Its America Online service has gone through some painful growing pains, but with companies such as Google and Yahoo!
When America Online announced that it would be acquiring Time Warner, it was seen as a bold step in marrying new media with the old. Yet, these days, watching the company's market cap fetch far less than either of those two pieces were trading for while they were still courting is a painful reminder that synergy is a buzzword that is much easier said than done.
Time Warner has ditched the AOL ticker symbol and wiped the America Online name off the corporate moniker, but it still hasn't chased all of the demons away. That has been a gradual process. Perhaps that's why it's OK to wait every three months for the company to produce its fiscal report card. There is too much potential in the company, given all of its parts, to not make the grade eventually.
Longtime Fool contributor Rick Munarriz has been a satisfied America Online user for more than a decade. However, he does not own shares in any of the companies mentioned in this story.