Before Wednesday afternoon's earnings announcement, this had been a rough year for the stock of Spanish-language media company Univision
Although Univision is still a well-run and dominant broadcaster in the Spanish-language market, third-quarter results don't immediately suggest that that means a whole lot. Revenue was up all of 4%, operating income before depreciation was up 7%, and net income was up 8% for the quarter. Not exactly the stuff of legendary growth stocks, I'll admit, but keep in mind that these were tough comps. In the year before, revenue had grown almost 49% and earnings per share were up 31%.
Of more pressing concern to long-term holders, the company's television business continues to perform very well in terms of demographics and viewership. Although Univision defines prime time a bit differently from other broadcasters, the core Univision network was the No. 2 broadcaster in prime time during the third quarter -- behind Fox (owned by News Corp.
The trick for this company is not really in getting more viewers -- it dominates the market for Spanish-language television -- but rather in getting advertisers to pay up for those viewers. There is still a pretty sizable spread between what ad buyers will spend for a Univision viewer versus what they'll pay for a regular Big 4 viewer. High-value broadcasts like the World Cup will help, but this looks to be a multiyear battle for the company.
Here's what confuses me about Univision: It's a leading player in an industry with some pretty costly barriers to entry, yet the company has a rather low return on invested capital. That's not unusual for the industry, but it does give value-oriented investors a reason for pause. What's more, I have to twist and contort my cash flow model to pretty extreme ends to get an attractive target price on Univision. So, while I love the business here, I can't see myself pulling the trigger until some of these numbers start looking better to me.
For more Foolishness with a Spanish accent:
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Fool contributor Stephen Simpson has no financial interest in any stocks mentioned (that means he's neither long nor short the shares).
