Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc. (MSO)

Martha Stewart is a nice lady...

Terrible Earnings.
2008 EPS: -.29
2009 EPS: -.38
2010 EPS: -.24
I will stop this pick when MSO has a positive EPS in a quarter.
Other stats...
Company sales are down 22.9% year over year in the 3rd quarter.
Next quarter is expected a .17 eps, if they miss on this EPS the stock should plummet.

I like this one a lot. It receives little hype, but continues to rise without any news. This company is in my opinion, fairly recession resistant and will continue its rise back up to the $9 level where it belongs. That is about a year away, but if you can wait, it should be a fair investment

With the economy down people are starting to entertain more at home. That's why companies like Whole Foods and Time Warner are doing well right now. The same goes for Martha Stewart. If people are going to eat and party at home, they want to do it right, so like it or not, most of them need the services (magazines, books, tv, etc.) that MSO has to offer. I've already tripled my money with her and I've no intention of getting out now.

tenmiles

Buy now or regret it!

Rated one star.

The K-Mart deal, which has brought in hundreds of millions of dollars over the last decade, ends this year. There's a chance they could set up a similar deal with Walmart, but if they do it will be structured much differently than the deal with K-Mart/Sears Holdings. Walmart isn't exactly known for its generous vendor contracts, and they don't really seem to be hurting without Martha while K-Mart was basically kept alive by adding the MSO Everyday brand to its product selection. There's still a clothing deal with Macy's, but the K-Mart arrangement is the majority of their merchandising profits. Take away the branded merchandise and all you have left is essentially a magazine company, a satellite radio channel, and a handful of TV shows. Magazine publishing is in a freefall right now, satellite radio is always on the edge of going away, and the TV offerings aren't that great. Not to mention the questionable deals with multiple CEO's and a founder/namesake who has an arguably damaged reputation and gets way way more compensation than she's worth. This company is, at best, a questionable investment. Oh and the economy as a whole is in free-fall, discouraging people from buying premium-branded products associated with Martha Stewart.

She's back!!!!

Shoot, the stock is cheaper than the magazine. Voyerism will always be in style.

Two CEOs? What a mess!

Martha + Emeril + Marketing Machine getting in at 7.70 was cheap for a solvent company with high margin earning power

Martha is back.

Martha Stewart is an old brand that was based on old print ad archetype. Her name on product lines though are still sellers. Her new addition, Emeril, is the new Wolfgang Puck. Mix the two together and place in a Walmart and you have a new paradigm for a recovering economy where people are looking for a good product at a good price and not a 60's era Blue Light Special ala Kmart on the one hand or pricey Pottery Barn merchandise.

If this new match up gets traction going into a Fall then Xmas season, MSO could very well rock.

promote women not martha stewart

Get in and get out.

The arrangement between Kmart and MSLO -- which goes back to 1997 -- has largely been a one-way street. Kmart signed the contract when it was in bankruptcy and, to put it charitably, the retailer was not in a strong position to dictate terms.

So Kmart agreed to pay a minimum amount in royalties to MSLO: $40.4 million in the year ending Jan. 31, 2003, and a whopping $65 million in the year that ended this January.

During that time, Kmart's situation has not improved: It merged in 2005 with Sears Holdings after closing stores and watching sales decline.

For every year between 2003 and 2007, Kmart didn't sell enough Martha Stewart Everyday products to meet the minimum royalty promised to MSLO. And so those payments are about to plummet: Unless Kmart has the turnaround year of the century and Martha's products fly off the shelf, it won't be required to pay MSLO more than $20 million in 2009. That's $45 million less than this year, a drop that will all but eviscerate profits in the company's merchandising division.

this stock seems to bouce back the company is stedly expanding few setbacks

With the economy where it is at, and the way people are hardwired in the brain. Consumers are not going to give up their spending habits. They are going to use more credit (bad) or they are going to go cheap. Martha is all about nice looking stuff on the cheap. Look at her decision to go with Kmart. Nice looking but cheap.