Every Friday, I scan the movie reviews to see if there is a new film I want to go see. And every week, I fail to find anything that appeals to me. Many others must feel the same way, seeing as box office receipts are off sharply this year, making this a season of misery for film studios. And no studio is feeling the pain more than Dreamworks Animation SKG (NYSE: DWA), which has slid 25% since I panned the company’s business model five months ago. Shares had already been in freefall and are now off more than 40% this… Read More
Every Friday, I scan the movie reviews to see if there is a new film I want to go see. And every week, I fail to find anything that appeals to me. Many others must feel the same way, seeing as box office receipts are off sharply this year, making this a season of misery for film studios. And no studio is feeling the pain more than Dreamworks Animation SKG (NYSE: DWA), which has slid 25% since I panned the company’s business model five months ago. Shares had already been in freefall and are now off more than 40% this year. Yet with much of the bad news now priced into the stock, Dreamworks deserves a fresh look. The company is making moves now that should yield solid rewards in a few years. Sequels And More Sequels For a studio that was founded by three industry visionaries — Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen — Dreamworks hasn’t shown a lot of creative vision lately. It hasn’t won an Academy Award for any of its films since 2005, and the studio is increasingly content to simply churn out repeated sequels of key titles, whether they were box-office… Read More