Category Archives: oud

Drone Racing Goes Mainstream With ESPN TV And Streaming Deal

Loading the player… Drone racing is now going mainstream, with ESPN agreeing to a multiyear distribution deal with the International Drone Racing Association on Wednesday. The first event that the “worldwide leader in sports” will showcase is the U.S. National Drone Racing Championship this August in New York. Some say the sport is poised to become the next Nascar or Formula 1, with the same high-speed rush and potential for corporate sponsorships. The only difference is the driver, or pilot, is controlling the exhilarating experience through goggles displaying live video from the point-of-view of the drone. The IDRA says drone racing is seeing an “unprecedented rise in popularity,” and ESPN says the fans are “a growing and passionate audience.” IBD attended a drone racing event earlier this year to find out firsthand what the quadcopter sport is all about. “It’s like video games on steroids,” said a pilot at the event, who goes by the nickname “Bapu.” The deal includes live streaming on ESPN3 and follow-up one-hour specials of the events on an ESPN network. The pact comes as the Walt Disney ( DIS )-owned sports network is looking for new audiences as it loses subscribers at a concerning pace, alongside the rise of video-streaming services. ESPN has also experimented with broadcasting video-game championship events to get more viewers. Though ESPN seems to be struggling, live sports content has not yet been tackled by Netflix ( NFLX ) or  Amazon ( AMZN ) Video — or by Hulu, which is co-owned by Disney, 21st Century Fox ( FOXA ) and Comcast ( CMCSA ). Disney shares rose 2.2% on the stock market today . Netflix climbed 2.5%, Amazon.com 1.9%, Fox 1.7% and Comcast 0.4%.

Sluggish Retail Sales? Don’t Tell That To Specialty Retailers

Retail sales might have been sluggish in March, but don’t tell that to the Retail-Specialty industry group which has been working its way higher in IBD’s 197 industry group rankings. The group outperformed again Wednesday, rising about 2%. Headed into the session, it ranked 26th, up from No. 99 three weeks ago and No. 146 six weeks ago. The outright leader in the group is Ulta Beauty ( ULTA ), one of a select group of stocks to achieve IBD Sector Leader status due to outstanding fundamentals, among other things. Over the past eight quarters, year-over-year sales growth has averaged just over 21% — impressive for a company with a market capitalization approaching $13 billion. A strong earnings report fueled a bullish gap for the stock on March 11. The stock traded sideways after that, staying in a buy range from a 188.58 buy point. It’s extended now after gapping up again April 8. It may be too late to buy Ulta, but three other names in the group are near buy points as they set up in bases. Sally Beauty ( SBH ) is in the same business as Ulta. While Ulta has a big presence in malls across the U.S., Sally Beauty locations are more prominent in strip malls. In terms of store locations, Sally operates more than 4,800 stores worldwide, compared with nearly 900 locations for Ulta. Despite more locations, Sally’s market capitalization of $4.6 billion is much smaller than Ulta’s at nearly $13 billion. Its fundamentals story isn’t as compelling, either, with a five-year annualized earnings growth rate of 11% and sales growth rate of 5%. Still, Sally Beauty is working on a long cup-with-handle base with a 33.03 buy point. Arts and crafts retailer Michaels ( MIK ), with a Composite Rating of 91, is working on a long cup-with-handle base with a 28.89 buy point. On the weekly chart, the handle formed during the week ended March 25. Michaels shows four straight quarters of double-digit earnings growth, but single-digit sales growth leaves something to be desired. That said, sales growth accelerated when the company reported fiscal Q4 results in March. Sales rose 5% to $1.68 billion, up from 3% growth in Q3. For the current quarter, sales are expected to accelerate again, rising 8% to $1.17 billion. Last week, industrial auctioneer Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers ( RBA ) said it sold more than $1 billion worth of equipment, trucks and other assets in the first quarter, up 6.8% from the year-ago period. It has climbed to within 9% of a 52-week high as it works on the right side of a long consolidation. Earnings and sales growth declined in the latest reported quarter, but a Composite Rating of 87 is helped by solid annual pretax margin and return on equity in 2015. To its credit, Ritchie Bros. boasts a couple of top-notch fund sponsors: Primecap Odyssey Aggressive Growth Fund ( POGRX ) and T. Rowe Price New Horizons Fund ( PRNHX ).