News Corp stock up after undramatic 4Q report

NEW YORK

Shares of media conglomerate News Corp. rose slightly Thursday after it reported fiscal fourth-quarter earnings roughly in line with analysts' expectations.

The stock of the New York-based company was up 44 cents, or 3.2 percent, at $14.29 in afternoon trading.

Late Wednesday, News Corp. said net income for the quarter ended June 30 came to $875 million, or 33 cents per share, compared with a loss of $203 million, or 8 cents per share, a year ago. However, despite a recovery in advertising revenue operating profit slipped on weakness from its movie studio, Sky Italia and social networking site MySpace.

Revenue for the quarter grew 6 percent to $8.11 billion. The company said it expects fiscal 2011 operating income to rise slightly faster than analysts expect.

Credit Suisse analyst Spencer Want said the results were slightly below his expectations. He kept a "Neutral" rating on the stock, saying it's trading at about an 11 percent discount to its peer group relative to its earnings. That reflects News Corp.'s above-average involvement in newspapers and broadcast TV, both of which are facing competition from new media, he said.