Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : NewKidCo International (OTC:NKCIF) (TSE:NKC) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: jim geis who wrote (3462)	8/6/1999 12:12:00 AM
From: Director	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 4231

This is what a license can do... for a stock... 4Kids Shares Rise 13% Amid Takeover Speculation New York, Aug. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Shares in 4Kids Entertainment Inc., the licensee of the Pokemon children's cartoon and video game, rose 13 percent amid speculation the company could be acquired, analysts said. 4Kids rose 5 9/16 to 46 5/16 in trading of 2.5 million shares, more than 15 times the three-month daily average. Shares have risen more than 10-fold over the past year. The popularity of Pokemon, which has had more than $6 billion in Japanese sales, has prompted speculation that the line of cartoon characters with names such as Jigglypuff and Pikachu could become the latest craze among American kids. That would make the company attractive to larger toymakers, analysts and investors said. ''This a good long-term investment for somebody like Hasbro or Warner Brothers,'' a unit of Time Warner Inc., said Joseph Besecker, chairman and chief executive of Emerald Asset Management, which owns 8 percent of 4Kids' shares. 4Kids would be an attractive takeover target if its Pokemon product license transferred to its new owner, he said. Other companies that could buy 4Kids include Mattel Inc., the world's largest toymaker, and Nintendo, the world's No. 2 video game maker, said Lancaster, Pennsylvania-based Besecker. He noted he hasn't heard that companies are in talks to buy 4Kids. 4Kids Chairman and Chief Executive Alfred R. Kahn declined to say if the New York-based company is in talks to be acquired. ''The Pokemon play has driven lots of people to the stock,'' Kahn said. ''We've had a lot of people calling us, and we have some analysts who are going to write us up.'' 4Kids also produces the Pokemon show for Time Warner and Tribune Co.'s WB television network, and has an agreement for Mattel Inc. to develop and publish educational software based on the Pokemon video game. 4Kids had $14.7 million in sales last year. The company doesn't disclose earnings or share projections, Kahn said.<< Shouldn't NewKidCo earn more than $14.7m this year? Hmmmn? Maybe this is a good play after all.