Source : Hollywood Reporter

The Nasdaq rambled 4.6% higher during the year's first month, though new-media shares mostly lagged the tech-heavy index, with satellite radio stocks leading the downdraft.

Despite a host of potential catalysts in January -- Howard Stern's debut on Sirius Satellite Radio, numerous positive analyst notes regarding XM Satellite Radio and promises by WorldSpace Corp. insiders that they would not sell shares this year -- all three stocks headed south during the frame.

Part of the problem with Sirius shares was news that Stern and his manager could sell their 34 million-plus shares at any time. Bank of America analyst Jonathan Jacoby also said advertising inventory for Stern's new show is being sold at discounted prices.

Jacoby in a recent note maintained his $5.50 price target on Sirius shares, which ended the month down 15.4% at $5.67. Others, like Merrill Lynch analyst Laraine Mancini, see confusion about whether Stern will sell shares or not as a buying opportunity, so she reiterated her "buy" recommendation and $9 price target.

Analysis of XM in January was more uniformly positive, though the stock sunk 4% to $26.18. Piper Jaffray analyst Anthony Gikas initiated coverage of XM in January with an "outperform" and Sirius with a "market perform."

Gikas said XM is well positioned to maintain its subscriber lead over Sirius for the next three years. At last count, XM had about 5.9 million subscribers, compared with Sirius' 3.3 million.

Recently public WorldSpace, which is selling satellite radio service in several foreign countries, saw its shares sink 12.5% to $12.70 during the month.

Bear Stearns analyst Kunal Madhukar said that while some executives extended their lockup period through the year, other large stakeholders did not, so he worries that the stock price will remain pressured as those shares enter the market. One of the few analysts covering the company, he rates WorldSpace "peer perform."

Yahoo! Inc. also vastly underperformed the broader markets, having reported "unsatisfyingly in-line results" for its fourth quarter, as Merrill Lynch analyst Laren Rich Fine said.

Shares of Yahoo! tanked 12.3% last month to $34.38, a price that RBC Capital Markets analyst Jordan Rohan said is cheap. Investors should buy the stock, he said, even if it "feels scary," as he predicts shares will reach $42 in the next year.

Meanwhile, a couple of outperformers were Pixar Animation Studios and DreamWorks Animation.

The Walt Disney Co. said it will pay $7.4 billion in stock to acquire Pixar. DreamWorks, meanwhile, benefits by proxy, as it will become the only remaining 3D animation feature film studio traded on U.S. exchanges.

Also outperforming was Imax Corp., which caught an upgrade from SunTrust Robinson Humphrey, the same research firm that had downgraded the firm in December.

The giant-screen movie company also is enjoying positive buzz of late from some popular stockpicking newsletters, which note that Imax has successfully made the transition from niche movies to major Hollywood feature films, mostly via its tight relationship with Warner Bros. Pictures. Imax shares advanced 15.4% during the month to $8.15.

Also riding higher last month were shares of Napster Inc. The company was subject of late-month speculation that it was about to partner with Google Inc., or that the giant Internet search company would acquire the tiny digital-music service.

Google denied such speculation, but Napster shares were up 11.1% to $3.91, all of the gain coming on the final day of the month's trading. Shares of RealNetworks Inc., which runs Rhapsody, a Napster competitor, were up 3.7% in January to $8.05.

© Hollywood Reporter