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Lamar, CC Outdoor Booming, along with Billboard Industry

Shares of the two largest, publicly traded billboard owners, Lamar Advertising and Clear Channel Outdoor, have skyrocketed in the past 12 months, growing 36 percent and 43 percent respectively.

That is an indication of the health of the outdoor advertising business, one of the most vibrant segments of the media world right now, writes CNNMoney.com. Lamar and Clear Channel have, in fact, outperformed companies such as Apple, Walt Disney and Google.

Lamar reported revenue increase of 11 percent in the fourth quarter, with net income up 20 percent over a year ago. The company also announced a stock buyback program, worth $500 million. Clear Channel will report fourth quarter earnings tomorrow (Friday), and analysts expect revenues to increase by 9 percent and earnings to increase 28 percent.

In 2007, earnings per share are expected to increase 30 percent for Clear Channel Outdoor and 54 percent for Lamar.

Frederick Moran, an analyst with Stanford Group, says that, while TV, print and radio have been hurt by the migration to the web for news and entertainment, billboards have been relatively immune to that. And as traffic congestion and commute time increase, billboards are ever-more popular.

Then there’s technology. With digital billboards, able to change messages every 8 seconds, on the rise, billboard companies can feature more advertisers and make more money from a single sign. Other advances, such as Bluetooth technology, are being applied to outdoor advertising as well.