If TiVo
Last night's quarterly report for the DVR dynamo was a mixed bag. Service and technology revenue fell by 5.6% to $54.9 million, but TiVo's $0.04-a-share profit is a new record, clocking in well ahead of the penny-per-share loss that Mr. Market was betting on. The company closed out Q1 with 1.7 million TiVo-owned subscribers, identical with its TiVo-owned count a year ago, but at least the mere $116 in subscriber acquisition costs is the company's lowest such figure in three years.
As a shareholder and longtime TiVo subscriber, I'm torn. The company is certainly doing some pretty cool things with its digital video recorder boxes and patent-rich portfolio. Last year, the company launched several bold moves, like teaming up with Amazon.com
Just this week alone, TiVo announced deals to start delivering Disney
I get the buzz behind all of this, but why am I staring at the same 1.7 million TiVo-owned subscribers the company had a year ago -- down slightly from its subscriber count just three months earlier? I understand that the 2.1 million other TiVo box owners, primarily legacy users from DIRECTV
Last night's profit is good. The current quarter won't be quite so rosy -- the company projects a small loss, but still expects a profit on an adjusted EBITDA basis -- but I'll take it.
I just keep waiting for TiVo to become a growth company again. A laundry list of cool features and media partners isn't doing the trick.
I've seen TiVo do so many things -- and log so many intellectual-capital miles -- but at the end of the day, the company still has to stop running in circles.
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