Scientific Facts

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Welcome to earnings season, folks. The season of headlines stuffed with phrases like "record earnings," "500% increase in revenues," and "best quarter ever" -- each with an accompanying implied exclamation point. In an atmosphere as heady as the one that earnings season generates, Scientific-Atlanta's (NYSE: SFA) blase report entitled "Scientific-Atlanta Announces Second Quarter Results" could just about put a reader to sleep.

Regardless, the company seems determined to lay out the facts in as straightforward and laconic a manner as possible. Nothing to get excited (or upset) about here, ladies and gents. We had some "Good Second Quarter Results," some "First Half Results" and, as always, a still "Strong Balance Sheet and Cash Flow." Steady as she goes.

So how exactly is she going? Second-quarter revenues increased a staid 6% over fiscal Q2 2004; earnings outpaced revenue gains, rising 15% to reach $0.38 per diluted share. Meanwhile, there was essentially no dilution of those shares. Over the past year, the weighted average of diluted shares has held constant at 154.5 million. So basically, I'd have to agree with Scientific-Atlanta's summary of all the above as being "good results." Not spectacular. Not train wreck-like. Just plain good.

Where I take issue with the company is in its description of its year-to-date results. Over the past six months, Scientific-Atlanta has posted sales that are up 10.1% over its fiscal 2004 numbers, and profits per diluted share that trounced last year's -- up 21.3%. Yet while Scientific-Atlanta terms its quarterly results "good," it says its first-half results were just kinda there. Au contraire, guys. Those second-half results merit at least a B+. Very good.

I know there are Fools out there who don't find a company like Scientific-Atlanta sufficiently exciting to merit their investing dollars. Who'd pass it by in favor of one of its DVR-making rivals -- Motley Fool Stock Advisor recommendation TiVo (Nasdaq: TIVO), for instance, with its 100%-plus annual subscriber growth. Or NDS (Nasdaq: NNDS), which as a subsidiary of News Corp. (NYSE: NWS) could eventually replace TiVo as the preferred provider of DVRs to its co-subsidiary DirecTV (NYSE: DTV) (which is actually owned more directly by Fox (NYSE: FOX)). But to this Fool's mind, Scientific-Atlanta's just-the-facts reporting, combined with its "strong balance sheet and cash flow," provide the kind of calm in the storm that is so often missing among tech companies.

If you can keep your eyelids open, read more Scientific-Atlanta news in:

• Record Some Digital Profits
• Scientific-Atlanta's Profit Pressures
• Set-top, Game, and Match

Fool contributor Rich Smith has no position in any of the companies mentioned in this article.