What happened
Shares of Spanish language television and radio broadcaster Entravision Communication (EVC +1.59%) dropped as much as 20% in early trading Thursday, and are still trading off 15.9% as of 10:45 a.m. EDT. The sell-off came in response to a Q4 and full-year 2017 earnings report released last night, which showed Entravision reporting "adjusted" losses of $0.05 per share for the fourth quarter -- versus the $0.02 pro forma loss that analysts had expected.
So what
And yet, when calculated according to GAAP accounting standards, Entravision actually earned a profit. According to the company's earnings report, GAAP earnings for the quarter amounted to $0.14 per share, or nearly twice the $0.08 per share profit reported one year ago. Full-year profit was even better -- $1.92 per share, diluted.
Entravision stock is heading in the wrong direction after earnings. Image source: Getty Images.
Sales-wise, the company posted modest 4.6% growth for the quarter -- $73.5 million -- and 107% growth for the year -- $536 million.
Now what
Entravision CEO Walter Ulloa says Entravision will be emphasizing growing the "footprint" of its digital media business to offset weakness in its TV and radio businesses, which resulted from declines in "local and national advertising revenue." Management did not give earnings guidance for the year ahead, but analysts surveyed by Yahoo! Finance are predicting the company will grow its profits to $0.07 per share this quarter on sales of $70.7 million (also up year over year).
For 2018 as a whole, analysts are looking for Entravision to deliver $0.21 per share in profit (more than triple last year's profit) on $293.8 million in sales (down 45%).
