On Nov. 2, United Online (NASDAQ:UNTD) released earnings for its 2005 third quarter, which ended Sept. 30.

  • Net income suffered from $2.8 million in stock-based compensation charges and $5.3 million in amortization charges. Both are non-cash, which proved fortunate, as United boosted operating cash flow by 44% over last year's third quarter. (Just keep in mind that we wouldn't place much, um, stock in cash flow juiced by options and other such charges.)
  • On the other hand, the company raised guidance for full-year 2005 operating income from $83.6 to $86.6 million up to $85.6 million to $88.6 million. Nice.

(Figures in thousands, except per-share data)

Income Statement Highlights (What's this?)

Avg. Est.

Q3 2005

Q3 2004

% Change

Sales

$132,410

$132,778

$110,704

+19.9%

Net Profit

--

$12,594

$12,620

-0.2%

EPS

$0.27

$0.20

$0.19

+5.3%



Margin Checkup (What's this?)

Q3 2005

Q3 2004

% Change

Gross Margin

79.53%

77.76%

+1.76%

Op. Margin

17.05%

18.53%

-1.49%

Net Margin

9.49%

11.40%

-1.91%



Balance Sheet Highlights (What's this?)

Assets

Q3 2005

Q3 2004

% Change

Cash + ST Invest.

$240,993

$202,645

+18.9%

Inventory

--

--

N/A

Accounts Rec.

$20,879

$13,414

+55.7%



Liabilities

Q3 2005

Q3 2004

% Change

Long-Term Debt

$58,333

--

N/A

Accounts Pay.

$51,333

$38,762

+32.4%



Cash Flow Highlights (What's this?)

Q3 2005

Q3 2004

% Change

Cash From Ops

$41,865

$28,959

+44.6%

Capital Expend.

$7,981

$6,344

+25.8%

Free Cash Flow

$33,884

$22,615

+49.8%



Related Companies:

  • Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA)
  • Earthlink (NASDAQ:ELNK)
  • Google (NASDAQ:GOOG)
  • Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT)
  • Time Warner (NYSE:TWX)
  • Yahoo! (NASDAQ:YHOO)

Related Foolishness:

Time Warner is a Motley Fool Stock Advisor pick.

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Fool contributor Tim Beyers didn't own shares in any of the companies mentioned in this story at the time of publication. You can find out what is in his portfolio by checking Tim's Fool profile . The Motley Fool has an ironclad disclosure policy .