You've got to love companies that are up to the challenge of posting quarterly results on Halloween. In the case of IAC/InterActiveCorp
IAC posted an 11% boost in September quarter revenue to $1.6 billion. Profits clocked in at $0.24 a share after a $0.20-per-share showing a year earlier. However, analysts prefer to key in on the operating profits of an acquisitive-happy company like IAC before considering amortization costs. On that basis, the pros were expecting $0.33 a share, while the company wound up earning $0.35 a share.
IAC runs a pretty diverse leisure and Internet empire. Odds are that you've done business with IAC somewhere along the way, whether it's snapping up Coldplay concert tickets through TicketMaster, buying a fiber-optic lawn gnome through Home Shopping Network, or drumming up bids to have your kitchen cabinets resurfaced through ServiceMagic.
IAC also runs popular online sites like the Ask.com search engine and the Match.com online dating hub. Naturally, running a company with such a wide wingspan means that you will rarely be running on all cylinders. This past quarter saw some logical declines at IAC's Lending Tree and RealEstate.com subsidiaries as the refinancing and housing markets cooled off.
Running so many different entities also means that IAC bumps into different competitors in different areas of specialization. For instance, it will do battle with Yahoo!
With healthy free cash flow and a successful spin-off of Expedia
If that five-quarter winning streak keeps going, you can be sure that even more new fans will be buying in as well.
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Longtime Fool contributor Rick Munarriz does not own shares in any of the companies mentioned in this story, though he has been a frequent freelance contributor to IAC's CitySearch. He is also part of the Rule Breakers newsletter research team, seeking out tomorrow's ultimate growth stocks a day early. The Fool has a disclosure policy.