Bring out all your babies for a kissin' and get ready for the pressing of flesh -- upstart wireless broadband provider Clearwire (NASDAQ:CLWR) has rolled into town, subtly pitching for investor favor on the heels of its first-quarter earnings report. Since the company will likely need more capital going forward, it is methodically detailing operations in its business, displaying a successful underlying model worthy of investor favor.
On the money front, Clearwire reported revenues of $29.3 million for the quarter, 29% ahead of total revenues reported in the same quarter last year. Ignoring last year's equipment sales revenue from a division since sold to Motorola (NYSE:MOT), Clearwire's service revenue's actually tripled. As expected though, high spending levels kept the bottom line swimming in red ink as the company posted a $92.6 million net loss for the quarter.
Clearwire spent most of its time in front of the cameras highlighting the performance of what it defined as its "initial markets" -- the first 25 domestic markets that began operations before last year. The company even broke out a separate, condensed income and operations statement for those markets, aiming to demonstrate that its business model is solid and its cash burn entirely justifiable.
These initial markets have already passed 10% household penetration collectively, and they're showing steady improvements in margins. While these markets are not yet profitable, management "expects an increase in the number of Initial Markets to reach Market EBITDA positive over the remainder of the year."
It remains to be seen, though, how closely Clearwire's initial markets represent all its markets. In addition, competitive pressure from the likes of Sprint Nextel (NYSE:S), AT&T (NYSE:T) and Verizon (NYSE:VZ) will erode service margins without additional efforts to deliver differentiated content and services. Investors will want to watch Clearwire's average revenue per user (ARPU) and churn statistics going forward to ensure the products offer compelling and growing value.
Personally, I need to see a longer track record under this candidate's belt before I vote with my pocketbook.
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Fool contributor Dave Mock will happily vote with someone else's pocketbook. He owns shares of Motorola. Dave is the author of The Qualcomm Equation. The Fool's disclosure policy will kiss even the ugliest of babies.
