On July 26, movie rental veteran Blockbuster (NYSE:BBI) released second-quarter earnings for the period ended July 1.

  • The bright spot in this gloomy report was the 157% surge in total subscribers for the company's online rental service, Total Access. This brought the total customer base to 3 million, up from just 1.4 million in last year's second quarter.
  • Total operating expenses decreased by $83.2 million, after the company realized a $77.7 million gain by selling its Gamestation operations to Britain's GAME.
  • Margins plummeted as the company bought additional rental products to support customers' in-store exchanges. The extra demand came from spiking growth in Total Access.
  • It looks like management improved its balance sheet, but keep in mind that the company paid down debt and registered a higher cash balance mostly through asset sales.
  • Any discussion of Blockbuster these days feels incomplete without at least a nod to Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX). Compare and contrast the companies here.

(Figures in millions, except per-share data)

Income Statement Highlights

Q2 2007

Q2 2006

Change

Sales

$1,263

$1,300

(2.8%)

Net Profit

($36)

$68

N/A

EPS

($0.20)

$0.31

N/A

Diluted Shares

190.0

217.9

(12.8%)

Get back to basics with the income statement.

Margin Checkup

Q2 2007

Q2 2006

Change*

Gross Margin

50.3%

56.2%

(5.9)

Operating Margin

(1.1%)

(0.2%)

(0.9)

Net Margin

(2.8%)

5.3%

(8.1)

*Expressed in percentage points

Margins are the earnings engine.

Balance Sheet Highlights

Assets

Q2 2007

Q2 2006

Change

Cash + ST Invest.

$148

$125

18.3%

Inventory

$720

$732

(1.6%)

Liabilities

Q2 2007

Q2 2006

Change

Accounts Payable

$378

$306

23.4%

Total Debt*

$817

$1004

(18.6%)

*Includes capital leases

The balance sheet reflects the company's health.

Cash Flow Highlights

Q2 2007

Q2 2006

Change

Cash From Ops.

($40.3)

($23.3)

(73.0%)

Capital Expenditures

$19.5

$15.7

24.2%

Free Cash Flow

($59.8)

($39.0)

(53.3%)

Free cash flow is a Fool's best friend.

Related Foolishness:

Fool by Numbers is designed to give you the raw earnings information in a timely fashion, putting all the numbers you need in one easy-to-read place. But at The Motley Fool, we believe numbers tell only part of the story, so check Fool.com for more of our in-depth discussion of what the numbers mean.

At the time of publication, Anders Bylund was a Netflix shareholder with no position in any other company mentioned. Netflix is a Stock Advisor pick. Fool rules are here.