Ancestry.com is back up on reports the company is shopping itself to a private equity firm. This move makes tons of sense, as there's a lot of potential in the company to continue to drive its tremendous subscription service and boost the all-important average revenue per user. So, looking at the first quarter, we see a 20% growth in subscriptions, which is not a big surprise. The company had pre-announced hitting 2 million subscribers, and this number might rise in the future.
Better yet, the test of a great subscription model is being able to test out new strategies, and I did like seeing that Ancestry has increased subscriber lifetime value 10% with some longer-term packaging. The company mentioned 27% of subscriptions are month-to-month, while that number was 33% a year ago.
The company launched its DNA initiative in May, which is still in the testing stage. Eric thinks either that, or another high-end service like it, could be huge for the company both in terms of retention and possibly opening up higher-end subscriptions.
Finally, the company continued to grow international revenue faster than U.S. revenue, with non-U.K. revenues growing at 22% year over year. The company sounded a bit vague on new marketing measures and effectiveness following the cancellation of its hit tie-in with Who Do You Think You Are. But I think that concern isn't enough to derail their overall trajectory. At the end of the day, this company will likely be good buyout bait and a win for investors.
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