Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.
What: Shares of Cincinnati Bell (CBB) rose more than 15% Thursday after the communications company released better-than-expected first-quarter results.
So what: Quarterly revenue rose 3.9% year over year, to $323 million, which translated to adjusted earnings of $0.04 per diluted share. Analysts, on average, were looking for earnings of $0.02 per share on sales of $303.86 million.
Meanwhile, first-quarter adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization rose slightly to $106 million. And don't forget CinBell's $927 million stake in data-center REIT CyrusOne, which last quarter saw revenue climb 29% from the same year-ago period to $78 million, while adjusted EBITDA increased 32% to $42 million.
Finally, Cincinnati Bell expects 2014 revenue of $1.2 billion, which is roughly inline with analysts' expectations. The company also expects 2014 adjusted EBITDA of $383 million, plus or minus 2%.
Now what: CinBell CEO Ted Torbeck added: "We are excited about our first quarter results. The momentum created from our strategic investments is accelerating and for the first time in more than a decade we generated year-over-year growth in both Wireline revenue and Adjusted EBITDA." Torbeck went on to describe last month's decision to sell their Wireless spectrum as "a significant milestone in our efforts to transform Cincinnati Bell into a healthy fiber based entertainment, communications and IT Solutions company with growing revenue, growing profits and significant cash flows."
As it stands, I like where Cincinnati Bell is headed, and think its shares should still prove a bargain for long-term investors.
