Is it curtains for Hollywood Media (NASDAQ:HOLL)? The company is working with JPMorgan to weigh tactical options that may include "potential dispositions," but can the Broadway ticketing and movie portal specialist be casting itself in the starring role of its own farewell feature?
I have argued that Hollywood Media would look good on Google's (NASDAQ:GOOG) shopping list, though the emphasis on ticketing -- which now makes up 87% of total revenue -- makes it a better fit these days for Ticketmaster parent IAC (NASDAQ:IACI) or live entertainment promoter LiveNation (NYSE:LYV).
And the only reason I believe a sale of Hollywood Media as a whole is imminent is because there really isn't a lot more to the company than its Broadway.com ticket-selling site and its Theatre.com site for moving West End shows in London.
The company sold its Baseline StudioSystems unit to New York Times (NYSE:NYT) this past summer. It also owns the Hollywood.com celluloid portal and the fledgling Hollywood.com Television free on-demand cable service, but the ad-dependent businesses are actually a drain on the company's profitability. There's definitely value in the Hollywood.com domain and what's left of its data business, but bowing out as a whole is probably the most lucrative option now.
Yesterday's fourth-quarter report found Hollywood Media posting a $0.05-per-share loss. The deficit came despite a 32% top-line surge to $35.7 million. It's pretty much been the story of Hollywood Media's life: pretty headshot, lousy acting skills. The inability of the company to generate consistent profitability despite its heady revenue growth is disheartening. That's the kind of stuff that only cut it on the other side of the dot-com bubble.
The company isn't being pressed to make an immediate decision about its future. It is sitting on a welcome stash of cash at the moment -- nearly a buck a share -- and its deferred Broadway ticketing revenue hints at another strong top-line showing in the current quarter. So the call to off Broadway -- or to off off-Broadway -- isn't urgent. However, it's practical. It's the right thing to do. Surely there's a hungry bidder out there dying to make a bigger dent in online services revenue.
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Longtime Fool contributor Rick Munarriz is three pages deep into penning Dot-Com: The Musical. Okay, maybe he's kidding. He does not own shares in any of the companies mentioned in this story. 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.
