TiVo Shares Up 6% As Q4 Results Top Estimates, But Issues Weak Outlook

(RTTNews) - Shares of TiVo, Inc. (TIVO) surged more than six percent in extended trading on Wednesday after the set-top box maker reported results for the fourth quarter that topped analysts' expectations.

The company also reported a profit for the quarter that surged from last year, reflecting lower operating expenses and revenue growth amid subscriber additions. Looking ahead, the company forecast revenues for the first quarter, below Street estimates.

"The fourth quarter completed what was a strong year of execution for TiVo. Service and Technology revenue increased 9% and Adjusted EBITDA increased to $24.2 million. In the fourth quarter, we posted MSO subscription net additions of 324,000 and positive TiVo-Owned net additions of 16,000, our strongest TiVo-Owned net additions seven years," President and CEO Tom Rogers said in a statement.

San Jose, California-based TiVo reported net earnings of $7.06 million or $0.07 per share for the fourth quarter, higher than $0.71 million or $0.01 per share in the prior-year quarter.

On average, 15 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $0.04 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Net revenues for the quarter grew to $114.13 million from $106.33 million in the same quarter last year.

Service and technology revenues increased to $91.6 million from $84 million last year, and topped eleven Wall Street analysts' consensus estimate of $89.85 million.

TiVo added 340,000 subscribers in the fourth quarter, compared to additions of 319 000 in the year-ago quarter. At the end of the fourth quarter, TiVo had 5.47 million cumulative subscribers, up 30 percent from the prior-year quarter.

Operating expenses for the quarter declined to $53.7 million from $60.6 million in the year-ago quarter.

During the quarter, the company said it made significant strides building new distribution relationships and expanding existing ones, including announcements with Frontier and Vodafone/ONO.

Looking ahead to the first quarter, the company expects service and technology revenues between $90 million to $92 million, while analysts project $92.33 million.

"We executed well in Fiscal 2015, delivering strong financial results, growing our subscription base, introducing great new innovation in our product and feature offering, and deploying our substantial cash resources to drive shareholder value," Rogers added.

TIVO closed Tuesday's regular trading session at $11.25, down $0.13 or 1.14% on a volume of 2.0 million shares. However, the stock surged $0.72 or 6.40% in after-hours trading.