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Posted
May 07 2009, 09:27 AM
by
Kim Peterson
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
DirecTV (DTV) quarterly profit drops 46%? Big deal. The real number to look at is net subscriber additions, which rose 67% in the U.S. to 460,000. That's the sharpest rise in four years. The company spent a pretty penny on promotions and signup deals, which resulted in a wave of new customers -- and a drop in profit. Revenue was up 7%, while the percentage of customer turnover in the U.S. dropped to 1.33% -- a 10-year low. That's in part because DirecTV has gone after higher-quality subscribers that can better afford its services.
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Posted
Mar 02 2009, 12:20 PM
by
Minyanville
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
How did people do it way back when, without television? Seriously, I like to read too, but there’s nothing like stretching out on the living room sofa with a cold brew and a bag of Doritos (my Kryptonite) and watching the big screen. Am I right?
This thought is one of the many bouncing around in my cranium this morning because DISH Network (DISH), the Colorado-based satellite-television company, was out with its fourth-quarter earnings earlier this morning.
It earned $0.48 a share. That was a penny south of the estimate I’m seeing. Also, the $2.92 billion in revenue it reported in the quarter looked a bit light compared to what analysts were figuring on as well.
And finally, this line in the release stuck out like a sore thumb to me:
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Posted
Nov 10 2008, 11:48 AM
by
Kim Peterson
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
Bad earnings news for Dish Network today, including a disturbing trend. Earlier this year, the satellite TV provider lost net subscribers for this first time in history. Now, Dish has lost subscribers for the second consecutive quarter. The drain is forcing Dish to roll out expensive promotions and deals to keep customers on board. Still, it lost 10,000 net subscribers in the quarter, and now has 13.8 million. A year ago, Dish was celebrating a 110,000 subscriber gain. Today's quarterly numbers are awful, and Dish shares have dropped 15% to $13.26. Profit fell by more than half. Revenue rose and met analyst expectations, but customer turnover is at alarming rates. Dish used to rely on lower-income households to boost its subscriber base. But those households have been hit badly in the economic turndown and are dropping off, with no relief in sight.
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Posted
Jun 18 2008, 09:47 AM
by
Kim Peterson
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
A big setback for DISH Network has sent shares down 7% today. And while some analysts caution not to read too much into it, I say that DISH has plenty to be worried about. AT&T is forcing DISH to pay back $500 million in debt that was supposed to be due in July of 2010. DISH says it has the money to do so, and won't have to take out a loan. AT&T played down the move, telling the Wall Street Journal that the money "could be put to better use." But this is also a clear message that AT&T has no interest in acquiring DISH. AT&T shares fell less than 1% today.
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Posted
Jun 02 2008, 12:04 PM
by
Kim Peterson
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
Dish Network is heading toward two options: shut down DVR service for its customers or license technology from TiVo. Neither one is particularly palatable, so the company filed a lawsuit against TiVo Friday to buy some time. Today, TiVo shares are down 9% to $7.66 as investors freak out about the litigation. Dish shares are pretty much unchanged. This is a huge deal to Dish because two years ago, the courts told it to stop selling DVRs to customers. (This was after a jury found that Dish's sister company, EchoStar, infringed on TiVo's DVR software). Luckily, Dish got the courts to place that injunction on hold as long as the appeals process was taking place. But the courts refused to hear an appeal earlier this year.
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Posted
May 13 2008, 10:14 AM
by
Kim Peterson
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
DISH Network has lost its mojo, said Bernstein Research analyst Craig Moffett today. And he went as far as to wonder if the satellite provider is "the next Sprint." You know things are bad when people start calling you the next Sprint. Moffett's in a lather because of the company's Q1 performance. (10-Q is here). Revenue and profit were fine, matching or beating what analysts were looking for. But the subscriber numbers tell a different story. DISH added only 35,000 net new subscribers, compared with 310,000 a year earlier. Customer turnover grew to 1.68% from 1.46%. DISH blamed "worsening economic conditions," including a slowdown in new housing and an increase in customers who can't pay their bills. The company also said the competition is getting pretty intense.
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Posted
Apr 03 2008, 11:45 AM
by
Douglas McIntyre
Rating:
Filed under: Apple, Comcast, Ford, DirecTV, Verizon, Sirius XM, AT&T, Time Warner Cable, Toyota, GM, Utilities, Dish Network
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
When the Justice Department cleared the merger of Sirius with XM Satellite there was anticipation that once the deal got done the shares of both companies would go up. A year ago, the combination was viewed as a dream deal.
If anything, the shares have dropped. Sirius is below $3 and XM is below $13. The market began to realize that the year wasted on getting government approval was a year the companies need to stay competitive. XM has over $1 billion in debt. Refinancing it in the current market would be nearly impossible. Selling shares would lead to extremely large dilution. As we recently noted, Goldman Sachs even put Sirius on its "Conviction Sell List" with a price target of $2.25.
Growth at Sirius has slowed considerably. In the fourth quarter revenue rose only 29% to $250 million. But, for the full year, revenue was up 45%. Subscriber deactivations in the fourth quarter were almost 540,000 compared to 330,000 in the same quarter of 2006. The firm's net loss was $166 million. Long-term debt was almost $1.3 billion.
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