Archive for the ‘earnings’ tag
NYT posts earnings no comments
The New York Times posted diluted earnings of $.09 per share for Q1 2012 compared with $.02 for the same quarter of 2011 (or $.08 compared to zero cents excluding items). Operating profit was down for the quarter ($19.6 million vs $25.9 million), but excluding depreciation, amortization and severance would have been higher ($57.2 million vs $52.3 million).
In spite of the criticism and skepticism that the NYT’s original decision to put its digital content behind a paywall (which it did about a year ago) engendered, the company’s digital strategy seems to be working:
“We continue to execute on our strategy and our improved results reflect the ongoing digital transformation of our Company,” said Arthur Sulzberger, Jr., chairman and chief executive officer, The New York Times Company. “We expanded our digital subscription base and further developed a robust consumer revenue stream as demonstrated by the 10 percent increase in total Company circulation revenues, led by the 13 percent growth at The New York Times Media Group. Operating profit before depreciation, amortization and severance grew 9 percent in the first quarter.
“Paid subscriptions to all of the Company’s digital packages, e-readers and replica editions totaled approximately 472,000 as of March 18, 2012. This confirms once again the validity of our digital strategy, which has provided a successful model for the industry. Our readers have embraced digital subscriptions and we expect to build on this strong start as we embark on our second year of digital paid subscriptions.
“At the same time, the uneven U.S. economic environment and uncertain global conditions continued to present challenges to the advertising marketplace. Print advertising revenue trends were similar to those in the fourth quarter of 2011, while digital advertising revenues at the News Media Group were under pressure in the first two months of the year, resulting in a decline of 2 percent for the first quarter.
This month the NYT tightened its paywall, reducing the monthly free access limit to just 10 articles from the previous limit of 20 articles per month.
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B&N reports Q3 2012 results; Launches new tablet model no comments
Barnes & Noble today reported its financial results for the third quarter of fiscal 2012, which ended Jan 28. In a continuation of recent trends, B&N’s online business continues to grow fast (32% over last year during the 3rd qtr), while sales at the physical stores only grew 2%. Earnings for the quarter would have been almost flat except for the impact of deferred income from textbook rentals. Barnes & Noble College is seeing increased adoption of textbook rentals and this revenue is deferred over the life of the rental term rather than being recorded when the sale is initiated. The sales of paper books in stores increased more than 4% over last year — I suspect this may be attributable to the demise of Borders.
B&N also announced the launch of a new 8GB version of the Nook Tablet that is priced at $199 and includes all of the features of the 16GB model except for the amount of built-in memory. 5GB of the new Tablet’s 8GB memory can be used for content, but 1GB of this is reserved for Nook Store content. B&N now has a Tablet that price matches the Kindle Fire. The Nook Color’s price has been reduced to $169.
There is also a new software update for the Nook Tablet. Version 1.4.2 appears to be a minor bug-squashing update that “provides minor system enhancements.”
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Amazon releases Q2 2011 financials no comments
Amazon today reported its earnings for its second quarter, which ended June 30, 2011. The company’s worldwide revenue increased by 51 percent year over year, but net income decreased by 8 percent. Amazon’s growth came at the expense of some of its profit margin as it spent heavily to improve its infrastructure.
Amazon continued to experience much greater growth in its electronics and general merchandise categories than in did media sales.
A couple of Kindle related highlights from Amazon’s news release:
- Recently AT&T agreed to sponsor the Kindle 3G with Special Offers, which enabled Amazon to cut the ereader’s price to $139. It has become the best selling of the Kindle family of ereaders.
- The US Kindle Store now has over 950,000 titles. Over 800,000 of these are $9.99 or less.
Amazon’s shares were up almost 6 percent in afterhours.
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E Ink Holdings earnings up nicely no comments
In its latest earnings release E Ink Holdings announced that the company’s consolidated sales were up 67 percent year over year. The company expects EPD shipments to be in line with expectations for the second quarter and the rest of the year.
"Many market research organizations estimate that the global eReader shipment will at least double that of the previous year, and we have to agree with them,” said Dr. Scott Liu, CEO of E Ink Holdings.” E Ink’s capacity expansion plan and the customers’ orders are both on schedule.”
"When it comes to reading digital content, most people will look for a device that is more convenient than physical books but which provides the same paper-like reading experience. With E Ink’s display technology, an EPD eReader provides consumers with those benefits as well as sunlight readability, low power consumption, and easiness to carry, which differentiates eReaders from the tablet computer in terms of market positioning and functionality. Most people use tablet computers for multimedia content and games rather than reading,” explained Dr. Liu. "Since tablet computers hit the market in 2010, the eReader market has grown 200% compared to the previous year. We estimate that our EPD shipments will continue to grow sequentially this year."
There were rumors recently that the FFS LCD display from E Ink’s subsidiary Hydis would be used in a forthcoming tablet from Amazon. E Ink mentions that new products using the display technology would be launched in the second half of the year: “Our FFS customers will be launching their new products in the coming two quarters,” said Mr. Fred Lin, COO of E Ink. “We are very positive on the FFS panel sales for the second half of this year.”
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Amazon Q3 Sales Up 39% no comments
Amazon today announced earnings for its third quarter ended September 30, 2010.
Net sales for the quarter were up 39 percent to $7.56 billion compared to $5.45 billion for the third quarter of 2009. Net sales would have grown 40 percent if not for the unfavorable impact of foreign exchange rates. Net income increased 16 percent to $0.51 per diluted share. On the downside, Amazon’s operating expenses increased by 40 percent.
These results beat analyst’s expectations (except, perhaps, for the increase in operating expenses). While Amazon’s stock hit a new high today it did take a hit after hours due to an operating margin forecast for the next quarter that missed analyst’s forecasts. Amazon is forecasting operating margin of 3 to 4.2 percent while analysts were expecting 5 percent.
Some of the highlights of Amazon’s third quarter:
- Amazon introduced the Kindle 3 ereader, which features better hardware at a lower price. Since its introduction the Kindle 3 is the fastest selling Kindle ever. In the first twelve weeks after the Kindle 3’s launch more Kindle 3 ereaders were ordered than any other single product at both Amazon.com and Amazon’s UK website.
- The US Kindle Store is now up to over 720,000 titles. Over 590,000 of these are $9.99 or less.
- Amazon’s North American sales from the US and Canadian sites were up 45 percent from the third quarter of 2009. International sales at the company’s UK, German, Japanese, French and Chinese sites were up 32 percent from Q3 2009.
- Worldwide, media sales were up 14 percent (15 percent if you forget about those pesky foreign exchange rates), while Electronics and other general merchandise sales were up 68 percent (71 percent sans impact from foreign exchange rates).
Amazon is projecting a net sales increase of between 26 and 40 percent for the fourth quarter. Operating income is expected to come in at anywhere from a 24 percent decline to an 18 percent increase.
Sources: Amazon, MarketWatch
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Barnes & Noble Reports Fiscal 2011 Q1 Results no comments
Barnes & Noble today reported sales and earnings for its fiscal 2011 first quarter which ended July 31, 2010.
Total sales for Q1 ($1.4 billion) were up 21 percent compared to last year. B&N’s embracing of digital reading has really been paying off – Barnes & Noble.com sales ($145 million) surged 42 percent over the prior year, although the online sales still only make up a little more than 10 percent of B&N’s total sales at this point. Still, just as ebook sales in general make up only a small percentage of current overall book sales, with growth rates like that ebooks (and B&N’s digital sales) are starting to add up to much more than just a hill of beans pretty quickly. Well, actually, maybe the bean counters like to see hills of beans.
“The company made significant strides executing its digital strategy during the first quarter, and all our key metrics on the digital business are well ahead of plan,” said William Lynch, chief executive officer of Barnes & Noble, Inc. “The company launched NOOK Wi-Fi, the most full-featured, low-cost dedicated eBook Reader on the market, the launch of NOOKstudy™, an innovative study platform that enables easy eTextbook and digital content management for college students, and the introduction of NOOK for Android™, free software that brings our eReading experience to millions using Android smartphones and the first of our eReading apps to feature Barnes & Noble’s new NOOK-centric branding. In addition, we are increasing the competitive advantage provided by our bookstores through the launch of full-service NOOK Boutiques, where customers can experience NOOK and speak with knowledgeable booksellers who provide device demonstrations and ongoing product support. Our digital strategy has clearly resonated with our customers as our Members – our best customers – with NOOK devices have increased their spending by approximately 20%. NOOK has also greatly expanded the Barnes & Noble customer base, with 25% of all NOOK customers new to BN.com.”
Meanwhile, in-store sales ($1 billion) were down two percent (.9 percent for comparable stores). The B&N College Bookstores did better than expected and saw a comparable store sales ($226 million) increase of 2.9 percent.
Unfortunately, unless my math is off, it looks as though B&N’s digital sales success is not making up for the decrease in store sales, at least during the time period in question.
Barnes & Noble also announced today that Jamie Lannone has been named President of Barnes & Noble Digital Products and John Foley has joined the company as President of Barnes & Noble eCommerce.
Lannone joined the company a year ago and has been serving as Executive Vice President. Foley is coming from IAC, where he has been for 13 years – most recently serving as the CEO of The Pronto Network. Foley is the founder of both Pronto.com and Proust.com.
In his new role, Iannone will be responsible for all NOOK™ eReading devices, software, accessories and retail integration and experiences; eBooks and digital content; and third-party partnerships. Foley will manage the BN.com online retail business including books, children’s books, toys and games, music, movies, home and gift items, electronics and marketplace, as well as merchandising, online and search marketing. The two seasoned executives will report to William Lynch, CEO of Barnes & Noble, Inc. supported by leadership teams and talented employees.
