TiVo posts rare profit in quarter

TiVo Inc. posted a quarterly profit for only the third time in its 11-year history Wednesday as the pioneer in digital video recorders boosted margins on hardware and reduced marketing costs in its fiscal second quarter.

It was also the first time that TiVo had back-to-back quarters of profit. The Alviso, Calif., company reported net income of $2.9 million, or 3 cents a share, contrasted with a loss of $17.7 million, or 18 cents, a year earlier.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had expected a loss of 2 cents a share in the quarter that ended July 31.

However, TiVo shares declined in extended trading after the company said its revenue in the current quarter would fall short of analysts’ expectations at $49 million to $51 million.

TiVo also said it expected a net loss in the range of $7 million to $9 million this quarter.

Shares in TiVo dropped 41 cents, more than 5%, to $7.55 in extended trading. Before the earnings report the stock had risen 43 cents, or 5.7%, to $7.96.

In the just-concluded quarter, TiVo’s revenue climbed 4% to $65.2 million, including $53.5 million in services and technology. The breakout for services and technology, which excludes hardware sales, was below the $55.4 million analysts were expecting.

TiVo’s subscriber base has been dropping because of increased competition from generic DVRs from cable and satellite operators, and the company has focused on reducing subscriber acquisition costs to offset the revenue decrease.

The average subscriber acquisition cost was $135 in the quarter, significantly lower than the $758 in the year-earlier period. TiVo said it had 3.6 million subscribers, compared with 4.2 million a year earlier.