TiVo Losses Widen As Subscription Additions Drop 10 Percent

TiVo

It’s easy to imagine TiVo (NSDQ: TIVO) execs wanting to fast forward through May: after last week’s legal setback in its war with EchoStar/Dish over DVR patents, the company reports that its net loss grew to 14.2 million from last year’s $3.9 million. This was the Alviso, CA-based company’s fifth quarterly loss in a row. Part of the problem was that operating costs grew by more than 20 during the period, while subscriber acquisition costs went through the roof, coming nearly $3.2 million compared to $982,000 for the same period last year. TiVo-owned subscription additions totaled 33,000 for the quarter, down from 37,000 in Q109. Still, it did have some good news. Net revenues were up over 11 percent and analysts had been expecting a worse profit loss.

While TiVo’s ongoing legal wrangling with EchoStar (NSDQ: SATS) and Dish saw the reversal of a court victory in March, the decision on whether or not the satellite companies can be held in contempt for infringing on TiVo’s DVR patents isn’t likely to come for several months. So the company will get a breather.

But the change has impacted how some TiVo investors and analysts look at the company. For example, Lazard analyst Barton Crockett said last week’s decision was unexpected and raised the possibility that TiVo could lose, though the odds still remain low.

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