MVSN ($33-$24-$27)..P/E 66... Reports Q3 (Sep) earnings of $0.20 per share, in line with the Multex consensus of $0.20; revenues rose 12.7% year/year to $23.0 mln vs the $26.3 mln consensus; warns for Q4; expects fourth quarter revenues and pro forma earnings per share will be flat with Q3 vs the consensus estimates for earnings of $0.24 per share on revenues of $30.8 mln.
Tuesday October 30, 11:42 am Eastern Time
Macrovision shares fall on flat Q4 projection
NEW YORK, Oct 30 (Reuters) - Shares of Macrovision Corp. (NasdaqNM:MVSN - news) tumbled sharply on Tuesday (NasdaqNM:MVSN - news) after the maker of copyright protection software posted higher third-quarter profits but said it saw no growth in the fourth quarter.
ADVERTISEMENT
Shares of Macrovision, which makes copyright protection and video scrambling technologies used by movie studios and others, were down 27.34 percent, or $9.16, at $24.33 on brisk morning trading on the Nasdaq stock exchange. The company was the biggest percentage loss leader and the second-biggest net loss leader on the Nasdaq.
After the market closed on Monday, Sunnyvale, California-based Macrovision reported third-quarter net income of $6.4 million, or 12 cents per share, compared with earnings of $4.8 million, or 9 cents per share, in the year-earlier period, as demand for its copy protection technology grew. On a pro forma basis, Macrovision posted a profit of 20 cents a share.
Citing the political and economic uncertainty, the company said it expected to record a flat fourth quarter, although it declined to give specific guidance. In addition, it also announced that its chief executive, John Ryan, was stepping down.
The Wall Street consensus was for earnings of 24 cents per share in the current quarter, with a range of 22 cents to 26 cents, according to research firm Thomson Financial/First Call.
On the news, U.S Bancorp Piper Jaffray lowered its fourth quarter estimates for Macrovision. It cut its earnings per share estimate to 19 cents a share from 23 cents and reduced its revenue target to $23 million from $29.4 million. For the full year 2002, the firm lowered its earnings per share forecast to 90 cents from $1.03.
``While the quarter and outlook was challenging, we maintain Macrovision has one of the most compelling business models in technology,'' analyst Gene Munster said in a research note to clients on Tuesday morning. ``For investors who want to look beyond December, we would see pullback in the stock as buying opportunities.''
Macrovision's copy protection technology for VHS cassettes has long been the standard in that industry, and its DVD protection technology is already in use on over 600 million discs worldwide, according to the company.
The music industry has also turned to the company for help in its fight against piracy; some labels are testing Macrovision technology that prevents audio files from being ``ripped'' off of CDs into MP3 computer files.
However, those audio protection programs have come under fire because they render some CDs unplayable by even regular, non-PC stereos. Macrovision has said the protected CDs have a playability rate of 99.6 percent to 99.7 percent.
Munster said future audio and DVD business could each add 5 percent to 10 percent in revenue in the next two years. |
