Good, Bad News for S-A: Vendor Scores Set-top Deal; Stock Slides
ijumpstart.com
Scientific-Atlanta [SFA] will install the Explorer 2000 in 27 cities over the next six months, putting OpenCable boxes in the hands of customers for the first time. S-A signed purchase orders worth $50mln with seven new MSOs-Cox [COX], Adelphia [ADLAC ], Marcus, MediaOne [UMG] and Canadian MSOs Rogers, Videotron and Cogeco -as well as previously announced ops Time Warner [TWX] and Comcast [CMCSA], to deploy about 150K boxes in the next six months and to ship an additional 250K to 350K boxes this year. With a box price in the "higher $300" range, it's more expensive than the $300 TCI [TCOMA] and its "friends and family" will pay for 6.5-11.9mln NextLevel [NLV] boxes, but the Explorer 2000 will be the first 2-way interactive box available to customers, CEO Jim McDonald emphasized Fri. New services deployed on the box could generate between $20 to $30 per month in incremental revenue for MSOs, he says.
Meanwhile, S-A's stock slid 1-5/8 to close at 14-15/16 after it reported earnings late last week of $14.8mln ($0.19 per share), an 8% increase over the previous year's Q2 report. The economic slowdown in Asia impacted bookings, the company said. A.G. Edwards downgraded S-A from to reduce from accumulate. |
