ADBL.... keep an eye on volume today. Float is approx 4 mil. Great quarterly results posted after yesterday's close. Beat forecasted estimates by $.03. Experienced 577% quarterly growth in revenue... 51% increase in customer count.
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Banchee, thanks for the ADBL reminder... I missed the big run in August. Managed to pick some shares up before yesterday's close. Spent a good portion of the evening catching up on DD for this issue. Also listened in on the conference call.
Either I'm easily impressed, or this company is really going to go places. The untimely death of Audible's CEO (Andrew Huffman) is unfortunate, however the interim CEO (Donald Katz) is actually the Chairman and founder of the company. Katz addressed Huffman's death within the conference call and otherwise appeared to be handling the company's progress quite well.
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WAYNE, N.J., Oct. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- Audible Inc. (Nasdaq: ADBL - news), one of the Internet's largest and most
diverse providers of premium spoken audio content, announced today results for the third quarter and nine months ended
September 30, 1999.
Total revenue for the three months ended September 30, 1999 increased 577% to $478,834 from $70,704 reported for the
three months ended September 30, 1998. Content and services revenue for the period was $131,178, an increase of 211%
from $42,131 reported in last year's third quarter and a sequential increase of 43% over the second quarter of 1999. Net loss
for the third quarter was $4,343,117, or $0.19 per basic and diluted common share, compared with a net loss of $1,701,395,
or $0.23 per basic and diluted common share in the comparable period of 1998.
Total revenue for the nine months ended September 30, 1999 increased 372% to $1,322,341 from $280,140 reported in the
nine months ended September 30, 1998. Net loss for the nine months ended September 30, 1999 was $8,106,567, or $0.65
per basic and diluted common share, compared with a net loss of $5,190,884, or $0.74 per basic and diluted common share,
for the nine months ended September 30, 1998.
``The results of the quarter reflect the strides we are making across all areas of our business,' commented Don Katz, Chairman
and Acting Chief Executive Officer of Audible. Mr. Katz assumed the role of Acting Chief Executive Officer following the
tragic and untimely death of Andrew Huffman on October 24th. ``Our third quarter revenue growth surpassed internal
expectations, primarily through the increase in our customer count, which grew by 51% from the second quarter of 1999 to
more than 8,600 in the third quarter. In addition, we have continued to build upon and diversify our Audible library, increasing
the content available to our customers by more than 2,000 hours to 18,000 hours, representing more than 8,800 titles,' Katz
said.
Katz continued, ``We have continued to work successfully with handheld device manufacturers to secure AudibleReady
branding opportunities, and during this period a co-marketing agreement was reached with Hewlett-Packard. We continue to
expand Audible's consumer presence and accessibility through the implementation of streaming audio using RealNetworks'
platform. A number of our titles are currently available in Microsoft's platform, and we expect to have all remaining titles on this
delivery platform in the near future. These initiatives allow users of advanced delivery systems to enjoy Audible's premium
spoken audio content at their PC desktops. Additionally, Motorola and Audible conducted a test of transmitting Audible
content to wireless phones. We are looking forward to increasing our customer count as we continue our marketing initiatives
and as AudibleReady handheld devices proliferate.'
Other recent highlights:
-- On September 27, Audible and Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE: HWP - news)
announced that the new HP Jornada 430se Palm-size PC will be branded
AudibleReady(TM) and include Audible software enabling the playback
of premium spoken audio content.
-- On August 16, Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT - news) and Audible announced an
expanded strategic relationship through which Audible will support
Microsoft Windows Media Technologies 4.0. As a result of this
development, the users of the Windows Media Player worldwide will
gain access to Audible's premium spoken-audio content.
-- On the same day, Audible announced a relationship with RealNetworks
(Nasdaq: RNWK - news) to provide users of the RealPlayer G2 with instant
desktop access to Audible's content.
-- Audible recently announced several agreements regarding the
distribution of content through the audible.com service. These include
an agreement to offer an exclusive daily audio digest from the San
Jose Mercury News, as well as Justice Talking, hosted by National
Public Radio personality Margot Adler, which was the first public radio
program to premiere on the Internet. An agreement was also reached
with David Isay's renowned Sound Portraits Productions, which
originally are broadcast on NPR.
-- The Company began a test-market advertising campaign in Seattle,
covering print, broadcast and billboards. San Francisco's Goldberg,
Moser and O'Neill is Audible's agency of record.
About Audible
Audible is one of the Internet's largest and most diverse providers of premium spoken-audio content for playback on personal
computers and AudibleReady(TM) mobile devices. Audible allows customers to take better advantage of their commute, travel
and desktop computer time by delivering premium information and entertainment when their eyes are busy but their minds are
free. Audible's content partners include leading audio book publishers, broadcasters, magazine and newspaper publishers,
business information providers, and educational and cultural institutions. Visitors to audible.com can browse,
sample, purchase, subscribe to, schedule and download more than 18,000 hours of audio content. The Company's technology
partners include AT&T Corp., Casio Inc., Compaq Computer Corporation, Creative Labs Inc., Diamond Multimedia Systems
Inc., Everex Systems Inc., The Intel Corporation, Microsoft Corporation, Philips Electronics N.V., and RealNetworks, Inc.
This press release contains information which is not historical fact and may be deemed to contain forward-looking statements.
Actual results may differ materially from those anticipated in any forward-looking statements as a result of certain risks and
uncertainties, including, without limitation, Audible's limited operating history, history of losses, uncertain market for its services,
and its inability to license or produce compelling audio content and other risks and uncertainties detailed in the company's
Securities and Exchange Commission filings....
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