Wanna a double ???
I am buying BDE ,, paying up to 3 1/4 ,,,
As we speak ,, got 20,000...
I was looking at the list of Internet stock picks last night--the one from February that included AETTQ (we should watch when they emerge from Chapter 11, as their new Internet business will fly). I came across BDE, which looks like it could be a good play. At that time it was selling at 5; it has since fallen to 2, from a high of 9 7/8 in November.
What is most interesting about this company is the tiny float of 800K, which would make it perfect for a strike. Also it is in the hot Internet sector. It is sitting at its 52 week low and downside from here appears extremely limited. Revenues more than doubled in 1997 and considerable further growth is expected in 1998 and 1999.
Basically, a number of the company's contracts were delayed due to circumstances beyond their control. Because of this, they received analyst downgrades and significant lowering of earnigs estimates. However, these were just delays and not cancellations--everything is still going to happen, but has just been postponed for about 6 months. Unlike many other Internet companies, BDE will be profitable or break even this year. And their multipath technology should make them a success well into the future.
Included below is the header from the SI thread, some Yahoo information, an overview and the recent year end results. Note that the company more than doubled its revenues in the last year and has strategic alliances with Packard Bell NEC and Compuserve--more are undoubtedly in the works. Please let me know what you think. Relationships with Warner Bros, DC Comics, Universal Studios and Bantam Doubleday Books. Andy However, be aware changes have occurred since the header was written, especially in regard to the earnings estimates.
Started By: Bleeker
Date: Jan 12 1998 2:59PM ET
Brilliant Digital Entertainment develops Multipath Movies.
These are three-dimensional digitally animated stories with
hundreds of plot twists that a player controls. Brilliant is
one of the most undervalued companies in the interactive
entertainment software industry, trading at only 6.8 times
its expected 1998 earnings: more than a 75% discount to its
group.
Brilliant posted positive earnings in Q3 and has four movie
titles completed. Another 29 are in development for this year.
It has relationships with Warner Brothers, DC Comics, Universal
Studios and Bantam Doublday books, with the licensing rights to
make adventure game movies based on the characters Superman,
Popeye, and Xena: Warrior Princess. Brilliant also has a wide
range of proprietary software to develop content internally,
including my personal favorite interactive movie, Cyberswine.
Other strategic partners are Packard Bell NEC and Compuserve.
Packard has agreed to pre-install Brilliant's Multipath Movies
on up to 6 million of its shipped computers starting this month.
And Compuserve has agreed to offer BDE's Multipath Movies on a
pay-as-you-view basis to its 1.5 million members. The movies will
be available on CD-ROM as well at retail outlets such as Best Buy,
CompUSA and Egghead Software. Brilliant also plans to sell the
movies to cable channels and the home video market.
Brilliant has no debt and $14 million in cash. It raised funds
from a secondary offering in December 1997. The lead managers
of the deal were Credit Suisse First Boston and Cruttenden Roth.
CS First Boston is expected to initiate coverage in the days
ahead. Finally, Cruttenden expects Brilliant to earn 70 cents a
share in 1998 and BDE only has 10 million outstanding shares.
Cruttenden's 12-month price target is $15.
OVERVIEW
Brilliant is a production and development studio producing a new generation of digital entertainment that is being distributed over the Internet and on CD-ROM. The Company, headquartered in the United States, was incorporated in July 1996. The Company was formed through the combination of two businesses: Brilliant Interactive Ideas, Pty. Ltd. ("BII Australia"), an entertainment software developer and producer; and Sega Australia New Developments ("SAND"), a "skunk works" research and development operation for leading edge software tools. BII Australia became a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company through the exchange of all 100,000 outstanding shares of BII Australia for 1,000,000 shares of Common Stock of the Company. In addition, the Company acquired SAND on September 30, 1996. SAND was established during the second quarter of 1994 by Sega Ozisoft Pty., Limited ("Sega Ozisoft"), one of the largest publishers and distributors of entertainment software products in Australia and New Zealand, the predecessor of which was co-founded by Mark Dyne and Kevin Bermeister.
The Company's historical operations prior to September 1996 discussed in this section reflect only the operations of BII Australia. Founded in September 1993, BII Australia initially developed and sold interactive education and entertainment CD-ROM titles primarily for children. With the completion of the acquisition of SAND in September 1996, the nature of the Company's business changed significantly. SAND is responsible for developing the Multipath Movie suite of proprietary software tools, production process and first Multipath Movie product. The Company is focusing its efforts on the development of the Multipath Movie tools and production process, as well as the commercialization of the Multipath Movie genre, and has substantially completed the phase-out of its traditional CD-ROM business. As a result of this change in the Company's business, the following discussion may not be representative of its future operations. The Company changed its fiscal year end from June 30 to December 31, effective December 31, 1996.
The Company intends to generate a substantial majority of its future revenue from the development, production, distribution, licensing and on-line exhibition of Multipath Movies and other three-dimensional digitally created entertainment. The Company launched the first of its Multipath Movie series, Cyberswine, its Multipath Movie for Kids series, Popeye and the Quest for the Woolly Mammoth, and the first two of its StoryTeller Series, Night of the Werewolf and The Halloween Party, in the fourth quarter of 1997. The Company's annual and quarterly revenue will depend upon the successful development, distribution, timing and market acceptance of its interactive products and upon the costs to distribute and promote these products. Specifically the revenues derived from the production and distribution of the Company's Multipath Movies will depend primarily on the acceptance by the market of the Multipath Movie concept and the underlying content of the Multipath Movie, neither of which can be predicted nor necessarily bear a direct correlation to the production or distribution costs incurred. See "Cautionary Statements and Risk Factors - Acceptance of Multipath Movie Concept; Successful Development of Multipath Movies with Appealing Creative Content," and "Cautionary Statements and Risk Factors - Dependence on Development of Additional Multipath Movies." The commercial success of a Multipath Movie is also expected to depend upon promotion and marketing, production costs, impact of competition and other factors. Accordingly, the Company's annual and quarterly revenues are and will be extremely difficult to forecast.
Business Summary
BDE, is a production and development studio producing multipath movies to be distributed over the Internet, on CD-ROM, as television programming and for home video. For the comparable nine months ended 9/30/97, revenues totalled $2.4 million, up from $1.1 million. Net loss decreased 60% to $944 thousand. Results reflect the recognition of $2 million in revenue from a distribution agreement with Packard Bell NEC, partially offset by costs for development of internal mangagement.
Recent Earnings Announcement
For the quarter ended DEC 1997, revenues were 114; after tax earnings were -1,375.
(preliminary; reported in thousands of dollars)
Statistics at a Glance -- BDE Last Updated: Apr 9, 1998
Price and Volume
(updated Apr 9, 1998)
52-Week Low $2.125
Recent Price $2.438
52-Week High $9.875
Beta N/A
Daily Volume (3-month avg) 105.7K
Share-Related Items
Market Capitalization $17.6M
Shares Outstanding 7.20M
Float 800.0K
Thursday March 19, 6:30 am Eastern Time
Company Press Release
Brilliant Digital Entertainment Reports Year-End Results
LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 19, 1998--In line with an earlier preview announcement, Brilliant Digital Entertainment, Inc. (AMEX: BDE; bde3d.com) today reported results for the fourth quarter and year-ended December 31, 1997. For the year-ended December 31, 1997 revenues increased 105% to $2,481,000, compared to revenues of $1,213,000 in the prior year. Brilliant Digital reported that its 1997 net loss decreased to $2,305,000, or $0.31 per share, compared to a year-ago net loss of $3,660,000, or $0.78 per share.
Revenues for the 1997 fourth quarter increased 65% to $114,000, compared to revenues of $69,000 for the comparable prior year period. The Company reported a fourth quarter net loss of $1,375,000, or $0.17 per share, compared with a net loss of $1,298,000, or $0.24 per share, for the same period a year ago.
As previously announced, Brilliant Digital's fourth quarter and full year results reflect the impact of delays in the completion of certain foreign distribution and licensing relationships and in the initial shipments of Brilliant's first Multipath(TM) Movie titles until after the December holiday selling season.
Pursuant to a three-year, multi-million-unit bundling relationship with Packard Bell, computers bundled with Brilliant's first Multipath Movie, Cyberswine, commenced initial shipments in certain international territories in the fourth quarter of 1997. As announced earlier, U.S. shipments of computers featuring Multipath Movie bundles, previously anticipated during January of 1998, are now expected to commence in the 1998 second quarter. The delay does not affect the number of units to be shipped pursuant to the bundling relationship, but will impact the Company's 1998 revenues and earnings since users will not be equipped to purchase on-line episodes over the Internet as early as expected.
Mark Dyne, Chairman and CEO of Brilliant, commented, ''We have entered 1998 with a strong and growing library of Multipath Movies. Our development slate includes in excess of 25 episodes featuring a variety of high profile characters and leading entertainment brands. CompuServe has begun to distribute promotional discs containing Cyberswine to its members, and we anticipate the necessary structure required to enable CompuServe members to view Multipath Movies and the CompuServe 'BDE Forum' will become available during the second quarter of 1998. Based on the unique characteristics of Multipath Movies, we are also pursuing opportunities to expand our distribution beyond the traditional channels used by conventional software developers into more mass-market outlets. Our growing product portfolio, which targets a wide demographic and geographic audience, coupled with our expanding distribution channels, should enable Brilliant Digital to make significant headway during 1998 in establishing a broad installed consumer base.
''Complementing our consumer product offerings are the proprietary software tools that facilitate the creation of Multipath Movies. These tools also allow Multipath Movies to be easily and cost effectively dubbed into foreign languages with synchronized lip movements. In addition, our production process facilitates the output of non-interactive versions of Multipath Movies for different markets, such as television programming and home video, significantly expanding the potential end user market for Multipath Movie productions.''
Brilliant Digital Entertainment is the creator and producer of a unique new generation of interactive digital entertainment called Multipath Movies. Multipath Movies utilize Brilliant's proprietary software tools to produce three-dimensional, digitally animated stories, each with hundreds of plot alternatives that lead to multiple, distinct conclusions influenced by the user. Multipath Movies, which combine the interactivity of computer games with the plot and character development of feature films, are currently distributed over the Internet and on CD-ROM and can also be produced for distribution on television and home video.
BRILLIANT DIGITAL ENTERTAINMENT, INC.
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEET
(in thousands)
(audited)
December 31,
1997
Assets
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents $ 12,338
Accounts receivable, net 2,088
Development costs 711
Other assets 296
Total current assets 15,433
Property, plant and equipment, net 633
Development costs, net of current
portion 425
Other assets 352
Total assets $ 16,843
Liabilities and stockholders' equity
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable and accrued
expenses $ 2,021
Total current liabilities 2,021
Stockholders' equity:
Common Stock 9
Additional paid-in capital 21,268
Accumulated deficit (6,260)
Cumulative translation adjustment (195)
Total stockholders' equity 14,822
Total liabilities and stockholders'
equity $ 16,843
-0-
BRILLIANT DIGITAL ENTERTAINMENT, INC.
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
(in thousands, except per share data)
3 months 3 months 12 months 12 months
ended ended ended ended
12/31/97 12/31/96 12/31/97 12/31/96
(unaudited)(unaudited)(audited)(unaudited)
Revenue:
Total revenues $ 114 $ 69 $ 2,481 $ 1,213
Cost of revenues
and expenses:
Cost of revenues 26 46 44 458
Sales & marketing 704 2 1,090 1,101
General and
administrative 558 925 2,214 1,268
Research and
development 304 358 1,709 1,996
Depreciation 20 43 214 130
Total cost of
revenues and
expenses 1,612 1,374 5,271 4,953
Income (loss)
from operations (1,498) (1,305) (2,790) (3,740)
Other income
(expense):
Export market
development
grant -- -- 148 126
Gain (loss) on
foreign exchange 26 (1) 27 (5)
Interest income
(expense), net 98 8 313 (41)
Total other
income (expense) 124 7 488 80
Income (loss)
before income
taxes (1,374) (1,298) (2,302) (3,660)
Provision for
income taxes (1) -- (3) --
Net income
(loss) $ (1,375) $ (1,298) $ (2,305) $ (3,660)
Basic and
diluted net
income (loss)
per share $ (0.17) $ (0.24) $ (0.31) $ (0.78)
Common shares used
in computing
income (loss)
per share 7,936 5,346 7,384 4,678
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Contact:
Mark Dyne, Chairman and CEO
Michael Ozen, Chief Financial Officer
Brilliant Digital Entertainment
818/615-1500 or info@bde3d.com
OR
David C. Collins
Jaffoni & Collins Incorporated
212/835-8500 or collins@jcir.com
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