| As of Tuesday, November 24th: |
LATEST EARNINGS RESULTS
- Sales of New Homes Forecast to Rise 2%
- Americans Ditch Planes for Trains this Thanksgiving
- Half of Banks' Losses May Still Be Hidden: IMF Head
- Obama Reiterates Commitment to Boost US-India Ties
- FDIC's Bair Cautions on Risks in Bank Break-Up Plan
- Wednesday's Economic News Crunch Could Tilt Markets
- Call Me Crazy: Confessions of a Black Friday Shopper
- Starbucks Eyes China as Next Major Market
- Citi Mortgage Reveals Something the US Treasury Won't
- Citi Mortgage Reveals What Treasury Won't
- S&P to Hit 1,200 by Year-End: Chief Investor
- Amended Berkshire Hathaway Filing Indicates No Secret Stock Stakes at End of Q3
- Facebook's Biggest-Ever Holiday Shopping Season
- Facebook's New Dual Class Structure - Slow Steps to an IPO
- 5 Big Bank Stocks Investors Should Consider: Strategists
- Gambling Drunk, Texting to Live And America's On Sale - Your Emails
- Nov. 24: Unusual Volume Leaders
- NBA D-League On The Rise
MOST SHARED
- The 'Real' Jobless Rate: 17.5% Of Workers Are Unemployed
- Wednesday's Economic News Crunch Could Tilt Markets
- NBA D-League On The Rise
- The Social Media Gaming Threat
- Obama Reiterates Commitment to Boost US-India Ties
- Stifling Anger at Work Can Kill, Survey Finds
- Japan Export Rebound Eases Fear of New Recession
- Australia Wheat Exporters Face Challenges: GrainCorp
Text Size 
Blockbuster, the largest U.S. movie rental chain, posted a higher-than-expected quarterly profit as it cut costs by closing stores, reducing advertising and overhead expenses.
Blockbuster's [BBI
Loading...
()
] shares rose 33 cents, or nearly 11 percent, to $3.40 in premarket trading Thursday.
Blockbuster, which has offered to buy Circuit City Stores [CC
Loading...
()
] for up to $1.3 billion, said sales at domestic stores open at least a year improved for the first time in five years due to a better line-up of new movies, improved in-store merchandising and more effective pricing.
Net profit was $45.4 million, or 20 cents per share, for its fiscal first quarter that ended April 6, compared with a year-earlier loss of $49 million or 27 cents per share.
Adjusted earnings from continuing operations were 21 cents in the quarter, beating the average Wall Street forecast of 16 cents, according to Reuters Estimates.
While quarterly revenue missed expectations, Blockbuster managed to cut selling, general and administrative expenses by $100.5 million on reduced advertising and lower overheads.
Blockbuster is repositioning itself to compete with new video distribution models provided by companies like Netflix [NFLX
Loading...
()
] and Apple [AAPL
Loading...
()
].
Chairman and Chief Executive Jim Keyes said in a statement that the company's Total Access program, which lets subscribers swap DVDs at Blockbuster stores for unlimited free rentals, was now profitable.
Domestic same-store sales rose 2.9 percent, driven by a 19.7 percent rise in merchandise sales and a 0.4 increase in rental revenue, the company said.
Overall quarterly revenue fell 5.4 percent to $1.39 billion as Blockbuster closed stores, compared to the average analyst forecast of $1.44 billion, according to Reuters Estimates.
Blockbuster said its gross margin rose 1.5 percentage points to 53.2 percent in the quarter.
After resisting requests for months, Circuit City last week finally said it would open its books to Blockbuster and its largest shareholder, billionaire investor Carl Icahn.
But Blockbuster's bid continues to draw skepticism from some analysts who question the strategic fit of the two struggling companies just as Blockbuster is staging a turnaround.
Print
Email
- Hewlett-Packard Profit Rises, Matches Guidance
Hewlett-Packard said a strong performance in China and improved profit margins in its services business helped drive quarterly earnings 14 percent higher.
- Analog Devices Results Beat Expectations; Shares Rise
Analog Devices reported a quarterly profit that fell from a year ago but topped Wall Street's expectations, sending shares higher in extended trading.
- Tyson Food Profit Beats Estimates
Tyson Foods posted higher-than-expected quarterly results on Monday on strength in its beef, pork and prepared foods businesses, which it expects to continue in its new fiscal year.
- Hewlett-Packard Profit Rises, Matches Guidance
- Horton Results Miss Estimates, Shares Drop
D.R. Horton, the No. 2 U.S. homebuilder, reported a much larger-than-expected quarterly loss on Friday, sending its shares down nearly 7 percent even though it also said orders increased.
- Horton Results Miss Estimates, Shares Drop
- Dell Shares Smacked as Earnings, Sales Miss Forecasts
- Gap Reports Earnings in Line With Forecasts
- Intuit Posts Narrower-Than-Expected Loss
- Sears Posts Second Consecutive Quarterly Loss
- BJ's Wholesale Profit Falls, Hurt by Falling Food Prices
- Salesforce Profit Beats Forecasts, but Shares Fall
- Autodesk Shares Fall on Disappointing Outlook
- Home Depot Profit Beats; Says Markets Under Pressure
- Target Third Quarter Profit Up, Cautious on Fourth
- Weak US Housing Market Drags on Lowe's Profit
- JC Penney Profit Falls, but Shares Up on Forecast
- Disney Profit, Sales Top Forecasts; Shares Jump
- Nordstrom Earnings Miss Forecasts; Shares Take Hit
- Wal-Mart Holiday Forecast Light, Profit Beats
- Kohl's Profit Beats Street, But Outlook Falls Short
Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes