Liberate surpasses 2Q expectations, splits stock

Liberate Technologies (Nasdaq: LBRT) snuck past the consensus forecast in the its first full quarter since going public.

After market close Tuesday, the vendor of Internet access software for non-PC devices reported a fiscal second quarter loss of $12.5 million or 30 cents per share. First Call's survey of four analysts predicted a loss of 31 cents per share for the quarter ended Nov. 30.

Excluding writedowns of acquisition-related goodwill, warrants and deferred stock compensation, Liberate lost $9.8 million or 23 cents per share in the November quarter.

Also Tuesday, the company announced a 2-for-1 stock split. Shares will be distributed after market close Jan. 14 for shareholders of Dec. 31 record. The stock will begin trading at a post split price on Jan. 18. Liberate will have 83.6 million shares outstanding after the split.

Second quarter sales rose to $6.1 million, a 38 percent year-over-year improvement for Liberate, which went public in late July. "These quarterly results reflect the heightened demand for our platform," said Mitchell Kertzman, CEO and president. "With new deployments in Europe and the U.S., as well as strategic design wins in Asia and around the world, Liberate continues to define the interactive television market."

Shares of Liberate rose to 256 in after hours activity. The stock soared to 252 1/2 in Tuesday's regular trading, a gain of 36 1/2, or 16.9 percent.>