Roundup: Software.com tops, Midway and Beyond.com miss expectations
Software.com (Nasdaq: SWCM) surprised Wall Street with a profit in the first quarter.
After market close Wednesday, Software.com reported first quarter net income of $2 million, or 4 cents per share, excluding acquisition-related charges and amortization. First Call's survey of eight analysts predicted a loss of 6 cents per share.
Including all items, Software.com earned $1.6 million, or 3 cents per share.
First quarter revenue rose to $19.5 million, up 141 percent year-over-year and up 26 percent sequentially.
Communications providers have activated 61 million seats out of 102 million licensed from Software.com, said the company, whose products let ISPs offer e-mail and other messaging services. Eighteen customers each have more than 1 million seat licenses.
"We also are seeing significant demand from wireline and wireless service provider customers for our unified messaging and Internet protocol voicemail solutions," CEO John MacFarlane said.
Also Wednesday, Software.com said it agreed to buy bCandid, a privately-held vendor of software used by ISPs to manage newsgroups. The deal, expected to close within six weeks, will be immediately accretive on a per-share basis, Software.com said.
Shares of Software.com fell 7 3/4 to 67 in Wednesday's regular trading, prior to the earnings report.
Other companies reporting quarterly results Wednesday:
The game software maker reported a fiscal third quarter loss of $11.5 million, or 30 cents per share. First Call's survey of four analysts predicted a loss of 27 cents per share. Earlier this month, Midway said it expected to report a loss ranging between 23 cents and 27 cents per share.
Third quarter revenue sank to $54.9 million, compared to $80.3 million in the year-ago period. Coin-operated video game revenues fell 31 percent year-over-year. Home video game sales fell 33 percent.
The online retailer of computer-related products and provider of e-commerce services reported a first quarter net loss of $20.6 million, or 55 cents per share, excluding special charges. First Call consensus predicted a loss of 46 cents per share.
Revenue in the first quarter rose 64 percent year-over-year to $31.3 million.
The eStore Group generated sales of $9.2 million, up 166 percent from the year ago period. Government sales rose 233 percent year-over-year to $10.2 million. Website sales were $11.9 million.
"Our primary goals in the first quarter were to sign up key new accounts in our eStore business, maintain our leadership in the government sector and dramatically lower our overall expenses and cash burn rate," interim CEO Rick Neely said. "I am very pleased to report that we have met or exceeded these goals."
The company recorded a first quarter restructuring charge of $13.7 million, including $2.7 million for layoffs and office closures, and $11 million related to the termination of marketing agreements.>