Namaste. And have a shot of tequila.
It was a painful day on Wall Street for several companies that reported their Q1 earnings results on Tuesday.
The biggest declines came from DISH Network, which missed the Street’s Q1 revenue estimates, and Entercom, which suffered from soft ad market conditions and the disappearance of some $12 million in revenue tied to USTN.
For DBS provider DISH, first quarter earnings per share of $0.70 were in line with the forecasts of analysts polled by Seeking Alpha. But, revenue of $3.46 billion was down 6% from Q1 2017, and missed Street estimates of $3.86 billion.
Net pay television subscriptions fell by some 94,000, better than the Q1 2017 dip of 143,000. However, “skinny bundle” subscriber growth at Sling TV of roughly 91,000 could not fully compensate for a decline in satellite subscribers of 185,000.
On that news, investors sent DISH shares down 12.1%, to $29.81. Volume was exceptionally heavy, at 8 million shares; normal volume is 2.5 million shares.
ENTERCOM’S BIG SINK
Investors definitely were not pleased with Q1 results from Entercom that showed the company’s revenue declining regardless of its $12 million write-down of income not realized due to financial troubles at USTN, which Entercom now has equity interest in.
At the Closing Bell, ETM shares concluded a rough-and-tumble session with a 18.4% slide, ending at $8.65.
This puts Entercom stock at a value not seen since mid-September 2014.
The sell-off was fierce, with 10.5 million shares exchanged; average trading volume is 1.84 million shares.
Elsewhere on Wall Street:
- Townsquare Media was off 5.5% to $7.07 despite a relatively strong Q1 report from the company; its net loss widened due to a write-down of one of its outdoor entertainment businesses, NAME.
- Saga Communications lost 3.9% of its share value, ending at $37.90, also on a relatively strong Q1 earnings report.
- CBS Corp. shares were down 2.2%, to $51.27, and Viacom‘s Class B shares were off 3%, to $29.79, on more rumors that a reunification plan being pushed by Shari Redstone has hit another ditch.
- Sinclair Broadcast Group slid 3.3%, to $27.30, on heavy volume of 2.22 million shares; average volume for SBGI is 1.4 million shares. This puts Sinclair stock in a value range last seen in October 2016.
SALEM GROWS ITS OPERATING INCOME, BUT …
Salem Media Group saw its shares end unchanged at $3.50 as the company released its Q1 results after the closing bell on Wall Street. Operating income rose to $5.7 million, from $4.8 million. But, total revenue dipped from $64.98 million to $63.8 million, while net income declined to $828,000 (3 cents per share) from $1.06 million (4 cents). But,
Adjusted EBITDA decreased 1.3% to $10.2 million, from $10.3 million.
Station Operating Income increased by 2.8%, to $12.3 million from $12 million.
While digital media revenue for Salem decreased 2.7% to $10.4 million, its Publishing revenue decreased by 17.6%, to $5.4 million.
