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Coinstar forecasts results below estimates, shares fall
US-COINSTAR-RESULTS:Coinstar forecasts results below estimates, shares fall
(Reuters) - Coinstar Inc <CSTR.O>, the operator of Redbox video rental kiosks, reported lower-than-expected fourth-quarter revenue, and forecast current-quarter results significantly below analysts' estimates.
The company's shares fell 7 percent in after-market trading, after closing at $52.10 on the Nasdaq on Thursday.
Coinstar expects earnings from continuing operations of 77 cents to 92 cents per share for the first quarter on revenue of $568 million to $593 million.
Analysts on average were expecting earnings of $1.21 per share on revenue of $624.2 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Video streaming is taking greater share of the video rental market evidenced by robust subscriber growth at dominant movie rental company Netflix Inc <NFLX.O>, J.P. Morgan analyst Paul Coster wrote in a pre-earnings note.
Netflix impressed Wall Street last month with a surprisingly strong holiday quarter, when sales of tablets and Internet-connected TVs helped lift subscriptions.
Coinstar, which named Chief Financial Officer Scott Di Valerio as chief executive last month, launched a beta version of its video streaming service in collaboration with Verizon Communications Inc <VZ.N> in December.
Coinstar's net income fell to $22.8 million, or 75 cents per share, in the fourth quarter, from $31.5 million, or $1.00 per share, a year earlier.
Revenue rose 8 percent to $564.1 million.
Core diluted earnings per share from continuing operations were 93 cents.
Analysts were expecting adjusted earnings of 73 cents per share on revenue of $580.2 million.
(Reporting by Sruthi Ramakrishnan in Bangalore; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)
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