Coinstar Earnings Worth More Than Competing Against Netflix (CSTR, NFLX, VZ)

Coinstar, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSTR) may have announced a move against Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) today with the planned second-half launch of a streaming content joint venture with Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ).  Its earnings report is worth far more for investors than the news this morning.  Shares closed up 1.8% at $50.56 and now shares are up another 13% at $57.00 in the after-hours session.

Sales rose to $520.5 million and earnings hot $1.00 per share (unsure if items included).  The consensus targets were $0.64 EPS and $498.05 million according to Thomson Reuters data.

Coinstar sees guidance of $0.76 EPS to $0.91 EPS on $530 million to $555 million in sales.  Thomson Reuters has estimates of $0.86 EPS and $514.54 million. 

Beating earnings estimates and raising guidance is usually a very welcoming sign for investors. 

For 2012, the guidance is $3.80 EPS to $4.30 EPS on $2.07 billion to $2.25 billion in sales.  Thomson Reuters has estimates of $3.86 EPS and $2.17 billion in sales.

As a reminder, Coinstar is profitable while many are not expecting Netflix to remain profitable.