Media

Dish Network Adds Subscribers and Revenues

Satellite TV
Thinkstock
Dish Network Corp. (NASDAQ: DISH) reported first-quarter 2014 results before markets opened Thursday. The satellite TV company posted diluted earnings per share (EPS) of $0.38 on revenues of $3.59 billion. In the same period a year ago, the company reported adjusted EPS of $0.47 on revenues of $3.38 billion. First-quarter results also compare to the Thomson Reuters consensus estimates for EPS of $0.43 and $3.58 billion in revenues.

At the end of the first quarter, Dish reported 14.1 million pay TV subscribers and said it added approximately 40,000 net new pay TV subscribers, an improvement of 10% year-over-year due to a lower churn rate. Gross subscriber additions totaled about 639,000, down about 2.3% from a year ago.

Dish Network also added a net 53,000 broadband subscribers in the quarter, down from additions of approximately 66,000 in the year-ago quarter. Gross additions were about flat at 83,000 new subscribers. The good news for Dish here is that broadband revenue doubled to $83 million.

Average revenue per user for the company’s pay TV service totaled $82.36 a month in the first quarter, up from $78.44 a year ago, due largely to subscription fee increases.

Compared with rival DirecTV (NASDAQ: DTV), Dish Network had a so-so quarter. DirecTV claims more than 20 million U.S. subscribers and its average revenue per user rose to just over $100 per month. However Dish’s net addition of 40,000 far outstripped DirecTV’s 12,000, and Dish’s churn rate was slightly lower, 1.42% to 1.45% for DirecTV.

Dish did not offer guidance, but the consensus estimates call for second-quarter EPS of $0.52 on revenues of $3.68 billion. The full-year estimates call for EPS of $1.80 and revenues of $14.68 billion.

The company has tried desperately to expand its offerings outside of pay TV, but so far it has been unable to make the big deal it needs. Its bid for Sprint failed and its stab at gaining wireless spectrum from bankrupt LightSquared Inc. is floundering. The report of a tie-up between DirecTV and AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) just adds to the company’s uneasiness.

Dish Network’s shares closed at $62.66 on Wednesday night, in a 52-week range of $37.30 to $64.52. The consensus target price for the shares was around $59.00 before this report.

ALSO READ: DirecTV Squeezes Out a Profit as Subscriber Growth Slows

The Average American Is Losing Momentum On Their Savings Every Day (Sponsor)

If you’re like many Americans and keep your money ‘safe’ in a checking or savings account, think again. The average yield on a savings account is a paltry .4%1 today. Checking accounts are even worse.

But there is good news. To win qualified customers, some accounts are paying more than 7x the national average. That’s an incredible way to keep your money safe and earn more at the same time. Our top pick for high yield savings accounts includes other benefits as well. You can earn a $200 bonus and up to 7X the national average with qualifying deposits. Terms apply. Member, FDIC.

Click here to see how much more you could be earning on your savings today. It takes just a few minutes to open an account to make your money work for you.

1 https://www.fdic.gov/national-rates-and-rate-caps

Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.

AI Portfolio

Discover Our Top AI Stocks

Our expert who first called NVIDIA in 2009 is predicting 2025 will see a historic AI breakthrough.

You can follow him investing $500,000 of his own money on our top AI stocks for free.