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Broadcast.com losses grow
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October 12, 1998: 6:01 p.m. ET
Revenue at Web firm is up 134 percent, but expenses push profit margin lower
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - If success in the virtual world can be judged not by how much money you make but how little you lose, Broadcast.com is an unqualified success. The company reported Monday that it had lost less money than Wall Street had expected.
The Web content provider brought in $4.5 million in the third quarter ending Sept. 30, up 134 percent from 1.9 million in the same period of 1997.
Net losses for the quarter were $3.9 million, or 23 cents per share, much higher than the $1.9 million or 16 cents per share reported a year ago, the company said after the close of trading Monday.
Analysts polled by First Call had expected the company to lose 25 cents per share.
Revenue in the year to date was $11.4 million, up 155 percent from $4.5 million for the first nine months of 1997. Net loss for the nine-month period was $10.5 million, or 70 cents per share, compared with a net loss of $4.4 million, or 38 cents per share in 1997.
Broadcast.com CEO Todd Wagner was positive about the figures, citing growth in user traffic to 520,000 unique users daily as well as partnerships with Yahoo (YHOO), Microsoft (MSFT) and RealNetworks (RNTW).
"We continue to focus on maintaining our first- mover advantage," Wagner added, "aggregating content, developing our network infrastructure and capitalizing on opportunities through these distribution partnerships."
Advertising revenue increased 105 percent to $2.2 million in the quarter versus the same period of 1997, the company said.
Wall Street was profoundly unimpressed by the results, causing Broadcast.com stock (BCST) to slip slightly in after-hours trading, down 1/16 to 41-7/8 after closing floor trading up 3-15/16 at 41-15/16. 
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