EchoStar Corporation SATS reported a first-quarter 2024 non-GAAP loss of 40 cents per share against earnings of 82 cents in the prior-year quarter. The bottom line was wider than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of 17 cents per share.
Revenues in the quarter totaled $4.01 billion, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 1.32%. The company ventures into innovative launches and strategic integration of EchoStar and DISH Network businesses in order to propel growth.
SATS registered a year-over-year top-line contraction of 8.6%. Net subscriber losses in Pay-TV, Retail Wireless and Broadband and satellite services led to the downfall.
EchoStar Corporation Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise 
EchoStar Corporation price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | EchoStar Corporation Quote
Segmental Details
In the reported quarter, revenues from the Pay-TV segment were down 8.3% year over year to $2.73 billion. At the close of the quarter, net Pay-TV subscribers were roughly 8.18 million which includes 6.26 million DISH TV and 1.92 million SLING TV subscribers.
Owing to the lower DISH TV churn rate, net subscribers at the end of the quarter were approximately 6.26 million for DISH TV. The continuation of local broadcasters’ disagreements also hampered subscriber growth. SLING TV subscribers at the end of the quarter were 1.9 million, marking a loss of $135,000 in the first quarter compared with a loss of $235,000 in the prior-year period. Focus on increasing high-quality subscribers and enhanced user experience led to improved churn.
Retail Wireless category ended the quarter with 7.3 million subscribers and reported $905.8 million net sales, down 7% year over year. The net subscribers for Retail Wireless decreased approximately 81,000 in both the first quarter of 2024 and the corresponding period last year. The lower churn rate in Retail Wireless had a positive impact on the company’s performance despite a decrease in gross new subscriber activations.
Revenues from Broadband and Satellite Services were $382.6 million compared with $439.6 million in the prior-year quarter. Subscriber losses during the quarter were 26,000, the lowest decline in the last 10 quarters, highlighted management. The quarter ended with almost 978,000 satellite broadband users. The rise in demand for new satellite service plans, along with the release of EchoStar XXIV satellite service, narrowed the subscriber losses in the quarter.
Net sales from 5G Network Deployment increased to $29.5 million from $18.9 million a year ago.
Other Details
Operating income before depreciation and amortization (OIBDA) was $470.16 million in the first quarter compared with $701.09 million in the year-ago quarter.
OIBDA for PayTV was $755.5 million, down 2.8% year over year.
OIBDA for Broadband and Satellite Services was $79.3 million, down 40% year over year.
OIBDA for Retail Wireless was $17.5 million against income of $34.6 million in the prior-year period.
OIBDA for 5G Network Deployment was $333.5 million compared with $236 million in a year ago.
Balance Sheet
As of Mar 31, 2024, SATS had total cash and cash equivalents of $613.7 million compared with $1.82 billion as of Dec 31, 2023.
During the quarter, SATS generated 451.2 million of cash from operating activities compared with $789.9 million in the prior-year quarter.
Zacks Rank
Currently, EchoStar carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here
Performance of Other Companies
BlackBerry’s BB fourth-quarter fiscal 2024 adjusted earnings of 3 cents per share beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 200%. The bottom line improved from the prior-year quarter’s non-GAAP loss of 2 cents per share.
BB has lost 42.8% in the past year against the sub-industry’s growth of 30.7%. In the last quarter, it delivered an earnings surprise of 200%.
Blackbaud BLKB reported first-quarter 2024 non-GAAP earnings per share of 93 cents, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 9.4%. The bottom line increased 29.2% year over year.
Shares of BLKB have gained 10.8% compared with the sub-industry’s growth of 30.7% in the past year. In the last quarter, it delivered an earnings surprise of 9.4%.
Cadence Design Systems CDNS reported first-quarter 2024 non-GAAP earnings per share of $1.17, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 3.5%. However, it decreased 9.3% year over year.
In the past year, CDNS has gained 39.7% compared with the Zacks sub-industry’s growth of 30.7%. It currently has a long-term growth expectation of 17.8%.
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