DirecTV Beats by Ten Cents Per Share

Before the opening bell this morning, DirecTV ($DTV) reported fourth-quarter earnings of $1.02 per share. That was ten cents more than Wall Street was expecting, and it’s a 38% increase over Q4 2010. After opening higher, the shares are currently down about 2% today.

The numbers show that DirecTV continues to do very well. The major issue for them is that it’s become more expensive to get new customers. That’s to be expected. For the fourth-quarter, DTV gained a net 125,000 subscribers in the United States which was less than Wall Street’s forecast. Comcast, however, is hemorrhaging subscribers. DirecTV continues to make major gains in Latin America. The company added 590,000 new subscribers in that region last quarter.

DirecTV also announced another $6 billion share buyback program. Frankly, that doesn’t impress me so much. I’d much rather have the company pay this money out to shareholders rather than hope for a capital gain. Plus, DirecTV just announced a slew of new equity awards for senior execs.

Again, I have no problem with the senior brass getting paid tons of money (as long as the company is well run). But just pay them in cash! There’s no need to do this two-step of giving them stock options and then trying to force the stock higher. It simply dilutes future earnings.

Posted by on February 16th, 2012 at 3:25 pm


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