Concurrent Computer Corporation: video-on-demand popularity will continue
During a morning conference call, executives of Concurrent Computer Corp. (Nasdaq: CCUR), a provider of computer and software systems for video-on-demand, said the company sees continued growth driven by the popularity of on-demand video.
“We see a strong market for video-on-demand for the next couple years in North America and Asia,” CEO Gary Trimm said. “This is driven to a great degree by the success of time-shifted TV.”
Trimm said other popularity drivers include high-definition content and the convenience of video-on-demand.
Trimm also said the company’s computer systems are ready to service the targeted marketing segment.
“We also see a built-in market for targeted advertising,” he said. “Concurrent is positioned very well for this new and exciting market.”
Before the opening bell, Concurrent announced fourth-quarter revenue of $21.1 million, up 33% from revenue of $15.9 million during the same three months of 2006 and above Wall Street estimates of $19 million. For the period ended June 30, Concurrent’s net loss was $0.7 million, or $0.01 a share, which beat analysts’ expectations of a $0.02 loss per share. During the fourth quarter of 2006, the company had a new loss of $4.5 million, or $0.06 a share.
Concurrent’s consolidated gross margins for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2007 were 48% compared to 49% in the third quarter of fiscal 2007. The gross margins decreased primarily due to additional severance charges recorded to service cost sales, the company said in a statement. During the fourth quarter of 2006, Concurrent’s gross margin was 45%.
“We continue to look at additional cost cutting measures going forward as deemed necessary to prove our results while balancing the need to meet our customer expectations,” CFO Emory Berry said.
Trimm said one of the company’s Linux products that was developed in 2006 through a non-exclusive partnership with Novell, Inc. (Nasdaq: NOVL) has undergone extensive revisions. He said the revisions were done to address open-source limitations and to target clients, such as financial institutions and large IT departments. A second version of this product, which Trimm called the “ready-for-primetime product that’s accepted by the open-source community,” will be released in the fall.
“We believe this [new version] will be the catalyst for sales,” he said.
Going forward, Trimm said the company plans to expand its sales, support and marketing team. Concurrent also plans to focus its efforts to sell computer applications to military clients and to push its new products to a wider variety of segments.
“We believe with these efforts, the real-time business will return to a solid growth mode and excellent profit model,” he said.
Trimm said it’s not likely the company will repeat its fourth-quarter revenue numbers in the next three months.
In midday trading, shares are up 2.96%, or $0.04, at $1.39.
