RCN shares moved up 49 cents, or 4%, to $12.93 Friday, one day after the provider of video, data and voice services narrowed its quarterly loss and eclipsed analysts’ sales targets for the second quarter.
The Herndon, Va.-based company posted a net loss of $16.7 million on sales of $184.4 million. Analysts were expecting sales, on average, of $182.3 million.
“Our growth strategy of winning customers from both cable and telecom incumbents across multiple products and customer segments is paying off, as we continue to leverage our unique metro and regional fiber platform,” CEO Peter Aquino said in a statement. “In addition, we were quite pleased to secure an extension of our set-top box waiver from the FCC through January 31, 2009, which will allow us to accelerate our Analog Crush project, reclaiming spectrum to deliver 100+ HD channels and support continued growth in broadband services.”
The $184.4 million in sales marks a 16% improvement from the year-ago quarter when it lost $79.8 million—including a $63.9 million charge on the early retirement of debt—on sales of $159.2 million.
RCN officials told analysts to expect full-year sales in the vicinity of $730 million to $740 million, in line with the consensus average of roughly $735 million.
