TiVo sees its shares surge to a two-month high

SAN JOSE >> Word that TiVo could be setting itself up for a sale, or to possibly go private, was enough to send the DVR-technology pioneer’s shares soaring Wednesday in the wake of the company saying, in effect, that everything is on the table in its future.

TiVo shares ended the day up by 10.7 percent, to close at $15, after Chief Executive Enrique Rodriguez said late Tuesday that “our stock price is at a level that we do not believe reflects the true value of our business” and that the company has hired LionTree Advisors to assist in determining the best course of action.

With Wednesday’s gains, TiVo’s stock price reached its highest level in almost two months. Prior to the day’s advance, TiVo shares had fallen 13.1 percent since the end of 2017.

“We have decided to explore a broad range of strategic alternatives,” Rodriguez said. “These options range from transformative acquisitions that would accelerate our growth, to combining our business with other leading players, to becoming a private company.”

Rodriguez made his comments during a conference call to discuss TiVo’s fourth-quarter results. For the period that ended December 31, TiVo earned $18.4 million, or 15 cents a share, on revenue of $214.2 million, compared to a profit of $9.8 million, or 8 cents a share, on $252.3 million in sales during the final three months of 2016. Excluding one-time items, TiVo earned 32 cents a share.

By that measure, Wall Street analysts had forecast TiVo to earn 39 cents a share, on $212.2 million in sales during its fourth quarter.

The company, one of the first to popularize the DVR set-top box, has expanded beyond those boxes, and now makes most of its money from licensing its software and services to cable TV providers for use in their own set-top boxes.

However, TiVo is also in the middle of a patent-technology lawsuit in which it claims cable TV giant Comcast violated some of its DVR-related patents. TiVo won an injunction with the International Trade Commission that, if upheld, could lead to a ban on the importation into the U.S. of Comcast set-top boxes that are made overseas.