An earnings report for the third quarter of 2013 arrived from Time Warner Cable Inc (NYSE:TWC) this morning before the market opened on Wall Street. The firm showed earnings per share of $1.69 for the three months through September. Revenue in the period came in at $$5.52 billion. On Wednesday’s market shares in the cable company lost more than 2% of their value.
Thompson Reuters surveyed analysts studying Time Warner Cable Inc (NYSE:TWC) in the run up to the release of this earnings report. By consensus the analysts were expecting the cable company to show earnings per share of $1.65 cents on revenue totaling $5.54 billion. The small beat in this morning’s earnings report could support the stock on today’s market, but the fall in full year revenue guidance will likely be a more important factor.
Time Warner earnings
This morning’s earnings report was hit by a fall in internet customers in the third quarter, and a large loss in video subscribers. The company said that it lost 304,000 video subscribers in the three month period, far more than the 182,100 expected by Wall Street. The drop in subscribers has been attributed to the cable company’s blackout of CBS during the period.
During the quarter Time Warner Cable Inc (NYSE:TWC) lost around 9,000 high speed internet customers. Analysts had expected the company to add more than 60,000 customers to its rolls in the period. Despite the loss if customers and the miss on revenue, shares in Time Warner Cable Inc (NYSE:TWC) were up by close to 1% in premarket trading.
Time Warner performance
Since January 1 shares in Time Warner Inc (NYSE:TWC) have risen by more than 43%. The cable company is trading at close to 19 times 2012 earnings, which is close to the average the S&P 500 is trading at right now. That means that the market is expecting growth from the cable company, but it is not trading at a premium because of that expectation.
Executives at the company will host a conference call to discuss these earnings numbers at 10:30AM EST. Investors in Time Warner Inc (NYSE:TWC) will be anxious to discuss the company’s guidance for the rest of the year, and they’ll be hoping to hear about the firm’s strategy for 2014.
