Acxiom tops forecast in 2Q about-face, posts $10.7M profit

Graphs showing Acxiom Corp. second quarter information.
Graphs showing Acxiom Corp. second quarter information.

Acxiom Corp. posted a profit of $10.7 million for its second quarter of fiscal 2016, reversing from a $1.5 million loss in the same period last year and beating analysts' estimates.

The Little Rock company reported earnings per share of 14 cents for the quarter, up from a loss of 2 cents. Analysts expected Acxiom to record 10 cents per share for the second quarter.

"Acxiom had a nice quarter beating expectations on both revenue and profit," said Brett Huff, an analyst with Stephens Inc.

"Both their legacy marketing and audience solutions businesses performed better subsequently than last quarter as did the newer connectivity business," he said.

Acxiom said during its first quarter that it changed its organizational structure to "better reflect its business strategy." When the company did this it created its marketing services, audience solutions and connectivity divisions.

Acxiom shares fell 21 cents on Wednesday to close at $22.05 on the Nasdaq. The company released its quarterly financial results after markets closed. The shares fell slightly in after hours trading.

The shares have traded between $15.78 and $22.94 in the past 52 weeks.

Revenue rose 1.5 percent to $207.3 million for the period that ended Sept. 30, up from $204.2 million in the previous year's quarter.

As a data broker, Acxiom, gathers consumer information from public records, shopping habits and clients to help its clients develop targeted marketing campaigns.

Acxiom purchased San Francisco-based LiveRamp for $310 million in 2014. LiveRamp is a marketing services company that is helping Acxiom collect offline data for marketing applications.

LiveRamp added 40 new customers during the quarter and introduced Customer Link, a software product that connects campaign and sales data across media channels and devices, Acxiom said in the news release Wednesday.

Analysts have previously said that Acxiom's investment in LiveRamp has resulted in the company reporting losses in earnings, but that the losses are expected to subside through this year and next.

In February, Acxiom said it laid off part of its workforce, including about 25 employees in Arkansas, as it integrated LiveRamp into its operations.

The layoffs came less than a year after Acxiom cut several hundred positions in several rounds of layoffs in 2014 and 2013. Acxiom Chief Executive Officer Scott Howe said last year that the company was undertaking an initiative to improve its efficiency by cutting divisions and management positions that duplicated work.

The more recent round of layoffs occurred last month when Acxiom let go at least 30 employees, according to a source familiar with the job cuts. Acxiom, confirmed the layoffs then, but declined to say how many were in Arkansas.

Acxiom said it bought back about 607,000 shares for $12 million during the second quarter. The company has repurchased 14.3 million shares since 2011 for $230 million.

Business on 11/05/2015

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