There are so many publicly-traded subscription companies that we want to cover each quarter, but there is never enough time to report on them all. In this round-up, we’ve chosen some of the companies we’ve covered in the past to update you on where they are now. In this particular round-up, we’re including Activision Blizzard, Alarm.com, CBS Corporation, Etsy and IAC. IAC isn’t a household name, but you’ll recognize some of its 150 subsidiaries including Match.com, HomeAdvisors and Tinder. Next week, we’ll cover five more subscription companies including Apple, Box, Onvia, SiriusXM and Tronc.

• Activision Blizzard
• Alarm.com
• CBS Corporation
• Etsy, Inc.
• IAC

Activision Blizzard

On August 3, Activision Blizzard, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI), an interactive entertainment and video game company, posted better-than-expected results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2017, including higher-than-projected GAAP net revenue of $1.63 billion (outlook was $1.42 billion) and GAAP earnings per share of $0.32 (outlook was $0.15). Other highlights for the quarter include:

• GAAP net revenue of $1.63 billion, compared to $1.57 billion for the same period last year, a 4 percent increase.
• GAAP net revenue from digital channels was $1.31 billion, a 15 percent increase. Net revenue from digital channels represents 80 percent of total revenue. Retail channels comprised 16 percent and other comprised 4 percent of the total.
• Net revenues by platform: $568 million from consoles (35 percent of total), $508 million from PCs (31 percent), $493 million from mobile and ancillary devices (30 percent) and $62 million from other (4 percent).
• GAAP earnings per share were $0.32, a 60 percent increase over earnings per share of $0.20 in the second quarter of 2016.
• Operating margin was 35 percent, and operating cash flows were $265 million.
• Activision Blizzard had 407 million monthly active users in the second quarter.
• Blizzard had the biggest quarterly online player community in company history with 46 million monthly active users, a 38 percent increase year-over-year.
• Activision Blizzard earned nearly $1 billion of in-game revenue.
• The company paid a cash dividend of $0.30 per common share, a 15 percent increase year-over-year. The total payout was $226 million.

Known for games like World of Warcraft®, Call of Duty® and Candy Crush®, Activision Blizzard has nearly 500 million monthly active users in 196 countries. It employs more than 9,000 people in five divisions: Activision, Blizzard Entertainment, King Digital Entertainment, Major League Gaming and Activision Blizzard Studios.

“This was another strong quarter for Activision Blizzard. We exceeded our outlook and delivered record revenues for the first half of 2017,” said Bobby Kotick, CEO.

“Celebrating players and audiences is the foundation of our success. This quarter we announced the first team owners in the Overwatch League™, the first major global, city-based professional esports league. With hundreds of hours of broadcast content ahead of us, as well as significant sponsorship and media opportunities, the Overwatch League will provide new ways for us to highlight and support the passion of esports fans and the skill of some of the world’s top Overwatch players,” he added.

Outlook for the third quarter is GAAP net revenue of $1.39 billion and earnings per share of $0.09. Despite the positive results, investors weren’t impressed. Stock closed at $63.97 per share on August 3. As of 12:35 PM on August 11, stock was valued at $60.88.

Insider Take:

Activision Blizzard had a great quarter financially speaking. The report shows two categories where monthly active users (King and Activision) experienced slight declines, but overall this was a solid quarter for Activision. A review of net revenues by platform shows a shift in where users are accessing Activision Blizzard games. There was a 6 percent decrease in console usage from June 30, 2016, a 5 percent uptick in PC usage, and a 1 percent uptick in mobile usage, showing that users are moving more toward PCs and mobile devices, at least for this quarter.

Looking at the six months ended June 30, 2017, console usage is down 12 percent over console usage for the six months ended June 30, 2016. PC usage is up 5 percent, mobile usage is up 6 percent, and other is up 1 percent. If these trends continue, this could cause the company to shift resources to focus more on PC and mobile gaming versus gaming consoles.

Alarm.com

On August 8, Alarm.com Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: ALRM) reported its second quarter results for the period ended June 30, 2017, reporting a solid quarter with SaaS and license revenue up $58.9 million, a 40 percent increase year-over-year. Total revenue for the quarter was $86.0 million, a 33 percent increase. Other Q2 highlights include:

• SaaS and license revenue represents 68.5 percent of total income. Hardware and other revenue represents the remaining 31.5 percent. By comparison, the cost of SaaS and license revenue is only $8.5 million (28.5 percent) and the cost of hardware and other revenue is $21.3 million (71.5 percent), almost the reverse of the revenue percentages.
• GAAP net income of $9.9 million, or $0.20 per diluted share, compared to $1.9 million, or $0.04 per diluted share, for the same period last year.
• Total cash and cash equivalents was $68.9 million, compared to $140.6 million at year end.
• Cash flows from operations were $11.8 million, compared to $0.7 million for the same period last year.
• Company launched new indoor and outdoor residential video cameras with improved image quality and performance. The company also introduced new commercial-grade video cameras.
• Alarm.com’s program Customer Connections now includes more than 1,400 service provider partners with more than 900,000 subscribers.
• New campaigns were launched to address Alarm.com’s Best Practices for improving retention and including options to engage commercial subscribers and upgrading existing accounts.

Founded in 2000, Alarm.com created a way to remotely monitor and manage security systems using technology, establishing its first professional services network. Since then, the company has evolved, launching video as a service and its first native mobile app in 2007 along with a full home automation solution. In 2015, the company branched out into smart home technology, launching its first smart thermostat, and developing a smart home app for Apple Watch. The company went public in 2015.

“We’re pleased with our second quarter results and the continued performance of our service provider partners in the market,” said president and CEO Steve Trundle in a statement. “The market for connected property security, monitoring, and automation solutions continues to grow, and we further enhanced our video and commercial offerings in the second quarter.

For the third quarter, Alarm.com estimates SaaS and license revenue to range between $60.6 million and $60.8 million. For the full year 2017, Alarm.com expected total revenue to range between $326.3 million and $327.8 million, including anticipated hardware and other revenue of $93 million to $94 million.

If stock value is any indication, shareholders aren’t impressed. On August 8, stock was valued at $39.51. As of 1:03 PM EDT, August 11, Alarm.com stock was valued at $40.68 per share.

Insider Take:

Alarm.com seems to be moving steadily along, expanding its products and services with emerging technology. Despite the lackluster reaction of investors, Alarm.com had an excellent quarter with solid net income, well above the second quarter of 2016. With new products and acquisitions under its belt, the company is poised to perform well in the third quarter, especially as it grows its SaaS business which costs it far less to earn revenue from than its hardware revenue.

CBS Corporation

On Monday, CBS Corporation (NYSE: CBS.A and CBS) reported its second quarter financials, including total revenue of $3.3 billion, an increase of 9 percent year over year, and adjusted diluted earnings per share of $1.04, a 12 percent increase year-over-year. CBS Chairman and CEO Leslie Moonves called the results “outstanding” and said the company is continuing to work toward its long-term financial goals. He noted that the company is reaping benefits already form its skinny TV bundles with YouTube TV, Hulu, fuboTV and, soon, DirectTV Now. From a subscription standpoint, CBS All Access and Showtime OTT continue to grow. The company anticipates that, by the end of 2017, the combined subscribership will exceed 4 million.

Other highlights for the quarter include:

• Revenues were $3.26 billion, a 9 percent increase from $2.98 billion for the same period last year.
• Affiliate and subscription fees were $848 million, up 16 percent year-over-year.
• Advertising revenues were up 4 percent due, in part, to the broadcast of the NCAA tournament.
• Content licensing and distribution revenue grew 12 percent.
• Operating income was $669 million, a 3 percent increase over $651 million for the same period last year.
• Net earnings from continuing operations were $397 million, a 6 percent increase.
• Adjusted net earnings were $427 million, compared to $423 million year-over-year.
• Net earnings for the second quarter

Along with its quarterly financials, CBS announced that its flagship OTT product, CBS All Access, would expand internationally through a partnership between CBS Interactive and CBS Studios International. The service will first launch in Canada during the first half of 2018, with additional markets to follow.

“CBS All Access is growing faster than we anticipated domestically, and now represents a whole new opportunity internationally as well,” said Moonves. “By going direct-to-consumer around the world, we will facilitate new connections between the global audience and our industry-leading premium content.”

CBS also announced on Monday that it would become part of the DIRECTTV NOW bundle.

CBS stock is up slightly since financials were released. On Monday, CBS stock was valued at $64.52 per share. As of 4:25 PM EDT, common stock was valued at $66.71 per share.

Insider Take:

CBS continues to kill it in the OTT space, as subscriptions continue to grow and it partners with other OTT services to be included in their ‘skinny bundles.’ With the global expansion next year and a new partnership with DIRECTTV NOW, we expect their OTT services to continue to provide substantial subscription revenue for the company. At some point, growth may level off, but Netflix is still adding new subscribers even after hitting the 104-million-member mark.

Etsy, Inc.

Last week Etsy, Inc. (NASDAQ: ETSY), an ecommerce platform for creative entrepreneurs, announced its second quarter financials for the period ended June 30, 2017, the first report from recently hired CEO Josh Silverman. Financial highlights for Q2 include:

• Gross merchandise sales of $748.0 million, an 11.7 percent increase year-over-year.
• Total revenue was $101.7 million, a 19.1 percent increase year-over-year.
• Markets revenue was $42.1 million, a 12.5 percent increase year-over-year.
• Seller Services revenue was $58.8 million, a 25 percent increase year-over-year.
• Net income was $11.7 million, or $0.10 earnings per share, compared to a net loss of $7.3 million, or $0.06 per share, for the same period last year.
• Etsy had 1,834 active sellers and 30,584 active buyers at the end of the quarter.
• Percent of mobile visits was 65 percent, compared to 64 percent for the same period last year.
• Percent of Gross Merchandise Sales was 51 percent for Q2 2017, compared to 47 percent for Q2 2016.

‘Since May, we have sharpened our focus and increased the velocity of product experiments and launches, which together, we believe will enable us to accelerate GMS growth in the third quarter compared to the second quarter,’ said Josh Silverman, Etsy Inc. CEO. ‘We are doubling down on our core Etsy.com market and, while it’s still early, the initiatives we have underway are already having a positive impact on GMS.’

Operational highlights for the quarter include:

• Etsy launched Guest Checkout and Multi-Shop Checkout to improve trust and reliability while also removing friction during the payment process.
• Etsy launched improvements to search and discovery tools, and has been doing A/B tests to see how the new enhancements are being received.
• Etsy is improving its marketing through SEO, digital acquisition marketing and email marketing. They are redirecting spending from brand marketing to digital acquisition marketing.
• Etsy added enhancements such as Promoted Listings and updates to Pattern.
• The company reduced its headcount by 245 people.
• They appointed Mike Fisher as the company’s new Chief Technology Officer.

‘We are confident that our newly streamlined organizational structure will allow us to accelerate our product launch cadence while generating cost efficiencies, resulting in a positive impact on our Adjusted EBITDA margins going forward,’ said CFO Rachel Glaser.

Full year guidance for 2017 includes: GMS year-over-year growth of 12 percent to 14 percent, Revenue year-over-year growth of 18 percent to 20 percent, and Adjusted EBIDTA Margin of 16 percent to 18 percent. Etsy did not provide targets for net income.

Investors seem pleased with the quick turnaround that Silverman is already making. Financials were released on August 3. On that day, Etsy stock was valued at $13.59 per share. As of 4:42 PM EDT on August 11, Etsy stock had inched up to $16.22 per share.

Insider Take:

Silverman, along with other operational changes, seem to be making headway already. The restructuring, while painful, will ultimately result in lower expenses for the company, and its continued advancements on seller services, including its subscription product Pattern, will help the company improve seller retention. With continued emphasis on improving internal operations, while also paying attention to what buyers and sellers want, will keep Etsy in the black. We look forward to seeing what they have planned for the third quarter.

IAC

0)]IAC (NASDAQ: IAC) might not be a household name, but some of its 150 companies are, including Match Group, Tinder, Plenty of Fish, HomeAdvisor, Dictionary.com, Investopedia and Vimeo. IAC reported its second quarter financials for the period ended June 30, 2017, including revenue of $764.4 million, 3 percent higher than revenue of $745.4 million for the same period last year. For the second quarter of 2017, IAC posted net earnings of $66.3 million, compared to a loss of $194.8 million for the same period last year. That’s quite a turnaround in a year’s time under the leadership of CEO Joey Levin, who became CEO in June 2015.

Here are highlights from Q2:

• HomeAdvisor revenue was $180.7 million, a 39 percent increase year-over-year. The company’s domestic revenue group was driven by a 41 percent increase in service requests and a 28 percent increase in paying service professionals to 164,000. HomeAdvisor revenue represents 23.5 percent of total IAC revenue.
• Match Group, which includes Tinder and Plenty of Fish among others, revenue was $309.6 million, a 12 percent increase due to 15 percent growth of the average Paid Member Count (PMC) to 6.1 million. Tinder average PMC was 2.1 million, an increase of 224,000. Match Group revenue represents 40.3 percent of total IAC revenue.
• Vimeo had 828,000 subscribers at the end of the second quarter, a 15 percent increase, with gross bookings increasing 20 percent year=over-year.
• In publishing, Premium Brands revenue grew 9 percent year-over-year, primarily due to 23 percent growth from Investopedia and 10 percent growth from Dotdash, formerly About.com. Operating loss was $2.9 million, down from $5.8 million in the first quarter of 2017.

One thing the financials don’t show is that in May, IAC announced that it would acquire Angie’s List for about $500 million and combine it with HomeAdvisor. The new company will be called ANGI Homeservices, and the deal is expected to close in Q4. Angie’s List has struggled in recent years, shifting to a freemium model in 2016. IAC estimates that Angie’s List has 15 million monthly users, a 10 percent increase year-over-year. In more recent news, Gregg Blatt, CEO and chairman, is leaving Match Group, passing the baton to Mandy Ginsberg.

The company’s full year outlook for 2017 is as follows: Adjusted EBITDA for Match Group, $450 million to $470 million; HomeAdvisor, $75 million to $95 million; Applications, $125 million to $135 million; Publishing, $5 million to $15 million, and Losses in Video of $30 million to $35 million, Other of $2 million and Corporate of $60 million.

While there was a spike following the release of the financials, stock value for IAC has dropped steadily since then. On August 2, stock was valued at $104.44 per share. On August 3, it had risen to $111.59. As of 4:46 PM EDT on August 11, stock was down to $103.44.

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Insider Take:

This company has so many moving parts – at least 150 brands – that it is hard to summarize their quarterly activity in a paragraph. The company is seeing growth in some areas, including some of its subscription businesses like Match Group, but others will need some TLC including HomeAdvisors after it merges with Angie’s List. While HomeAdvisors is doing well, combining it with Angie’s List will be a challenge.