Coinstar Trading Up Over 17% After Q4 Earnings

Shares of Coinstar CSTR are among the best performers on the Nasdaq on Tuesday morning after the company released a very strong Q4 earnings report. The company's performance was largely driven by growth in its RedBox DVD kiosk franchise. The company reported Q4 earnings of $31.5 million, or $1.00 per share, versus $11.7 million, or $0.35 per share, in the year ago period. This easily beat Wall Street consensus EPS estimates of $0.64. Revenues at Coinstar for the quarter were $520.5 million, an increase of 33.2% over the $390.8 million the company reported in last year's fourth quarter. RedBox revenues were up 39.5% to $445.6 million while coin revenue added 4.8% to $74.4 million. Looking ahead, CSTR sees Q1 EPS between $0.76 and $0.91 and revenue in a range between $530 million and $555 million. Currently Wall Street analysts expect CSTR to report EPS of $0.86 on revenue of $514.5 million in the first quarter. For fiscal 2012, CSTR sees EPS between $3.80 and $4.30 on revenues between $2.075 billion and $2.250 billion. This compares to current analysts' consensus estimates of $3.86 per share on revenues of $2.170 billion. Yesterday, Coinstar also announced a joint venture with Verizon VZ which will be aimed at providing video entertainment to consumers. Verizon will hold a 65% stake in the JV with RedBox retaining 35% ownership. The joint venture will offer the convenience and value of RedBox rentals combined with a new content-rich video on-demand streaming and download service from Verizon. At last check, CSTR shares had risen 17.29% to $59.36 in early trading on Tuesday.