Acxiom Corp. of Little Rock on Thursday reported a third-quarter net loss of $1.4 million, but revenue rose 6 percent as the company’s main operating segments each reported sales growth, and the company raised fiscal 2016 earnings guidance.
The publicly traded data, analytics and software-as-a-service company (Nasdaq: ACXM) reported net income of $4.1 million in the same quarter last year. The company lost 2 cents diluted earnings per share compared to a gain of 5 cents in the same quarter last year.
But revenue was $221 million, up more than 6 percent from $208 million in the same quarter last year — and up 7 percent excluding an unfavorable currency impact of about $2 million. Acxiom’s Marketing Services and Audience Solutions businesses each posted 1 percent revenue gains, and its Connectivity business reported a 59 percent rise in revenue.
“We are pleased to report a solid quarter highlighted by new customer additions and revenue growth across all of our divisions,” Acxiom CEO Scott Howe said in a news release. “Our divisional structure is beginning to pay dividends, and the investments we are making against our long-term strategy continue to build the foundation for sustainable future growth.”
Acxiom said Marketing Services revenue was $116 million, up 1 percent from the third quarter last year. Audience Solutions revenue was $77 million, also up 1 percent. Connectivity revenue was $28 million, up 58 percent as the business added more than 20 new customers during the quarter.
Acxiom said it powered $122 million of gross media spend during the quarter, up 66 percent from the same quarter last year.
Acxiom also said it expanded its TV offering with the December purchase of the advanced-advertising unit of Allant Group of Naperville, Illinois, a TV software and analytics company. The company said the deal gives it the ability to “reach targeted U.S. households via data-driven ad campaigns.” The ecosystem includes TV partners “representing nearly 50 million addressable homes and over 100 million individuals,” Acxiom said.
During the quarter, Acxiom repurchased 463,000 shares for about $10 million.
Looking ahead, Acxiom raised its estimates for fiscal 2016, calling for revenue from continuing operations in the range of $835 million to $840 million, up from a previous estimate of $815 million to $840 million; and non-GAAP diluted earnings per share from continuing operations to be as much as 54 cents, up from the previous estimate of between 45 cents and 50 cents.