- CSSE stock tanked 10.4% in Friday's premarket.
- Chicken Soup for the Soul reported a wide GAAP loss of $-1.39 in Q2.
- CSSE just concluded its acquisition of Redbox on Thursday.
UPDATE: Chicken Soup for the Soul stock is down 12.4% to $12.42 in the first hour of Friday's session. This is actually worse than the premarket where shares fell closer to the 10% range. The sell-off comes after CSSE produced a larger than expected Q2 earnings loss on Thursday post-market. The selling is likely also a consequence of Redbox shareholders who held too long until the merger went through and now do not want to hold onto CSSE shares. Shares have drifted as low as $11.25 and as high as $13.48. $15 puts expiring August 19 have risen 43% to $3 this morning.
Chicken Soup for the Soul (CSSE) stock is down 10.4% in Friday's premarket a day after it reported second quarter earnings that wildly missed forecasts. The media company, known mostly for the eponymous suite of uplifting books owned by its parent company, produces a number video on demand channels including Crackle and Popcornflix.
CSSE reported a GAAP loss of $-1.39 per share, which was 67 cents lower than expectations. Revenue was the one bright spot at $37.6 million, which was $8.4 million ahead of expectations and up 70% YoY.
Chicken Soup for the Soul earnings news
Earnings came out just as meme traders were basking in the warmth of the company's completed acquisition of Redbox (RDBX). That acquisition, which gave Redbox shareholders 0.087 shares of CSSE for each RDBX share, sent Chicken Soup stock up about 30% on Wednesday. Thursday, however, had the media company giving back 4.9% in short order.
CEO William Rouhana was enthusiastic during the earnings call, saying that besides the Redbox acquisition the core company platforms were growing faster than expected. Despite the earnings miss, adjusted EBITDA grew 77% YoY to $5.6 million.
"Our advertising sales engine is delivering results both for our owned and operated group of networks and our growing roster of ad rep partners," Rouhana said. "The ability to do so is a function of everything we’ve done to scale our business over the last couple of years. Our viewership is growing as we continue to roll out new distribution touchpoints, we’ve reached a total of 110 pre-Redbox. And these viewers are responding to our new tech platform as measured by increasing time spent on our services, and we are releasing original and exclusive content at a faster clip that’s fueled by our robust production pipeline and our large library."
Rouhana said that 22% of the company's ad impressions during the second quarter came from original content. The company is also selling advertising for other Advertising Video On Demand (AVOD) companies, increasing those customers from six to 12 in the past year.
Rouhana also addressed the Redbox acquisition: "Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment and Redbox are a truly unique fit. The combination creates a fully formed entertainment asset for the streaming era that we don’t think you can find anywhere else. The asset includes a large content library, our significant IP ownership, a valuable original production pipeline, a fully developed ad sales engine marketing machine with expanded ad inventory, and streaming assets that include our AVOD networks, Redbox’s TVOD, PVOD and free live TV channels, along with their cash-generating kiosk network."
Management said they were working on a Redbox streaming app that will become a major source of revenue in coming quarters. They reiterated guidance that the full year will produce $500 million in revenue, when including five months of Redbox sales, and a total of $100 million in earnings before interest and taxes.
Chicken Soup for the Soul stock forecast
The news from the Redbox acquisition briefly took CSSE stock up to $15.89 on Wednesday. This is significant in that it took out both the range high near $13.50 from April 4 and the resistance ledge surrounding $15 from December 2021. This price action represents the promise that CSSE will be able to pull back above this point sometime in the near future despite the fact that it has already lost its footing.
With CSSE stock trending below $14 in Friday's premarket, there is some possibility that CSSE discovers support at that April 4 and 5 range high between $13 and $13.52. The good news is that the 50-day moving average has crossed over the 100-day, a momentous event that spells more upside in Chicken Soup's future. That crossover point around $8.30 may also become a point of support.
At present the Relative Strength Index (RSI) eclipsed 80 mid-week and is looking to drift downward to less overbought readings. This means that price action should also search for support and drift sideways in consolidation for a time.
CSSE daily chart
Information on these pages contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Markets and instruments profiled on this page are for informational purposes only and should not in any way come across as a recommendation to buy or sell in these assets. You should do your own thorough research before making any investment decisions. FXStreet does not in any way guarantee that this information is free from mistakes, errors, or material misstatements. It also does not guarantee that this information is of a timely nature. Investing in Open Markets involves a great deal of risk, including the loss of all or a portion of your investment, as well as emotional distress. All risks, losses and costs associated with investing, including total loss of principal, are your responsibility. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of FXStreet nor its advertisers. The author will not be held responsible for information that is found at the end of links posted on this page.
If not otherwise explicitly mentioned in the body of the article, at the time of writing, the author has no position in any stock mentioned in this article and no business relationship with any company mentioned. The author has not received compensation for writing this article, other than from FXStreet.
FXStreet and the author do not provide personalized recommendations. The author makes no representations as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability of this information. FXStreet and the author will not be liable for any errors, omissions or any losses, injuries or damages arising from this information and its display or use. Errors and omissions excepted.
The author and FXStreet are not registered investment advisors and nothing in this article is intended to be investment advice.
Recommended content
Editors’ Picks
EUR/USD rebounds from multi-week lows, trades above 1.0750
EUR/USD came under heavy bearish pressure and declined to its weakest level in three weeks below 1.0750 on Friday after the stronger-than-expected Nonfarm Payrolls data. Week-end flows, however, helped the pair erase its daily losses.
GBP/USD remains on track to snap three-week winning streak
GBP/USD recovered toward 1.2550 after coming in within a touching distance of 1.2500 in the second half of the day after Nonfarm Payrolls came in at 199,000 for November. Despite the recent rebound, the pair remains on track to snap a three-week winning streak.
Gold retreats below $2,020 as US yields push higher
Gold broke below its daily range and declined toward $2,010 with the immediate reaction to the upbeat US November jobs report. Although XAU/USD managed to recover toward $2,020, rising US Treasury bond yields triggered another leg lower.
Bitcoin price could retrace to $42,000 if US Nonfarm Payroll comes in at 180,000
Bitcoin price just like other assets, is highly impacted by the macro-financial developments. This includes the Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) report released by the BLS of the United States.
The week ahead – Fed, ECB and Bank of England rate decisions
When the Federal Reserve kept rates unchanged back in November for the second meeting in a row there was still the distinct possibility that the final meeting of 2023 would provide the possibility of one more rate rise to round off the year in line with Fed policymakers dot plot forecasts of 5.6%.