With a series of Emmy nominations for its original show House of Cards, Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) is poised to have an even more fruitful earnings video later this year. While new episodes of Arrested Development aren’t quite gelling with fans, the site’s new drama, Orange is the New Black, is a hit with both viewers and critics, giving investors reason to hope that this is only the beginning for the company. Still, the company’s forecast of only $18 million to $34 million in earnings disappointed Wall Street, falling below predictions for the third quarter. As Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) heads into the second half of the year, will the company be able to provide a pleasant surprise to its stockholders?
Zillow takes to Twitter
Zillow Inc (NASDAQ:Z) tried a novel approach for its most recent earnings call, holding the traditional conference call by phone but adding a social media element in, as well. During the call, the real estate site invited friends and investors to send questions in on both its Twitter and Facebook pages. While reception was lukewarm, the tactic did serve to promote the company’s social media presence.
Throughout the call, on which the company announced revenue was up 71% from the previous year, CEO Spencer Rascoff answered questions from investors. The company had a loss of $0.11 per share on $39 million in revenue, which beat analysts’ predictions of a loss of $0.13 per share. The news was so good that Zillow Inc (NASDAQ:Z) raised its 2013 revenue forecast to between $178 million and $182 million. In February, the company’s fiscal year forecast was between $165 million and $170 million. With a forecast that promising, Zillow may have plenty to tweet about in its next call.
While some are critical of the decision to make earnings calls more entertaining, in the end, investors just want the bottom line. Of the three, Zillow Inc (NASDAQ:Z) appears to be ready to outperform its “creative earnings call” competition. Even the most creative earnings call will never mean as much as a call with good news would mean.
The article Companies Spice Up Earnings Calls With Creativity originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Stephanie Faris.
Stephanie Faris has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Netflix, Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO), and Zillow. The Motley Fool owns shares of Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) and Zillow Inc (NASDAQ:Z). Stephanie is a member of The Motley Fool Blog Network — entries represent the personal opinion of the blogger and are not formally edited.
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