A New York hedge fund manager wants Outerwall, Inc., operator of Redbox movie kiosks, to sell, spinoff, or shutdown a streaming movie service that has failed to compete effectively with Netflix.
Redbox Instant by Verizon has proven not to be much of a threat, said JANA Partners’ co-founder Barry Rosenstein. The hedge fund controls a 13.5 percent stake in Outerwall, Inc., (formerly Coinstar) best known for its change counting machines and Redbox DVD rental kiosks.
Some analysts predict JANA Partners will attract several other shareholders disenchanted with the disappointing earnings results.
Michael Pachter, an analyst with Wedbush Securities, told his clients the group will likely force Outerwall’s management to focus on cash generation. The alternative is a forced sale of some or all of the company’s businesses.
Redbox Instant is 65% owned by Verizon, and could eventually be owned outright by the phone company or shut down. Outerwall entered the video streaming venture with Verizon to cut the company’s dependence on Redbox kiosks, which provided 87 percent of 2012 revenue (with Coinstar coin-counting kiosks and other vending machines covering much of the rest).
Netflix has de-emphasized its DVD by mail rental service in favor of a less-costly online video alternative. Redbox still depends primarily on customers visiting a nearby kiosk to exchange DVD rentals.
In September, Outerwall reported disappointing results and predicted earnings per share would be as much as 40 percent below expectation. Shares plummeted 20 percent after the earnings predictions were made.
Most of the problems are from “heightened promotional discount activity,” which translates: an excess of coupons and promo codes that attracted new customers that never spent much. Expect the company to curtail promotions and focus instead on profitability.
Also on the hedge fund’s chopping list: Seattle’s Best Coffee-branded “Rubi” coffee kiosks in grocery, drug and mass merchant stores. It seems there isn’t much interest in on-demand, fresh ground coffee selling for $1-1.50 a cup.