Looks like Interactive Brokers missed by 11 cents. 20 cents per share vs. the 31 cents per share First Call estimate. As reported by briefing.com:
“4:21PM Interactive Brokers misses by $0.11, misses on revs (IBKR) 19.56 -0.40 : Reports Q3 (Sep) earnings of $0.20 per share, $0.11 worse than the First Call consensus of $0.31; revenues fell 45.3% year/year to $272 mln vs the $297.6 mln consensus. Market Making segment income before income taxes decreased 47% in the quarter ended September 30, 2009 compared to the prior quarter and decreased 74% from the same period last year. Pre-tax margin was 49% in this quarter, down from 79% in the same period last year. Compared to last year, 2009 presented a less favorable environment for market makers due to tighter bid/offer spreads on option exchanges. We managed our risk by continuing to avoid counterparty risks and balance sheet exposure from illiquid positions by making markets primarily in exchange traded products that are cleared through central clearing houses. Market Making options contract volume remained flat during this quarter compared to the same period last year. Electronic Brokerage segment income before income taxes decreased 3% in the quarter ended September 30, 2009 compared to the same period in 2008 and was roughly flat to the prior quarter. “Ever increasing competition in the transparent, exchange listed derivatives markets continued to pressure spreads to never before seen levels in the third quarter… These ultra low transaction costs in exchange listed products will inevitably be followed by higher trading volumes and better customer performance.”
Definitely not good numbers, for sure. I got out a few days ago at $20.70. Good thing because it traded near $18 in after hours. I was looking to get back in sub-$18. I will probably add a few shares tomorrow, as I still like the company, despite the earnings disagreeing with my stance. Maybe 200-250 shares sub-$18, then I’ll just scale in the rest.
On a good note, AMZN blew away numbers. Beat estimates by 12 cents per share and guided upwards for the 4th quarter. Apparently, the Kindle has made a ton of milestones becoming their best selling item. If there’s one thing that I don’t like about Amazon, it’s their Kindle. I don’t have one. I don’t plan on owning one. Nor will I ever pay $250 for one of those damn things. Why would I want to pay $250 for a Kindle, when I can buy a netbook for the same amount and do a million other things with it? Don’t get me wrong, I buy everything from Amazon, but if they focus all of their attention on the Kindle, then I think it will ultimately hurt them. In a very short time, there will be a million e-book reader clones out there. They are trying to mimic the iPhone, but the problem with the Kindle/e-book model is that e-books can be made available to other vendors as well. iPhone Apps are unique only to the iPhone. that’s where the two models differ. And I would say that difference is HUGE.
I have 100 shares of AMZN from $82.99. I won’t be greedy on this one. I have a nice gain already. I’m probably going to dump out tomorrow morning. We’ll see. If I sell out of it, I will be completely short…which is not what I really want. I need some protection…
Here’s a nice read:
Sean Parker: Twitter/Facebook Will Soon Dominate The Web — Not Google.
Sean Parker, one of the cofounders of Facebook thinks that social networking sites will dominate the future of the web, and not Google. Hard to imagine, but it makes you wonder.
Alright…let’s see what tomorrow brings.