Subscribers Up 64% YOY, Rev up 56%. All as planned.
BOULDER, Colo., Aug. 07, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Gaia, Inc. (NASDAQ:GAIA), a conscious media company, reported financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2017.
Second Quarter 2017 vs. Same Year-Ago Quarter
64% subscriber growth generated 68% increase in streaming revenues to $6.1 million
Total revenues up 56% to $6.6 million
Gross margin up 390 basis points to 86.1%
“The momentum in our business has continued to strengthen as we again exceeded our accelerated subscriber growth target, while customer acquisition costs continue to track below plan,” said Jirka Rysavy, Gaia’s CEO. “We also continued to grow our content library, ending the quarter at 8,000 titles.”
Gaia’s special report “Unearthing Nazca,“ part of a new series exploring a rare archeological discovery in Peru, has garnered over 60 million views on Gaia’s website, YouTube and other social channels. While initial discoveries are provided free of charge, this level of views demonstrates the size of the market interested in Gaia’s content.
Gaia’s paying subscriber count increased 64% to 277,800 on June 30, 2017 from 169,500 on June 30, 2016. This follows 58% year-over-year subscriber growth in the first quarter of 2017 and 45% growth in the second quarter of 2016. The company expects to further increase its year over year subscriber growth rate to 70% during the third quarter of 2017.
Second Quarter 2017 Financial Results
Total revenues in the second quarter increased 56% to $6.6 million from $4.2 million in the same year-ago quarter. This was due to 68% growth in streaming revenues, which was driven by the 64% increase in paying subscribers versus June 30, 2016.
Gross profit in the second quarter increased 64% to $5.6 million compared to $3.5 million in the year-ago quarter. Gross margin increased 390 basis points to 86.1% from 82.2% in the second quarter of 2016 due to increased revenues and the related leverage on streaming costs and Gaia’s media library.
Total operating expenses in the second quarter were $12.0 million compared to $6.4 million in the year-ago quarter. The increase was due to the planned increase in marketing expenses associated with the announced acceleration of subscriber growth throughout 2017.
Net loss in the second quarter was $6.3 million or $0.42 per share, compared to a net loss of $2.4 million or $0.10 per share in the year-ago quarter. The 2017 per share amount reflects Gaia’s repurchase of approximately 40% of its outstanding shares in July 2016.
As of June 30, 2017, the company had $36.9 million in cash, an unencumbered corporate campus and no debt.
