Heat Stays On IAC/InterActiveCorp

It's tough to find a bright spot at IAC/InterActiveCorp(IACI).

Shares of the Internet conglomerate were off 4% Tuesday after the company announced second-quarter earnings that fell short of Wall Street's expectations. IAC earned $96 million, or 32 cents a share, for the quarter ended June 30, up from the year-ago $54 million, or 17 cents a share.

Revenue rose to $1.51 billion from $1.43 billion a year earlier.

But analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial were looking for a 33-cent profit on revenue of $1.61 billion.

While conceding the performance during quarter was disappointing, IAC management said that company continued to move in the right direction.

"Our consolidated results are not what we hoped," IACI CFO Thomas McInerney said in a conference call for investors. "But directionally they are correct."

Weaker-than-expected results at IAC's Ticketmaster ticketing service along with tight margins in the HSN home shopping unit contributed to the soft results, the company said.

Revenue at Ticketmaster grew 3% to $302.7 million, while operating income fell 24% to $52.4 million.

Revenue in the company's retailing unit, which includes HSN, grew 1% to $701.4 million, while operating income dropped 31% to $34.6 million.

IAC Chairman Barry Diller said a surprisingly weak concert schedule over the quarter was responsible for Ticketmaster's disappointing results. "We are dependent on selling concert tickets, which depends on whether [performers] decide to come and play or not play," Diller said. "And [performers] are not timing their performance based on our quarterly reporting period."