TheStreet's CEO Discusses Q4 2011 Results - Earnings Call Transcript
Success here was demonstrated by the impressive growth in the size of the audience consuming our content. Our internal logs measured 25% growth in average monthly unique visitors during the quarter compared to the same period last year, while comScore measured a 45% growth over the same period.
Importantly, the primary source of this growth was from encouraging adoption rates from our new initiatives, offsetting a general softness during the quarter and interest in investing content by retail investors.
The weak demand for investment related content from retail investors appeared to us to be an industry-wide condition, reflected in the volume of searches Google processed covering financially related terms and third-party measurements by comScore and others, covering the overall size of the audience for the investment vertical.
The market challenges will be familiar to the investment community listening to our call today. Retail investors seeking to purchase a premium service to use to enter the market and start investing and the advertisers that seek to reach those investors, both moved to the sidelines in the spring of 2011 and had not yet returned by the close of the year.
Evidence of this includes the publicly reported new account acquisition rates for online brokerages, which were down in the double-digits. Online brokerage daily average revenue trade or DART volumes were down generally as well and even broader exchange trading volumes were down. Given these conditions, we were happy to have a strategic hedge, our new initiatives driving audience growth and extending our business into verticals less dependent upon the retail investor. Herein, however, some execution issues remain unresolved. On the advertising side, our team is not yet delivering sufficiently well in monetizing the new incremental audiences that are driving our growth, particularly in establishing new advertiser relationships in the business and technology categories.Select the service that is right for you!
COMPARE ALL SERVICESAction Alerts PLUS
TRY IT FREEJim Cramer and Stephanie Link actively manage a real portfolio and reveal their money management tactics while giving advanced notice before every trade.
Product Features:
- $2.5+ million portfolio
- Large-cap and dividend focus
- Intraday trade alerts from Cramer
- Weekly roundups
Dividend Stock Advisor
TRY IT FREENew! $49.95/yr
Jim Cramer's protege, David Peltier, identifies the best of breed dividend stocks that will pay a reliable AND significant income stream.
Product Features:
- Diversified model portfolio of dividend stocks
- Alerts when market news affect the portfolio
- Bi-weekly updates with exact steps to take - BUY, HOLD, SELL
Stocks Under $10
TRY IT FREEDavid Peltier, uncovers low dollar stocks with extraordinary upside potential that are flying under Wall Street's radar.
Product Features:
- Model portfolio
- Stocks trading below $10
- Intraday trade alerts
- Weekly roundups
Real Money
TRY IT FREE24/7 market commentary from Jim Cramer and 20+ veteran Wall Street gurus. Get access to the latest trading ideas on stocks, options, and ETFs as well as a real-time forum to see the pros exchanging their investment ideas.
Product Features:
- Jim Cramer + 20 Wall Street pros
- Intraday commentary & news
- Real-time trading forum
- Actionable trade ideas
Real Money Pro
TRY IT FREEAll of Real Money, plus 15 more of Wall Street's sharpest minds delivering actionable trading ideas, a comprehensive look at the market, and fundamental and technical analysis.
Product Features:
- Real Money + Doug Kass + 15 more Wall Street Pros
- Intraday commentary & news
- Ultra-actionable trading ideas
Options Profits
TRY IT FREEOur options trading pros provide daily market commentary and over 100 monthly option trading ideas and strategies to help you become a well-seasoned trader.
Product Features:
- 100+ monthly options trading ideas
- Actionable options commentary & news
- Real-time trading community
- Options TV
