Rovi Corp Stock Downgraded (ROVI)

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Rovi (Nasdaq:ROVI) has been downgraded by TheStreet Ratings from hold to sell. The company's weaknesses can be seen in multiple areas, such as its disappointing return on equity, weak operating cash flow, generally disappointing historical performance in the stock itself, deteriorating net income and feeble growth in its earnings per share.

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Highlights from the ratings report include:

• Current return on equity is lower than its ROE from the same quarter one year prior. This is a clear sign of weakness within the company. Compared to other companies in the Software industry and the overall market, ROVI CORP's return on equity significantly trails that of both the industry average and the S&P 500.
• Net operating cash flow has decreased to $51.73 million or 12.88% when compared to the same quarter last year. In addition, when comparing the cash generation rate to the industry average, the firm's growth is significantly lower.
• Despite any intermediate fluctuations, we have only bad news to report on this stock's performance over the last year: it has tumbled by 69.21%, worse than the S&P 500's performance. Consistent with the plunge in the stock price, the company's earnings per share are down 166.66% compared to the year-earlier quarter. Naturally, the overall market trend is bound to be a significant factor. However, in one sense, the stock's sharp decline last year is a positive for future investors, making it cheaper (in proportion to its earnings over the past year) than most other stocks in its industry. But due to other concerns, we feel the stock is still not a good buy right now.
• The change in net income from the same quarter one year ago has exceeded that of the Software industry average, but is less than that of the S&P 500. The net income has significantly decreased by 72.9% when compared to the same quarter one year ago, falling from -$10.73 million to -$18.55 million.
• ROVI CORP has exprienced a steep decline in earnings per share in the most recent quarter in comparison to its performance from the same quarter a year ago. The company has reported a trend of declining earnings per share over the past year. However, the consensus estimate suggests that this trend should reverse in the coming year. During the past fiscal year, ROVI CORP reported lower earnings of $0.13 versus $2.08 in the prior year. This year, the market expects an improvement in earnings ($1.75 versus $0.13).

Rovi Corporation provides digital entertainment technology solutions for the discovery and management of entertainment content. Rovi has a market cap of $1.58 billion and is part of the technology sector and computer software & services industry. Shares are down 40.9% year to date as of the close of trading on Tuesday.

You can view the full Rovi Ratings Report or get investment ideas from our investment research center.

-- Written by a member of TheStreet Ratings Staff

TheStreet ratings do not represent the views of TheStreet's staff or its contributors. Ratings are established by computer based on metrics for performance (which includes growth, stock performance, efficiency and valuation) and risk (volatility and solvency). Companies with poor cash flow or high debt levels tend to earn lower ratings in our model.

For more information on Rovi Corp click any of the following:

• Rovi Corp Stock Price

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• Rovi Corp Key Stats & Profile

• Rovi Corp Earnings

• Rovi Corp Ratio Comparison

• Rovi Corp Growth Rates

• Rovi Corp Balance Sheet

• Rovi Corp Cash Flow

• Rovi Corp Income Statement