A TiVo split may not be enough

Article Excerpt

TIVO INC. $7.04 (Nasdaq symbol TIVO; Manufacturing sector; Shares outstanding: 124.9 million; Market cap: $879.3 million; Dividend yield 4.5%; Takeover Target Rating: Highest; www.tivo.com) makes software for digital video recorders (DVRs) that lets cable and satellite TV subscribers record programs for future viewing. The company’s products also help TV service providers capture viewing data that they can use to promote other programs and boost overall viewership. Over 26 million households worldwide use the TiVo service. The company now plans to break itself into two separate companies. One will focus on DVR products, which supplied 58% of TiVo’s 2018 revenue, but just 26% of its earnings. The remaining firm will hold TiVo’s Intellectual Property business (42% of revenue, 74% of earnings), which earn fees from licencing out the company’s 4,200 issued and 1,500 pending patents. TiVo expects to complete the split in the first half of 2020. However, the company is currently losing money, and its long-term debt of $619.4 million (as of March 31, 2019)…