Rocket Fuel Inc. (FUEL) saw its loss narrow to $10.74 million, or $0.24 a share for the quarter ended Sep. 30, 2016. In the previous year period, the company reported a loss of $136.59 million, or $3.19 a share. On the other hand, adjusted net loss for the quarter narrowed to $3.60 million, or $0.08 a share from a loss of $6.96 million or $0.16 a share, a year ago. Revenue during the quarter went down marginally by 1.89 percent to $109.72 million from $111.84 million in the previous year period. Gross margin for the quarter contracted 666 basis points over the previous year period to 36.31 percent.
Operating loss for the quarter was $9.07 million, compared with an operating loss of $134.49 million in the previous year period.
However, the adjusted EBITDA for the quarter stood at $6.59 million compared with $3.42 million in the prior year period. At the same time, adjusted EBITDA margin improved 294 basis points in the quarter to 6 percent from 3.06 percent in the last year period.
"Rocket Fuels third quarter net revenue of $62.6 million was slightly below our guidance of $63 to $66 million primarily due to unexpected weakness in our political and EMEA businesses," said Randy Wootton, chief executive officer. "While we are disappointed with our top-line performance, we are pleased to see steady growth in our platform solutions business, with revenue increasing 141% year-over-year. Our ongoing focus to drive further operational improvements was evident, as we delivered adjusted EBITDA at the high-end of our guidance range, representing strong improvement both sequentially and year-over-year. Additionally, we had a good quarter from a free cash flow perspective, and made progress towards our stated goal of being free cash flow positive for 2016. We remain committed to our plans to return the company to growth and build a successful platform solutions business."
For the fourth-quarter, Rocket Fuel forecasts adjusted revenue to be in the range of $57 million to $62 million.
Operating cash flow improves significantlyRocket Fuel has generated cash of $10.71 million from operating activities during the nine month period, up 348.35 percent or $8.32 million, when compared with the last year period. The company has spent $13.03 million cash to meet investing activities during the nine month period as against cash outgo of $19.74 million in the last year period.
Cash flow from financing activities was $2.81 million for the nine month period as against cash outgo of $6.68 million in the last year period.
Cash and cash equivalents stood at $78.66 million as on Sep. 30, 2016, down 5.32 percent or $4.42 million from $83.08 million on Sep. 30, 2015.
Working capital drops significantly
Rocket Fuel has witnessed a decline in the working capital over the last year. It stood at $17.51 million as at Sep. 30, 2016, down 66.29 percent or $34.44 million from $51.95 million on Sep. 30, 2015. Current ratio was at 1.10 as on Sep. 30, 2016, down from 1.35 on Sep. 30, 2015.
Days sales outstanding went up to 98 days for the quarter compared with 95 days for the same period last year.
At the same time, days payable outstanding went down to 84 days for the quarter from 90 for the same period last year.
Debt moves up
Rocket Fuel has witnessed an increase in total debt over the last one year. It stood at $87.83 million as on Sep. 30, 2016, up 5.25 percent or $4.39 million from $83.44 million on Sep. 30, 2015. Total debt was 28.71 percent of total assets as on Sep. 30, 2016, compared with 24.05 percent on Sep. 30, 2015. Debt to equity ratio was at 0.87 as on Sep. 30, 2016, up from 0.60 as on Sep. 30, 2015. Disclaimer: Please note that this is an auto-generated article. IRIS does not guarantee the accuracy, adequacy or completeness of any information and is not responsible for any errors or omissions or for the results obtained from the use of such information. IRIS especially states that it has no financial liability whatsoever to any user on account of the use of information provided on its website. For queries contact: editor@irisindia.net
