Blockbuster L.L.C., a subsidiary of
DISH Network Corp.
(
DISH
), has acquired the assets of Alpha Bay that provide business
software to the retail industry. The acquisition will help the
company improve the overall customer experience within its 900
retail locations.
Alpha Bay's AIRS suite of applications provide mobile checkout,
inventory management, customer loyalty and business intelligence
service to retail operators and is supported through a unique
hybrid ISsm platform. Alpha Bay's cloud-based service will help
Blockbuster employees serve customers from anywhere within a store,
allow them to move out of the checkout counters as well as deliver
enhanced promotional programs. However, the financial terms of the
deal were not disclosed.
In April 2011, DISH Network won the auction for the bankrupt
movie and video game retailer Blockbuster for approximately $228
million. The acquisition provided DISH with the rights to stream
movies over the internet. The company also combined Blockbuster's
movie streaming services through its wireless broadband network to
offer a highly innovative bundled service.
Thus, DISH may become a viable competitor to online video
streaming companies such as
Netflix Inc.
(
NFLX
), Hulu and YouTube. Additionally, Blockbuster also offers game
downloads for all the major gaming consoles like Nintendo,
Sony Corporation's
(
SNE
) PSP and
Microsoft Corporation's
(
MSFT
) Xbox.
We believe that besides improving the in-house retail experience
of a Blockbuster customer, the acquisition of Alpha Bay will reduce
DISH's IT cost by almost 50% in 12 months, and will add to its
revenue front as it will continue to market its enterprise systems
to other retail companies.
The current Zacks Consensus Estimate for DISH Network Corp. is
pegged at 68 cents for the second quarter, with a growth rate
estimate of (8.98%). For 2012 and 2013, the Zacks Consensus
Estimates stand at $2.73 and $2.79 with a growth rate of (5.49%)
and 2.20%, respectively
Recommendation
Currently, DISH Network has a Zacks #3 Rank, implying a
short-term Hold rating on the stock. We are also maintaining our
long-term Neutral recommendation on the company's shares.
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